Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

I know that there's much to debate about tipping.  10%?  15%?  Do you tip even if you receive lousy service? 

I consider myself a pretty generous tipper and even overly generous when I receive phenomenal service.  I've never been a food server before, but I can certainly understand what it's like to be on your feet eight hours a day.  I also know that you're dealing with people's food - food that they want a certain way.

But food servers aren't the only people who make tips - there are bar tenders and our favorite coffee baristas.  Are we obligated to tip these people? 

In response to BrewBlog's post What's In a Tip?, I must come clean when it comes to tipping at the coffee shop.  Sometimes I'll give a dollar in change versus putting a paper dollar in there so that the barista can hear that I'm giving them a tip.  Why I do it, I don't know.  No, I'm not looking for extra treatment or a big thank you.  And will I tip if nobody is looking?  Again, I admit that yes, I sometimes won't tip if nobody is looking - especially if I need the change for the parking meter.

And to answer my questions at the beginning of this post.... I generally give 15% and yes, I will even tip if I receive lousy service, but somewhere in the range of 5%.