Tips at restaurants

[inogen]

A lot of people in this country don't tip and complain about service. It's stupid.

Countries where tipping is more prevalent, tend to have a much better service culture than here (no **** Sherlock). eg, Canada, where at a baseball stadium, the server remembered my drinks order from 20 minutes before, even though she would have served 100s of drinks in-between. She even remembered that there was no ice in the V&T. She didn't bat an eyelid when I asked her to keep the change. That's normal there. Service there is quick, slick and easy.

Even on a personal level, tipping the staff in a restaurant is a rewarding thing. In better restaurants, they'll remember you, in busy restaurants, they're always grateful as it's generally a thankless, ****** job, dealing with mostly ungrateful, badly mannered morons.

 

[spoffle]

So as others have said already, you have to bribe waiting staff in to giving you a level of service they should as standard.

 

[arknor]

A lot of people in this country don't tip and complain about service. It's stupid.

Countries where tipping is more prevalent, tend to have a much better service culture than here (no **** Sherlock). eg, Canada, where at a baseball stadium, the server remembered my drinks order from 20 minutes before, even though she would have served 100s of drinks in-between. She even remembered that there was no ice in the V&T. She didn't bat an eyelid when I asked her to keep the change. That's normal there. Service there is quick, slick and easy.

Even on a personal level, tipping the staff in a restaurant is a rewarding thing. In better restaurants, they'll remember you, in busy restaurants, they're always grateful as it's generally a thankless, ****** job, dealing with mostly ungrateful, badly mannered morons.

er some of the countries with the best service in the world are actually offended if you try to tip them like in iceland where tipping is considered an insult

Japan doesn't do tipping either

 

[manius]

That's about double a full time waiters salary, and a lot of waiters etc are on zero hour contracts so aren't even guaranteed a wage! Poor paramedics, sucks to have a guaranteed job and prospects for annual payrises, and a pension etc etc, and as you said, that's a starting salary of £21k, not to be sniffed at really!

ok then what about the Emergency Care Support Worker this is the other person in the ambulance who has nearly as much responsibility as the paramedic they only get £16k

also the people that make the ambulances ready MRO i think there called checking all the equipment for the crews for when they go out there on zero hour contracts getting £6.50 an hour i cant see them getting any tips for doing a good job

 

[inogen]

er some of the countries with the best service in the world are actually offended if you try to tip them like in iceland where tipping is considered an insult

Japan doesn't do tipping either

These are exceptions. I was talking generally, in countries where there's a tipping culture, service is better. That's been my experience. It also stands to reason. If people are rewarded for serving to a good standard, they will. If they're not, they won't, in general. If there are other societal or cultural reasons that effect service levels in other countries then all well and good, but what relevance to they have in the UK? Or, for instance, Canada, the US, most of Europe etc that don't have an idiosyncratic relationship between action and reward in regard to service.

Here (again generally), we have the worst of both worlds, poor service, with swathes of customers who are ignorant enough to believe that they deserve better, without paying for it, whilst refusing to link the two.

And it's not just tipping either to be fair. A lot of people are impolite, rude, bad tempered or just plain badly behaved and still expect an imaginary level of service that's commensurate with the stretch marks on their egos.

 

[arknor]

there is no tipping culture in the uk

 

[spoffle]

there is no tipping culture in the uk

Unfortunately, there is. I think it's partially to do with how much American media we are exposed to in the UK that society has to some degree adopted a bit of the American tipping culture. Some people actually *do* expect tips just for doing their job.

 

[Andybtsn]

Don't tips go into a shared pot nowadays anyway so the waiters/waitresses will only get a fraction anyway? I do tip generally but I rarely carry cash around so it has to be a tip I can leave on the cash machine I'm afraid!

When I was in San Fran we went into a bar and sat down, no waiter came to us so I went up to the bar and ordered a drink and paid. I paid with the correct amount the beer and Coke came too so when I was about to go back to my seat the barman reminded me where I should write down a tip on the bill for next time, quite rudely too...I just laughed in disbelief really...

 

[Glaucus]

Don't tips go into a shared pot nowadays anyway so the waiters/waitresses will only get a fraction anyway? I do tip generally but I rarely carry cash around so it has to be a tip I can leave on the cash machine I'm afraid!
...

Nope, it's down to the place, some do some don't.

