I tip quite a lot, if I have a meal and service isn't included I tip, I tip my hairdressers, the people who do my nails and eyebrows and delivery drivers ( which pisses off my boyfriend no end) what can I say, I worked in the restaurant industry in know what a thankless job it can be.
I'm not quite sure where this tipping and restaurants comes from. Any job can be thankless and much much harder than a waitress. I just can't fathom out why people tip people for doing their job description. In my place, if I went above and beyond, I'd be doing it because I'm caring and would flat out refuse any tips. The only place I do tip is when I go on holiday, but only because I know how bad it is in certain places and some waiters/waitresses work 24/ 7 for 6 months rarely having a day off and to add to that, you probably receive better service than you do in the UK.
People are entitled to not tip, but it gets on my nerves when the whole "Why tip when they're only doing a job for which they are paid?This ain't Amurica." statements pop-up. What can I say, I'm easily bovvad.
Why does it get on your nerves? It's a pretty valid argument. Why are you tipping someone who is already getting paid to do their job? Another question, why don't you tip the baker in the supermarket that has to be up early so you can buy your bread every day/week. Or the people that collect your rubbish. Or the people sat in a bank all day just so you can get money or other services from them. We all have a job to do, it just seems strange we want to give people more money for doing certain jobs, jobs that in the grand scheme of things, aren't that hard.
Tipping is just part of the culture here in the UK, there does not even need to be a good reason as to why some people get tipped or not get tipped as the case may be IMO.
I was brought up by parents who tipped certain people, I followed on doing the same, my kids are the same as me now regarding tipping.
Of course there are plenty of people out there who never tip.
Each to their own really on what anyone chooses to do.
I usually give my barbers and taxi drivers a small tip. At restaurants I would mostly always give a tip, the amount would be based on the service provided and the friendliness of the staff.
I did think it was normal to give a tip and am quite surprised at the number of people on this thread that don't.
In the UK I tip in restaurants and that's about it. In the U.S. I tip anyone who comes near me! I realise that service staff tend to get paid a pittance, the minimum wage for waiters is something like £1.20 an hour.
Because I work in the service industry I always tip. I especially tip waitresses/waiters because I know how that is appreciated. I make sure I ask where the tips go, and if they say "in a jar to be split" I personally give them the tip myself, because when I tip somebody I tip THEM - not the whole company.
ETA -my boyfriend actually gets embarrassed because I tip too much. So he pays the food bill and I give the tip, haha.
In the UK I tip in restaurants and that's about it. In the U.S. I tip anyone who comes near me! I realise that service staff tend to get paid a pittance, the minimum wage for waiters is something like £1.20 an hour.
It does vary between States but in many there is a separate lower minimum wage for "tipped" staff, and this can be as low as $2 an hour. They are expected to make the majority of their earnings from tips.
One advantage of this is that it is very cheap for owners to employ staff so you will find that bars and restaurants in the US have a far higher staff to customer ratio than here. Sometimes in my local there is only one person behind the bar on a busy Friday night. It also means that waiting and bar staff can earn a lot more than they do here. One waiter in a restaurant told me that last year he had "declared" over $100,000. If you can make $50 an hour in tips then it all adds up, even if you do have to split it with back of house staff.
Because I work in the service industry I always tip. I especially tip waitresses/waiters because I know how that is appreciated. I make sure I ask where the tips go, and if they say "in a jar to be split" I personally give them the tip myself, because when I tip somebody I tip THEM - not the whole company..
I don't mind some of the tip being shared with others such as the kitchen staff as if you have a good meal then other people will have contributed to the overall experience but the individual server should keep the majority of it.
I tip cabbies and barbers only. I'll tip waiting staff if service is good and assuming the restaurant haven't added 12.5% service charge onto the bill already, which I've occasionally not paid on principle if service has been particularly crap.
I have a friend who used to work as a waitress, and when she did, we would sometimes eat in the restaurant she worked in. When we did, she'd expect us to tip 20% (at age 16-17, I might add), which would be split to people including her at the end of the week. Cheeky mare.
My OH is a nightmare for being over-generous on the tip. He insists on including one regardless of the experience, and one particular meal we were served so slowly that three surrounding tables who arrived after us were all finished long before us eating pretty much the same food. I caved and gave 5% on the machine, which he then increased to 10% in cash. Ridiculous.
He was notoriously mean, and used to say to his cab driver "have a drink on me" before putting a tea bag in his hand.
My 85 yr old mum is a very embarrassing tipper. She make a big play of putting a 20p piece in the waitresses hand as if she is being very generous. That may have been the case in the 1970s but it isn't now.
