Tipping in Restuarnts – Wife Annoyed

i deal with tradesmen and public on a daily basis, providing a 2nd to non service.
people dont tip me for doing my job.
explain why we tip people providing us with extortionately price food and drink?

My older son worked in a pub/restaurant and in a law firm as an intern last summer. One on the min wage (actually below), the other pretty generous. He learned good lessons in which was harder work (not a straightforward question!) and how wages/labour markets work.- oh and dealing with HRMC!!

Bottom line is he is a confirmed tipper after the experience!

I have to top up in-laws tips which are embarrassingly stingy!

Intellectually I think that tipping should be banned and prices should be honestly stated at a level that allows staff to be paid a decent wage

Practically I usually tip between £5 and £15 in a restaurant – not a percentage

Have always promised myself that if chased down the street by a New York waiter he would get what I would regard as a straightforward response…

Being a miserable tight wad I don’t tip unless the service is excellent and certainly not if it’s expected. However next month I am off all inclusive to Mexico, does anyone know the etiquette there, are we expected to tip at the hotel bars/restaurants?

I usually check to make sure pre-added tips actually go to the waiting and kitchen staff and remove them if they don’t. You might be surprised at the sort of places that rob you like this.

I’m in favour of tipping. If it was shite why did you wait to the end when they can’t do much?

I tip between 10 and 20% as I’m a creature of habit, tend to stick to the same places and like good service, tipping is a small price to pay for that.

I don’t just do it in restaurants just because it isn’t the norm to tip, doesn’t mean you can’t. It doesn’t have to be money either.

I’m finding a lot of restaurants now sneakily include an ‘optional’ tip in the small print of the bill which is easy to miss unless you pore over it, so, unless you are careful you can end up tipping twice. Personally the whole thing annoys me. Just charge more and pay the staff more: I’m pretty sure an extra 50p on a main dish in a restaurant won’t put the customers off!

I do tip but would prefer the custom did not exist . Usually a bench mark 10% sometimes a fair bit more if the service is really good ie if I take my mum out and a staff member is really considerate and patient but not patronising then that individual will get a descreatly folded bank note on the way out . I was chased across a beach in the dark in Greece once by a waiter who insisted I had over tipped after a truly splendid meal with excellent service.

I like taxis in Singapore where the drivers tend to round fares down and so tip the customer.

Tipping abroad can be an art form ,after a hill walk in Indonesia my brother in law had four tips hidden in the waist of his trousers and a fifth in a nearly empty wallet . Three in the waist were the same reasonable amount for the porters the fourth a more generous one for the guide and the fith an ok but not flush one for the fixer. All but the fixers were passed over secretly the fixers publicaly for everyone. The fixer had obviously been paid an agreed amount in advance and would have taxed or taken any tips given to the guide or porters.

I almost never tip. Good service is basically doing the job or task I just paid you for to the standard expected.
The list of what we do and what we dont tip is somewhat arbitrary and random.

Misses always tip but she is a hairdresser and thinks it’s the norm.

usually throw a couple of quid in. As someone said, the rules over which jobs do- and don’t get tips seems somewhat arbitrary. Mind you, there are many other professions where just “doing your job” seems to make you eligible for additional gifts etc. Teachers seem to do pretty well. Nurses in hospitals would be another example.

FWIW at the restaurant my daughter works in, all tips are shared between kitchen and waiting staff.

10% is a bit mean

It’d be interesting to see who on this thread has worked in the restaurant or bar trade as a lowly member of staff who has/had to deal with customers and a very busy service.

Fwiw I tip if it’s deserved whether that be due to the service or the quality of the food, to be honest it’s mostly for the service as Its quite unusual to get a meal where I could not do better myself.

Ps : I have worked in restaurants/bars.

I have [ bar work] and it was a shit job so I got another one that paid the same but was easier.

FWIW hairdresser are the people who are the most happiest in their job ….priests are second.

I do agree those who have done the job are more likely to tip.

