Do you tip?

Reading this article got me thinking about tipping....

Job fears over new tipping laws - Yahoo! News UK

I live in a culture where tipping is not the norm. You don't leave a tip for taxi drivers or in restaurants here. It's just not the done thing. In fact, I'm a little bit worried about my vacation home next year because I plan on doing a fair bit of travelling and I'm really not up on what is normal tipping behaviour anymore. In fact part of me resents the idea of tipping. That waiter should be paid by the boss, and me paying for my food should be more than enough all things considered. But I'm sure everybody is expecting a tip. And taxis in the UK are so expensive. Why on earth are people expected to tip on top of the already ludicrous fare prices? I think I prefer the way things are here in this respect.

What are your views on tipping?

Yep but only for good service

I fucking hate when service charge in automatically on the bill at a restaurant

I tip at the pub on every round but only expect 20-50p

at least 10% in a restaurant if the service is good

Never in a cab, Never in a hairdressers

I tip about 10% in a restaurant or Hairdressers (if I am happy with the service) usually give about an extra £1.00 in a taxi

only if she swallows ;D;D;D

I've never lived anywhere where I would use a taxi regularly so I can't speak on that and I cut my own hair. I do tip very well for good service at bars and restaurants though. Good service for a waiter will earn a minimum of 15% from me and I usually tip at least a 50 cents to a dollar every time I order a drink maybe more if I am ordering multiple drinks. I know the concept is a bit odd for people in countries that don't do it but it is a very important part of the food and beverage industry here in the U.S. The market is very saturated and a owner/manager has to put a premium on good service. By having servers make more than 90% of their wages from tips it lets the business keep its overhead lower and offer a much more competitive price for their goods. It also rewards hard work and motivates the server to give the best they can. As a former bartender and bar manager I really can't imagine what I would have had to pay to keep my best people not to mention what I would have to charge the customer to offset the increase in overhead. Not sure what its like in other countries but typically bartenders and waitstaff are college and highschool students who can only work a few hours a day and need the compensation to pay bills while they attend school. I look at it as paying the owner for the product and the server for the convenience which in turn provides me with a cheaper product and better service.

I tip pretty generously as long as common courtesy is shown usually about 30%. It may seem like a high amount but I don't go out into situations where a tip is necessary often.

Of course at places to eat. If you get just normal service or better and don't tip at a restaurant here than that's pretty shitty. Waiters don't get paid anything substantial at all hourly really, its just tips. The rare few times I'll take a cab I'll tip, and haircuts. But restaurants are the main thing. In fact I'll call serious bullshit on somebody if they don't tip at a restaurant where the service has been ok, that's crap IMO. Now in other cultures where the waiters are paid regular wages, fine.

Try to base on service and personality.Sort of like when you look for a check out line in the store.I dont look at how many are ahead of me or their items...try to size up the cashier.Are they looking at their nails and trying to text with the left hand...having attitude.Or are they fluid,checking the rear of line and you know....actually keeping pace,working.

Cabbies with shite taxis,broken window latches and that "who really gives two shits" conversation I just round up/down to the dollar.....all Waiters and table jockys are tipped.....Pizza delivery is different.The very young people get the least....some 40ish plugger just hanging on and probally going home to entrenched grief I tip pretty well.

"others"...cough.No comment.Had a crazy clash driving home from Katrina evacuation.Hey,just realized I made it so went sort of crazy at the Holiday Inn on the city outskirts prior to driving in.

Yeah I'm a waiter so obviously I sympathize and tip appropriately everywhere even for my coffee. That's also because I seem to try to seduce every girl that ever serves me coffee ever and that always starts with the tip. If I'm lucky enough I might get one back. As a waiter if I make 15% then I'm thrilled but usually it's closer to 12% or 13%. I'm not working at a high end institution, it's Applebees so it is a bit ghetto and you get the ghetto crowd who just don't tip no matter what. We have to claim whatever credit card tips we make plus 8% of whatever our cash sales were and that's deducted from the check. So if you pay cash and don't tip at least 8% then I'm actually LOSING money waiting on your table. Kinda shitty.

Why don't service industries just charge more for their product and give their workers better wages? I would much rather go to a restaurant like that. What you buy is what you pay for and that's that. The culture of tipping just sounds like an excuse for restaurant owners to pay awful hourly rates and make the diners cough up extra so workers can pay their bills. It just seems a bit screwed up from my perspective. Tipping is actually frowned upon out here and seen as an insult if offered. I quickly adopted that mentality which seems so natural to me now.

