Is it rude to not tip?

Q: What happens if you dont tip?

Legally its voluntary but if you slink out of a restaurant without leaving a gratuity of between 15 and 25 per cent, youre likely to be chased by a waiter demanding to know why. To help you avoid tipping anxiety (and disgruntled waitstaff), we explain how to tip in the United States.

Table of Contents Show

Is it OK to not tip?
What happens if you dont tip?
Why you should not tip?
Do you really have to tip?

Being a bad tipper might not be such a bad thing — at least, in some circumstances.

Men, Republicans, Northeasterners, baby boomers and folks with credit cards or debit cards tend to be the most generous tippers, according to a new CreditCards.com report. People in those demographics tipped a median of 20 percent when dining out.

"What ties all of those groups together is that they tend to be higher income than some of their counterparts," said Matt Schulz, senior analyst at CreditCards.com. "I think when it comes to tipping, it generally comes down to income. The more money you have, the more willing you are to leave money at the end of the night."

The worst tippers in the CreditCards.com survey were women, Democrats, Southerners and people who paid with cash. Those demographics tipped a median 15 to 16 percent — which is still pretty good, Schulz said.

"When it gets right down to it, Americans are pretty generous when it comes to tipping at a restaurant especially when there's good service," he said. "Unless your service is an absolute disaster, it's pretty hard to justify not tipping at all."

And income does not necessarily dictate tipping behavior. Those who've worked in the service industry are also typically generous tippers, according to Jodi Smith, founder of Mannersmith Etiquette Consulting.

"People who tend to be more generous generally tended to be people who have waited tables or done a job requiring tips," she said.

Yet sometimes the etiquette is not to tip. Tipping is set on precedence and evolves over time, Smith said.

If you're ever in doubt on whether or not you should or shouldn't tip, "It is always better to offer a tip than not to tip," she said.

Here are four times a cash tip may not be required:

1) Professionals

It's awkward to offer a cash tip for professionals like a doctor, lawyer or accountant. A gift is more appropriate if you want to thank that person, said Smith.

The same holds true for your child's teachers. Cash can create a conflict of interest, and may run afoul of school policies. A gift (even if that's a gift card) is better.

2) Highly skilled workers

Service technicians such as plumbers and electricians typically contract to do the work at a price that values their time. But if you're calling for emergency help on a holiday or during uncommon work hours, that quick response could warrant a tip, Smith said.

3) Gratuity included

Oftentimes, restaurants automatically add a gratuity to the bill for large parties, so check before you pay. (Some restaurants have also implemented no-tipping models, with higher menu prices to reflect that policy.) If the wait staff was especially attentive, you could add more to that total, Smith said.

4) Small-business owners

Established prices often already include a suggested tip, additional tipping is usually not necessary. However, Smith emphasized, this can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Does not tipping make you a bad person?

Tipping is seen by most people as an unavoidable part of going out. It's obvious you should pay for service. Besides, many waiters make less than minimum wage and depend on tips to make up the difference. Some people think tipping is optional, and people should only do it if they feel like it. After all, they already paid for their food. What do you think? 💸

Does not tipping make you a bad person?

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Why can’t restaurants just pay their employees a living wage? It really shouldn’t fall on the customer to make up for the fact that servers and hostesses don’t get paid enough. This should apply to delivery drivers too. There’s nothing wrong with leaving a tip, but I think that a tip should be just that, a tip, not a requirement. This wouldn’t fly in any other industry. Generally you’d tip someone if they provided great service, and you wanted to show appreciation.

The fact people are expected to is messed up. Like, you don’t pay your employees enough and expect the customer to make up for it? That’s a bad deal for either the customer or the employee, either the customer ends up paying a good bit more than they would have (especially at fancy restaurants), or the employee doesn’t get paid as much as they should have for their service. It’s a shit deal.

This blew up pretty quick, turns out due to the upvote to downvote ratio, my post was the most controversial on Reddit within this past hour, so thank you all for getting me into the controversial club.

I’d also like to say I actually do tip, even though I don’t agree with the feeling of it being basically required/expected. I know serving isn’t an easy job and am ok with paying more to make up for the lower wage, even though I don’t think it’s really that fair to the customers and it makes more sense to charge more for the food and pay the servers a living wage, that way they don’t get screwed out of part of their income if a customer decides not to tip, and if people want to tip extra for good service then they can, which would be especially good for the servers IMO. I just feel that system would work better for everyone, just wanted to clear that up.

Is it OK to not tip?

While 20% is the gold standard for a good tip, you can leave less if necessary, as long as you leave something. Experts suggest tipping is just the cost of doing business when going to a restaurant, regardless of service.

What happens if you dont tip?

Legally it's voluntary but if you slink out of a restaurant without leaving a gratuity of between 15 and 25 per cent, you're likely to be chased by a waiter demanding to know why. To help you avoid tipping anxiety (and disgruntled waitstaff), we explain how to tip in the United States.

Why you should not tip?

Tipping is not as bad as it seems — it is worse. Tipping culture indirectly fosters poverty and discrimination at the expense of employees who are not necessarily rewarded according to the service they provided.

Do you really have to tip?

Although tipping is a common practice in the United States in some other cultures or situations, giving a tip is not expected, and offering one could even be considered condescending or demeaning. In the United States, a tip is not legally required and the amount of the tip is at the discretion of the customer.