Julia Altshuler > wrote:

>Steve Pope wrote:

>> Do you think these people are going to refrain from tipping,
>> if they think it buys them something?

>I snipped most of your post to zero in on this last question though I
>think you make an interesting point. My question is does the tip buy
>them something?
>
>
>I don't go to very high end restaurants with entrees in the $50 or
>higher range. I do sometimes go to restaurants with entrees in the $30
>range. That, for me, is a special event. We frequently go to
>restaurants with entrees in the $15 range. That's frequently, a lot,
>every week.

>So maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but in my experience,
>tipping doesn't buy better service. In my experience, the more
>expensive the restaurant, the more formal the service. Less expensive
>restaurants might have more informal service, but the staff is still
>friendly and helpful, and the food still arrives in a timely manner. On
>those rare occasions (exceedingly rare) when the service is truly bad,
>as in rude, I won't tip or won't go back or will say something to
>management, but that's happened such a small handful of times that I
>could probably recount them. And of those times, there's been something
>the matter with the food too.

>I wonder, if I were exceedingly rich and if I were dining in those
>places where $50 entrees are the norm with wine on top of it, would a
>larger than 20% tip really get me better service? I doubt it, but I
>really don't know.

One datapoint I have is a friend who tips between 25% and 50%
at any restaurant, and he receives the best service of anybody
I know.

However, it's not just the numerical tip amount, I think, but
his total approach to the situation.

I tip between 20% and 25%, as a general rule. I seem to
consistently receive what I consider to be good service in restaurants
for which others sometimes report occassional bad service. I
do not know if there is an actual relationship here; it's hard
to say. But I don't see any percentage in tipping lower than
I do if I am happy with the restaurant and its staff.

Steve