Tipping

AJK said:
I give up, you're not listening, or more likely don't want to. No idea why I'm trying to convince you anyway.
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I have an opinion, its not that I'm not listening. I don't believe you should reward someone in a low level job for providing a good service, they should just do it, if they can't, well then there is a hell of a long of people that can replace them

If I do a good job, the customer does not pay me more.

So far this topic has only concerned waiting staff, what other professions do people tip?

I would be interested in who else you tip AJK?
 
Dano said:
Because they are already being paid for doing their job, why on earth should they expect a tip for doing it properly in the first place?
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What is expected of them?

Just bringing food out?

Providing in-depth reviews of the wine?

Creating a unique dish not on the menu because you don't fancy anything that was listed?

What's expected? What are they being paid for?

We're talking about tipping for going over and above their responsibilities/our expectation.
 
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Only place I regularly tip is restaurants and even then only if the service is actually particularly good.

I'll occasionally throw some change in a tip jar in a cafe/coffee shop if I am paying with cash.
 
Basher said:
What is expected of them?

Just bringing food out?

Providing in-depth reviews of the wine?

Creating a unique dish not on the menu because you don't fancy anything that was listed?

What's expected? What are they being paid for?

We're talking about tipping for going over and above their responsibilities/our expectation.
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The thing is, it's hospitality and if you can't meet the basic requirements, which would be bringing food out, being polite and accommodating, knowledge of the products etc, then you should be in a different job.

Providing in-depth reviews of the wine and creating a unique dish not on the menu. That is beyond basic waiting staff requirements and I imagine would be on a higher salary anyway
 
Basher said:
What is expected of them?

Just bringing food out?

Providing in-depth reviews of the wine?

Creating a unique dish not on the menu because you don't fancy anything that was listed?

What's expected? What are they being paid for?

We're talking about tipping for going over and above their responsibilities/our expectation.
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What is considered above and beyond then? What is not part of their job to the point that they should be paid above and beyond what they are already being paid for?
 
jwest said:
[..] Frankly I think it is almost degrading, by tipping you are creating a strong, almost Dickensian divide between you and the worker as if you have control over them, or that your of a higher social status.
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That is true whether you tip or not - a servant is by definition of a lower social class than the people they serve and money is power and therefore a means of control (whether you give it or not).

Oh sure, it's fashionable nowadays to pretend that servants aren't servants, but that's just a matter of using silly euphemisms without any actual changes. The CEO of the huge international company I work for sends out blather addressing us as colleagues. It's a silly and utterly superficial pretence. We are just costs to him and even then only en masse - he doesn't know any of us and has no reason to. The difference in status is far too high for us to be colleagues. I've never even seen him and probably never will. We are no more colleagues than a medieval king and a peasant were colleagues. It's a ludicrous euphemism. My job is serving people - I am a servant (and a very low grade of servant at that) regardless of what my job title is listed as. They could call me Right Honourable Awesome Superstar Hero Wizard and I would still be a servant because that's what I actually do. When asked what my job is, I reply "menial" or "flunkey" because I see no reason to pretend otherwise.

AJK said:
[..]Yes. When I tip it's always in cash - up to the server if they then pocket it or put it in the communal tip jar, whatever.
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You're assuming that they are allowed to pocket tips. That is not necessarily true.
 
Hades said:
I tip at restaurants unless the service is bad and then am happy to pay only the billed amount minus service charge. I've had arguments in the past when I've removed the service charge from the bill due to poor service.

For poor service - I don't tip
For expected service - 10% tip
For excellent service - more than 10%
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You pay a tip on top of a service charge?

If there is a service charge I only pay that and no tip, usually around that amount (so just above or below the total with service charge to a round number) unless the service is bad.

I have had a couple of places complain that I hadn't paid the whole bill before though and one person get quite aggressive over about a pound before I pointed out that it wasn't compulsary. Needless to say we haven't been back there...

If there is no service charge of usually pay around 10 (again about a rounded number inc the bill). Still don't understand why I need to do it though... They get paid like anyone else...
 
Dano said:
What is considered above and beyond then? What is not part of their job to the point that they should be paid above and beyond what they are already being paid for?
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Really depends where I am.

If I'm in PizzaExpress and they create something unique for me, I'll tip them.
 
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
 
Never tip in a UK restaurant, cafe whatever unless the service is exceptional. The one time I received a tip I was very grateful and I only got it for going above and beyond what I was employed for, helping a elderly customer out to their car with their grocery's in the snow even then it was just 2 quid but I felt I had earned it.

Regarding not tipping someone I find it much more insulting to leave a single penny as a tip, that way they know you didn't just forget but their service was that poor.
 
Regy53 said:
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.
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I've had this before and stupidly didn't say anything about it.

My GF gets mortified when I don't leave a tip in a 'fancy' restaurant.

We went to Hotel Du Vin Glasgow years ago (we've since stayed in the Edinburgh hotel countless times which is far better and less pretentious) just for dinner. The meal was rubbish, the service was okay and the night was spoiled by a couple of pretentious old gits moaning about the taste of the wine and generally things not being to their standard. So, I didn't leave a tip. She said she was mortified to this day! :confused:
 
shifty_uk said:
Serious?

They all have them now, long before you enter your pin.

I even saw one recently that said 'Gratitude amount: 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%.'
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That would just make me even less likely to tip... talk about being in your face.

I only tip food delivery people because even though they're doing their job, they're making an effort to get your food to you while it's hot. No tips if late though!
 
I only tip if the level of service I receieve I deem appropiate for a tip. The American culture of having to tip always really annoys me. Generally their service is far superior to ours, but the fact that we "have" to tip someone, whether the service is good or bad is just poor form.

When I was in Vegas in June, we had a server come over to us and tell us that she was leaving and that any tips for the service would be appreciated... Because she had gone above and beyond I tipped her, else I'd have told her to jog on.
 
The standard 20% tip in the US. Always a bit 2-sides about that. It generally pays off because you get far better service in general than the UK, at the same time you see food priced at X then you add on tax and tip and suddenly you are paying way more than list price. the money also doesn't directly go to the waitress, management and owners take a cut which is sad.
 
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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Just ask them to take it off, or take it off yourself when paying by cash.

An optional service charge is just that, even if they do try and suggest otherwise.
 
This thread is brilliant, I have worked about 6 years of my life in the hospitality industry and I have got out of it because it is horrendous, you get paid a minimum wage, regularly work over your contracted hours for nothing more and generally have to deal with a wide array of people some nice and some not. I've worked in bars, hotels some nice and some not so, doing a wide array of jobs from waiting on to running restaurants/bars/weddings.

To put it simply, english people don't tip simple as. Sure there are a few that do, but all in all more often than not they just don't!
 
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