After I survive the morning rush to get the kids off to school in time, I sometimes run into Starbucks to grab a coffee and to work on my laptop for an hour. As I’m paying the guy $1.50 for a plain cup of coffee, I look over at the tip cup next to register. Do I dump the 50 change in the cup? Gotta help the minimum wage slaves. But am I just enabling Starbucks to keep underpaying their employees? And I already paid $1.50 for a stupid cup of coffee. Haven’t I helped out Starbucks enough? Besides should you tip people who just pushed a button for coffee? It’s not like a lot of effort went into that.
The cup is stuffed. Looks like they’ve gotten a good haul already. A girl who works there told me that each employee rakes in an extra 80 bucks a week from the tip jar.
Now, it’s way too early for a moral dilemma like this, and I get kinda grouchy for having to feel guilt so early in the morning. So, I turn to the guidance of the blogosphere. Tip or no tip.
Apt. 11d 
I’m afraid in Starbucks situations, I’m strictly a no-tipper. But I do try and treat them like human beings, I like to think that counts for something!
If you’re being waited on, obviously that’s a different matter…
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I asked this same question on the Internet, a discussion board, which was pre-blog.
I took the stance that I already paid for my service, that these people do not work for tips and I feel it is a little crass to beg for more money. I don’t really know why companies allow their employees to set up tip cups as it is panhandling essentially.
I don’t tip. I feel it is a matter of principle as this has just gotten out of hand, every where you go now there is a cup sitting at the register trying to guilt you into paying more for your service.
I also think they stuff those cups with their own cash just to enhance the guilt and social pressure.
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If you have a choice, go someplace else. Dunkin Donuts, for example.
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I don’t have to worry ’bout it. I thought it was absurd to pay $3 everyday for coffee to begin with so I bought a nice Italian espresso maker ($500) and decent grinder ($100) and learned how to make espresso my self. Even the year I bought the machine, I spent less than it would have cost to buy the coffee at a coffee house. I just refuse to buy coffee out.
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I’m completely wishy-washy on this one. I drop my change in if it’s less than 50 cents, or if I’m feeling generous. If it’s more than 50 cents I’ll drop part of it in. Sometimes this means I tip 6 cents…
I do think it’s total social pressure, not at all necessary. I was taught that counter help don’t get tips, only people who bring you stuff (this was many years ago) but that seems to have gone by the wayside. Speaking of which, do you tip your hairdresser if she owns the salon? Again, years ago I learned that you don’t…but I’ve seen it done and then I feel cheap if I don’t.
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I usually give a quarter from the change.
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Tip. If they’re working at Starbucks, then they’re probably working the crap parttime job because they need the benefits, etc, too, because otherwise they could just work stupid Craigslist jobs. If they need the benefits, then they’re probably trying to “make it” on several fronts, and they absolutely depend that they’re paycheck is going to reflect more than the $7.50 they’re getting paid.
That said, I can’t afford a Sbux drink AND a tip. So I’m depending on the rest of ya’ll to be nice and tip, since I would if I could. *grin*
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I don’t tip any food service people but traditional wait staff. The other day I went to a drive-thru and there was a tip cup taped to the window. Nuts. I agree they should be paid more, and I think we are enabling the corporations to pay low wages when we tip.
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I’m a firmly principled ‘no tip’ person where it’s still optional. Where it’s required, I tip well (restaurants, cabs, haircuts) but I think the system that leaves people with real jobs dependent on the whimsy of customers for a big piece of their compensation sucks. I don’t want to encourage its spread into other areas.
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Most of the time I don’t tip. I don’t have a lot to spare, so Sbux feels like a luxury to start with. But when confronted with that tip cup, I do worry if they think I am cheap. 😉 I laughed when I saw your topic, because this is something I do think about also!
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Starbucks workers are paid very well for what they do, and have benefits. No tip. Nor do I tip any other counter staff, on the theory that in that case I could actually be enabling employers to lower wages (the minimum wage is lower for waitresses and other professions that get tips).
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I will never tip for Starbucks, because I don;t drink it or when I pick up food and there is a line for tip because they are using the same credit card machine. I do however, donate my time to local schools and any sort of fund raiser that’s out there I’m in, whuich should eb seen as a larger problem since 70% of my taxes are going to support the school system and they should be all set with what cash flow they are able to bring in.