It's not that I'm cheap as I would happily pay more for my meal in the knowledge that those workers are getting a minimum standard of living. But the culture of tipping just seems a bit unsual to me and on going home next year I was just wondering how far it all goes.

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Originally Posted by amat

Yeah I'm a waiter so obviously I sympathize and tip appropriately everywhere even for my coffee. That's also because I seem to try to seduce every girl that ever serves me coffee ever and that always starts with the tip. If I'm lucky enough I might get one back. As a waiter if I make 15% then I'm thrilled but usually it's closer to 12% or 13%. I'm not working at a high end institution, it's Applebees so it is a bit ghetto and you get the ghetto crowd who just don't tip no matter what. We have to claim whatever credit card tips we make plus 8% of whatever our cash sales were and that's deducted from the check. So if you pay cash and don't tip at least 8% then I'm actually LOSING money waiting on your table. Kinda shitty.

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You see, that really sucks. Why is it on the customer to make sure you are getting enough to live? That should be the companies obligation and they should be making more than enough profits from their regular business anyway. Like I say, I'm out of the loop these days...but just find it very odd the way things are in the west. Well America and the UK actually. I heard in a lot of European countries tipping is not the norm. It certainly isn't in the parts of Asia I have been to.

Alot of the higher tier restaurants consider that they are selling you a fine meal as well a environment,atmosphere,presentation I suppose.Fast food has exploded in the last couple of decades,especially in horrid economy people look for cheap quick and easy.Tipping can have some to do with status?

Coffee shops and such I never tip.On a day I can pay 2,3 bucks for a coffee that I really dont need,the last thing I'm tempted to do is hand over another 2 bucks to some 'barista',who probably gets free coffee all day long....fuckers!!!

There is definitely no sense of customer service out here which is different to home. Waiters are functional and do their job, no need for fake politeness or bothering you excessively. In taxis too drivers are straightforward and there is no nonsense involved. They drive you there, then you pay and go. No need for the overbearing sense of customer service that I remember in the west. Small talk in taxis is so annoying.

I prefer the bluntness and just get it done attitude people have here. They do their job, I pay the bill and you say goodbye and do it again later. No complaints. It suits me anyway.

Now that I think about it I probably tip cabs too much, of course I rarely if ever take them, but dude's just driving ffs and they get paid normal wages I think.

But yeah waiters, its all they make so its just not right to stiff them IMO. I can even put up with some stupid mistakes, people have bad days, just fix it move on. If they're rude, obviously different story.

I graduated college recently but am still serving while looking for a career. People that don't tip drive me nuts, esepcially the people that come in and get a kick out of treating you like jack and being inconsiderate and rude and then leaving something like a buck on 50$, makes me wana choke em. Due to some jacked up and outdated laws servers still only make 2.14 an hour, half of what original minimum wage used to be, minimum wage has since gone up to like 7+ and server wage has stayed the same. As long as there is no laws in place restaurants will just continue to pay servers 2.14 an hour and servers will be dependent on tips, which has been really shitty over the last year tip income has gone down considerably due to the economy. In case anyone is wondering 18-20% is a good tip, 15% is ok and anything below that is garabage since most waiters have to tip out about 5% of their tips to bussers, bar, front desk and such. Ok that's my rant sorry to bore. To answer the question I always tip 30% min

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Originally Posted by armin

I graduated college recently but am still serving while looking for a career. People that don't tip drive me nuts, esepcially the people that come in and get a kick out of treating you like jack and being inconsiderate and rude and then leaving something like a buck on 50$, makes me wana choke em. Due to some jacked up and outdated laws servers still only make 2.14 an hour, half of what original minimum wage used to be, minimum wage has since gone up to like 7+ and server wage has stayed the same. As long as there is no laws in place restaurants will just continue to pay servers 2.14 an hour and servers will be dependent on tips, which has been really shitty over the last year tip income has gone down considerably due to the economy. In case anyone is wondering 18-20% is a good tip, 15% is ok and anything below that is garabage since most waiters have to tip out about 5% of their tips to bussers, bar, front desk and such. Ok that's my rant sorry to bore. To answer the question I always tip 30% min

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$2.14 an hour is criminal and I cannot understand how they can get away with that. You are willing to get angry at the customer, but at the end of the day it is the industry and lack of regulation that allows your boss to get away with not giving you a fair minimum living wage. That's where the money should be coming from. If I ever went to America, knowing how they treat waiters I would certainly tip. I feel less obliged in the UK where workers definitely earn more than that, but still in that industry they are probably not having their earnings declared by their bosses and the money is still mediocre. I would feel obliged to tip. But I would still have my thinking of "Why should I tip here when other cultures don't have this system and function just fine without it?".

