Tipping

For excellent service I will tip otherwise no.

Adding a voluntary service charge to a bill always has annoyed me. If I want to tip I will tip, I find it so presumptuous to add a service charge onto a bill without even asking me if the service was good or not.
 
People in the catering industry more often than not work long and unsociable hours, mostly on minimum wage to provide a service, just like a taxi does too. A waiter / waitress can make or break your evening with their service. When they apply for that job, it is often advertised at set wage (minimum usually) + gratuities, a bonus or incentive to do their job better, i don't think it's a bad thing, sales people get bonuses for hitting targets, bankers get bonuses, etc. Why shouldn't we in the catering industry be given an incentive to do our job that little bit better, to make your meal the best it can be?

Would you prefer to be served by a sour faced waitress who has no incentive to make your 'occasion' that little bit more special? Or a chef to cook your food thinking 'meh, what's the point in making this as nice as i can do it?' The tipping system works, it makes up these minimum wage workers salaries, who i guarantee, work a damn sight lot harder than i bet most of the people in this thread who sit on their arses all day looking at a computer screen. And getting paid a lot more money for it! (the exception goes of course to emergency services and NHS staff)

So, from within the industry, or jobs come with an incentive of gratituities advertised to make us try harder, just like yours comes with a target bonus, or free health care, free gym membership or company car. I will cook my food better if i know i get tipped well for it ;)
 
I forgot to say, i will tip most of the time if i've enjoyed to meal and the service has been good, but i'm not afraid to send food back if it's been cooked wrong or is simply crap! A couple of quid tip is frankly nothing, no loss to me but it makes the waiter / waitress's day that little bit better, in turn, making them do their job better.
 
Regy53 said:
Hate tipping but often feel obliged.

As if the food and drinks (£4.65 for a pint of peroni for example) were not expensive enough you then need to think about leaving 20% or more of a tip? I mean I am a family man and my mrs does not earn a lot, this extra tip money is usually between £6-10 which is quite a lot imo.

I usually feel obliged to leave something for fear of being judged if I do not.

A place in Brighton that served me and my family terrible food took the tip without even asking. The 15% tip is added to the bottom of your receipt / bill. That came as a shock as the food and service was terrible.

Of corse if a waiter / waitress has really changed the evening and made it enjoyable then I have no problems to tip, same if the food is top notch. The problem lies when you just get a regular service you would expect for eating out in their establishment.

:D
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They can't take the tip without you agreeing to it. They gave you the bill and you decided to pay for it. If I have terrible service I will refuse to pay for the food rather than just the service charge.

I find tipping irritating, and I think it is unethical as polite service and good cooking should be the absolute minimum you should expect. In other contexts it is even worse E. G the hotel porter who only opens the door or carries a ladies bags because they expect a tip. Firstly that is his job, and secondly this is normal polite behaviour. Tldr=tipping is bad because it degrades common courtesy and chivalrous behaviour!

I will often tip anyway especially if it with a group because I can't be bothered with making a fuss. If your friends are keen to tip then refusing would be rude to them rather than the staff.
 
I only get a bonus if I exceed my targets, so I apply the same logic to my tipping.

There has been an instance where our waiter was exceptional, to the tune of me giving them a 25% tip!
 
I dont tip unless i get 2 mints with my pizza buffet.

Only person i ever tip is a cab driver and round it up to the nearest £5.

God knows why ? All they do is drive to where i ask and charge me a fortune as it is...Sitting in traffic watching the 20p's add on every few seconds..
 
oli collett said:
People who don't tip - what do you do when you're faced with a default service charge? It seems to be the case for at least half the places I go to nowadays and reading this thread I can understand why!

If there's no service charge i usually round up the bill + 10%, occasionally more for really good service. If it's been a bad experience, I might go as far as not tipping/removing service charge but that's vv rare
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I ask it to be removed if I felt the service wasn't up to it, or if I want to add my own tip amount.

If there is no service charge, I only tip if I felt the service is exemplary or that I was looked after better than expectation. Or for example, the sake of waiting a few minutes for a little bit of change (say a couple of quid) if paying by card.

johnny6 said:
I have a question

Is tipping actually that widespread in America, or is it some old wives tale that tourists believe but isn't actually true.

The reason I ask is because when I was in Vegas I saw lots of tourists tipping but Americans not so much.

I wonder if tipping isn't as widespread as people would believe.
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Tipping makes part of their wage - I've only been to the States a dozen or so times, but everywhere expects a tip, it's just the way it is. The Americans don't tip as much if they feel the service wasn't good - but generally still tip from my experience. Vegas is very strange as it doesn't reflect other cities in the States.
 
bsoltan said:
If it isn't a 'rule' in the UK then why do most places insist on a compulsory tip if you are a party of 6+?
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That won't be a tip, that's a service charge, usually optional.

I tip if I've had a good time. If not then I just pay the price on receipt. Do that in America though and you'll end up being lynched. Weird place.
 
Vegas is definitely strage - but what a city;

We went to Nobu in Vegas and the service was out of the world. He suggested some great choices and a manner about him which was exceptional. The missus had a bit of food splash on her white dress - the waiter turned up with a stain remover pen and gave it to her... Top service, and top, top food!

He got over 25% for the tip and rightfully so.

In America they do expect a tip, every where. It's not an old wives tale or the sorts.
 
Pestilence said:
Jeez; did he toss you off under the table or something?
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A VERY fetching she actually (yes, that helped), who was the perfect balance of attentive whilst not hovering, had a great sense of humour and gauged how to interact with our table perfectly, made some brilliant recommendations for each course, took anything out of the ordinary requests smoothly in her stride, basically she gave a service well above anything I have experienced before or since.

Did I mention that she was VERY fetching?
 
Jester* said:
For excellent service I will tip otherwise no.

Adding a voluntary service charge to a bill always has annoyed me. If I want to tip I will tip, I find it so presumptuous to add a service charge onto a bill without even asking me if the service was good or not.
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This gets right on my nerves as well, especially when the service you receive doesn't even make the basic bill worth it and they then look bent out of shape when you ask them to remove their service charge.
 
I never tip at a restaurant unless I feel the service has been exceptional. They get paid a wage, if they don't like it they need to look at a career change. As another poster mentioned I will occasionally tip bar staff if it's busy in the hope of getting served more efficiently next time.
 
tom_e said:
This gets right on my nerves as well, especially when the service you receive doesn't even make the basic bill worth it and they then look bent out of shape when you ask them to remove their service charge.
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I have found they give you 2 prices, one without the voluntary charge and 1 with. I pay the one without and if I want to add a tip I will! Never had any issues with doing it this way I must admit.
 
I will never tip, it's an odd thing that's started to become more and more "normal" here and it's the same old silly excuses as to why. They get paid to do their job, like millions of others. On the subject of low wage workers, why just food services, why not everything? Also assuming they're all low-skilled individually is wrong too.
 
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