[Drinking] Tip your barstaff!

[Shropshire Seagull]

Non-tipper here.

My understanding of the purpose of tipping was to substitute take-home pay to low-paid staff like waiting / bar and hairdressers and the like.
The government bought in legislation to stop exploitation of employees being paid derisory money - we call it minimum wage [and living wage].

Several times in the last month while eating out, a 10% service charge was added to my bill, apparently discretionary, but you are opted-in and have to specifically ask to opt out. I'll wager that 10% extra does NOT find its way into the take home pay of the staff.

If I've had some exceptional service, I'll subtly put a couple of quid directly into the hand of the person who earned it. Maybe old school, but it's the way I was brought up.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Asked and sometimes pressured to tip for almost anything these days, with preset tip options at 20%+.

Pressure? In what way?

I use bars, cafes and restaurants regularly and have never felt pressure and preset tip options always start at 10%.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

A pub related thread with no mention of 'Spoons after 18 posts - what is wrong with NSC today?

I gave the barman at my local "spoons" a tip the other week.




2:40 at Newmarket

Not sure if he shared it with his co-workers mind ....

 

[Brovion]

Tipping is (or was) a thank you for exceptional service/going the extra mile, not for doing your job and certainly not to enable staff to be underpaid. I would love to see a campaign against ‘discretionary service charges’, I think it would be popular.

Exactly. We all know the Americans don't like trade unions (too Socialist) so over there they underpay their workers and expect the customers to do it for them. And surprise surprise they prefer rich customers who can leave bigger tips.

It's dreadful that it's becoming more and more prevalent over here to the extent that rich people are more welcome as customers because they can afford to give bigger tips. Pay the workers a decent wage and let the tips be a bonus.

 

[sully]

In my retirement years,... early retirement, I helped out running the bar in a few pubs locally here in the west country. Currently doing 10-15 hours a week at a pub that does food,.. a good quality one that has table service for diners, drink and food,. Recently a table of 16, most had two courses, most had two drinks.... total tip... 30p from one old lady.. we have frequently had zero from tables paying bills of more than a hundred, great quality food and service, reasonable prices... no excuse.

Sorry, but people should be paid properly and the goods should be priced properly.

If you give good service, I’ll come back and tell my friends. If you don’t, I won’t come back and will tell my friends.

Nobody gives me a tip for doing my job well and treating people properly, but they come back and give me more business.

I’ve never understood tipping, really. Employers just need to pay appropriately for the quality of staff they require, not just pay minimum wage and expect their staff to beg for extra pay from their customers.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

What did the leper say to the prostitute ?

Keep the tip.

 

[Cordwainer]

When up in London a few weeks back had a meal at Ping Pong and fell foul of this, post a few drinks thinking it was a staff tip. Cheeky cheeky feckers.

London restaurant chain adds ‘brand charge’ as it bans tipping by card | Hospitality industry | The Guardian

Ping Pong criticised for introducing optional 15% months before new law will ensure workers get 100% of tips

amp.theguardian.com

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Sorry, but people should be paid properly and the goods should be priced properly.

If you give good service, I’ll come back and tell my friends. If you don’t, I won’t come back and will tell my friends.

Nobody gives me a tip for doing my job well and treating people properly, but they come back and give me more business.

I’ve never understood tipping, really. Employers just need to pay appropriately for the quality of staff they require, not just pay minimum wage and expect their staff to beg for extra pay from their customers.

Hospitality has to pay a minimum wage by law, so they are paid appropriately in one sense. But hospitality pay is low, hospitality is a tough gig and is public facing….the majority of whom seem to be entitled tossers these days who rarely compliment when things go well but certainly kick up a fuss when things don’t. I’m exceedingly grateful for what they do and as such will 99% of the time tip. Thanking them and giving a tip sends a clear message of how I feel in amongst all the crap they have to put up with…..usually gets me a free schnapps as well. Everyone is happy.

 

[BBassic]

What did the leper say to the prostitute ?

Keep the tip.

I don't know whether to laugh or puke. Both?

 

[bluenitsuj]

Nope. Pay them more.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Mods. Can you edit the title to “Tight arses of NSC”?

 

[dazzer6666]

Slippery slope, don’t do it.

Canada has become AWFUL and people customers are fed up of it now. Asked and sometimes pressured to tip for almost anything these days, with preset tip options at 20%+.

It’s pure greed on behalf of the business owners, so they don't have to pay appropriate wages, and pass the responsibility onto the customer.

In some cases (and I know this first hand) the store managers and/or owners will often take a large (50%) scoop out of the tips for themselves as a ‘bonus’, with the full tip amounts often not going to that particular server/employee.

That was our experience touring (mostly) BC last year (Toronto wasn’t as bad)………as @Badger says it was very much the case in coffee shops and the like, but also saw loads of it in souvenir shops (probably a ‘fleece the tourist’ easy hit), food shops (particularly independents) and even some clothes stores.

 

[portlock seagull]

Most bars I go to I pay at the end; I always add tip.

Yep, both my locals allows me to do the same. I also regularly ‘buy’ the staff drinks either as a cash tip or actual drink if they prefer. Because they’re lovely people, not out of obligation or because I’m asked. Just helps make the world go round in a small way.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

After spending a fortune on overpriced beer in Fellacio’s Bar on the Palace Pier is the 10% just added to the drink price or do they add it to quid you paid to enter as well?

 

[Super Steve Earle]

I buy a drink for me and my wife at the bar. I pay for our drinks. Sorry, no tip for that. I can't imagine people adding a tip for Amex bar staff before going back to seat at half time and the same for service staff anywhere. On the other hand I always tip 10% in restaurants. Funnily enough tipped 10% today at lunch, €20 and the waitress gave me back €10. I gave it straight back obviously and she was pleasantly surprised. But I'm not tipping just for pouring a drink.

 

[StonehamPark]

Pressure? In what way?

I use bars, cafes and restaurants regularly and have never felt pressure and preset tip options always start at 10%.

Are you talking about European experiences?

I’ve spent a lot of time in Spain and Portugal, and the tipping culture (and to an extent, general service) is a world apart from that in the US and especially Canada.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I loved living in the States but the tipping culture drove me mad - the bar staff, taxi drivers, hair dresser etc the lists goes on and on. In NYC the expected tipping level was about 20% and after a while I just got used to it but, as others have said, it was really Employers using us as a means of topping up the employees wages to a reasonable level. Eventually the UK follows everything that happens in the USA.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

2.30 Newcastle

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Are you talking about European experiences?

I’ve spent a lot of time in Spain and Portugal, and the tipping culture (and to an extent, general service) is a world apart from that in the US and especially Canada.

The thing about American culture is that the service is generally excellent because of the tipping culture. The worst service amongst the countries I've been to is Spain. I've walked out of restaurants where we've had no more than the menu in 20 minutes and I appear to have donned an invisibility cloak. That type of thing simply doesn't happen in the States.

 

[The Grockle]

Happy to tip when there's service involved but if it's a simple at the bar transaction I very rarely tip unless the server has contributed to my evening beyond just serving pints.

I'm an advocate of gratuity but for me it involves a change in the way the UK approaches hospitality. Serve me at the table, service a tab engage with me beyond basic pleasantries and I'll happily give 15%