Tipping in the USA

This one's for the Aussies.

Being a foreigner in Australia, I get asked a fair few questions about how things work in the US. One of the most popular questions involves tipping.  There is no tipping in Australia.  Growing up with it, tipping is not something I think about whilst in the states; it's just something you do.  It wasn't until my last year of university when I went out with people from Australia and saw they really had no idea how much money to leave/when they should do so that I realized tipping really is a confusing thing.  

To start things off, yes, tipping is expected in a lot of situations in the United States.  There is no formal penalty for not leaving a tip but it's highly frowned upon and you will for sure be hated by the person who provided you the service.  You'll also appear really cheap.  If you're not going to tip, you should not be going to a place where tipping is customary. Being from a different country is not an excuse to forgo tipping.

Where/who are you supposed to tip
The general rule is anyone who provides you a direct service should be tipped. 

Who/common places where you tip:

• Servers at sit-down restaurants
• Bartenders
• Bellhops
• Taxi drivers
• Shuttle Drivers
• Guides (tour, outdoor, etc.)
• Tattoo artists
• Food delivery drivers
• Movers

Who/common places where you do not tip:

• Fast food/coffee/take away (there may be a jar that says "tips" which you can drop spare coins into but it's definitely not expected)
• Fuel pump attendants (only a New Jersey and Oregon thing)
• Grocery/retail stores
• Package deliveries

Who/common places where you could tip but don't "have to":

• Hairdressers
• Housekeeping at hotels
• Repairman
• Postman (during the holidays)

How much do are you supposed to tip?  

This really depends on the service provided to you.  Since restaurants are the most common, let's use them as an example.

What seem to be the most accepted guidelines for tip amounts are:

Incredibly exceptional service: 20% of the total bill 

Good service: 15% of the total bill

Not good service: 10% of the total bill

Terrible service: the only time it's sort of acceptable to not leave anything (some people will leave $0.01 as a bit of a slap in the face)

It's customary at bars to tip $1 per drink.  If it's a fancy cocktail, $2.

*Pro-tip: To figure out 20%, double the bill total and move the decimal over 1 place to the left.  Adjust from there.

How do you leave the tip?  

If you're paying with card, the receipt will have a line where you write in how much you want to give the server or there will be an option on the screen if no receipt is printed (e.g. iPad point of sale).  You then add the tip amount with the bill amount and write the total.  If paying in cash, there are 2 ways.  You can give the server an amount greater than the bill and tell them to "keep the change" or you can leave the tip on the table after the server has processed your payment.

What's the deal with tipping?  

Why has this become the norm in the states?  Well unfortunately the main reason is a lot of people don't get paid enough money to live and these employees rely on tips to buy food and pay rent for the month.  In some states, servers are paid roughly $2-3 per hour.  If they don't get tips, there is no chance they could make any sort of living wage. There's a law that says if these people don't make at least minimum wage in tips per hour, the employer must meet the federal minimum wage.  However, apparently if a boss has to do that, they often times will punish an employee by cutting their future shifts.  How this system is legal, I have no idea.

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Game of Thrones season 6 starts tomorrow.  Get psyched.

That's all for now.  Bye.