Tips on Coffee Shop Tipping
Revisited: The experience cited in this posting happened again today thus I feel motivated to resurface it.
Get a Full Jar
We see tip jars on the counter at a lot of places where nothing is being done to earn a tip. My favorite example of this is the coffee shop where they hand you an empty paper cup, with a tip jar right there in front of you. When this happens I point to the tip jar and ask, “What’s that for?”
Do It Yourself
After paying for the coffee, and maybe leaving a tip, you have to walk across the room and fill your own cup from some pump pot, which sometimes is empty or even cold.
Service Pays
People working for tips must be of service first, and then smart enough to get tipped for doing so.
I recently saw two examples of things some employees do that hurt the tip total. I was in a coffee shop and the tab was $3.03. Would someone be likely to give a 97 cent tip on $3 ticket? Most people would not, but I might. I don’t like carrying change in my pocket. As I reached into my pocket the clerk reached into the tip jar and dug out 3 cents and handed it to me. Was I grateful? Was that the thing to do? No! NOT! She not only robbed her co-workers of the 3 cents, but also of the 97 cents I would have put into the jar. I left without tipping.
Be Smart
On another occassion recently my check was $14.85. I paid with a $20 bill. The clerk handed me 15 cents and a $5 bill. I was in a generous mood, so I called her over and said, “Never do that.” She said, “Do what?” I said, “Take this $5 and give me five $1 bills, and I will show you.” As she did, I asked her if she knows why I wanted her to do that. She said, “No.” I dropped the 15 cents and two of the $1 bills into her tip jar and said, “See, I wouldn’t have given you the $5.” Did she appreciate the “tip” or the tip? No and nope, she said, “I wouldn’t want someone to give me five $1 bills instead of a $5 bill, just to get a tip.” I explained to her that it was not for her to get the tip, but to enable me the opportunity to give her one. Did she appreciate the advice? Apparently not, I returned a couple of days later and the tab was the same. I gave her $20 and sure enough, got back 15 cents and a $5 bill. I said, “Don’t you remember what I showed you the other day?” She said, “I’m a supervisor and don’t get any of the tip money anyway.” What does that tell you?
September 26th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Dozens of times, I’ve had to ask for a $5 or $10 bill to be broken. When the server looks puzzles, I say, “Don’t you want to make it easy for me to tip you properly?”
September 26th, 2008 at 8:08 am
My company doesn’t expect our customers to pay my salary by “tipping” me for the work I do. All tips do is give the company the freedom to pay people less than their work is worth, and expect the customers to pay the difference.
There should be NO TIP JARS out there. If I feel that I am getting more service than being paid for, let me slip a bill or two to the employee under the table. It would be much more appreciated, and customers that do not feel like tipping would not feel like cheapskates when they choose not to.
If you feel I should be paying 15% more, add it to your price and give your employees a 15% raise.
September 26th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Does anyone else remember when TIP meant, “To Insure Promptness?”
Ron’s small coffee blog entry speaks volumes about business, service, how to give change, promote morale, provide leadership and build a satisfied customer base.
I doubt that surly supervisor will miss you when you choose a different coffee shop to frequent. Keep up the good work Ron.