Tipping?

[queenbellevue]

The whole tipping process fascinates me. In some countries it's expected (maybe just the US, I've never heard of tips being the expected norm anywhere else) and in others it's seen as an insult (Japan comes to mind).

How much do you guys usually tip when you go out?

 

[DIna00]

I like to tip 15% but my husband always goes with 20%. He is so generous it actually drives me nuts, because he'll calculate 20% regardless of the service. I think 15% is truly expected just about everywhere in U.S. and Canada. I don't agree with it but then again I don't agree with restaurants being able to pay the servers peanuts and expect the tips to bring up their wage.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

We don't normally tip more than 10% unless someone had really gone out of their way to deal with my dietary needs and been really helpful etc.

 

[Berties]

Normal in the uk is 10%,but cities especially London it's more ,still tipping is discretionary and good service and a good server deserve more, and servers need to earn them not expect tips

 

[crimsonghost747]

In most parts of Europe tipping is kind of 50-50. It's not really expected but still often done to some extent. Keep in mind that in the receipt it's almost always written "service included". I'm quite cheap so I usually don't tip, servers here earn a decent wage anyway and tips are not necessary for them to have a normal income. Though if the service has been good and I'm paying with cash then I usually leave the coins behind as tip.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

"Tipping" this is the normal thing happening in my mother country wherein you need to give always a tip not only on eating places but in other establishment too. That is why when my foreign husband had first experienced the style of tip giving in our place he was surprised. To give a tip is not bad but to the extent of what you are capable to give only.

 

[JoanMcWench]

I like to tip 15% but my husband always goes with 20%. He is so generous it actually drives me nuts, because he'll calculate 20% regardless of the service. I think 15% is truly expected just about everywhere in U.S. and Canada. I don't agree with it but then again I don't agree with restaurants being able to pay the servers peanuts and expect the tips to bring up their wage.

This could not have been more on point. In America it's really a matter of feeling obliged to pay for something the company that hired them did not pay for. This works for servers, delivery people, & hotel workers. It would be a different case had they been able to make an appropriate wage.

 

[Pat]

Tips are part of the income of the person that is providing the service. Servers have a below income hourly wage and the tip makes up for the low income. I have worked as a server in a restaurant for tips which can be good and sometimes very poor. People like to treat the server as if they are servants, they are rude and demanding, often some of people act like they have the right to be rude because you are a server.

 

[queenbellevue]

Tips are part of the income of the person that is providing the service. Servers have a below income hourly wage and the tip makes up for the low income. I have worked as a server in a restaurant for tips which can be good and sometimes very poor. People like to treat the server as if they are servants, they are rude and demanding, often some of people act like they have the right to be rude because you are a server.

This is why I don't really like the tipping system. It encourages people to see servers as inferior, because customers think that since they pretty much pay for the server's wages, they're entitled to treat them like slaves. Servers will probably put up with rude customers if they tip well, and ignore more polite diners who don't tip as much (maybe because they themselves don't make as much).

 

[tangela]

When my husband and I go out, we always tip 20% no matter what. He used to be a server so he knows how hard it can be, and more often than not the wages that they are paid are not enough to be considered as minimum wage if you don't include the tip (that's a whole other discussion).

There have been times when we've only tipped 10% but it's usually at one of those establishments where you pick up the food yourself and stuff like that. If we felt dissatisfied with the service, we'll tip 20% but ask to speak to the manager. We don't know if the server is just having a bad day or something, so why make their day worse by giving them a crappy tip?

 

[Lullabelle]

At the end of the day servers are just trying to make a living like the rest of us, they are not servants they are human beings. Nobody deserves to be treated like c**p regardless of their job.
A couple of years ago we were in Barcelona and the waiter looked down his nose at us and was unpleasant, we just laughed it off, we didn't tip.

 

[worldmachine]

I don't agree with tipping in restaurants in general and i wonder why it is expected. When you go in to a supermarket for your groceries you don't tip the cashier or the shelf stackers, they are providing a service just as much as waiting staff in a restaurant. I will tip in a restaurant if the food and service have been exceptional but not otherwise. Some restaurants build the gratuities automatically in to the bill, i will not frequent these establishments, it should be personal choice whether to tip or not.

I do understand however that waiters and waitresses don't make a lot of money and rely on the tips but i don't want the money going in to the pockets of greedy restaurant owners. I do not want to be told either that i must leave a tip, that should always be at my own discretion.

 

[LittleLilly]

While I do tip, I agree with the others who have pointed out the absurdity of it. It's a way for business to offload costs and the responsibility of paying a living wage in the first place. We really shouldn't have to pay a reward for getting good service. Good service should be the norm

 

[sidevalve]

First let's get one thing clear - EVERYBODY who works for a living is a servant. You fly a plane - you serve your passengers, you fix a car - you serve your customer, you are a politician - you serve your people [sort of]. Maids, cleaners, restaurant staff are simply different types of the same thing - they serve their customers because it is their customers that pay their wages - NOT their employers. I agree with the above that unless someone has gone out their way to be helpful then they are just doing a job, part of that job is to be polite to customers and serve their food.
If tipping stopped then the employers would be forced to pay a wage or they would find their staff would find other [I admit maybe low paid employment] and they would close - no staff = no business. IMHO tipping actually encourages low pay.

 

[Berties]

waiting staff in general in the uk has changed,waiting service used to be a trained person who went to a college learnt their trade ,and then went into the industry as a commis,then built their way up to chef du rang then on up the chain to matre de if they were good enough ,you would have a sommelier who would know all the wines to go with the dishes but now ,waiters are treated as second class job,but most have no idea,most can't pull a cork,I have seen waiters finish ducks,flame main meals and so on ,the service industry was a trade and people had passion for it,and this was rewarded by tipping..thats why i tip good service ,a waiter can make the difference of a good or bad experience,and it is a skill to get it just right,and believe me its a diminishing trade.if a good waiter does make the effort to make your meal memorable,leave a tip ,if they don't bother to try ,and expect atip,avoid the tipping,for me its simple