Tippng

expat · 02-10-2006, 13:12

I have just got back from an holiday in Sri lanka, while I enjoyed the holiday very much the one thing that I can't stand is Tipping every Tom Dick and Harry for the slightest thing, not that I am tight and don,t like parting with my money,you just don,t know how sincere people are. Here in Oz you pay a surcharge when you go to a restuarant so you don't have to tip, and the service staff don't expect it, so if a waiter is very helpfull, you know he is just being helpfull there's no other motive.I remember being in Seattle once and before we had managed the get off the airport shuttle bus some guy had put our bags on a trolley (which we could have quite easily have carried )took them 20 yards, and wanted a tip for that,I left him and my wife argueing she ended up giving him a tip but I don't think he put it where she told him to.

BLACKBURN RAVER · 02-10-2006, 13:21

not on topic i know...

but

i hope the mods cant lip read or that avatar wont last long

WillowTheWhisp · 02-10-2006, 13:52

Don't you tip anyone in England then?

steeljack · 02-10-2006, 13:55

back on topic ...........I totally agree with expat , tipping here in the US is completly out of control , waitrons in the San Francisco area think nothing of following patrons out into steet and berating them for leaving less than 20% , and make a point of informing customers with non american accents what they expect .
Bl**dy tip jars are appearing everywhere , every fastfood/coffee takeaway has a tip jar on the counter, and bar-tenders expect a buck for every drink poured .
I'm not sure who to blame , the business owners who allow the staff to behave this way , or the Govt which allows them to pay below market wages and expect tips to make up the wage , the owners whinge that if they had to pay a living/decent wage they would have to raise prices which would drive them out of business,
In some States ,employers in service/food industries are allowed to pay less than minimum wage and tips are expected to bring it up to that level, and waiters have to pay income tax on tips based on the gross reciepts of the business.

I'm not sure if this is a problem all over or just in urban/metro areas

West Ender · 02-10-2006, 13:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLACKBURN RAVER

not on topic i know...

but

i hope the mods cant lip read or that avatar wont last long

Don't think you need to be able to lip-read to make that out.

On tipping - as a rule, I don't. Very occasionally I will, in a restaurant, if the service has been outstandingly good and there isn't already a service charge (which I consider a damned cheek anyway). Otherwise why pay more to someone who is getting paid to do their job in the first place?

I hate the American culture of tipping everything that moves, or even doesn't move, and I know someone who was pursued into the street, in New York, by the counter-jockey when he left a burger bar without leaving a tip. In a Burger Bar? What service? The guy had just handed him a carton with a burger in it, over the counter. He'd have had to chase me several blocks before he got a cent out of me.

WillowTheWhisp · 02-10-2006, 13:58

Well I wouldn't tip in a burger bar but a taxi driver who helps with luggage, a waitress who gave good service in a restaurant that kind of thing - is it abnormal here to tip them?

mrskitty · 02-10-2006, 15:18

I tip here and know a few others that do too so its not that unusual here.

entwisi · 02-10-2006, 20:50

I generally tend to tip as I did that job and know just how much it means to the person receiving. Having said that its only if I feel they deserve it. In Croatia where we have just come back from the wages are so low in comparison( a graduate earns ~£400/month, bar staff etc significantly less) that a quid out of my pocket makes a big difference to the person. If you frequent a place often it also tends to get you that extra bit of attention the next time.

WillowTheWhisp · 02-10-2006, 22:41

Just good to know I'm not abnormal then.

garinda · 02-10-2006, 22:52

I hate the whole culture of tipping.

We sort of expect that some workers rely on tips to top up their relatively low salaries, such as waiting staff, the girl that washes your hair, and barworkers. Happily the minimum wage in this country goes someway to alleviate this guilt/blackmail tipping.

If service is good I tip, if it isn't they can whistle.
(If they whistle really well, like a nightingale, they might still earn a tip.)

junetta · 03-10-2006, 00:42

We go to our local Spanish bar most evenings around five or six o'clock. A beer is a euro and our bill normally comes to seven euros (he always has one more than me).

A tip of a euro, sixty pence or so, seems reasonable to us and now and again we get a couple of free beers.

Come Christmas Eve, the staff treat the regulars and we all have free beer and tapas.

What comes around goes around.

cherokee · 03-10-2006, 00:49

I have worked in the hospitality area most of my working life and no matter where i have worked we have never demanded tips or made people feel they have to tip . and although it has always been minimum wage im a big believer in that if you give a good service and are polite you will be tipped .
In the last place i worked which were one of the local con clubs over here on a fri or sat night i could make just as much in tips as i would get in wages for that one night just by being given 20p tip of folk and then having to split between 5 of us .
so yes it is nice that people tip but certainly not important , in my view it is just a way of people saying thankyou for a good service .

Madhatter · 03-10-2006, 01:02

I rarely tip because I rarely go to the sort of places were I expect to tip. If i went brewers fayre I got up ordered the meal myself got up paid for it got my frinks etc so never did tip, now they keep pestering to bring drinks to the table and want me to pay at the table I feel like they expect something. Problems is unless theres somewhere the girl can take a card she wont get much because i pay for almost everything on plastic.

cherokee · 03-10-2006, 01:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madhatter

I rarely tip because I rarely go to the sort of places were I expect to tip. If i went brewers fayre I got up ordered the meal myself got up paid for it got my frinks etc so never did tip, now they keep pestering to bring drinks to the table and want me to pay at the table I feel like they expect something. Problems is unless theres somewhere the girl can take a card she wont get much because i pay for almost everything on plastic.

I agree to a certain extent MH, but do you do this deliberatly or is it the sort of place where you have to get up and order your own?
I certainly would not agree with tipping if I had to go to the bar and order then had to go back and pay . My idea of having to tip is purely based on table service ,ie sitting down at table , waitress taking order , same waitress dealing with you throughout your meal then waitress bringing bill , if service was good then yes tip by all means . even if you always pay by plastic it is always worth carrying a bit of loose change to tip for a good service I usually tip about £2 for a good meal

Madhatter · 03-10-2006, 01:43

I'm on about the brewers fayre pubs like the yeddon way one. not sure about accy, I know theres one towards rammy, the cobblers is a similar sort of thing too. you go to the table look at the menu get up, order your food and pay or open tab in my case, they bring the meal out. you go to the bar get drinks, and pay or put on tab, get up and order sweet and pay or put on tab.

BUT they've changed it now, and im not used to it, ONce you've ordered your meal and sat back down, everything else is ordered and paid for at the table. ( apart from at the scummy ones like tamworth brewers fayre) I feel very uncomfortable leaving without giving a tip, but i'm not going to start, I was happy with the old arrangment. our average bill at brewers fayre is about 12 quid for the two of us for two meals and two capucinos so thats £1.20