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I don’t tip at a counter service unless somebody goes well above and beyond normal service to help me. I do tip fairly well for waiter types who actually bring things to my table. My biggest tipping dilemma on the food service front is buffet service places. They do work by bringing beverages and clearing the table, but less than if they had to take the order and bring you the food in a timely manner. I usually tip closer to 10% in those cases, but am never quite sure.
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I don’t tip for counter service either. If people need higher minimum wage, then that’s what I believe we should work for — not band-aid it with a tip jar.
Kip — where do you live? 70% of your taxes go to the local school system? You must mean 70% of your *property* taxes?
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I keep the quarters for the city bus and tip the smaller change. It’s not the server’s fault the coffee is overpriced.
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I used to work in the food service industry (as a waitress) and its hard work so I always leave a nice tip when going out to dinner but for Starbucks I would not tip.
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The Starbucks near my office (3rd Ave) always has long lines, but when I went every day, the staff got to know me and would have my drink ready by the time I got to the counter. That extra service deserved a tip. Now I go less often, and the staff have changed, so I don’t tip.
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I find this situation very difficult myself. It is much the same for restaurant servers, many of whom have told me they’d rather have higher wages and forego tips altogether. I honestly don’t know the answer. I hate the idea of anyone getting substandard wages, but it does seem wrong somehow to pay so much for a cup of coffee and then have to boost the cost another 20 or 30% by leaving a tip.
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As a Rhode Isalnder, I must chime in at thw mention of Dunkin DOnuts. I think that’s our official state food. Our Civic Center was recently renamed the Dunkin Donuts Center. Anyway, there was a quite a stir this year when DD announced a prohibition against tipping! I understand the sentiment against tipping at Starbucks; but I was flabbergasted as thw idea a company would prohibit tipping. What’s up with that?!
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As a former barrista I always leave 100% tip when buying coffee. I just factor it in as part of the cost. But, seeing how many people are too cheap to tip it would probably be better to just include it as part of the price and use it to pay higher wages. I understand that they in fact do this in Sweden. Absent doubling coffee prices either directly or by tipping I see no way to pay the workers anything close to a livable wage.
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I don’t go to Starbucks often, but I can opine about Jamba Juice. I tip (usually with my change, which amounts to $.15 to $.25), but then a) I’m a regular at my local JJ, they know my name and everything and b) the JJ employees are really nice, give good service, etc.
I thought that counter employees, such as Starbucks baristas, were supposed to be paid at least minimum wage. It’s only servers who bring the food to you that get paid less and are supposed to make it up in tips – I think. At any rate, I’m of the opinion that decent wages in the first place would help solve the tip conundrum.
Finally, I remember in San Francisco during and after the dotcom boom and bust, as housing prices increased, the signs on the tip jars got increasingly creative, colorful and desperate. “TIPS ARE GOOD KARMA!” “TIPS ARE LIKE SUNSHINE!” Etc.
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If there’s a tip jar out and I’ve receieved good service, I tip. I overtip whenever possible and if I don’t leave a good tip because the service was crap I also leave a note explaining that poor tip was because of poor service. I can afford to tip and I like to do it.
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I tip.
It ain’t $1.50 for a cup of coffee.
It is a $1.50 for a cup of coffee and a place to work for an hour.
Presumably, a fair amount of what you assume could go to wages goes to real estate.
mawado
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Funny, this came up in a conversation I had with friends last week. I had never considered NOT tipping until some of them, and now some of you, endorsed the idea. Hmm.
In practice I do tip, and percentage wise it’s usually a pretty handsome tip. Something like .50 on a 1.50 cup of joe.
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On what planet is $7.50 not decent wages for a job that is suitable for kids? I got $4.50 an hour cashiering at Barnes & Noble right out of college (in 1988, not the dark ages) and nobody tipped there. Why are tips only for food service, and why now that retail wages are actually pretty good?
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Why is “a job suitable for kids” worthy of less pay? Is it so incredibly low-skill that it deserves nothing more?
This sounds suspiciously like the old “she gets a lower wage because she doesn’t need to support a family” argument. It’s either work, or it’s not.
