Go to a cruise forum and ask about tips. Those threads are the most entertaining.
I'm lazy, so I'm going to cite Wikipedia and let you do the legwork to see if their sources are accurate or not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratuity#United_StatesTipping by definition is voluntary - at the discretion of the customer.
Yeah right!
In restaurants offering traditional table service, a gratuity of 15% of the amount of a customer’s check is customary when good service is provided. Buffet-style restaurants where the server brings only beverages, 10% is customary. Higher tips may be given for excellent service, and lower tips for mediocre service. In the case of bad or rude service no tip may be given, and the restaurant manager may be notified of the problem.
That's my guideline. If you're taking our order and bringing our food and drinks, 15% is acceptable. If you hardly do anything for us (directing us to the plates for the buffet, getting a refill on drinks that we initially carried to the table), I believe 10% is more than plenty. I do round up, but not by extremes (i.e. if the bill is $22, 15% is $3.30, I'll go up to $3.50). For me, these are the "you did the bare minimum, or just under" rates. We often tip closer to 20% if the service was pretty good (asked a few times how we were doing but weren't obnoxious, drinks never empty or possibly empty one time for a couple minutes).
Tipping is not required for fast food restaurants, take-out orders, and coffee houses.
Lots of people complain about the lack of tipping at McDonald's. That's ridiculous. And tipping at a food truck? What? Tipping for a coffee when (probably) no one had to bring out to you?
A tip pool cannot be allocated to employers, or to employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips. These non-eligible employees include dishwashers, cooks, chefs, and janitors.
HA!
A study at Iowa State University provided data for a suburban restaurant surveyed in the early 1990s. The mean tip was $3.00 on a mean bill of $19.78. As such, the mean tip rate was 16.1%, and the median tip rate was about 15%. In a 2003 research study at Brigham Young University, the sample restaurants had an average tip percentage ranging from 13.57 to 14.69% between 1999-2002.
There we have it. Scientific proof that I'm a high tipper!
*I'm sure many are taking an average of the 10% and 15% numbers I stated earlier and are calling bullshit. You're assuming we go to buffets more often than full-service restaurants (which may actually be true...) and that those are the average numbers. As stated, we typically tip more, but the service has to justify it.
That said, tip creep is definitely a thing. When I first started adulting 15% was the socially accepted amount for decent service. 10% meant service was subpar and/or you were cheap, 20% meant you were Bill Gates. About 8-9 years ago 18% became the new norm, because economy. Inflation. Poor people. Reason didn't really matter, as long as you understood that 18% was the new amount. Of course, people are lazy and 18% is hard (15% is relatively easy, though not as easy as 10%). What's another 2%? So people just start tipping 20% because they're lazy...er...I mean they're charitable.
I hate that more and more people have their hands out for more and more money. If you advertise a hair cut for $20, and you cut my hair, I expect to pay $20. If you advertise a cab ride to the airport for $40, and you take me to the airport, I expect to pay $40.
When did hair stylists (i.e. barbers) start being tipped? We never tipped growing up. I didn't even tip after becoming an adult and going to the fancy place in the mall. One day in Walmart I'm paying for my haircut with a debit card, low and behold, a tip line. AAAAAAAAGGHH!!!!! I have no idea...did this just start? Is it not a thing yet but they want it to be a thing? Had I been stiffing all those people wielding sharp instruments near my throat?
I'm even supposed to tip when it's illegal to do so. I'm looking at you, person with a stable career and good benefits who is given a fair wage to deliver my mail.
I'm supposed to tip the guy who installs my satellite dish, maybe the guy who installs cable, but not the guy who fixes our plumbing (though it's gone from "no, don't tip" to "most people don't, but it's certainly ok to"). I'm supposed to tip for take-out, unless it's at a fast-food restaurant like Taco Bell. I tip someone if they park my car, unless it was after an oil change. I tip someone who bags my groceries at the local grocery store, but not at Walmart. I tip a bus driver if I've paid $$$ to be on a tour, but not if I'm paying $ for a standard public bus. What about Greyhound?
Just get rid of the darned practice already! I want to see a price and pay it (or avoid the product/service). I don't want to do algebra equations. What if I don't have a data connection? How on earth will I find out if I'm supposed to tip on pre or post tax? Is 15% or 50% is the currently accepted number (changes often!)? Am I supposed to tip more if I order water? Should I tip 20% on alcohol or $1 per drink (or is it $2, or should I just throw a $20 at the bartender and still get the stink eye because I'm apparently a cheap bastard)? Do I tip less for an alcoholic drink if I see my server just grab it herself (or himself, I sure don't want to be labeled as sexist in addition to cheap)? What if I order a soda but see the bartender "make" it?
I meant that last paragraph to sound ridiculous, but I think I would sound completely sane if I had a bit of a foreign accent.