Gratuities in Kelowna - Can anyone explain?

[Roadster]

I tipped my furnace guy today, he came when needed in a reasonable amount of time and he was happy to be here and do the same good work he always does. Not up front, but with his pay as he left and he knows it is coming as it always does just because he is open to suggestions, always arrives with a smile and leaves no dust or cuttings or bits and pieces behind.
Are we supposed to tip them? I am not sure but everyone who has come here and done great work gets a nice one when they seem happy to be here and they do great work. Whats more, he has been with us years just because we liked his first visit. He has recommended excellent people for other jobs and we have yet to have a bad feeling from him or his network of others.
For great service anywhere I tip well but are they entitled to it?,,, na, but they can sure earn it. I wouldnt tip anyone up front, its already a given then and they dont have to work for it. Its a gift for a great job done IMO.

[phasyluck]

No I think he's for real, I do the same in a sense.......if she's really hot but an okay server, she gets just as much as a dude server who is insanely good. Life can be unfair!

[countach]

Hey I deliver oil and oil products around town, which is way more pricey than any pizza or anything and I don't get these so called tips, ergo unless I get tips I don't tip. A few hundred dollars in oil stuff and $0 tip vs $50 in pizza and a $10-$20 tip? I just don't get it man.

[Oneeye]

Its funny how people in the service industry believe they're entitled to a TIP

I agree. I'm not old, nor am I cheap I did my job and did it well for 25 years and never got a tip. Unless I get exceptional service I won't tip as the server is merely doing their job. Let's not forget that when a server gets a tip there's no income tax deducted so that brings the earning power of that tip up 30%. If you don't like your hourly wage take it up with the boss.

[Roadster]

Actually I think I heard some of it is taxed, at least the controlled amount from visa payments and such, or when the boss controls the tips and hands em out as a part of their income in a shared way for the whole place, they might hide some percentage and some people might chance not claiming at all as one here said he doesnt but the rules as was shown to us is they are supposed to claim a good percentage of it.
I keep trying to wrap my head around "The wages not being enough" claims. I keep saying to myself if I had to work for ten bucks and hour and rely on tips to make it look better it would be a short term employment for me, like if I was in school or between jobs. I ended up starting a career right at 17 so never had to do the school/server thing, instead I was educated through my job but if I did it would be because my schooling was gonna pull me outta there quite soon after completed. This is why I really think they either do well with their tips and wages or they are really ok with the ten bucks and all else what ever it be each shift is the gravy on top that makes em wanna stay.
I can admit I probably wouldnt make much in tips because I have never been that motivated about serving others food in a public setting like this, not my kinda thing but I probably wouldnt starve to avoid it,,, just get it on and keep looking for a job with a set rate of pay just because I am a wages up front type, "You tell me what I make and I work for that" I will take an hourly, a salary or a contract and have worked in all of those situations but never where it included tips that go up and down like I can imagine they might. I also could not expect anything from others my boss wasnt about to pay in his money making establishment.

[Panzer130]

Can anyone explain why the base tip amount rose from 10% to 15% to expected 20%?

25 years ago I worked in a very well known restaurant in this town. At that time 10% was considered a good tip.
One could argue the cost of living, but the tip is a percentage of the bill. The cost of food and booze has risen significantly in the past 25 years, so the dollar amount of the tip has also risen.

25 years ago a diner for 2 would run about 50.00. Now it would be at least 100.00. A 10% tip then would be 5.00 and now it would be 10.00.

The average meal takes 1 hour. Minimum wage 10.25/ hr, plus tip 10.00 is a minimum of 20.25 per hour. This is assuming only one table of 2 for that hour.

I am not trying to sound cheap, I just honestly do not know why it changed over the years.

