[Food] Tipping

[Giraffe]

10% starting point. And that is probably what I normally pay. If they are particularly good then I'd go to 15%.

Having been to the Black Horse for a meal a couple of times in the last few years I would struggle to justify any tip at all in my mind. Service was bloody awful and food not much better. However it changes ownership/management on a regular basis so maybe it has done so again?

 

[Bozza]

10% starting point. And that is probably what I normally pay. If they are particularly good then I'd go to 15%.

Having been to the Black Horse for a meal a couple of times in the last few years I would struggle to justify any tip at all in my mind. Service was bloody awful and food not much better. However it changes ownership/management on a regular basis so maybe it has done so again?

Yeah, it changed again six months or so ago I'd guess.

That night we bumped into you in garden of The Gun, we stopped there for a pint on the way home. I'll say there was a distinct difference between the clientele of The Gun and The Black Horse!

 

[Springal]

That night we bumped into you in garden of The Gun, we stopped there for a pint on the way home. I'll say there was a distinct difference between the clientele of The Gun and The Black Horse!

In what way? Love The Gun, it is my Sunday roast go to at the moment. Is a bit cliquey though I think to drink in

 

[BBassic]

The problem with tipping is that it is customary to do so.

I went for a pub lunch yesterday and was totally forgotten about after being seated. I had to go to the bar to order the food. (It was table service.) To me, the service experience was not worthy of a 15% tip, but if I had not coughed up, I would’ve been in the wrong.

Not in my eyes. Bollocks to custom.

 

[Knocky's Nose]

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?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I expect a 10 - 15 % discount for favouring them with my presence and graciously being prepared to consume their offerings.

 

[amexer]

I never return, however good, to anywhere that adds service charge to bill.

 

[Bozza]

In what way? Love The Gun, it is my Sunday roast go to at the moment. Is a bit cliquey though I think to drink in

It was a warm evening and we were sitting outside with the dog. We couldn't help but overhear the conversations from neighbouring tables. On one of them, four or five adults were discussing the "absolute ****ing bitch" that was, it seems, the ex- of one of them.

The young son of the "absolute ****ing bitch" was with them and in tears.

The impression I took was that the Black Horse possibly caters to the rougher elements of the village, although I fully concede this was a small sample size.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

10% starting point. 15% if it’s good. I also round it up. If it’s a cash tip I round it up to a note denomination. If it’s on the card up to the nearest 10. In bars I usually sling a couple of pounds/euros in the tip jar if they have one.

And tipping in places I regularly visit really does pay dividends in the long term.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

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.

Agree. But many, often young kids starting out in the world, are paid the minimum wage to do this. Waiting on tables is, at times, a really really shit job due to many of the public’s attitude to the hospitality industry. It’s also demeaned by the crap money. Saying thank you, and adding 10%, makes a big difference. If I can afford to eat out, I can afford 10%.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I never return, however good, to anywhere that adds service charge to bill.

The Albion charge a service fee for tickets. Are you boycotting the club?

 

[drew]

If I get really good service I like to tip the waiter / waitress who has served me. Unfortunately a lot of places won't allow you to do that; it has to go in a pot to be shared by everybody. If I'm told that then I won't tip at all. I want to reward the person who has delivered the excellent service to me. I don't want it sharing with some clueless numpty who has delivered shit service to another customer.

If I can tip directly and I've had good service then 10%-15% is the band I'm guided by.

Do you ever leave a tip for the chef?

 

[jackanada]

Waiting staff have great memories for tipping outliers. If you really stiff them on the tip I'd recommend never returning.
Conversely feeling flush one day (back when I used to get to eat out relatively frequently) I gave a 40% tip. Ate in the same place a couple of months later and got seated immediately with drinks and complimentary starter arriving seconds later.

 

[Withdean11]

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.

 

[jamie (not that one)]

I'll second/third or fourth this.

It's a bullshit yank construct that we seem to have blindly adopted and it makes no sense whatsoever. Americans do it because most states don't have an acceptable minimum wage so, ironically considering most of them are terrified of socialism, they feel like they need to prop them up. Why we have taken it on board is absolutely beyond me.

How many people also earning minimum wage eat out at restaurants and are forced to hand over an extra 10% just because? Why do we tip waiters but not the guys in McDonalds or Pret? Why tip cab drivers but not bus drivers?

In Spain they rarely tip except for a few euros on a massive bill and nobody particularly expects it. Same when I lived in Italy and long may it continue.

 

[jamie (not that one)]

10%. As has been said before, all the money goes into pot and is divvied up anyway, but who's to say the owner won't hold back some for themselves anyway?

Which is why you often see 12.5% in the UK now. 10% to the staff and 2.5% for the "admin" charge of sorting it out.

 

[Two Professors]

I tend to add according to local tva tax rates,and people saying tipping isn't normal in Spain are just tightwads-always leave the change.If just having drinks,always offer the server one for themselves-they have the option to take it or not.Long hours,crap wages,putting up with supercilious tosspots in the 1901,catering is hard work and any extra benefits well deserved imho.Chapeau to the vast majority of you.

 

[amexer]

The Albion charge a service fee for tickets. Are you boycotting the club?
Have always objected to be told I am going to charge a tip even if service is poor. Even when on card machine I say no to including tip, Always prefer to leave tip in cash in hope more chance of going to staff. So many restaurants to choose from but only one Albion.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I tend to add according to local tva tax rates,and people saying tipping isn't normal in Spain are just tightwads-always leave the change.If just having drinks,always offer the server one for themselves-they have the option to take it or not.Long hours,crap wages,putting up with supercilious tosspots in the 1901,catering is hard work and any extra benefits well deserved imho.Chapeau to the vast majority of you.

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

 

[jamie (not that one)]

I tend to add according to local tva tax rates,and people saying tipping isn't normal in Spain are just tightwads-always leave the change.If just having drinks,always offer the server one for themselves-they have the option to take it or not.Long hours,crap wages,putting up with supercilious tosspots in the 1901,catering is hard work and any extra benefits well deserved imho.Chapeau to the vast majority of you.

Yeah of course we leave the change etc and it's not an issue at all. It the fact tipping has become a tax rather than anything else which is the shite thing.