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Re “Is it so incredibly low-skill that it deserves nothing more?”
Yes. It takes no experience and not much training. That’s why a free market determines it’s worth $7.50 an hour rather than $75.00.
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I tip on the free refill that I sometimes get at Starbucks when I’m working there. I tip the price of my drink when I get a freebie with my punch card at my local coffee shops. At Starbucks, they sometimes give me free food too, and I’ll tip then.
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Obviously debates about whether 7.50 and hour is a “good” wage for Starbucks workers if a tad subjective. But it is true, as Jane implies, that, especially when one considers benefits, Starbucks treats its workers much better than most employers in the industry. Kind of the mirror image of Walmart.
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possibly (probably) off topic, sorta, but has anyone seen StarbucksGossip.com? The debate there recently about “ghetto lattes” was sort of fascinating — people get a cheap drink, then add loads of cream to make a drink that would have been costlier had they ordered it from the barista. The stories baristas were sharing about how far customers would go to save a few pennies were pretty funny. But then, I get it — I used to have a serious starbucks/caribou jones, but just went cold turkey a month ago. Though I relapsed friday… but it was only a small latte!
And I tip. I worked too long waiting tables not to. I just can’t not tip. My British husband has no trouble on that front. So it evens out.
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Hmm…what I REALLY struggle with is tipping in restaraunts. I do, we tip generously. But, I can tell you that at most restaurants the young cooks slaving in the back of the restaurant over very hot ovens (often for minimum wage) get none of those tips.
My husband, an exec. chef, has had numerous battles with the owner of his restaurant over this issue to try and get the front of the house tips get split with his cooks. Alice Waters, at Chez Pannise (in San Francisco) started this concept many years ago when she noticed her wait staff driving BMWs and her cooks driving bikes and crappy cars.
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I think that the argument that tipping is bad because of what employERs might think is absurd. I think that most employers are oblivious to the genuine needs of their employees. Anybody who is working for around $7 per hour is marginal in this economy, even in the midwest.
I try to tip when I can afford it. I always tip a dollar at the take-and-bake pizza place even though it costs under $15 to feed a family of four. They know my face and I think they do a better job making the pizzas. Pretty pathetic what an effort they put into that measly extra dollar.
I vehemently disagree with the person who stated that a low paying job “takes no experience and not much training. That’s why a free market determines it’s worth $7.50 an hour.” That comment is WAY WRONG. Anybody who’s a parent (particularly stay at home Moms) recognizes that the “free market” economy undervalues vital human effort.
I’ve worked low paying jobs, and believe me, many of the people who earn the least labor the hardest. As you move up the pay scale, the work gets easier. Pay has no bearing on a person’s ability. What kind of job you have is a product of (bad) luck and circumstance. This world is a tough place, and for many it can be an intense struggle to rise above mere subsistance.
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I used to get lattes at the sign of the Mermaid. I never tipped because four bucks for a cup of coffee with foamy milk was already kind of expensive. (I was driving through and not sitting there using their free wifi or whatever). I justified two lattes a week as “lots cheaper than a carton of cigarettes a week” which was what I used to spend my money on before I quit smoking three years ago.
In the most recent round of cost cutting at chez moi (about March of this year), I removed four dollar coffees from my budget. Eight bucks a week on coffee is like four hundred dollars a year. No.
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YOU DONT HAVE TO TIP!!!!!! ITS UP TO U IF U WANT TO OR NOT SO JUST DONT TIP ITS NOT HARD KEEP THE CHANGE AND WALK AWAY… NO DARMA
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Hello-
I am kind of frustrated by people saying they don’t want to pay people for “counter service” when, although they may not know it, that is NOT what they are paying for. The reason Starbucks can charge so much for drinks because they are known for their quality, consistancy and great service. If people didn’t get this on a regular basis, Starbucks would not as big as it is today and would not be able to charge $4 for a latte. As a barista, I work my booty off to make an impression and present a quality drink; if it is any less than what the customer wants, I make it right. It is hard to find work in a small college town and luckily for me, Starbucks determines it’s wages based on cost of living in the area; they offer benefits for their parttime employees; they allow us to collect hard-earned tips. I just wanted to say that tips DO mean a lot to me even if it is only $0.05 in the jar. That’s a nickel or a penny more than I had before! I try to balance my time all the while being a full time student(20 units this semester), while working as much as I can as a barista(about 15-20 hours per week), an 8 hour/week internship, sorority life and social life. It’s definetly hard living on $200-$250 every two weeks while paying my for my own groceries, cell phone, gas, cable/power bills, and any other expenses I might encounter except for rent and insurance(luckily my parents pay for that) and although I usually only get $20-$25 a week it tips, it makes a HUGE difference; they can pay for gas, groceries, a night out with friends–although small they make my life easier. Although some think a tip jar is “social pressure,” try not to think of it that way. I would rather you gave me a penny happily than $10 because you wanted to impress someone else.