10% is standard for adequate service, higher if the service is good, don’t think I’ve ever gone above 20%. if the service isn’t good then I’m also comfortable leaving nothing and if the food isn’t good I’d be having a word with the manager and expecting a discount of some sort. Don’t like shared tips, I want to tip the person that provided the service.

I’ve always considered that tips are for better or worse the social norm in British restaurants, I know before going in that the bill will be the cost off the menu + tip. So in my head not leaving a tip would be a bit rude and i really don’t like rude customers regardless of the environment.

It is slightly odd the way we tip some jobs and not others. Although I did once tip the bike shop owner and mechanic that built up a new bike for me a case of beer each because I appreciated the time and attention to detail that they’d both put in. And when I used to work in retail I did get a couple of tips, once for setting up some kids bikes whilst talking to the kids about what i was doing and once for servicing some skis. Bike tip was £5 ski tip was £20.

ton – Member

i never tip. price of meals is set in the menu.
dont like it, get a job that pays more.

You go out and eat a cheap meal which is made possible by the low wages paid to staff.
So you either spend more at a restaurant that pays its staff a liveable wage, or you are content to spend less knowing that the staff are supplementing your budget dining habits.

What a shitty attitude.

I almost always tip, but then I almost always get good service and food.

I wonder if there’s a correlation?

It is slightly odd the way we tip some jobs and not others

I tipped my local garage as they opened up early to sort my car out before I started work. Cheers Ray’s of Somersham! 😀

i hate this subject…..

Its another thing thats come straight over from the other side of pond, like pulled pork and shitty chilly cheese fries. There is no minimum wage in some states so tips are a massive chunk in some of these waiter/waitresses wage.
In the UK everyone gets minimum wage. A person who cleans the toilets or cleans the streets doesn’t get tipped. They probably get the same money, for a job which i think should get tipped.

Ive been on both sides, I worked as a flotilla engineer one year, and usually looked after 4-10 boats for 1-2 weeks ever week for 6 months. The pay was shocking, but i didn’t pay for anything, and i went out of my way to give a great quality service all week. At the end of their holiday they usually tipped all 3 of us a few euros. I never asked for it, but i never turned it down. I knew the wages were poor and having a few extra euros each week kept me from withdrawing money from my account. so i was happy.

Ive been in london for the past few weeks on business and it seams the 12.5% service charge is on every bill. I ask them to remove it and give the server 10% if its good, if its poor nothing. Tipping is not compulsory and i don’t think we should have to pay for it. If you want extra money get a job that pays better or do some over time.

You go out and eat a cheap meal which is made possible by the low wages paid to staff.
So you either spend more at a restaurant that pays its staff a liveable wage, or you are content to spend less knowing that the staff are supplementing your budget dining habits.

What a shitty attitude.

I almost always tip, but then I almost always get good service and food.

It gives them the incentive to work harder and get a better paid job! I hope you tip the servers in burger king and the likes too.

Oh yeah you probably don’t go to those establishments,

A person who cleans the toilets or cleans the streets doesn’t get tipped, they probably get the same money for a job which i think should get tipped.

You’d be wrong, in my part of the world they get more. 💡

always tip, took my ma for a quick bite this afternoon, 38 quid, left 45.

I agree a service charge on the bill as a matter of course is a bit off, generally I’m quite a generous ****, but expecting it grates a little.

In the restaurant I trip around 10% if the meal/service is up to an expected standard.
But nothing if there is any kind of service charge.
Also tip taxi drivers, up to the next £1, but that’s only because I can’t be bothered waiting for all the change.
Also the barber gets an extra £1.50 (hair cut costs £6.50)

Eh?

h1jjy – Member
In the restaurant I trip around 10% if the meal/service is up to an expected standard.
But nothing if there is any kind of service charge.
Also tip taxi drivers, up to the next £1, but that’s only because I can’t be bothered waiting for all the change.
Also the barber gets an extra £1.50 (hair cut costs £6.50)

I always give the barber a tenner for a 7 quid cut.

sorry for the side track but;

scotroutes – Member
…… seem to do pretty well. Nurses in hospitals would be another example.

