Not sure why the restaurant business earns special treatment for tipping.

Perhaps to attempt to offset the fact that the service industry in the UK is almost universally dire. It’s a stark difference indeed from the US.

The last time I filled up the car, the guy in the petrol station spent the entire transaction jabbering away on his mobile phone in a language I didn’t understand. Didn’t say a single word to me. I’m reasonably certain that’d never happen across the pond.

My first visit to the US was visiting friends in Louisville, Kentucky. So, a reasonably sized city, but well away from many tourist traps; “real” America if you like. Everyone who served me in shops was polite, friendly and respectful, and they all looked like they were happy to be there. Even the clichéd “have a nice day” was delivered so sincerely. And as soon as they hear a British accent it’s like you’ve visiting Royalty.

@eulach – well spotted!

🙂

Special requests is the only opportunity to earn a tip in my view. If its just ‘standard’ service then no tip – that is the minimum i’d expect. The best tip you can give is repeat business. A job is the best thing people can have so repeat business keeps people coming back and increases the chances of the restaurant remaining a viable business and staying open employing people.

Not sure why the restaurant business earns special treatment for tipping. I don’t see people tipping other shop attendants even though they provide far more assistance and knowledgable service by and large. In fact under normal circumstances we take the service on offer, albeit good or bad, then ask for/demand a discount. Has anyone tipped a car salesman? someone working at a shop selling TV’s when they’ve assisted in choosing a nice TV? an attendant in a shoe shop that may have made multiple trips to the store room to find a size or shoe to fit your abnormal feet (if you have abnormal feet)?

So because you don’t understand a widespread social custom, everyone else is wrong?

Do people often accuse you of taking things a bit too literally?

[video]http://youtu.be/q_vivC7c_1k[/video]

10% in Restaurants generally.

I don’t.
It’s a nonsense Americanism.
I don’t tip the people I buy clothes from.
I don’t tip supermarket workers.
I don’t tip the corner shop guy.
You bring me food and I need to top up your wages?
No thanks.

seems very typical these day for service charge to be added to the bill without consultation

Our bill last night was for £30.95 including service charge of 12.5%

I left £30 in cash.

We were followed along the pavement as I explained to the staff member that we had in fact over paid as the service was nothing exceptional.

Tricky thing to get over for some people but they understood eventually. We were nearly 400 meters away form the restaurant before they decided to give up

I will be using this policy every time from now on

If any service charge is added to the bill i dont tip.

If its good service ill add a fiver or a tenner. None of this 10% rubbish as that could be 40 quid for a large meal out for a group. thats not on imo.

I don’t do CC tips, but usually put some cash into the hand of the server directly unless it has been poor.

Tipping doesn’t confuse me per se, but I’m a little confused by some situations; specifically

Yo Sushi – I’m shown to a seat, given four empty glasses so we can dispense our own water, I take my food off the belt, and at the end the ‘server’ counts up our plates and i pay at the till. How much should i leave in the jar at the till for the ‘service’?

Why are tips a % of the bill. It takes broadly the same effort to bring a plate over with a Margherita pizza on as it does to bring over a 35 day aged ribeye steak that costs 3x the price. Why does one justify 3x the tip over the other?

Using vouchers or offer cards – we eat out often enough with the kids that it’s worth having a Taste card or searching for offers on line. So you get say 50% off your food bill; and your £65 bill including drinks is then reduced to say £40. Seems unfair to me that the server then gets a recommended £4 tip instead of £6.50 (NB, where I don’t pay CC tips I take it off and tip on the total value anyway, but others have in the past looked at me as if I was insane)

Why are tips a % of the bill. It takes broadly the same effort to bring a plate over with a Margherita pizza on as it does to bring over a 35 day aged ribeye steak that costs 3x the price. Why does one justify 3x the tip over the other?

Similar to taxation being a percentage of salary, so are tips. If you can afford a meal costing 3x as much, you can probably afford a tip 3x as much.

I just see it as wealth redistribution on a micro scale.

Conversely – if I’ve just saved £20 by having the pizza, I can afford to leave a fiver and still be £15 better off. If I’ve stretched the purse strings wide apart to treat myself to ribeye, there’s buttons left for the server I’m afraid 😉

Most people generally tip if the bill is over £50, but not if they’re buying a single pint. Young people appreciate it as their wages are so low. I think the reason for a service charge on large tables is the extra effort involved in serving them.