[Roadster]

Tell me this, when you worked were you allowed to keep your tip? I think that was how it was, the server got to keep what they worked for up front. And I think the cook got paid more for his/her wages then the server. Now it seems these tips are gathered and shared with the cook and even the boss in some cases which is really odd, this might be where the percentage went up to share it around, not our problem its that way, it should be the server who ownes those tips and if the cook dont like that he/she can drop their higher wage and push plates up front as far as I am concerned.
You are right tho, one couple, a hundred bucks and tip,,, wow, Imagine if they had 4 tables full in their section, all them tips at even 10 or 15%. Thats pretty good money in one hour. I am not jealous, I still wouldnt do it for that money but I cant see why they would complain if it was only 10 bucks tip per customer if say a few tables where being served.

[Bsuds]

They have been pooling tips in some restaurants for a long time. I worked as a busboy in a high class place in Vancouver 35+ years ago and they pooled the tips then.

[Roadster]

I had never heard of it till recently so maybe its in some places but not others??? Or some provinces but not others???
I dunno but I remember my neighbors in Ontario, the wife worked in a nice greek restaurant and she came home with pockets fulla money she made. She was good, seen her work her butt off when we were in there so I imagined she deserved every bit she made, maybe her place didnt do the share thing, I dunno cos I have never done tip work but you could be right, maybe it has been the norm all along. I had always assumed I was tipping the one handling my order for their ability to handle things nicely and show me a great experience till I started seeing these tipping threads over the past couple years here and learning a whole different version of how things are done.
Did the boss get any of that Bsuds?

[MalaPropina]

Can anyone explain why the base tip amount rose from 10% to 15% to expected 20%?

I don't know how it works in other places, but where I work we (the servers) have to tip out the kitchen, buspeople and bartender. The kitchen gets the smallest cut, then the bussers and the bartenders get the biggest cut. The amount you tip out is based on your total sales for the shift, not a percentage of tips received... some nights we can end up owning money and take nothing home. We have never had to tip out the boss or the manager though. That seems a bit odd to me.

This practice could be why the base amount has risen over the years. When I first started serving we kept what we made. Over the years I have left the serving industry only to fall back on it when times get tough and it seems every time I go back we are are giving up more and more.

[kgcayenne]

When I served last (1992), we too had to tip-out to the Host(ess), bussers, dishwashers and cooks. (That was if course after the boss's wife stole her cut off the credit card transactions). The tip-out rate was 15% of our total 'tips' not a percentage of our total sales; however, we all knew damn well that some servers lied about total tips received, so I'm not surprised the tip-out is now calculated on the sales.

I couldn't imagine serving again, so we tip well when receiving great service. (We seldom get poor service, but that may have a lot to do with where we go.) We certainly stay away from the place I once worked; there were many a night I wanted to be like Dorothy and click my Ruby slippers together longing for home sweet home.

[Hmmm]

I agree. I'm not old, nor am I cheap I did my job and did it well for 25 years and never got a tip. Unless I get exceptional service I won't tip as the server is merely doing their job. Let's not forget that when a server gets a tip there's no income tax deducted so that brings the earning power of that tip up 30%. If you don't like your hourly wage take it up with the boss.

I hope you don't eat out much. You do not understand the rules of the game. And you are CHEAP for not tipping at a restaurant. Tips are expected and its been that way long before we were born. Live with it.

[W105]

not trying to be mean or anything, but why would you say that you shouldn't eat out if you can't Tip ?? wouldn't the Establishment (and the Staff) just be happy you picked their place (there is so many nowadays) to go to ??? at least your basic wage can be paid and you won't be looking at your hours getting cut or being laid off...especially with the no smoking bans, the HST, and the new DD laws...most business's have had their sales cut badly because of that...

whatever happened to just being grateful for what you do get ???

[theyeti]

well if anyone could live off the wages paid ....

[Hmmm]

not trying to be mean or anything, but why would you say that you shouldn't eat out if you can't Tip ?? wouldn't the Establishment (and the Staff) just be happy you picked their place (there is so many nowadays) to go to ??? at least your basic wage can be paid and you won't be looking at your hours getting cut or being laid off...especially with the no smoking bans, the HST, and the new DD laws...most business's have had their sales cut badly because of that...

whatever happened to just being grateful for what you do get ???

I would agree with you but the person never said he couldn't afford to tip, he just won't. Hes just being CHEAP even though he said he isn't. He is.