Tipping Tips For Out Of Town Tippers...

[Rich One]

Rich , Again you prove your excellent mathematic kills. Thanks !!

Si non e vero e ben trovat o

 

[Rich One]

They are for cutlery, a tablecloth, bread, stuff like that.
But since here they use paper or plastic sets as tablecloth and paper napkins, it is just a way to rise the bill.
However it doesn't include the waiter tip.

Should I leave a tip at the beauty parlor, as well? I can't believe I spend only 100 pesos to have my legs and armpits waxed here! It is a 1 hour job!

Certainly at the Beauty Parlor a tip is mandatory. for manicurists, waxing and tira de COLA! A tip is traditional to the mechanic that changes de Oil.

 

[Mano Negra]

When I see that, they get zip. I hate prefixed tips it encourages poor service. And even worse it pisses off the customer.....me.

The waiters don't get the cubierto. It is a normal cost of eating out here and goes to the restaurant. Practically no restaurant in London or New York would let you take 3 or 4 hours over dinner these days, you get a two hour slot and then they churn the table. I have never experienced that here. Therefore I see the cubierto as more giving you the right to monopolise your table no matter how little you continue to eat and drink. I like long lunches and dinners, though normally I continue consuming, and am happy to pay for not being told my time is up. I suspect you would end up getting pretty poor service if you go back to a place regularly and never tip because they charge a cubierto. And JohnnieWalker, 15 pesos on a 500 peso meal that you have been invited to is frankly mean. No wonder your friends were embarrassed and gave it back and tipped the correct ten percent.

 

[garryl]

Cubiertos no son propinas. They are an opportunistic charge that restaurants add to the bill because they can. It lets them pretend their menu prices are not rising. In theory, if you used no utensils, eating everything with your fingers, there would be no such charge.

I usually leave a ten percent tip for the table staff, unless the service is utterly abysmal.

I took friends from US to Pigari in La Recova a few times, initially did not understand the 10-15% service charge (cubierto), we thought it was just like any touristy US restaurant that force customers to pay a tip. Also I do not always see that service charge at other restaurants, but we thought that was it, but still left 70- 100 pesos. The waiters were not happy. It's such a tourist place, waiters expect a lot more. Now I know, the the waiters do not get that, tip has be extra. 10% is not bad. Some tourists pay 15 or 25%, that's probably unnecessary, unless you want to empress your waitress.Smart waiters who speak English will explain it to you, if you look like a gringo. The waiter at LA CABRERA made sure I understand the tip system, explained to me left and right.

Also it doesn't matter how long you sit there, the service charge is 10%. Another example of many Argies are clueless in terms growing a business.
I

 

[D.B. Cooper]

The waiters don't get the cubierto. It is a normal cost of eating out here and goes to the restaurant. Practically no restaurant in London or New York would let you take 3 or 4 hours over dinner these days, you get a two hour slot and then they churn the table. I have never experienced that here. Therefore I see the cubierto as more giving you the right to monopolise your table no matter how little you continue to eat and drink. I like long lunches and dinners, though normally I continue consuming, and am happy to pay for not being told my time is up. I suspect you would end up getting pretty poor service if you go back to a place regularly and never tip because they charge a cubierto. And JohnnieWalker, 15 pesos on a 500 peso meal that you have been invited to is frankly mean. No wonder your friends were embarrassed and gave it back and tipped the correct ten percent.

Just for the record,... my friends let me pay for the wine. Just under $100 Ar$. These are very old friends...so nobody was embarrassed.

 

[garryl]

Just for the record,... my friends let me pay for the wine. Just under $100 Ar$. These are very old friends...so nobody was embarrassed.

You are good johniewalker, no worries. I approve.

 

[ElQueso]

Paying too much of a tip here is more likely to make the waiters think you're an unsophisticated tourist and will pay a tip for whatever service you get instead of being real impressed.

I do 10% pretty typically. It's much more than the locals leave, on average.

Once I left a one peso tip in a place called Chiquilin (somewhere around Montevideo and Viamonte). I had the worst service I could ever remember having. I didn't want to leave nothing, in order to make sure he didn't think I was just a cheapskate. The guy actually followed my wife and I out of the restaurant bitching about the single peso. I told him that was more than his service was worth and walked off.

Many times tips really only do YOU good if you go to the place often. It makes a big deal when they know you're going to be there and you tip for good service (assuming you usually get it). I still tip if the service is reasonable and I don't necessarily plan on coming back, but to places I go all the time I think it makes a big difference.

Always tip the parillero if they have the grill near the front and a tip bowl separate from the others, in places where you visit a lot. You should find yourself getting better cuts of meats and such.

 

[Davidglen77]

In restaurants I leave 10% if the service is good. If it's excellent (happened only twice) I will leave 15%. With taxi drivers I usually round up a few pesos. If service is bad, anywhere I leave absolutely nothing or one coin. Bad service should NOT be rewarded and leaving one coin on the table is just as insulting as I feel as a customer who is treated poorly. Happened to me in Café Tortoni, the served us rotten fruit salad, when I told them they said "no it's not spoiled, it's french style and we make it with champagne" sorry I know the difference between fruit becoming fermented from spoilage and the taste of champagne. I left no tip nor did I pay for the fruit salad although they insisted I should. I paid for our beverages and nothing else. Years ago at a restaurant in Paris, I was eating at a restaurant and the chair collapsed under me and I fell on the floor. They tried to make me pay for both the meal and the chair. I went into manic berzerko mode and they knew I would trash the place if they didn't let me leave. As I was limping out of there with a badly bruised right butt cheek, they were cursing at me and they slammed the door and ended up breaking the glass panes in the door. I HATE bad service!!

 

[Ries]

It means cover charge. It come from the Italians , who started doing it in the 80's , when cheap American tourists ( and cheap Italians) would sit in restaurants for hours and only eat bread and water , with a espresso to end the meal.

My rule of thumb is to tip 10% (here and in Italy , where every restaurant charges "coperto"_

Then deduct the cover. so 500 pesos bill 10% 50 pesos. minus cover. ( say 5 pesos per person , 2 people ) Tip is 40.

But I find Argentines still tip as if the pesos was still worth 3:1........

I found the Italians doing this in the seventies, and probably earlier.
I tend to leave ten percent in argentina, as well.
Of course, it depends to some degree on service, but I dont get into really complicated calculations- I leave something, as I figure, since I earn in dollars, I deserve to help the local economy.

 

[estebandepraga]

10% is sufficient for wait staff if they are good.I always leave a small tip for my hair cutter.I don't take taxis so I don't tip the drivers.
I think many people forget that the tip(Trinkgeld in German) means a little something to buy a drink, not to pay for a Ivy league education. In many countries such as Australia, the wait staff is paid a very decent wage and thus doesn't expect or depend on the tip.Here in Prague 10% is more than sufficient, often the bills are merely rounded out