Thursday, August 09, 2007

Tip jars

Was is the etiquette with tip jars at non-waitress restaurants? They seem very popular in the city and I see quite a few people putting money in them. Starbucks, Krunch Pizza (great place on 2nd Ave at 52nd), California Tortilla--they are all over. I don't feel compelled to add a buck to the cup, but maybe I need to get with the program. Thoughts?

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe I am cheap, but I don't add anything to the tip jar unless I want to get rid of the change that I receive back. AB

10:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with AB -- I never put anything other than coins in the tip jar (and only if my change purse is crammed) because there wasn't any extra service performed. I personally think it is strange to have to tip at all and would prefer restaurants just pay the poor waiters a living wage and require all waiters to give good service without being bribed by patrons. Tipping is such a bizarre concept to me for some reason. Of course I have never worked in a job that relied on tips, so I don't have the most informed opinion!

12:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I leave a "jar" tip at my favorite Mexican food joint... only because the cashier knows "my usuals" and has my Diet Coke and chips ready to go before I even place my order. She also recognizes my voice on the phone and greets me by name. Hmm... maybe that means I'm just going there too often?!?

Other than that exception, I don't feel obliged to tip in a jar unless the cashier really goes above what's expected.

1:50 PM  
Blogger Erin said...

okay, great, so from the north south east and west the verdict from my experts is that it is not obligatory.

10:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Niki, the only problem though is that when there is no tip to "work for," I find that the quality of the service goes down. Not to generalize, I find that customer service at restaurants in Europe is not nearly as good as it is in the US.

AB

1:31 PM  
Blogger kelly said...

amen to that (about european service), and i agree with the above opinions-- not obligatory, so I only put money in if the service goes above and beyond.

4:04 PM  

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