My 85 yr old mum is a very embarrassing tipper. She make a big play of putting a 20p piece in the waitresses hand as if she is being very generous. That may have been the case in the 1970s but it isn't now.
I'd hope most staff would understand the situation for what it was and not hold a grudge!
We went for a meal for my boyfriend's Grandad's birthday at the weekend, and when the waitress was going around the table, as soon as someone ordered the same thing he wanted he'd say 'two of those' regardless of where she was up to. Poor lass took it in her stride mostly, though she did end up mixing up the coffee quantities after he interrupted her.
If I'm in a restaurant, I rarely tip. I did the other evening at Pizza Hut because the waiter was nice and polite, and chatted to us a bit whilst we umm-d and ahh-d over dessert. It came to £27 and I told him to keep the change from £30.
In taxis, I just round up unless I have the right change. If it's £5.40, I'll tell them to call it £6 and keep the 60p
I tip barbers and taxi drivers.
In the U.K. if a service charge hasn't been added in a restaurant I'll tip 12.5% roughly, unless the service has been absolutely dire, which it rarely is.
If the food has been not as good as I felt it should be, but the service was good, then I'd pay the exact charge, but tip the waiter/waitress separately.
In the U.S. I tip a minimum of 15%, up to 20%.
In almost 40 years of visiting 19 of the lower 48 states I have never had bad service.
If I'm in a bar in the U.S. I'll either tip a dollar or dollar fifty per drink as I buy them, or I'll run a tab, if the tab comes to $68 - $70, I'll put a further $12 - $15 on the bar.
That way, if I go back and the same person is behind the bar, they'll go, "Hey Frenchie!, double Stoly, tonic, lots of ice, no twist, right?"
I usually give my barbers and taxi drivers a small tip. At restaurants I would mostly always give a tip, the amount would be based on the service provided and the friendliness of the staff.
I did think it was normal to give a tip and am quite surprised at the number of people on this thread that don't.[/QUOTE]
I'm thinking the opposite lol.
Surprised by how many do tip all the time.
I do agree with the arguement that if the service is okay then no tip as that's what they are paid to do and I expect. If it's great then I would tip.
I have been abroad when the waitress stood there and asked me for a tip. My tip was not to ask for a tip ;-) I didn't give a tip as she was rubbish. Stood day dreaming as I waved to order ... And never approached me to ask if I wanted anything else etc.. So no tip.
She was livid...
I am tight with money so that makes me biased towards the no tip route often, however I am becoming more relaxed.
My husband and I both tip taxi drivers, he tips his barber, I tip the hairdresser, shampoo girl, and the girl who does my nails.
He invariably tips in restaurants.
We very often rented houses in the US for holidays in the 90s and noughties and he always tipped the accepted amount when we were there, in bars and restaurants.
One time a friend of mine suggested coming with us to Sarasota Florida, that way we could go 50-50 on the house rental.
I agreed, although we were a little concerned about her guy, he could be a bit moody at times, but he treated her well.
We decided that we would take alternate turns to pay for dinner when we ate out.
We were in a restaurant in Siesta Key one evening, and as a lot of you may be aware, American restaurants offer a choice of soup or salad with your main course, included in the price.
Harry, my friend's other half, ordered a salad with his lamb chops, my husband had asked for a Cobb salad as his main, so didn't get the small salad that Harry was served.
When the Cobb salad arrived, Harry threw a wobbly, wondering why his salad was smaller.
We tried to explain that the Cobb salad was a main course, so my husband didn't need a small salad.
It was Harry's turn to pick up the bill that night, and he muttered, "I ain't leaving a tip now."
We knew that he'd go through with his threat, so my husband went to the men's room, but took the waiter to one side, told him that the guy paying the check was cheap, gave him $25 and said, "Don't judge all Brits like that jerk."
Comments
I will tip in restaurants if I get very good service but this isn't very often. Average food and disinterested staff get nothing.
I find when we go abroad that we really do get service with a smile and the food is presented really nicely so we are quite generous with our tips.
I'm not quite sure where this tipping and restaurants comes from. Any job can be thankless and much much harder than a waitress. I just can't fathom out why people tip people for doing their job description. In my place, if I went above and beyond, I'd be doing it because I'm caring and would flat out refuse any tips. The only place I do tip is when I go on holiday, but only because I know how bad it is in certain places and some waiters/waitresses work 24/ 7 for 6 months rarely having a day off and to add to that, you probably receive better service than you do in the UK.
