How to Tip

My 2 cents worth:
This post will help you be either a good tipper or a great tipper. If you tip less than what is suggested in the following posts you will be considered a bad or poor tipper by the people in the service industry who are and have been assisting you.

Always carry cash. If someone provides a service for you, you should tip them. Your tips may and should vary as you encounter different levels of service. The basic/good tip will be noted in following posts. However the rule will fluctuate because of service. If at anytime you think any individual has gone above and beyond their normal line of duty, the individual has pulled strings in order to make sure your requests have been met, or just provided exceptional service you should tip more than what's suggested. And similarly, if the level of service that was provided poorly you should still tip, but tip the minimum.

You should assess the situation before tipping the minimum. Most of the time the bad service might not be under the tipped employee's control and you should still, even with poor service, tip the normal amount. Here's why: During valet service, if the driveway is backed up and full of people waiting on cars and you see every valet running and working very hard and you have been waiting a while for your vehicle; its not the valets fault and you should tip him normal amount. During bell service, if you've been waiting in your room for your luggage and wondering whats taking so long for the bell man to get there and you have the luggage claim ticket in your pocket or purse; it's not the bell man's fault. He didn't know you had luggage because you have the claim ticket. Again, not the bell man's fault. You should tip him/her the normal amount. There are more examples of bad services that people receive from dinning in a restaurant to service from a concierge that just aren't their fault or under their control. You should always assess the situation before tipping the minimum.

Tipping a manager? Please don't. Managers are paid very well by their salaries. Managers will have different name tags than hourly employee's. Either their name will show a first and last name or just a first name. You'll know because the majority of people will have a different name tag on. If you feel you've received exceptional service from a manager, write a note to their manager. This is the only time writing a note to a manager to tell of exceptional service without tipping is acceptable.

Not at anytime is saying, "Thank You so much!" considered a tip. This seems to be a common misconception of people around the United States. Some people must really believe that the employee assisting them MUST pay their bills in "thank yous". Because, I've heard some pretty sincere thank you's from people for service that I've almost literally moved "Heaven and Earth" and received just a very sincere "Thank you so much", "'at a boy!" and "you're the best (insert job position here) we've ever had!". People and specifically people in the service industry do not pay their bills with stacks of "Thank You's!". Could you imagine giving your power company a note saying, "Here's 150 thank you's I've received from my customers this month! That should pay me in full for this month and next"? Or, to your landlord a stack of "'at a boys" for next month's rent?

Not at anytime is writing a note to a manager, in substitution of a tip, to tell them what a great employee they have working for them is considered OK. Writing a note should be done if you've encountered exceptional service but you should also tip the individual. In my experience when people write notes to managers or general managers about the employee that assisted them, the employee is just patted on the back for a job well done. And again, you can't pay bills or buy groceries with "pats on the back".

And last but not least if you're in any doubt at what you should be tipping, just ask. You will get, most of the time, one of two responses.
1. They will tell you it's up to your discretion. (in this case, tip what you think they deserve and maybe a little more.)
2. They will tell you their average tip or what people normally tip. (in this case, tip the amount that's normally given and then more if you think the service was above average.)

Cheers! And don't be afraid to take care of the people that take care of you!