Do you know anyone who actually works in food service? I do, and they'd be pissed if everyone skimped with a 15% tip. It's 20% for adequate service, 25% for excellent.
Yeah I do, and of course they claim everyone should give them more money. Since I frequently heard that the new standard is 20% I've reduced my tips to 10%, pretax. If a bill helpfully prints calculations and the lowest option is greater than 15% I will leave less than 10%.
Taxi drivers get $1 no matter the fare. The gall of that industry to even ask...
And even the slightest infraction of protocol and I leave 0.
I used to overtip all the time. I got absolutely nothing of value for doing it, so forget it.
I agree that 20% is the new normal. 10-15 years ago, it was 15% for adequate, 20% for excellent (that's my memory of major US cities on both coasts). Tip inflation is real.
Depends. 20-30% if you are dining solo and not drinking in a place which is normally couples and with some wine, seems fair, since what actually matters to the waiter is total tips at the end of the night. My check is probably $40 vs $120.