what planet are you on?
nurses start at £21.4k and require a degree.
average uk wage is £26.5k
nurses are looking after the people you love most, when they are at their most vulnerable. calming them when they are scared, resuscitating them when they are dying, wiping up their shit piss and blood while reassuring them that it is nothing to be embarrassed about. they get what? a box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers?

sorry for the rant that really wound me up

Oh yeah you probably don’t go to those establishments,

You’re quite correct!
I did visit a Starbucks at a service station recently, and tipped because the staff were really nice.
I did get the impression that I was probably the first customer they had ever had that spoke to them as if they were actually human equals though, which might have had some influence on the experience.

nurses start at £21.4k and require a degree.
average uk wage is £26.5k
nurses are looking after the people you love most, when they are at their most vulnerable. calming them when they are scared, resuscitating them when they are dying, wiping up their shit piss and blood while reassuring them that it is nothing to be embarrassed about. they get what? a box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers?
sorry for the rant that really wound me up
[/quote]But, as others seem to suggest, they are only” doing their job” and if they’re not being paid enough for what they do they should be getting themselves a new job. Right?

(FWIW, Mrs Scotroutes is a trained nurse….)

As a system, tipping is terrible, as ably demonstrated by anyone who’s experienced American customer service. Oh, wait.

In the UK, it’s kinda broken as we’re neither one nor the other. I like to tip because it’s a nice thing to do, but the idea of mandatory tips – sorry, a “service charge” – I find pretty abhorrent unless they’re up front about it.

As an aside,

Do people generally tip takeaway delivery drivers? If we order take-out, I usually bung the driver a couple of quid (unless it’s really late). They often seem surprised. Is this just me being odd?

Cougar – Moderator

As an aside,

Do people generally tip takeaway delivery drivers?

If they are quick and friendly then yes.

Cougar – Moderator
As an aside,

Do people generally tip takeaway delivery drivers? If we order take-out, I usually bung the driver a couple of quid (unless it’s really late). They often seem surprised. Is this just me being odd?yes always do, although the just eat delivery charge is making me rethink that,

jonah tonto – Member .
what planet are you on?
nurses start at £21.4k and require a degree.
average uk wage is £26.5k
nurses are looking after the people you love most, when they are at their most vulnerable. calming them when they are scared, resuscitating them when they are dying, wiping up their shit piss and blood while reassuring them that it is nothing to be embarrassed about. they get what? a box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers?

sorry for the rant that really wound me up

they have a degree, so they knew about how much they were going to get paid. nurses know what they’re getting themselves into.

Degree? Nah. Trained nurse…..

Nifty edit there slogo…..

binners – Member
There’s nothing more depressing than watching people with there phones out, totting up bills and tips.

This bugs the hell out of me, right so you pay, 20 you pay 30 you pay 25 and you 28, piss off, just decide a tip and divide by 4 you miserable bastard! 😆

http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Bistromathics

scotroutes – Member
Degree? Nah. Trained nurse…..

Nifty edit there slogo…..

that wasn’t actually aimed at you. but your wife knew what she was getting herself into. I guess she’s not a real nurse then.

As someone who currently works in a ‘tipping’ industry, this thread is an interesting read. FWIW tips make up 10-15% of my weekly pay, and I tip in restaurants, bars and barbers.

Detest service charges being added onto bills though.

that wasn’t actually aimed at you. but your wife knew what she was getting herself into. I guess she’s not a real nurse then.
[/quote]Not a real nurse? How so? She’s an RGN/RMN

NHS nursing, training to be a nurse[/url]

To become a nurse you must hold a degree in pre-registration nursing. This leads to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), enabling you to practice. The nursing diploma in higher education has been phased out.

I have 3 good friends who are nurses and they all went to uni and did degrees.

Youngsters, eh?

scotroutes – Member
…and if they’re not being paid enough for what they do they should be getting themselves a new job. Right?

sorry man, missed the sarcasm. your right they should all go get themselves a new job, preferably all at once lol