You can always ask what the policy is.
I would rather pay tips when it goes to the waiter who served me and only to them, and I would rather remove the discretionary service charge and leave that amount in cash for the waiter themselves.

IMO needs some legal clearing up so it's clear where money is going to. without asking and putting waiters in an awkward situation.

 

[Xordium]

in countries where there's a tipping culture, service is better.

In your opinion. I am far from convinced that is true.

 

[HEADRAT]

I tip if I receive service where I think the waiter/waitress has made an extra effort or has been really pleasant, if they've made my dining experience more pleasurable etc.

If they've just "gone through the motions" then they get nothing, they get paid for waiting, if they "want more" then they have to "give more".

 

[D.P.]

Nope, it's down to the place, some do some don't.

You can always ask what the policy is.
I would rather pay tips when it goes to the waiter who served me and only to them, and I would rather remove the discretionary service charge and leave that amount in cash for the waiter themselves.

IMO needs some legal clearing up so it's clear where money is going to. without asking and putting waiters in an awkward situation.

I would prefer to be able break the tip down into different sections, e.g. kitchen staff should get as much as the waiter IMO.

 

[D.P.]

In your opinion. I am far from convinced that is true.

In my anecdotal data set it is very true:
UK: minimal tiping and poor service.
Germany: no tiping and poor service
Switzerland: no tipping and terrible service
USA: heavy tipping and great service
Canada: heavy tipping and great service

Just back from Costa Rica, no tipping and terrible service.

Sure there are exceptions, high end restaurants in the the UK/Germany typically have good service without the need for tipping but that is due to high staff quality.

 

[inogen]

In my anecdotal data set it is very true:
UK: minimal tiping and poor service.
Germany: no tiping and poor service
Switzerland: no tipping and terrible service
USA: heavy tipping and great service
Canada: heavy tipping and great service

Just back from Costa Rica, no tipping and terrible service.

Sure there are exceptions, high end restaurants in the the UK/Germany typically have good service without the need for tipping but that is due to high staff quality.

Yep. Leave a good tip in Greece, Spain, Italy or even France and be prepared to be treated like royalty next you visit the same place. Eastern Europe can be the same.

Last few times I've been out for meals in the UK, we've ended up with several different waiters and waitresses throughout. Which was okay, but they're not really attending to the meal, they're guessing. It just wouldn't happen in places where they expect tips, or rather where people are willing to pay extra for good service.

 

[inogen]

there is no tipping culture in the uk

Precisely my point. If only there were.

 

[inogen]

Who tips in their local pubs?

I do. And I have to suffer the dirty looks from other patrons when I get served more quickly and with better poured beer.

It's the same principle.

 

[Clipsey]

Surely it's down to the restaurant quality and evening out.
You got to a standard half decent chain, someone gets your drinks, takes your orders 'tells you the specials' etc not much effort is required.
You go to a decent up market restaurant, steakhouse or whatever where you'll be spending hundreds, you better believe I want the best service ever! Someone to give me a great dining experience is totally different than taking my order.

 

[Nexus]

Me and my group would wave good bye and find a bar with good service where the staff don't expect a tip every drink.

really I'm out and drinking like 10 drinks a night I'm supposed to give the barman a tip every drink? I'll give him a tip get a bloody education and a proper job you parasite

It's not enough we also had to pay to get the in club/bar is it? jesus christ you want some money if I take a crap too ? should I tip the guy giving out sprays in the toilet? maybe set up a trust fund for him

then you get all the women thinking men should buy them a drink so they can go "oh my friends over there bye" lol man some people must be proper mugs spending the amount of money on bribes as they do their own drinks

You are muddling things.

My point about not being served by a bar person was because they aren't doing a good job of being aware of who should be served next and keeping track of things. Such a person is probably not even paying enough attention to see somebody come back who may have tipped them previously.

When I said I served somebody quicker because they previously tipped me, I'm talking about people that I can count on one hand, despite the bar being filled with a few hundred people. There might be 2-3 people in a busy night, so i'm hardly ignoring other people waiting in the grand scheme of things.

And no, I wasn't talking about a tip every time you go to the bar, as nobody in my experience ever did that. Having lived in the US and Canada, then it's certainly different. Not tipping in a busy bar will result in you struggling to get served, while being a bigger tipper will mirror my UK experience, because the staff want to do more for you. You can call it parasitic all you want, but it's low paid work and people want to get paid. You don't have to like it, but it's the way this world works.