There are some interesting comments about tipping here if anyone is interested. Personally, I find it quite a fascinating area.

If employers pay their waiters/waitresses a wage to provide services to customers, why is it customary (and expected) to tip? | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk

Oh trust me I get mad at my boss more than any guests, he treats us like garbage, even though we're consistently the top restaurant in secret shoper surveys in our company. They did away with a few positions like expediter and such because supposedly the company wasn't doing well enough financially, yet a month after this they sent his ass on a 3 week cruise on the french riviera with like 15 other gms. It's just a bunch of corporate bs...the day I get out of the industry will be a glorious one...

I think tips are good because it makes the server work it really does, I definitely think quality of work would drop if tipping went away. Only on the busiest nights do I have to tip out 3%, host, bartender and expo. Like I said Applebees is a bit ghetto, this fcking 2 for 20 is cool because it makes people come in but I neeever get more then a 4 on it, it's nuts. Almost never.

Dam that sucks man if every tip was 10% it wouldn't even be worth it man, i'd just go work in a gas station and get benefits and shit at least. we have to tip out a minimum of 4.2% to everyone but you better throw in extra if you ever want them to get you out the weeds or get your table set up quicker than an hour.Service would just drop to the shitty ass tables that come in and just try and get their meal for free . You know the ones that come in eat everything and then it was no good cause they want a gift card or some shit. I really think the people that work hard would work even harder cause they know they're getting paid for it, and hard workers are usually intrinsically motivated, not just by money.Then again you could be right and servers could just stop givin a dam altogether...

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Originally Posted by amat

I think tips are good because it makes the server work it really does, I definitely think quality of work would drop if tipping went away. Only on the busiest nights do I have to tip out 3%, host, bartender and expo. Like I said Applebees is a bit ghetto, this fcking 2 for 20 is cool because it makes people come in but I neeever get more then a 4 on it, it's nuts. Almost never.

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Now I see how things are in America I see that tipping is quite neccessary there. I struggle to get my head around how an employer is allowed to pay 2 bucks an hour though, but as a customer there is no way I would be happy knowing my waiter is only earning that. I just wish that restaurant owners were more accountable and would provide a fair basic wage.

If you are happy with it, then it's fair enough I suppose. I just see it as being a bit unfair.

In regards to waiters, I NEVER TIP!!

I hate the idea of it... Especially if service is sub-standard... or just plain shit!

IMO i'm ALREADY paying for food AND service.

If the waiter/ waitress is upset about that, hers my tip...

GET A NEW JOB!! :mad:

Jim Boogie AKA Mr Pink ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-qV9wVGb38


What a great scene this is btw

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Originally Posted by Jimboogie

In regards to waiters, I NEVER TIP!!

I hate the idea of it... Especially if service is sub-standard... or just plain shit!

IMO i'm ALREADY paying for food AND service.

If the waiter/ waitress is upset about that, hers my tip...

GET A NEW JOB!! :mad:

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Who let The Grinch out! ;D

No, I know what you are saying. I kind of feel the same way and seven years of living in a country where people just don't tip, makes me question it's role and purpose.

The US food service sector sounds atrocious. Still quite shocked that they earn so little tbh. Tips are almost like a charity thing over there. "Please pay the wages of the underpaid serfs who are serving your meal because I as the restaurant owner and don't want to!". That's just not cool. :-\

Its something iv'e always felt stongly about...
That, and the whole ''and thats why i don't want a daughter'' thing (another story :rolleyes: )

But yeah, i do pitty the failed actors and actresses who ply their trade deep within the realms of the food service sector.

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Originally Posted by armin

I graduated college recently but am still serving while looking for a career. People that don't tip drive me nuts, esepcially the people that come in and get a kick out of treating you like jack and being inconsiderate and rude and then leaving something like a buck on 50$, makes me wana choke em. Due to some jacked up and outdated laws servers still only make 2.14 an hour, half of what original minimum wage used to be, minimum wage has since gone up to like 7+ and server wage has stayed the same. As long as there is no laws in place restaurants will just continue to pay servers 2.14 an hour and servers will be dependent on tips, which has been really shitty over the last year tip income has gone down considerably due to the economy. In case anyone is wondering 18-20% is a good tip, 15% is ok and anything below that is garabage since most waiters have to tip out about 5% of their tips to bussers, bar, front desk and such. Ok that's my rant sorry to bore. To answer the question I always tip 30% min

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:smilie_whisper: Next time they come in why not Tip stuff over the non tippers that would be quite just in a screwy kind of way:cooldevil: ..
..:domo-kun:"whoops here comes your meal and drinks.

