I had a driver tell me he’d get his friends to call in fake rides if things were slow, which meant that he got to the front faster. He was convinced everyone else was doing it too.
It must be completely dependent on where you're from. Over here you tip neither waiters or cabbies. I have no idea why you'd tip the taxi driver at all. I'm glad that with Uber you can just pay through the app and that removes the stupid "just keep the change" attitude. Most other taxi companies are implementing their own apps with online payment nowadays so fortunately this habit is dying out(one can hope).
Wait... car mechanics too? If you’re already billed for human labor cost on your invoice, what percentage do you tip on top of that? How is it shared between employees of the shop?
I've never tipped a car mechanic. They bill their labor rates anyways, tipping in such circumstance should never be expected.
Generally, most tipping is at restaurants and bars/pubs. Hairdresses/barbers/salons is also very common because of the close personal interaction with the worker.
Most of the time you tip at businesses that would be expected to employ low-education, or poorer or immigrant workers (and by extension, more easily abused workers.) Restaurants, salons, car washes, etc, all tend to employ poorer, less educated people, and also tend to be highly tip-based businesses. So for the most part you're expected to tip at businesses that traditionally abuse and underpay their employees.
Yeah. Like why can I get a draft beer anywhere in Amsterdam for 3 euros MAX 4. At the top of the 5 star Okura hotel, beers are 4/5 euro. Of course, fancy beers can be 6 euros.
But in the USA, it is not uncommon to see Budlight selling for 8 dollars or more. (don't forget to tip!)
Wait, deliverymen? I don't tip the UPS, FedEx, or USPS guys. The only type of person that comes to my house that I tip is the garbage guy, and only when I have a particularly large garbage pile to take out. They send out cards around Xmas with the official tipping procedure, but I do it whenever I have an onerous load, not at a certain time of year.
People I regularly tip:
- wait staff
- barber
- delivery service (for oversized packages/furniture delivered into my home, not general UPS/FedEx deliveries that are left on the doorstep)
- taxi driver
It's a side effect of a low minimum wage. Most of the rest of the western world has the minimum set closer to a living wage.
But why? I somewhat get the argument with waiters - they are paid shit wages, so somehow it became a cultural norm that customers have to subsidise waiters since their employers are too cheap to pay properly. Like, ok, I don't agree with it, but that's the system you build for yourself so that's the one you have to deal with.
But why taxi drivers? Why delivery drivers? Are those groups also poorly paid because they rely on tips? Why other social groups haven't adopted this? Are your electricians also charging $1 an hour of work and then expect that you leave a tip that saves them from poverty?