[Food] Tipping

[Birdie Boy]

Seven of us went out for lunch a few months ago, it was lovely,three courses,drinks,coffee and liquers,our host insisted on paying as it was their birthday.
Doubt the bill came in at much less than £700, and our host left a £20 tip.
Having just spent around £700 on a meal I don't think anybody could call them tight for leaving a supposedly small tip.

The tight ones were the other 6!
The birthday boy has already laid out around £700 , the tip in comparison IS small. Everyone else could have put a tenner in each, staff would have been happy and you would only have been a tenner out of pocket for the night...

 

[seagull 1979]

...... or the chef, bottle washer, pot jockey etc etc, all play their part

This with bells on..

 

[Baldseagull]

If someone simply brings my food from the kitchen to the table, I don't leave a tip. That's what they get paid to do.

If someone is attentive, makes sure we're ok and the food is acceptable, checks back to see if we need anything, keeps the drinks flowing, clears the table promptly and is pleasant - that's above and beyond the minimum, and I'll tip 10% - 20%. I will also thank them verbally for good service.

To me, you tip exceptional service.

If an electrician comes round your house to fit a new socket, quotes you £40, fits the socket - which works fine and looks acceptable, do you give him an extra 10% on the bill?

I do tip tradesmen, not at 10% of the bill mind, but at least enough to buy a beer if the guy has been decent.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

I have on rare occasions given tips to staff in Macdonalds and other such places.

For the high quality of the food, the speed the waiting staff bring it to your table and the efficiency that the previous customers rubbish and chips were cleared from your table before you sat down and the skill involved in emptying your tray into the receptical provided.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

I do tip tradesmen, not at 10% of the bill mind, but at least enough to buy a beer if the guy has been decent.

I tip my dustmen at Christmas for 12 months of litter strewn down the back of my house and for providing me with exercise as I venture down the road to locate my wheelie bins every chuffing week.
The postman also gets an Xmas tip for providing me with a constant supply of quality rubber bands that I pick up from outside my house, or at least the ones that the seagulls haven't eaten first and suffered a slow and painful death.
Parcel delivery companies get some too for providing me with useful trips to the other side of the city wasting my time and fuel because they couldn't be bothered to knock on my door.
Oh and.......

 

[portlock seagull]

10% for job done e.g. good service, decent food
15% if excellent e.g. great hospitality and truly delicious food
20% plus if exceptional e.g. no queue and my Big Mac was hot

 

[Questions]

I felt uncomfortable in New York a couple of years ago with their whole tipping culture.

We had the taxi from hell from the airport to our hotel and I told my mate that he wasn’t getting a penny extra than the agreed price and walked off...
Jesus the guy went ballistic..... I ducked into our place and left him to the mad Mexican.

 

[The Lemming Stomper]

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I felt uncomfortable in New York a couple of years ago with their whole tipping culture.

We had the taxi from hell from the airport to our hotel and I told my mate that he wasn’t getting a penny extra than the agreed price and walked off...
Jesus the guy went ballistic..... I ducked into our place and left him to the mad Mexican.

...................and if you don't tip the barman / barmaid a few dollars when you get a few beers good luck getting another round

 

[portlock seagull]

I felt uncomfortable in New York a couple of years ago with their whole tipping culture.

We had the taxi from hell from the airport to our hotel and I told my mate that he wasn’t getting a penny extra than the agreed price and walked off...
Jesus the guy went ballistic..... I ducked into our place and left him to the mad Mexican.

That’s pretty disrespectful though, it’s their culture after all and as outsiders we might not like it but it’s a bit like not removing your shoes if visiting a mosque or removing your hat in a church i.e. it’s just not the done thing.

 

[The Clamp]

In the UK i will not tip unless i feel the service has been beyond the expected. Unlike the US, we simply do not have a tipping culture.

You don't tip in restaurants in the UK? That's low.

 

[Questions]

That’s pretty disrespectful though, it’s their culture after all and as outsiders we might not like it but it’s a bit like not removing your shoes if visiting a mosque or removing your hat in a church i.e. it’s just not the done thing.