I tip usually because the places I go out to I frequent certain establishments and I appreciate the service they give me. Now I don't like it when they add the tip into a check, that's bullshit!

I think what some of yall are mising is that many bartenders and waitstaff make pretty damn good money in only a few shifts and at a relatively small price to the consumer. This is actually a much better system for the US considering what the price for goods would be if the food and beverage industry had to pay a reasonable rate to keep good help. If I had to pay my barstaff what they were worth it would cost me a at least 400% increase in hourly wages paid which would probably account for at least a 30-40% increase in overhead. You can bet your ass that my owner would have made sure to pass this increase along to you the consumer.

Personally, I always tip when I go to restaurant or when I buy alcohol in a bar, in canada i always give 15% as it is normally what we could give to servers, in Luxembourg, service is include in the price you pay but I always add a little euro or 1.5 euros when the service has been good (i.e not trying to force us to buy more than what we want, a nice smile and a correct speed for the occupation of the restaurant at that moment). For the rest, I rarely tip though, sometimes if the taxi Driver was nice I give him an extra dollar but that is it.

i tip when i am on holiday (strange really)

but when i am in the states & sum guy pours me a beer, why the fk should i tip him for that? took him like 10 seconds & its his fkin job

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Originally Posted by Drago

i tip when i am on holiday (strange really)

but when i am in the states & sum guy pours me a beer, why the fk should i tip him for that? took him like 10 seconds & its his fkin job

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It seems he is earning $2.14 per hour. I agree with you, but it seems the Americans still have a thing for slavery. It's just that the punters are expected to prop up the wages instead. It's a crappy system obviously. Civilised countries don't have this kind of nonsense.

The UK tip system seems to be based on merit. The US one is based on a case of "tip or the waiters die hungry".

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Originally Posted by Drago

i tip when i am on holiday (strange really)

but when i am in the states & sum guy pours me a beer, why the fk should i tip him for that? took him like 10 seconds & its his fkin job

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First of all you don't have to tip and when you do it is completely up to you how much. If I am just drinking bottled beer I won't tip everytime either. But basically ask yourself would you rather pay $3.50 a pint over the course of a night and toss the guy 3-5 dollars cumulatively for his "good" service or pay $6 or more per draft and not be expected to tip at all? It is providing you the same product cheaper and in theory with better service.

8 beers at 3.50 plus a total of 4 dollars in tip (assuming good service) = $32
8 beers at 6 dollars = $48

seems pretty simple math to me

I make $8 an hour and most comparable entry level jobs don't pay more then 11.

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Originally Posted by amat

I make $8 an hour and most comparable entry level jobs don't pay more then 11.

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Fuk you deserve a tip! Thats rough.How old are you?

My oldest daughter 18 is a waitress in a pub and started on 18 and now gets about 22 per hr and 33 on holidays more on the big ones! Not many tips though,maybe 1 a month is all.

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Originally Posted by Andre

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Originally Posted by amat

I make $8 an hour and most comparable entry level jobs don't pay more then 11.

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Fuk you deserve a tip! Thats rough.How old are you?

My oldest daughter 18 is a waitress in a pub and started on 18 and now gets about 22 per hr and 33 on holidays more on the big ones! Not many tips though,maybe 1 a month is all.

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It seems that a lot of service staff in the U.S. only earn $2.13 an hour as a basic hourly rate. No doubt that they deserve to be tipped working for that.

The U.S. system seems to be very different from that of the U.K. and I struggle to see the merit in it really. Though I'm sure it might work out well for those working in places doing good business.

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by Andre

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Originally Posted by amat

I make $8 an hour and most comparable entry level jobs don't pay more then 11.

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Fuk you deserve a tip! Thats rough.How old are you?

My oldest daughter 18 is a waitress in a pub and started on 18 and now gets about 22 per hr and 33 on holidays more on the big ones! Not many tips though,maybe 1 a month is all.

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It seems that a lot of service staff in the U.S. only earn $2.13 an hour as a basic hourly rate. No doubt that they deserve to be tipped working for that.

The U.S. system seems to be very different from that of the U.K. and I struggle to see the merit in it really. Though I'm sure it might work out well for those working in places doing good business.

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I usually give a tip to my barber. I don't give tips in small restaurants and in restaurants where the price of the food is enormously high. MY wife doesn't give tips at all so I like dating with her.;D

Regarding the wages for service staff in the US, I thought working in the US is very compensating. Now that I know how people are being paid there, I'll be forced to take the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) examination before going there so as to get a decent pay.;)

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Originally Posted by brucelee

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by Andre

Fuk you deserve a tip! Thats rough.How old are you?

