How much do you tip the waiters?

T

Tushar Sharma

Recruit
In the age of Zomato and Swiggy etc., eating out in a fancy restaurant has seen a severe downfall and over it, the COVID-19 has worst affected the jobs of these people working at the restaurants. While I too love to eat out with my friends at a restaurant, a very common issue that most people face is the amount of money you should offer as a tip to the waiters who serve you at these restaurants.
One of my friends had this very unpleasant experience when a waiter returned the offered tip back at a restaurant because he felt the tip was too less for the amount of food eaten and the amount of time spent on the table. And while I am generous in offering tips, I think these small tips should be enhanced at this pandemic period to help these people. So would you share your views on the amount of money you like to offer as a tip to the waiters? I know this is a personal question but nobody is judging you for this and hardly would anyone here meet you in person.
 
I think I tip a minimum of 10% and hopefully 20%, but it depends on the situation and how my finances are.
As far as delivery goes, since Zomato/Swiggy have added tips to their platforms I've started using their increments - usually ₹50 because I usually order food for myself, which is normally ₹250-400 with all the charges and fees. When I place a big order for family or something I put ₹100 usually. This usually works out to 10ish percent.
When this pandemic started, a few months in when my family ordered food after getting sick of cooking, we tipped heavily because of obvious reasons. I think my dad was giving ₹200 or so - but the order would usually be ₹600-1000, so in relative terms it's not that much more, but I think the calculation is different for delivery, because the effort involved scales less with delivery.
Before you could tip through the apps I would usually tip delivery persons whatever change I could rustle up - ₹30-₹40 usually, sometimes more.
As far as waiters in restaurants/bars go - I haven't been out to restaurants or bars much in the last ~11 months; in general if I'm out at a 'fancy' place I usually leave 5-10% on my own accord (most of my friends are happy to pay only the service charge), but that's mostly because I don't really like going out to 'fancy' places, and so resent forking out much more than I have to.
There's a few bars nearby that have the USP of being terrible but having very cheap beer/liquor - I wouldn't usually tip there because they're pretty much self-service.
At local restaurants/the places I frequent, sort of low-key kind, I usually leave 20% because that's where I appreciate the service because I know the people and am a regular, or somewhat so.
In my opinion if you can afford to eat/drink outside you can afford to tip.
I would exclude eating outside in the most basic sense. I wouldn't usually tip the guy at the stall underneath my previous office where I would get rajma chawal for lunch, but at least in my mind that's different. Thinking about it now though, I probably should have tipped somewhat because it was really good and the guy was very sweet. But in general I don't think its as much a moral imperative to tip when you get food from a stall or रेहड़ी.
 
Am I the only one who doesnt tip on food ordering apps? I might give a 50rs tip if delivery guy did something more like coming to flat when lift was getting serviced and wasnt working but apart from that Idont tip, both on ordering apps and irl restaurants. most of the restaurants I go have service charge already built in
 
Hotels and restuarant - Usually 10% of bill or ₹200 max!

My baap isn't Adani, so that's just fine.

Zomato and Swiggy - Zero! They already rip you with distance charges, packing charges etc and don't transfer that amount to the delivery guy.
 
It really depends. Restaurants, I generally tip based on the service, time spent and amount. Usually no more than 10% and no less than Rs 50. At times I end up tipping much lesser when I go out with friends who think tipping more is pompous. All restaurants that have a no tip policy or service charge get no tips. I usually have to convince friends that the poor guy is working in a restaurant because he has no other option and our tips is what these guys count on. Usually when we go in a large group I ensure we tip around Rs 200 to Rs 300. It really doesn't cost each of us much when we split the bill.

My soft corner is really for the delivery guys. Usually I tip based on the distance the food is coming from and it has nothing to do with amount spent. Usually it ranges between Rs 30 to Rs 50. Surprisingly the delivery guys are happy to receive any amount.
 
