American 'tipping etiquette' article

Thewper1 said:
They were the halcyon days!

I went to Boston in the mid-90's and had a day out at an Outlet village somewhere in New England......was literally like a kid in a sweet shop in the Ralph Lauren shop, bought so much stuff there, and trainers at Nike, that I had to leave my some of my own gear in the hotel when coming home as it wouldn't fit in me case.
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Maybe the The Kittery Outlet village in Maine? A bunch of us used to go over to Boston regularly for work events in the early 2000s and at the weekend we'd hire a car for the day to go shopping there. 20 years later, I still use some Timberland hiking boots which I bought there for around $40.
 


taipeisafc said:
Have done in the past but the plant we had there closed in 2021 (plant was in Nederland on the Twin City Highway out of Beaumont towards Port Arthur IIRC) only been there for two and three week stints. Had a nightmare keeping people as they just upped and went to the various refineries who were outpaying us by a mile.
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Standard procedure in the 'triangle'. We lose folk to other projects for an extra $1 an hour.
 
Darlo1973 said:
Maybe the The Kittery Outlet village in Maine? A bunch of us used to go over to Boston regularly for work events in the early 2000s and at the weekend we'd hire a car for the day to go shopping there. 20 years later, I still use some Timberland hiking boots which I bought there for around $40.
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Hmm....not sure mate, think we were the other direction, as think I can remember going to Cape Cod as part of the same trip.

Was nearly 30 years ago like, so to be fair, I could just be merging stuff together.

I've not long sold a Ralph Lauren Smock I bought there on Ebay, think I got about £75 for it, which isn't bad for something I probably paid $50 at the time.
 
redandwhiterob said:
Our lasses father had me chuckling when he told me that a porter hailed him taxi outside a hotel once then held his hand out so he shook it and said thanks very much :lol:
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Incredible how many times I've heard exactly the same story. Especially as it just makes the non-tipper look a bit of an arsehole.

The tippimg culture is a drag when it isn't part of our culture. It can be a bit same in Europe but not that difficult to adapt to. The difference in the US is that it often comes with a big dose of aggression. I tipped a taxi driver $20 for a $50 dollar trip to the airport in San Francisco and got told it wasn't enough and got a mouthful of abuse when I wouldn't give him any more.

State sales tax is another area where it can take some adjusting to, especially when there is hardly any consistent approach across states. Mind, it's still one of y favourite holiday destinations.
 
zwartekat said:
Incredible how many times I've heard exactly the same story. Especially as it just makes the non-tipper look a bit of an arsehole.

The tippimg culture is a drag when it isn't part of our culture. It can be a bit same in Europe but not that difficult to adapt to. The difference in the US is that it often comes with a big dose of aggression. I tipped a taxi driver $20 for a $50 dollar trip to the airport in San Francisco and got told it wasn't enough and got a mouthful of abuse when I wouldn't give him any more.

State sales tax is another area where it can take some adjusting to, especially when there is hardly any consistent approach across states. Mind, it's still one of y favourite holiday destinations.
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massive difference between Oregon ( much cheaper ) and when cross over into California
 
zwartekat said:
Incredible how many times I've heard exactly the same story. Especially as it just makes the non-tipper look a bit of an arsehole.

The tippimg culture is a drag when it isn't part of our culture. It can be a bit same in Europe but not that difficult to adapt to. The difference in the US is that it often comes with a big dose of aggression. I tipped a taxi driver $20 for a $50 dollar trip to the airport in San Francisco and got told it wasn't enough and got a mouthful of abuse when I wouldn't give him any more.

State sales tax is another area where it can take some adjusting to, especially when there is hardly any consistent approach across states. Mind, it's still one of y favourite holiday destinations.
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A 40% tip wasn’t enough for him? That’s a cracking tip, the airport isn’t far from SF. I’d have politely asked for it back 😂
 
As a group of 6, we once got a tip given back to us down Fremont Street with a remark when she handed it to me "you clearly need it more than me"

Cheeky little fucker, it was 10% on an already large food and drinks bill. It got wasted on some slots instead.
 
gazza.1990 said:
As a group of 6, we once got a tip given back to us down Fremont Street with a remark when she handed it to me "you clearly need it more than me"

Cheeky little fucker, it was 10% on an already large food and drinks bill. It got wasted on some slots instead.
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:lol:

Nowt worse than jumped up service people like.
 