My oldest daughter 18 is a waitress in a pub and started on 18 and now gets about 22 per hr and 33 on holidays more on the big ones! Not many tips though,maybe 1 a month is all.

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It seems that a lot of service staff in the U.S. only earn $2.13 an hour as a basic hourly rate. No doubt that they deserve to be tipped working for that.

The U.S. system seems to be very different from that of the U.K. and I struggle to see the merit in it really. Though I'm sure it might work out well for those working in places doing good business.

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I usually give a tip to my barber. I don't give tips in small restaurants and in restaurants where the price of the food is enormously high. MY wife doesn't give tips at all so I like dating with her.;D

Regarding the wages for service staff in the US, I thought working in the US is very compensating. Now that I know how people are being paid there, I'll be forced to take the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) examination before going there so as to get a decent pay.;)

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The minimum wage is higher than that for other jobs, but it seems the bartending and waiting jobs are stuck with that horrible 2 bucks an hour thing.

Do people tip in the Philippines generally? I don't remember me nor my Philippino friends tipping in restaurants and bars when I was there.

I was in this great carvery place in Manilla where you paid a certain amount and you could refill your plate as much as you wanted just so long as you cleared your plate each time. Lots of roast beef and chicken! Top quality. I don't recall any tips, but it was quite expensive for Manilla.

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Originally Posted by brucelee

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by Andre

Fuk you deserve a tip! Thats rough.How old are you?

My oldest daughter 18 is a waitress in a pub and started on 18 and now gets about 22 per hr and 33 on holidays more on the big ones! Not many tips though,maybe 1 a month is all.

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It seems that a lot of service staff in the U.S. only earn $2.13 an hour as a basic hourly rate. No doubt that they deserve to be tipped working for that.

The U.S. system seems to be very different from that of the U.K. and I struggle to see the merit in it really. Though I'm sure it might work out well for those working in places doing good business.

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I usually give a tip to my barber. I don't give tips in small restaurants and in restaurants where the price of the food is enormously high. MY wife doesn't give tips at all so I like dating with her.;D

Regarding the wages for service staff in the US, I thought working in the US is very compensating. Now that I know how people are being paid there, I'll be forced to take the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) examination before going there so as to get a decent pay.;)

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I wish somebody had given a tip to your mother and told her not to pro create ;D

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Originally Posted by miles

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Originally Posted by brucelee

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Originally Posted by miles

It seems that a lot of service staff in the U.S. only earn $2.13 an hour as a basic hourly rate. No doubt that they deserve to be tipped working for that.

The U.S. system seems to be very different from that of the U.K. and I struggle to see the merit in it really. Though I'm sure it might work out well for those working in places doing good business.

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I usually give a tip to my barber. I don't give tips in small restaurants and in restaurants where the price of the food is enormously high. MY wife doesn't give tips at all so I like dating with her.;D

Regarding the wages for service staff in the US, I thought working in the US is very compensating. Now that I know how people are being paid there, I'll be forced to take the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) examination before going there so as to get a decent pay.;)

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The minimum wage is higher than that for other jobs, but it seems the bartending and waiting jobs are stuck with that horrible 2 bucks an hour thing.

Do people tip in the Philippines generally? I don't remember me nor my Philippino friends tipping in restaurants and bars when I was there.

I was in this great carvery place in Manilla where you paid a certain amount and you could refill your plate as much as you wanted just so long as you cleared your plate each time. Lots of roast beef and chicken! Top quality. I don't recall any tips, but it was quite expensive for Manilla.

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Yes, you need to give a tip in high class hotels like Manila Hotel, etc. Hehehe.

LOL. That's what you call "eat all you can" bro. In my place here, there is a restaurant where you pay only P200 ($4) and you may eat all you can. ;D;D;D

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Originally Posted by BIG H

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Originally Posted by brucelee

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Originally Posted by miles

It seems that a lot of service staff in the U.S. only earn $2.13 an hour as a basic hourly rate. No doubt that they deserve to be tipped working for that.

The U.S. system seems to be very different from that of the U.K. and I struggle to see the merit in it really. Though I'm sure it might work out well for those working in places doing good business.

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I usually give a tip to my barber. I don't give tips in small restaurants and in restaurants where the price of the food is enormously high. MY wife doesn't give tips at all so I like dating with her.;D

Regarding the wages for service staff in the US, I thought working in the US is very compensating. Now that I know how people are being paid there, I'll be forced to take the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) examination before going there so as to get a decent pay.;)

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I wish somebody had given a tip to your mother and told her not to pro create ;D

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That's a dangerous wish! You wouldn't be here if my mom did not procreate me. LOL;D;D;D