Why does it get on your nerves? It's a pretty valid argument. Why are you tipping someone who is already getting paid to do their job? Another question, why don't you tip the baker in the supermarket that has to be up early so you can buy your bread every day/week. Or the people that collect your rubbish. Or the people sat in a bank all day just so you can get money or other services from them. We all have a job to do, it just seems strange we want to give people more money for doing certain jobs, jobs that in the grand scheme of things, aren't that hard.
I was brought up by parents who tipped certain people, I followed on doing the same, my kids are the same as me now regarding tipping.
Of course there are plenty of people out there who never tip.
Each to their own really on what anyone chooses to do.
I did think it was normal to give a tip and am quite surprised at the number of people on this thread that don't.
ETA -my boyfriend actually gets embarrassed because I tip too much. So he pays the food bill and I give the tip, haha.
It does vary between States but in many there is a separate lower minimum wage for "tipped" staff, and this can be as low as $2 an hour. They are expected to make the majority of their earnings from tips.
One advantage of this is that it is very cheap for owners to employ staff so you will find that bars and restaurants in the US have a far higher staff to customer ratio than here. Sometimes in my local there is only one person behind the bar on a busy Friday night. It also means that waiting and bar staff can earn a lot more than they do here. One waiter in a restaurant told me that last year he had "declared" over $100,000. If you can make $50 an hour in tips then it all adds up, even if you do have to split it with back of house staff.
He was notoriously mean, and used to say to his cab driver "have a drink on me" before putting a tea bag in his hand.
I don't mind some of the tip being shared with others such as the kitchen staff as if you have a good meal then other people will have contributed to the overall experience but the individual server should keep the majority of it.
I thanked them but never tipped. I don't plan to. I am not rich.
My OH is a nightmare for being over-generous on the tip. He insists on including one regardless of the experience, and one particular meal we were served so slowly that three surrounding tables who arrived after us were all finished long before us eating pretty much the same food. I caved and gave 5% on the machine, which he then increased to 10% in cash. Ridiculous.
My 85 yr old mum is a very embarrassing tipper. She make a big play of putting a 20p piece in the waitresses hand as if she is being very generous. That may have been the case in the 1970s but it isn't now.
I'd hope most staff would understand the situation for what it was and not hold a grudge!
We went for a meal for my boyfriend's Grandad's birthday at the weekend, and when the waitress was going around the table, as soon as someone ordered the same thing he wanted he'd say 'two of those' regardless of where she was up to. Poor lass took it in her stride mostly, though she did end up mixing up the coffee quantities after he interrupted her.
In taxis, I just round up unless I have the right change. If it's £5.40, I'll tell them to call it £6 and keep the 60p
In the U.K. if a service charge hasn't been added in a restaurant I'll tip 12.5% roughly, unless the service has been absolutely dire, which it rarely is.
If the food has been not as good as I felt it should be, but the service was good, then I'd pay the exact charge, but tip the waiter/waitress separately.
In the U.S. I tip a minimum of 15%, up to 20%.
In almost 40 years of visiting 19 of the lower 48 states I have never had bad service.
If I'm in a bar in the U.S. I'll either tip a dollar or dollar fifty per drink as I buy them, or I'll run a tab, if the tab comes to $68 - $70, I'll put a further $12 - $15 on the bar.
That way, if I go back and the same person is behind the bar, they'll go, "Hey Frenchie!, double Stoly, tonic, lots of ice, no twist, right?"
He used to slip it into their top pocket and tap it whilst saying "have a drink on me", not their hand.
He invariably tips in restaurants.
We very often rented houses in the US for holidays in the 90s and noughties and he always tipped the accepted amount when we were there, in bars and restaurants.
One time a friend of mine suggested coming with us to Sarasota Florida, that way we could go 50-50 on the house rental.
I agreed, although we were a little concerned about her guy, he could be a bit moody at times, but he treated her well.
We decided that we would take alternate turns to pay for dinner when we ate out.
We were in a restaurant in Siesta Key one evening, and as a lot of you may be aware, American restaurants offer a choice of soup or salad with your main course, included in the price.
Harry, my friend's other half, ordered a salad with his lamb chops, my husband had asked for a Cobb salad as his main, so didn't get the small salad that Harry was served.
When the Cobb salad arrived, Harry threw a wobbly, wondering why his salad was smaller.
We tried to explain that the Cobb salad was a main course, so my husband didn't need a small salad.
It was Harry's turn to pick up the bill that night, and he muttered, "I ain't leaving a tip now."
We knew that he'd go through with his threat, so my husband went to the men's room, but took the waiter to one side, told him that the guy paying the check was cheap, gave him $25 and said, "Don't judge all Brits like that jerk."
Not enough, got a load of rubbish thats due to be taken up there possibly this weekend and chucked into one of the big skips.