Tipping Question for US dwellars
 

My friend gave me a gift certificate for a massage. I would normally tip after a massage, but this is in a doctor's office and is viewed as more "holistic medicine" than "spa" So do I tip? You don't tip a chiropractor, but then again, it's unusual to get a gift certificate for a chiropractor.

My friend is the person i would usually ask about these sort of things, but I sort of feel that asking her about this would be on a par with asking someone just how many batteries the new toy they gave you needed -sensible but tactless "thanks for the gift that's immediately costing me money" ...and she's senitive to stuff like that, so the last thing I wasnt to do is make her feel bad.

I don't mind the whole tipping thing -I'm used to it, I generally know the score, but Brit me is uncomfortable with the actual handing over cash bit and would be mortified to try and tip and be told it isn't the done thing or clearly create an awkward moment.

Your opinions, please.

Could you call the place ahead of time and ask? Anonymous and safe...

If you aren't comfortable, PM me the number and I'll do it. My American self isn't too worried about such.

I hate the whole concept of tipping. I never do it at the right times, and frequently find out later I was (apparently) a jerk. People should fucking charge what they wanted to make in the first place, and be done with it. Case in point: I've gotten dozens of massages over the years, and never once tipped. This is the first I've ever heard of tipping a massage therapist.

/Start RANT

I'm a grumpy old man when it comes to tipping...
I despise it, and yet sometimes I think it's right.
Is a puzzlement.

The breakfast waiter/tress seems OK
The hotel valet or any other employee, not so much.
There's no rhyme or reason as to who or how much.

There are two particular times I hate tipping:

The one I despise most is the independent business person who charges for their service,
and then expects a tip on top of that, such as a fishing guide.
I'd much rather they just raise their price and be done with it.
Then, if I got REALLY SPECIAL, EXTRA ORDINARY, service,
I'd have no problem with a tip in an amount of my choosing.

The other kind is waiter/tress for a dinner meal that probably is already over-priced,
with a bar tab, etc. Grrrrrrrr.
Tipping a % of all that really irritates me.

Sometimes I look at it that if the business is getting a significant sum
from me (e.g., $30+),
then I am not in the mood to tip.
But if the tab just a few $ a tip is not so irritating.

/NOT THE END OF THE RANT, BUT I'LL STOP NOW

Guidance is needed...

Even though it is at a Chiropractor, the person working there is most likely a contractor, where the office will get a cut of the charge and the person just comes in when there is a message scheduled to be done. If this is the case I would tip. The person is already getting ripped off by the office and not getting the full charge.

I am a free tipper, esp when it comes to the waiters, waitresses, and bar tenders. They all work for tips. With the exception of bartenders they work for less than min wage. I tip based on service specifically. Shitty food is a problem in the kitchen and the waitress has to deal with the pissed off people. It is not her fault. Now if the service is crapy I tip appropriately, little to none.

Just far enough for them to lose balance, then let gravity do the rest.

6 posts, that may be a record :lol:

You should definitely tip in this situation, and tip well unless the service was bad. Waiters and waitresses are generally paid less than minimum wage, and the tip is how they make their money. Essentially, they are working for you, not the restaurant. You owe them that money.

Look at how many tables they have when you are there, and figure that during a meal, those tables will turn over once, maybe twice, so you can double or possibly triple that number. And then figure out how much you are tipping them, and multiply by the number above. That's what they are making each night.

If they have 5 tables, and you are tipping $5, you can expect that they are making $50 that night. Would you be happy with $50 for a day's work? They earn their money, and you should not be annoyed with them.

Yeah, but it's a really good chance to trod on the downtrodden, abuse the abused, why it's better than stomping kittens.

I got here as quick as I could.

Gravdigr's Rule On Tippage: I don't tip anybody who makes more money than me.

Grav, I can live with that rule too ;)

Way back when I worked at a pizza place, the drivers had a whole system for remembering which regulars were good tippers and which ones weren't, and would fight over who got to take which deliveries. They also all agreed that the working middle-class families were the best tippers; if there was either a BMW or a junk car in the driveway, you weren't getting a tip.

I know what it means to waiters/waitresses/bartenders to get tips. I'm usually a bit over-generous. I even tip a buck to the person who waits on me at the drive-thru (not at a McDonalds or something, like the beer/pop/snack/cigs drive thru. I had a friend who did that job for a while and it helped when people even just left her their spare change.

As to the spa: I would tip. About 15 percent. It's no different than tipping your hairdresser, to me.

Years ago I went after work with some friends to a Hooters. When I paid my bill the waitress said "you've waitressed before, right?" I said yes and she noted that in a place like that you could tell: most women didn't tip unless they've been down the waitressing road themselves.

