> (Do you tip cab drivers? If so, why? Their whole job is to take you to the place you asked for, that's why you pay them).
I tend to tip cab drivers here in NYC very high, anywhere from 25% to 50% depending on the fare. (I tend to tip high generally simply to avoid the embarrassment and accidental cruelty of tipping low)
NYC has crufty licensing rules for taxis, and the actual driver may be leasing the right to drive (the medallion) from a fleet owner or some corporate entity, which cuts into their profits a lot. Among my peers there seems to be a bit of disdain for cab drivers generally. A lot of people seem indignant about being able to pay with a credit card which results in less profit for the driver. I've seen people who are rude to drivers just as a matter of course.
So I tip high, and I pay in cash. I don't claim to be making the most perfectly rational economic decision here, but I hope that by doing so, I show a little appreciation and gratitude to someone who is performing a service for me.
It might be mostly cultural. I show appreciation and gratitude by using the service, reasoning that all the compensation necessary is included in the price. I don't see the US way as paying extra, it's more like "pay what you want in a specific range", whereas the European way is more "this is the price we've all decided is mutually fair".
The former way would be more efficient, if it weren't for the social stigma of underpaying. I'd love to overpay for good service and underpay for bad service, but nobody underpays, in practice. Still, I guess overpaying for good service is a good way.
The practice of tipping or not and how much is in a large part cultural, of course. I was just answering your question regarding the case of taxis specifically, since (in NYC, at least) I think the circumstances of "taxi economics" put most drivers at a disadvantage, and I try to acknowledge that by tipping.
I tend to tip cab drivers here in NYC very high, anywhere from 25% to 50% depending on the fare. (I tend to tip high generally simply to avoid the embarrassment and accidental cruelty of tipping low)
NYC has crufty licensing rules for taxis, and the actual driver may be leasing the right to drive (the medallion) from a fleet owner or some corporate entity, which cuts into their profits a lot. Among my peers there seems to be a bit of disdain for cab drivers generally. A lot of people seem indignant about being able to pay with a credit card which results in less profit for the driver. I've seen people who are rude to drivers just as a matter of course.
So I tip high, and I pay in cash. I don't claim to be making the most perfectly rational economic decision here, but I hope that by doing so, I show a little appreciation and gratitude to someone who is performing a service for me.