Waiters and taxi drivers told how much they should tip: the bar is slowly coming down

One hundred and fifty years ago, a cab driver or a floor boy in a tavern could, on occasion, directly demand: “Master, it would be nice for tea!” Now morals, of course, have changed, and in our recent past this was only hinted at with glances. And also – a “blood grudge” if the stubborn client did not give a tip. “Are you so poor or so greedy?” – as if a waiter or doorman was asking a direct, albeit non-verbal, question.

Now it is no longer possible to be offended by all visitors who do not throw in a few more pieces of paper for tea in addition to the check: a new generation of customers has arrived who are guided by prices clearly indicated in the menu or price list. And most importantly, he does not have cash to “round up” the bill relative to the check. But the habit, of course, does not give up so easily – especially since tips are included in most business schemes of the relevant service industries.

What the system can do

Since the majority of Muscovites almost stopped carrying cash on them, the issue of tips has become especially acute. In many restaurants, you can see a QR code on your receipt, which you can click to leave a tip for the waiter. And here a surprise awaits customers. An impartial computer has calculated everything in advance – and by default suggests leaving 15% of the bill amount.

On the one hand, there is no reason for very ardent indignation: this figure is not a constant, it can be changed. Alternative options are provided – you can choose 10% or even 7%, or you can, if you are suddenly delighted with the service, leave 20% altogether. On the other hand, all this requires some concentration and attentiveness from the client. Well, if you get lazy and click on the “default” button, then 15% will be charged to you instantly.

“I haven’t yet seen any clear benefit from these QR codes for us waiters,” Daniil, who works in one of the restaurants on Pyatnitskaya Street, told MK. – This is not an automatic payment via the SBP (fast payment system – MK note), the client needs to manually enter his bank card details on this page. Many people are simply too lazy to bother. Especially at the end of the evening, when half the company is already getting dressed, half went out to smoke, in a word, there is a fuss all around. It is much easier to put a few bills in cash as a tip. But, of course, they put in less.

This, according to Daniel, is the main issue. The power of habit is ineradicable, so the most common scenario among clients of establishments is to leave a few hundred-dollar bills (from 100 to 400 rubles) as a tip. Putting in 500 rubles is already a kind of broad gesture, but a thousand or more, according to the waiter, is left only at the end of large banquets.

Meanwhile, the rules of etiquette recently dictated: the standard tip size is 10% of the cost of the service. This, by the way, applies not only to cafes and restaurants, but also to beauty salons. However, despite the fact that the average bill is steadily growing (an ordinary dinner for two without any frills rarely costs less than 5,000 rubles), this rule is followed less and less often. The tip bar is slowly going down to 5-7%, if not less. With laconic orders, many Russians, trying to save money, stop leaving tips altogether, arguing that “the girl won’t bother to bring me coffee; in fact, she gets paid for it.” Many people in 2024 have completely forgotten about the tradition of “thanking” the cloakroom attendant or, say, the gas station attendant.

And money in a mug

“Customs associated with tipping become victims of price turbulence,” explains psychologist Olga Klyukina. – If over the previous 10 – 15 years the size of both the standard check for a person and the tip due to it was established, now everything has shifted. Let’s take a gas station as an example: in the mid-2010s, 20-30 rubles in coins was a completely normal tip for a gas station attendant (wealthy Muscovites, however, could give 50 or 100 rubles in paper). Now – against the backdrop of the price tag for gasoline that has increased in recent years – it turns out that it is already indecent to give less than 50 rubles. But many people feel sorry for giving too much – after all, not everyone’s income is growing. It turns out that giving less is more shameful than giving nothing at all.

But the market would not be a supernaturally flexible system if it did not come up with a way out of this situation. The concept of tips is being replaced by the concept of “donates”, also known as donations. In almost any store, at the same gas stations, in hairdressers, and, in general, everywhere where the client pays money, there is a transparent “mug” for donations on the counter.

What to write on it is a matter of imagination and taste. Someone writes, as in a cafe: “On vacation for the bartender/master/seller.” And adds a smiley face. Someone respectfully labels the mug “For the development of the establishment.” However, few people read what exactly is written on the mug: the purpose is obvious.

“Surprisingly, while we are still collecting the “harvest,” it turns out to be from 1,000 to 5,000 rubles a day,” says Nikita, an employee of a barbershop in Shchukino. – People often deposit 100-200 rubles, sometimes 500. But small change also arrives, metal ones – we exchange 200 rubles a day. It’s probably inconvenient for people to put small change as a tip, but in a mug it’s normal, it seems like a donation is never too small.

A pretty penny transfer

So, it seems that the traditional tipping system is in an obvious crisis – voluntary-compulsory, when a decent person felt obliged to put some amount on top of the check, and an employee of the establishment was not shy about hinting at this to him. But it seems that the practice of “adding on top” still survives – just in a more voluntary format.

“They often give me tips by transfer, directly to my direct phone number, and this is very nice,” says Izat, who works in a courier service for the delivery of food and groceries. “People don’t have much cash now, and usually all orders have already been paid for, but they won’t give money on purpose. But many people I call from my phone then send me 100-200 rubles “in return.” Many thanks to them!

According to Izat, more of these tips come on stormy and frosty days, when people sympathize with the courier more than usual. Another type of “tip,” albeit intangible, is a good review in a delivery app: this increases the courier’s rating and in the future brings bonuses from the “system.”

A similar mechanism has developed in taxis: according to taxi drivers, there is a significant layer of passengers who prefer to reward the driver not through standard tipping mechanisms, but personally, even in the absence of cash. “They always pay in cash, there are people who don’t want to link their cards,” said driver Robert Adamyan. – And they say: can I pay by transfer? And they pay a little more, 200 – 300 rubles, if the trip costs about 1000.”

For the driver, as MK’s interlocutor confirmed, this is even more convenient than through the system: the aggregator does not pay “regular” tips immediately, but after 24 hours. And the standard “tariff scale” for tips in the system may not be so profitable for the driver.

“True, payment in cash is not very well received here,” the taxi driver warned. – Because when paying in cash, the passenger can cancel the trip for free. Therefore, if you arrive at a location and the client pays in cash, we don’t wait long and can leave faster. But this is convenient for many – maybe these direct tips by transfer just compensate for this.

So, direct translation is another very effective way to thank for a service that the client really liked. True, there is an important feature here: for direct transfer you need to know the direct telephone number of the driver, courier, waiter. And not everyone working in the service sector agrees to this. After all, exchanging phone numbers is already a step towards a personal relationship.

But, perhaps, these are the rules of the game now: tipping becomes a gesture of a personal relationship with the person on the other side of the taxi counter or salon. And if you want to keep the relationship impersonal, you have to be content with the (very meager, note) opportunities that IT platforms offer. Still better than nothing. Although, of course, it’s worse than in the “cache” era.