Waitstaff, sure. But massage therapists make a heck of a lot more per hour.

and this one is in a doctor's office -that's my dilemma. There's a half hour "consult" beforehand included. I suspect they're after return business with the whole gift certificate thing. I've been there with my friend. It's avery alternative, practice, so much so, they don't "do" insurance, but will happily provide a receipt for you to claim. It's a women-only business.

My gut feeling is that this will be a non-tipping scenario. But I don't want to offend.

They do make more per hour, but unless the person owns the spa they aren't banking the $75/hr massage charge. A friend had a job doing massage at this place and of the $115 for a massage, she got to keep $25. There were the usual usurious expectations about how many she was expected to do per day, how many days per week, showing up and hanging around all day for two massages at each end of the day just in case some one dropped in, etc.

Do they sell nutritional supplements to you based on the consultation? If so, then that's where they make their $ and I wouldn't tip. Nor would I buy their supplements probably.

yeah, this place (warning: crap website) is so not like that place, f3 -for sure I'd tip there.

no, no supplements. But someone can tell you which ones to buy for a large fee....


...no that was unfair, they really mean well, they are totally commited to the ideals they expound upon. They're nice people, and the staff are not transient or uninvested.

I'm like Clodfobble, so no useful pointers from me. I do agree with Perry Winkle's idea. PM him the office's number, and he can call for you. :D

They look very sincere and sweet. Despite their use of papyrus font. I'd say probably not tipping. I would guess that the practice is not in it for the money and therefore either the massage person is getting the whole fee or is a partner in the place. It didn't seem like they are just in it for the bucks and don't really care who is massaging people as long as the money comes in.

That being said, you could ask a few chatty questions to see what sort of relationship she has with the place, like is this your full time gig? do you work elsewhere? are you a partner in the practice, that sort of thing. IF she starts telling you about how she adopted five blind crack babies, then tip her.

She actually trained in the school I used to go for massage at the student clinic. Yes, they are sweet and sincere. and generally expensive, although i was suprised how "market" the massage prices were. But i guess if she keeps (almost) the whole fee, there's no need to ramp it up.

Hang on - are you expecting a "happy ending"?

Wow, 25 posts before we got there....... cellar's slipping......

I left it out. I'm trying to leave the fish in the barrel alive.

Ah, that explains it then. The only massages I've ever gotten have been from private individuals, running out of a back room in their house, or bringing their portable table to you. They're the kind who charge you less if you pay in cash. :)

Yeah, you don't tip them.

I just had a TV delivered - a 55" LED, which is fairly large. The delivery company first arrived while I was at work on Monday (it was to be a surprise) but they couldn't get up the street because the truck was too big and the road was too slippery, so they rescheduled for today. The delivery guy brought it out in his personal Dodge 4x4 and helped me bring it inside and unpack it.

After all that, he would not accept a tip. I've never had that happen before.

Tipping stories (cont):

I traded in my wife's car for a new one. The guy took it to detail it while we did the paperwork. He came back about an hour later and shook my hand and complimented us on the purchase and congrats. The guy was sweating from working hard on getting it cleaned up and was so friendly I tracked him down before we left the dealer ship and tipped him $10 for doing a great job and let him know that we really appreciated what he does. He did not want the money but I made him take it. I think he appreciated the gesture.

I went to the gym today and the woman cleaning the locker room was not as rude as she was last time, so I slipped her a Jackson.

Way back when Pete and I first started dating, I went with her extended family on a vacation in Lake Placid. We had a big table of maybe 15 people running from late teens to late 50's. I was in college and Pete was in her first decent job. Her cousin was in her yuppie stage, high powered job world travel etc.. So the cousin sends back her plate twice with new instructions for the cook even though it arrived first as described on the menu and second as described by her.

I had never witnessed someone returning food before. When the check arrived, cousin's Dad, who was also pretty prosperous figured the tip at like 8% despite us being a pain-in-the-ass early morning crowd. Everybody threw their cash in as we left as a group.

Pete and turned around at the door as if we'd forgotten something and dug out our remaining cash to leave a decent tip. We were pretty embarrassed by the group at that point but it was the beginning of a pattern we've identified over the years. In part, it is how people get and keep money, but there is also a level of disrespect for people whose lives are ordered differently. The uncle actually didn't want to encourage people to stay in service jobs by tipping well...

I tipped the pizza delivery guy $5 for a $30 order, and he was astonished. Said it was the best tip he's gotten in awhile and thank me profusely. Surprised me since that's 15%-ish and seemed normal to me.

always tip your piercer and tattooer if you live in the US! Not customary in UK/Europe, though

Nah, people usually figure on a flat rate for delivery drivers, since they're not coming back to the table repeatedly and "waiting" on you. My last experience with it (which was many years ago, granted) was that you usually got $1-$2 per delivery. Most people would round up the change, plus a dollar.