Do you mean when they enter the tip into the cash register? I am assuming it must be after tax. There is definitely a pause. The counter person tells the customer the total owed for their drink or pastry. And then some customers who are paying by credit card will request to add a tip to that amount, but the customer has to bring up the idea of a tip. The staff doesn’t suggest it. The staff’s “assumption” is that the customer is either not planning to tip or will use the tip jar. So given very few people carry cash these days, I don’t think the tips add up to very much especially since the base pay is under minimum.
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Ok, I see what you’re saying. I am referring to the auto-tip forms on cc receipts at restaurants. I wonder if the suggested amounts are pre-or post-tax.
Automatically suggested tip amounts are always based on the totals, including taxes and other fees (e.g. additional service charges, delivery fees, etc.)
I suspected that, but now I know for sure. Thanks! Tippers beware!
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I hate the handheld machines some restaurants have now. The server stands over you, waiting. I can barely read the machine, let alone do the math under that kind of pressure!
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Just move the decimal point in your head, then divide it roughly in half and add that together, easy 15%. Takes three seconds.
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Places I tip:
Sit-down Restaurants
Salon/Haircut
Pizza Delivery(won’t get other food delivered)(usually get the pizza anyways)
Valet Parking
Bellhops
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I thought of this thread yesterday. I took my car into the dealership for service. I remained in the waiting area till the job was done and a man came to inform me my car was ready to go. He walked me to the car, lingered and mentioned he had run it through the wash and put the floor mats back in (which is standard service before checkout at that dealership.) It took a minute to realize that he wanted a tip. I didn’t; at that point, all was said and done anyway. I truly had no idea what he had done re the car. Perhaps the mechanic who I never saw deserved a tip or the young lady behind the desk who offered me water and a snack while I waited. Anyway I thanked him again and left. But I thought of you guys.
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So likely a service advisor or porter. No tip.
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Porters sometimes get tips, assuming they are the people who go get the cars when people come pick them up. If I get keys from service advisor, no tip. But porter, I tip sometimes, just a couple of bucks.
I worked at high end car dealerships in my high school days (learned how to drive a stick-shift on other people’s fancy cars), and I know the guys taking cars out to customers got tips.
I’ve never ever tipped at the car dealer. Didn’t know that was at thing!
The only exception are for the guys who do the free carwashes at the dealership.
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All of these examples reinforce the idea that tipping is out of control.
I mentioned earlier that I tipped the guys who were painting my house. It was a really big job. Yes, they worked hard. After I paid and thought everything was done, I started noticing a few things. Mainly, they broke two windows and either didn’t notice or didn’t say anything, and they painted over two noticeably rotten patches of wood.
Of course, I called them immediately and sent photos. This is company with a very good reputation in my area, and to their credit, they have replaced the two panes of glass they broke, along with one that I broke weeks before they came. They are also fixing the rotten wood.
But I have a sour taste in my mouth. They must have seen at least one of the broken windows, and they certainly knew they were painting over rotten wood. So have I rewarded the painters for a subpar job? They still worked hard.
This whole thread makes me less inclined to tip anyone who isn’t doing the traditional jobs where tips are expected. Next time I am at a place that uses credit card tipping, I am going to ask who exactly gets my tip.
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It has never dawned on me to try to tip any contractors working on my house. These guys are not being paid minimum wage - their employers would have no workers if they paid $15/hr. That said, I have not seen any contractors refusing snacks, water, and sodas I offer them while they work (or a bottle of wine as a token of appreciation after they finished!).
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Tipping is the exception rather than the norm outside of North America. If we keep expanding the categories of services we would tip, pretty soon we may have to tip everyone here we interact with. 
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The contractor for my paint job was an illiterate English man, when I called him he gave me a number, when I pressed for a real quote, he gave me a number significantly less, more like 10% of the original quote, this when I realized he’s illiterate. I called him back and told him so, he thanked me profusely and resubmitted a proper quote. My husband had doubt about him, he suggested going with somebody else with twice his price. But I took a risk based on my intuition, it turned out excellent work, we’re very pleased. So of course I gave very good tip, they finished in 2-3 days, just right before the pandemic started. I think now it would be 2-3 times more than what I paid.
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My neighbor in the Bay Area was tipping the Sprakletts delivery guy, that’s when I noticed something out of whack, that was almost 25 years ago.
My landscaping guy isn’t illiterate (poor English though) but similarly does a terrible job at quoting jobs. He and his crew do great work and has gotten other jobs in the neighborhood just by people admiring my yard. I generally accept whatever quote he gives me and then add a very large tip to bring them up to an appropriate fee plus tip for a good job.
This guy is from England, his native language is English. He told us he’s married to some lawyer in Arizona, but he used to live in our area, I got his name from our local paint shop Shervin Williams.
I think I will leave a tip jar on the kitchen counter, bar area and in the pantry containing the broom/mop next time we host a party…will see if the family takes the hint :). Tipping…it’s not just for all strangers anymore…
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I take my tips in gift certificates to Nordstrom. 
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