It all depends really, in a pub where you have to order at the bar and pay prior to eating I probably won’t tip much, but will still leave something if the servers are nice. In a restaurant where you will be seated and the servers do more than just bring you a plate of food, i’ll generally tip 10%ish if it’s been decent.

Table service for just drinks will get a bit if a tip as well, depending how many i’ve had. Ordering a pint at the bar generally won’t though unless i’ve ordered a big silly round or the barmaid is well fit*!!

*I know 🙄

I virtually never tip unless service was over and above. Perhaps Im old fashioned by I assume that good service and food is what I have paid for when ordering, hence the price on the menu. I dont see it as any different to buying anything else. You dont tip the shop assistant for serving you

10% always unless food or service pants then point blank refuse. Worked in restaurants in the states and lived on my tip money. Good waiter people make a good meal great. Please note being a waiter does not automatically make you good at it.

I generally tip quite generously, but then I generally receive very good service…
Having worked in hospitality gives me a greater understanding of the task and how difficult it can be, which I appreciate.
Anyone who thinks the job is just carrying plates from A to B is wholly ignorant.
As I eat out a lot more than most, I do witness some appalling attitudes towards staff from customers who think they are somehow above the people serving them.
If you tend not to receive good service on a regular basis, do check that you do not belong to that category of customer. It’s not that the service is poor, it’s that the extra levels of service that everyone else enjoys are being held back because they would rather you would leave and not return than receive meagre tips. 💡

With regards to the idea of not tipping because the staff should be paid a decent wage negating the need to tip, I tend to find this view expressed by people who would be far too tight to pay the necessary extra for a meal so the point is moot.
Try working out how much more your bill would be if all staff wages were equal to your own.
Would it be more than a small tip? 💡

There’s nothing wrong with sharing the wealth, your wealth, not just other people’s. 😉

Minor rantette over, other than to add in reply that I don’t just tip in restaurants. Tipped the garage who last worked on my car, and often buy our town street sweeper a pint as he does a bang up job of keeping things nice and tidy.
😀

finephilly – Member

I think the reason for a service charge on large tables is the extra effort involved in serving them.

Never understood this.
You’ve got a large booking so guaranteed business yet you try and put them off with an increased service charge!
I’ve taken plenty of large bookings where the customer has mentioned lack of service charge as part of their choosing.

I’d put money on the division of yes nos being pretty much exactly the division of who has worked in service jobs.

I always tip and always go out my way to say thank you. If it was deserved.

I used to work with a girl who put service charge on a coffee (outdoor seating it was generally added) i never got through to her that I got more tips by the customer rounding up.

I’ve had some recent experiences where the service has been genuinely excellent. The staff have made me feel extremely welcome and have made the experience of eating out considerably more enjoyable than the norm. That is what earns a tip in my opinion. My “norm” might be very different from yours.

The fall in popularity of paying by cash must have a huge impact on whether people tip or not. I tip less often as a result of rarely having cash on me when eating out. I’m not saying that’s right, but it’s a huge correlation.

Bog standard chains like Pizza Express or Cafe Rouge get a rounded tip of £5 ish.
Better places, where there is more skill or knowledge needed get 10-12%.
A pub for a pint or a coffee house for an espresso get nothing.
a cocktail bar where the drinks are made with skill in front of me get a £1 or 2 per round.

But, around all of this are my unwritten (generally illogical) rules, local independent places I’ll generally leave a little more, any difficulty from me will also net them a couple of extra quid as well genuinely outstanding service. Slow service, poor or uninspiring service will get zero or close to.

I always tip in shops if the shop assistant has been polite. 20-30% is about right. When buying a car then only 5% or so, unless it’s an Audi.

Generally I don’t, because I probably earn less than them these days.

What used to always stop me tipping at all is if the waiting staff clear other people’s finished plates, while others at the table are still eating. Instead of enjoying the last bit of their food, many feel obliged to rush it down to catch up with everyone else.

Tip for a car sale? Not unless they knock their commission of the deal as that’s his tip.

I never tip in the UK.

I find it strange that people will tip the person who carries the plate from the kitchen to the table but not tip the chef who created their meal.

The tip is for all staff so not really that weird.

The tip is for all staff so not really that weird.

Not if your one the posters above saying you only tip in cash into the hand of your waiter/waitress.