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All you people on here that say you don’t tip..your nothing but a bunch of cheap-asses. I can sort of understand for a plain cup of coffee…but all other drinks are hand crafted the way you want them made..even a waiter doesnt do that…we are the cooks! So quit being such cheap ass whores..and pitch in your silver!
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STARBUCKS UNDERHANDED TIP/BEGGING STRATEGIES
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TIPS = (T)o (E)sure P(rompt) S(ervice)
If I need to line up, YOU DO NOT GET A TIP! Leaving a tip does not and will not ensure prompt service if I need to line up. The tactics at starbuck’s are nothing more than BEGGING….
Next time you are at Starbuck’s trying the following:
(1) When ordering at the register, if the foot wide tip jar (begging box) is on the right, take one step to the left. You will notice that the cashier always hesitates/hovers intentially directly above the tip jar with your change rather than hand you your change. Do not reach for your change. Watch how long it takes the cashier to hand you your change (usually with a bad facial reaction.)
(2) When ordering, stand back approximately 2 feet so that the cashier must reach to you to give you your change. You should not reach. Notice that the cashier intentially hovers your change above the foot wide begging box.
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Wow, Michael sounds like a real asshole. Though I’ve never worked in the service industry, I sympathize with workers who have to deal with assholes like this. To the author and others who feel the same, I think someone here put it best when they said to tip if you want to and don’t if you don’t want to. To feel social pressure by a freggin jar speaks volumes about your personality. Get a clue and stop over thinking everything. Baristas take your order and make your drink. They hand it to you. Just because they didn’t walk over and place it on a table doesn’t mean they are less deserving of a tip. Stop looking for excuses to feel good about being cheap. You are cheap, face it. The barista did not set the price of your expensive latte, it isn’t their fault. They merely work for the company and are making the drink to your liking. If you can’t afford an extra .15 cents just say thank you and walk away. And don’t be an asshole and intentionally stand back when getting your change like Michael suggests. If some jerk did that to me I’d sit his change on the counter and keep it moving. Why try to provoke someone who is servicing you just because you are a fucking loser who is unhappy with his life? Go get laid.
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I could see where it would be hogwash to tip someone at starbucks for simply pressing a button, and from what I’ve heard they have benefits too. Right now, I’m trying to work my way through college and the only place I could find a job that would work with that schedule is a coffee shop. Tips are very important to me, I pour my paychecks into my tuition and I live off of my tips. So its depressing when I walk away with as little as $15 after 6 hours of work.
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Its. Starbucks. If you dont want to tip. Go to McDonalds! You are paying for a GREAT cup of coffee and an upscale environment. Don’t be a hater!
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wow i can’t believe so many people are b***tching about an extra quarter in the tip jar. we are not trying to trick u people into tipping us, and don’t expect it from every customer. especially asshole customers with a false sense of entitlement. tip or don’t tip but don’t post all this bull about how we’re begging for money when some of us are just trying to get through college so maybe we can one day afford to come to starbucks like u ingrates. PEACE MOFO
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I say if you have the means than why not pay it forward? The tips are very appreciated!
It’s definitely not just ‘pressing a button’… most customers do not just order a cup of coffee. It is a lot of work and there is a reason as to why you go to Starbucks where every beverage is actually prepared with skill and technique.
The tip jar is there not BEGGING you to put money in it. If you feel guilty for not putting money in it that’s not Starbuck’s employee’s fault.
When you were at that point in life and pinching every penny to pay for school and rent how much appreciation would you have if people chipped in a little to help you out 🙂
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