Darlo1973 said:
Maybe the The Kittery Outlet village in Maine? A bunch of us used to go over to Boston regularly for work events in the early 2000s and at the weekend we'd hire a car for the day to go shopping there. 20 years later, I still use some Timberland hiking boots which I bought there for around $40.
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My wife still has her Timberland boots bought in JC Penny which were cheaper than the Timberland outlet shop on International drive.
 
Darlo1973 said:
I'm a great believer of "When in Rome..." when travelling and observing local customs. We wouldn't like it if people came to the UK and didn't respect our "queuing culture"

Many workers in bars and restaurants are only paid a couple of dollars and hour so it is expected that tips may up the majority of their pay. The upside of this is that it is very cheap for owners to hire new staff and standards of service are (usually) better than in Europe.

However, things have started to get ridiculous in recent years where the tipping culture is being extended to cases where there is no personal interaction such as self service tills

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This. Boils my
 
buster said:
In the early to mid 90’s , some English tourists in our hotel bought another suitcase and went back home with it full of nee clothes.

We went to the Florida mall one night , bought all sorts of top brand gear for next to nowt , like half price , and this was in a shop like John Lewis not a factory outlet place.

Some of the new stuff I’d bought at home was taken back for a refund when I got home.

Bought a set of Callaway golf clubs one year , bumped into two people I knew on the flight back and three of us had bought clubs in the same shop.

Last time we went 2016 we bought nothing but food and drink it was that expensive.
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Ive done the same. Gone back with shed loads of Levis, Air Max, Timberland gear bought for less than half the UK price. CD’s & Perfume were typically about a third cheaper than UK prices too.

Last time I spent any real time there was 12+ year back and things were still okay in terms of value but some of the stuff I see now (on here and elsewhere online) make my eyes water. Folk have way too much money. :lol: It’ll end up like Norway soon where it’s about 20 quid for a bottle of shite lager.
 
Was over in the USA recently. In a chain restaurant, the waitress got the food order wrong, the drinks order ridiculously wrong, brought the food at different time, some cold (probably left on the pass while she messed about) and got the bill wrong.

She then kicked off as we gave a low tip. I wanted to give nowt, but was overruled. The cheek of demanding more of a gratuity.

Also see some restaurants are now adding a "kitchen tax" as they feel those in the kitchen are missing out on tips.
 
I found Raleigh was pretty cheap at the pre season game. Used taxis all the time getting from the hotel to the nearest bars 3 miles away, never had a problem with what I give the drivers as a tip
Beer's were decent prices so a dollar a beer extra wasn't going to break my bank. One of the best places I went to was a casino town Black Rock north of Denver.29 casino's in the town and all you had to do was pay $1 tip for a bottle of beer as the owners expected you to stay and play the slots.
 
AndrewP said:
I think that's true, but there's something about an assumed tip which means that if you don't tip they actually lose money for serving your table.

That's why they get so pissy.
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That does ring a bell. So for example if it is a $100 meal, they assume say 20% ($20) so for sake of argument they are already paying kitchen staff etc. $10 regardless of what tip you give.

Should be more incentive to give good service tbh.
redandwhiterob said:
Our lasses father had me chuckling when he told me that a porter hailed him taxi outside a hotel once then held his hand out so he shook it and said thanks very much :lol:
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Unnecessary crap like this annoys me. Hailing taxis, carrying bags up 1 floor, showing me to a room.

Showing my social circles perhaps but it is all unnecessary, and just a little awkward.
 
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Mackem DJ said:
Ive done the same. Gone back with shed loads of Levis, Air Max, Timberland gear bought for less than half the UK price. CD’s & Perfume were typically about a third cheaper than UK prices too.

Last time I spent any real time there was 12+ year back and things were still okay in terms of value but some of the stuff I see now (on here and elsewhere online) make my eyes water. Folk have way too much money. :lol: It’ll end up like Norway soon where it’s about 20 quid for a bottle of shite lager.
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Friends have just got back from a week in NYC and say it is far more expensive than London now. They went to a basketball game where it was $30 for two cans of Brooklyn lager (including tip)
 

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