Nearly killing your passengers did the deal for me. Call me old fashioned if you like.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

That’s pretty disrespectful though, it’s their culture after all and as outsiders we might not like it but it’s a bit like not removing your shoes if visiting a mosque or removing your hat in a church i.e. it’s just not the done thing.

Why would you pay extra, voluntarily, for a crap service, I don't, culture or no culture.
Tipping is not a religious culture which I would always adhere to.

 

[Two Professors]

I’m pleased we can agree on something. You say you offer a drink, do the Wetherspoons staff often accept this kind offer?

But of course 'Spoons staff accept the offer,especially our very friendly French and Polish ones.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Interestingly there is an article on tipping in this weeks email from Moneysavingexpert.com where someone poses the following question


‘’I usually tip 10% when out for a meal, but recently I was eating with a group who don't tip at all and felt it would have been silly to leave such a small tip just for my share, so I didn't leave anything. Should I have done it anyway?’’

 

[ArfurW8]

The tight ones were the other 6!
The birthday boy has already laid out around £700 , the tip in comparison IS small. Everyone else could have put a tenner in each, staff would have been happy and you would only have been a tenner out of pocket for the night...

A difficult one,we did offer to do the tip when the bill came, however the host insisted she paid,we were then in the dilemma of how would she feel having spent a significant amount on us that we felt it necessary to increase the tip.

 

[disgruntled h blocker]

The main question is "why should we pay a tip"? Is it because there is pressure because some cultural precept states we should give a gesture for good service, and you are "tight" if you don't?

People are there to do a job and that job is to provide a service to a customer. If someone goes out of their way to provide something excellent, yes, why got, but we should move away from this mandatory tipping. It allows employers not to provide a competitive salary to staff as their take-homes are subsidised by the customer.

A few years ago I was on Santa Catalina Island (off L.A.) with a friend and during a trip to a bar the waitress was telling us her story about her being a "single mom" and struggling. My American friend then told me we should tip more to help her out. I felt awkward about this and it did ruin my enjoyment of my time in the bar. Why should customers pay extra because of the staff's circumstance?

 

[portlock seagull]

Why would you pay extra, voluntarily, for a crap service, I don't, culture or no culture.
Tipping is not a religious culture which I would always adhere to.

Because in America it’s just the way it is as Bruce famously sang. Barmen, taxis, Waiters...if you can’t afford or choose not to pay a tip for these services then expect the reaction he got. That’s why I said it’s their culture, and tourists aren’t exempt either! I’m sure you understand. You just don’t agree. If the former, I can’t explain it further. Maybe someone else can try.

 

[portlock seagull]

The main question is "why should we pay a tip"? Is it because there is pressure because some cultural precept states we should give a gesture for good service, and you are "tight" if you don't?

People are there to do a job and that job is to provide a service to a customer. If someone goes out of their way to provide something excellent, yes, why got, but we should move away from this mandatory tipping. It allows employers not to provide a competitive salary to staff as their take-homes are subsidised by the customer.

A few years ago I was on Santa Catalina Island (off L.A.) with a friend and during a trip to a bar the waitress was telling us her story about her being a "single mom" and struggling. My American friend then told me we should tip more to help her out. I felt awkward about this and it did ruin my enjoyment of my time in the bar. Why should customers pay extra because of the staff's circumstance?

There are a lot of dumb people on this thread if they can’t understand it’s different in the USA. People are expected to tip, it’s almost VAT and the economy and way of life are set up that way. Visiting for a a few weeks as a tourist isn’t the time to try and dismantle their way of life in every state. Instead go with the local customs, as you should in every country, and then get back to being tight arsed stiff upper lipped moaning Britons when you get back to, er, Britain!

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Because in America it’s just the way it is as Bruce famously sang. Barmen, taxis, Waiters...if you can’t afford or choose not to pay a tip for these services then expect the reaction he got. That’s why I said it’s their culture, and tourists aren’t exempt either! I’m sure you understand. You just don’t agree. If the former, I can’t explain it further. Maybe someone else can try.

I know that with first hand experience, the bell boy at a hotel in Hawaii after dropping off my suitcase was not happy when I gave him a handful of Yankee coins when he held his hand out, in fact he left it on the carpet outside the door.
It was still a tip though probably about 3 or 4 dollars.
Ungrateful scrote.