Is There a Limit to How Much a Person Should Tip?

I was cleaning up my desk when I came across the picture at the bottom of this blog entry.  The picture is of a professional sports team’s bar tab after they won the league’s championship.  The service fee was 20% of their bar tab.   Twenty percent doesn’t seem like something worth blogging about, but this team ended up paying $25,000 service fee for 2 hours of just drinking and not eating a single bite of food.   Professional sports teams do crazy things after winning championships so having a giant bar tab is not unusual.  What was unusual was the team in addition to drinking lots of beer and whiskey, drank one bottle of very rare champagne that cost $100,000.  The waitress didn’t  open the bottle or serve it, that was done by the players themselves.  However, by having one single bottle of champagne the players’ tip jumped from a $5,000 service fee to a $25,000 service fee.  The huge increase led me to wonder, “Is there a limit to how much a person or group should tip?”

Another giant tip occurred in January.  Shane Smith, chief executive of the Vice Media group, spent $300,000 for a dinner at the Bellagio’s Prime Steakhouse in Las Vegas during the International CES trade show in January.  All restaurants in the Bellagio Hotel have a uniform tipping policy, where “All parties of twelve (12) or more and/or private dining events are subject to a 20% service fee, 8.1% sales tax and group booking fee (based on group size).”  The 20% service fee means a tip of over $50,000 for the lucky waiter/waitress who served Mr. Smith and his party their meal.

Tipping is not a universal phenomena.  Tips are expected in the USA and Canada in bars, restaurants and from taxi cab drivers.  However, in many countries, like Japan and England, tipping is often not expected.  In these and many other countries waiters, waitresses and other service workers are paid higher wages and businesses simply include these wages when figuring out the price of a meal, drink or ride.   In North America a person often has a lot of discretion when trying to figure out the right amount to tip.   Usually people tip between 15% and 20% of the bill.  The interesting question is should there be an upper limit?

The word TIPS is an acronym for To Insure Prompt Service.  Giving a tip was designed to speed up waiters.  Money is clearly an incentive to work faster.  However, is there some maximum amount of money where waiters and waitresses will not or cannot work any faster or act any friendlier? If I was a waiter I would like the largest tip possible, but is there some point at which more money is ineffective?

The bar tab was rung up by  the Boston Bruins hockey team after they won the Stanley Cup Championship in 2011.  The Stanley Cup is the ultimate prize in North American hockey so the team was very excited.  After winning the Cup they went to celebrate at a night club in Connecticut. The team was very happy and so was Danielle their waitress who hit the tip jackpot (you can see her name on the top of the bill). What did they drink that cost so much?  They ordered a 30 liter bottle of Armand de Brignac, also called the Midas.

The team got a good deal on the wine.  They “only” paid $100,000.  That same year two people in Las Vegas paid $120,000 (plus a tip) for the same size and type of Champagne.  If you want to save money, the bottle can be ordered over the Internet for “only” $60,000.  Using the Internet means you do not have to pay a penny in tips (click here for the current price).  Be careful pouring though since the bottle weighs about 100 pounds when full.

The ultimate question though is very simple.  Is it fair that Danielle earned an extra $20,000 just because she brought out one very expensive bottle of champagne?  In a similar vein should we place limits on CEO salaries?  Both Danielle and many CEOs got/get ample compensation before large amounts are tacked on as an extra bonus.  What do you think, is there a limit at which CEO pay and tips should be capped?

Boston Bruins Bar Tab With a $25,000 Tip

Boston Bruins Bar Tab With a $25,000 Tip

1,682 thoughts on “Is There a Limit to How Much a Person Should Tip?”

  1. watch all indian dramas on this website
    href=”https//yehrishtaa.net//”>Ishq Mein Marjawan

  4. Thanks for your good site
    html is a meta-text markup language that is used for websites. In fact, the main structure of any site is made up of this language. If you also want to become a web designer, you have to learn html start.

  5. Hello
    I moved in the right direction with my bibliographic essay in that I turned my focus to the ways in which Atwood reflects and comments on the bioethics debate, instead of simply talking about the science in Oryx and Crake in relativity to today’s science. Now, in my first draft,Vermögensverwalter

  6. Proses deposit di https://cinescondeduqueauditoriomorasol.com/ sangat mudah bisa melalui bank bank terbaik dan juga bisa dengan ovo, dana serta dengan pulsa. Bertaruh lalu mainkan permainannya dan dapatkan uang tunai senilai jutaan sampai puluhan juta rupiah yang dibayarkan langsung ke anda. Serta dapatkan hadiah – hadiah menarik lainnya hanya disini. Untuk informasi lebih lanjut segera kunjungi link website kami.

  9. Thanks For this awesome content. Really Enjoyed.Keep It up.We are a group of content writing services and running a community in the same niche.If anyone want content writing services then hire content writer and increase conversions for your online store.You have done a extraordinary job!
    situs togel online

  26. I agree that tipping is not a universal phenomena. But as a consumer, I want to decide for myself when to pay and how
    much.
     http://www.confiduss.com/en/banks/account-management/

  36. To the rejection of everything else, there are different approaches to manage play opening machine games. You can play at a club or play on the web. With web-based games, you can have a wagering club clearly inside your family room. On the off chance that you recognize club Vegas7games, in any case, don’t live advance toward a wagering club it is difficult for you to play beside if you play on the web. One of the most loved web wagering club games is the opening machine games based on Vegas headway.Get Sober With Therapy & A Chaperon

  42. Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying toget my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share.https://www.riyarao.com/

  48. Hello Sir, Your work is so good I like Your articles writing your writing is so clear I liked it you are a great writer. I appreciate your work you are working hard. I have bookmark your website. I will visit your website again soon.
    . Thanks for writing such articles and sharing with us.
    More

  49. Your Blog is reasonable for all users. I appreciated for your blog but i have a suggestion for Anime is distributed theatrically, by way of television broadcasts, directly to home media, and over the Internet. It is classified into numerous genres targeting diverse broad and niche audiences.Kissanime
    Hello Sir, Your work is so good I like Your articles writing your writing is so clear I liked it you are a great writer. I appreciate your work you are working hard. I have bookmark your website. I will visit your website again soon.
    . Thanks for writing such articles and sharing with us.
    soulanime
    Hello Sir, Your work is so good I like Your articles writing your writing is so clear I liked it you are a great writer. I appreciate your work you are working hard. I have bookmark your website. I will visit your website again soon.
    . Thanks for writing such articles and sharing with us.
    gogoanime

Comments are closed.