Is there ever a time you shouldn’t leave a tip? Our experts disagree

While our panel of tipping experts agrees that lowering a standard tip for substandard service is appropriate, it split on whether the tip should ever be eliminated.

"If you receive a level of customer service where you never want to go back to that place again, there's absolutely no reason to tip," said Rick Garman, writer for vegas4visitors.com and author of "Moon Handbooks Las Vegas" and the "Complete Idiot's Guide to Las Vegas."

Mary Herczog, author of "Frommer's Las Vegas" and "Las Vegas For Dummies," agreed.

"I know there are waiters who are serving people who are just flatly careless," she said. "So I don't think of it as stiffing. I think it's reasonable to say, 'You weren't good and therefore I'm not going to give you a tip.'

"The question is, do people exploit that, or are they being honest about it?" she added.

Florozeen Gray, president of the Protocol Etiquette School of Nevada, said it's never proper to stiff, no matter how poor the service seems.

"At times, humans behave poorly because of various circumstances impeding their life during a given moment," she said. "A person of substance would take that into consideration and always leave a token of appreciation, regardless of the service rendered."

Similarly, Gail Sammons, chairwoman of the Hotel Management Department at UNLV, said she would never stiff an employee in a frontline position.

"I've been in a lot of those positions," she said, "and I just know that these guys are gonna walk out of there with nothing in their pocket that night and they might need bus fare."

Michael Politz, publisher of Food and Beverage Magazine, said he recommends leaving a standard tip for substandard service.

"But let the manager know about the problem," he added.