I only tip when everything has been perfect. One annoyance or problem gets no tip. What’s the point of a tip otherwise?

What used to always stop me tipping at all is if the waiting staff clear other people’s finished plates, while others at the table are still eating. Instead of enjoying the last bit of their food, many feel obliged to rush it down to catch up with everyone else.

Standard practice in Canada this, weirds me out, still. It’s bad service over here to have them left sitting as far as I can tell.

I never tip in the UK.

I find it strange that people will tip the person who carries the plate from the kitchen to the table but not tip the chef who created their meal.

The restaurants must love you! Do you go anywhere regularly? Do you find the service has gone down hill?

The tip is generally split between waiting/kitchen staff. Not sure it goes to the chef though as they will be on a much higher wage.

I tip 10% in any eating establishment where you are served at the table unless the service is bad or unfriendly. Yes it’s a silly system and I’d rather it was just spread across the overall cost and staff wages were adjusted but unless there is a nationwide law passed this is the system we have and it’s unfair to penalise the staff because you disagree with something.

Not if your one the posters above saying you only tip in cash into the hand of your waiter/waitress.

Depends on the place, but they often pool and split tips in a restaurant as it’s a team effort at the end of the day….

Unlike the states, our workers receive a minimum wage…..

However I’ll almost always tip when eating out in a restaurant….. when I say restaurant I do not mean some effing high street chain….. Carlucios, Pizza Express, TGIFridays, Jamie’s, Prezzo, Wildwood, etc…. for me these places suck the life out of creativity, both in terms of the food and the blandness of high streets. In fact I’ll go out of my way to avoid them (why is there such a proliferation of these chains in the U.K.?…. I haven’t noticed where I live in Germany. Nor do I see it in Austria , Portugal or Italy.

In independent places I’ll tip around 10-15%. Pubs I’ll tip, but only if it there is proper table service, not order at the bar.

I’ll tip bar staff if they have been particularly attentive and I’ve been in the bar for a while. Same goes for proper cafes.

We went to Bella Italia last night as we received some vouchers as a prezzie.

Left about 15% tip (all our change).
Service was excellent.

Only found out after we got home that the staff are on minimum wage.
😐

Tip well people.

Good service – 10% no problem
Service a bit meh but ok – round up
Would happily refuse to tip for shite service, but can only think of it happening once (taking the kids to Pizza Express)

The restaurants must love you! Do you go anywhere regularly? Do you find the service has gone down hill?

So restaurants want to put off regular income then because of a bad tipper? They must have too much business?!

i find tipping has kind of died a death since we all stopped using cash. not all of them card readers offer you the opportunity to leave gratuity and often ive genuinely had no cash to leave. at first i used to feel really terrible about this but its becoming the norm now…

Only found out after we got home that the staff are on minimum wage.

That’s a fairly safe assumption in a lot of places 😐

I leave 10% – only don’t if service was poor or slow or the food was below par. Sometimes I don’t mind service being slow so long as they keep you engaged/informed and preferably told you at the start.

If there is a service charge on the bill I believe you are within your rights to deduct it if the service was bad – but I’ve never tried it – service charge is a bit of a cheek if you ask me.

The thing that pees me off the most about bar service or restaurant service or whatever is being studiously ignored. The pub at the end of our evening rides is starting to do this and it really winds me up. Don’t walk behind the bar where people are waiting and avoid eye contact at all costs! Just say “I’ll be with you in a minute” or “sorry, we’re short-staffed tonight – be with you in a sec” etc – anything other than just trying to ignore customers.

mudshark – Member

So restaurants want to put off regular income then because of a bad tipper? They must have too much business?!

Tightwads don’t make for very good customers, and aren’t conducive towards a good atmosphere in a restaurant. It’s better for everyone to encourage them elsewhere, like charging tastecard customers £3 for their lime and soda. 🙂

Tightwads don’t make for very good customers, and aren’t conducive towards a good atmosphere in a restaurant.

They’re worse than fair weather cyclists!

Tightwads don’t make for very good customers, and aren’t conducive towards a good atmosphere in a restaurant.

Really? Don’t most people quietly eat their meal, pay then go? That’s all I what I want from other customers when I eat out (I mostly tip though did create this thread about paying a service charge at the restaurant in the hotel I stay for work – http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tipping-at-hotels )