I don't basically calculate but it usually 10-20 bucks for a ₹100-200 order.
For Zomato, Swift, I would tip when it was exclusive. That made more sense because the money was actually going to whom you intended for. Now with inbuilt tip system, which you can't disable there is no way to know if money is genuinely going to the delivery guys.
 
I never got the idea of tipping... why even should one tip? Doesn't the waiter gets his salary and allowances?
I only tip if the food and service is that outrageous and as someone pointed out I'm also not from ambani bg so dont expect a showoff tipping running in 100s..

Most people tip only for the showing off their richness and royalty esp. when they are in gangs of gals and babes for impression purpose.

And I bet many of us dont even like to tip but still do coz others do...
Also, such practices make these people habitual eventually wanting for more..making greedy.

Moreover, people even tip the cylinder delivery boy etc. as high as 50-100bucks. Why? He gets his allowances and salary and overtime and if not then its his and his employers headache.
If you really want to show sympathy or wanna be generous or express gratitude better offer such people food or something to drink to soothe their efforts.
Else these people go ahead and harass innocent customers further even threatening people to whom they serve forcing to pay them such fees..
 
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nRiTeCh said:
I never got the idea of tipping... why even should one tip? Doesn't the waiter gets his salary and allowances?
I only tip if the food and service is that outrageous and as someone pointed out I'm also not from ambani bg so dont expect a showoff tipping running in 100s..

Most people tip only for the showing off their richness and royalty esp. when they are in gangs of gals and babes for impression purpose.

And I bet many of us dont even like to tip but still do coz others do...
Also, such practices make these people habitual eventually wanting for more..making greedy.
People even tip the cylinder delivery boy etc. as high as 50-100bucks. Why? He gets his allowances and salary and overtime and if not then its his and employers headache.
If you really want to show sympathy or wanna be generous or express gratitude better offer such people food or something to drink to sooth their efforts.
Else these people go ahead and harass innocent customers further even threatening people to whom they serve.
Click to expand...
We had to pay the cylinder delivery guy additional 30rs recently because it is some norm in the area,i.e., everyone pays here.
Your point is valid and these peeps start taking things for granted
 
Emrebel said:
We had to pay the cylinder delivery guy additional 30rs recently because it is some norm in the area,i.e., everyone pays here.
Your point is valid and these peeps start taking things for granted
Click to expand...
...and this is how corruption has emerged everywhere.. Bakshis shit has ruled aka ruined everyones lives..
 
nRiTeCh said:
I never got the idea of tipping... why even should one tip? Doesn't the waiter gets his salary and allowances?
Click to expand...

Some countries/industries don't have concept of tipping but workers there get a wage and do not depend primarily on tips, and that is how it should be

In some countries/industries workers get a "sub minimum wage" and have to depend on tips
 
adventureguy said:
Am I the only one who doesnt tip on food ordering apps? I might give a 50rs tip if delivery guy did something more like coming to flat when lift was getting serviced and wasnt working but apart from that Idont tip, both on ordering apps and irl restaurants. most of the restaurants I go have service charge already built in
Click to expand...

nRiTeCh said:
I never got the idea of tipping... why even should one tip? Doesn't the waiter gets his salary and allowances?
I only tip if the food and service is that outrageous and as someone pointed out I'm also not from ambani bg so dont expect a showoff tipping running in 100s..

Most people tip only for the showing off their richness and royalty esp. when they are in gangs of gals and babes for impression purpose.

And I bet many of us dont even like to tip but still do coz others do...
Also, such practices make these people habitual eventually wanting for more..making greedy.

Moreover, people even tip the cylinder delivery boy etc. as high as 50-100bucks. Why? He gets his allowances and salary and overtime and if not then its his and his employers headache.
If you really want to show sympathy or wanna be generous or express gratitude better offer such people food or something to drink to soothe their efforts.
Else these people go ahead and harass innocent customers further even threatening people to whom they serve forcing to pay them such fees..
Click to expand...

Same. I don't get the point of tipping unless the service is exemplary.

The waiter/delivery guy is doing their job, and getting paid. Plus service charge is almost always present. No way am I going to pay extra over that.
 
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