How much do you tip?
- Thread starter nadroJ
- Start date
Yeah, the American tipping culture is obscene. Just pay your wait staff proper wages to start with <//3
It's how, just, EVERYONE expects tips even if they don't do ANYTHING special. It's vile. I don't see why your wait staff would try and do a better job in the hope of tips if they just EXPECT them? That defeats the object IMO.
Over here I rarely tip. I'll maybe round the bill up if I'm paying by cash and it's not loads of money, loads, but, if I pay on card that little "Do you want to tip?" question is always answered by the red button <3
Unless they're hot. Like the waiter last night, unnnffff. I was throwing my pound coins all over the table in the hope that he'd then pound me <3
It's how, just, EVERYONE expects tips even if they don't do ANYTHING special. It's vile. I don't see why your wait staff would try and do a better job in the hope of tips if they just EXPECT them? That defeats the object IMO.
Over here I rarely tip. I'll maybe round the bill up if I'm paying by cash and it's not loads of money, loads, but, if I pay on card that little "Do you want to tip?" question is always answered by the red button <3
Unless they're hot. Like the waiter last night, unnnffff. I was throwing my pound coins all over the table in the hope that he'd then pound me <3
Jake
Strata Poster
Yeah, if I'm paying by cash I'll round up.
Like, if the bill was £18.50 I'd leave £20, and if it was £19.99 I'd still leave £20.
Same thing with taxis.
If a service charge is added (or suggested) on my bill I will sometimes refuse to pay it.
I refused to tip in the United States, I refused. The worst thing about the US is that they expect you to tip bar staff in clubs, wtf? <////3.
Like, if the bill was £18.50 I'd leave £20, and if it was £19.99 I'd still leave £20.
Same thing with taxis.
If a service charge is added (or suggested) on my bill I will sometimes refuse to pay it.
I refused to tip in the United States, I refused. The worst thing about the US is that they expect you to tip bar staff in clubs, wtf? <////3.
I'm just going to echo what has already been said really.
In the UK, would you tip people in other jobs making minimum wage? Would you tip the guy clearing away your tray in McDonalds? Would you tell the person serving you at HMV to "keep the change"?
I actually do tip 10% if the service has been good-excellent, but that's about it. If I'm flailing my arms like a $5 drag queen to get another drink or the bill, then they can **** right off.
If there's an automatic "service charge" added I'll usually just leave it, but I'll make sure I'm not leaving any change. That pisses me off really. Most people won't question it, so, in effect, you're forcing people into paying a tip and some will inadvertently tip twice because of it. The "service charge" bull **** ensures that the server can be as rude, lazy and downright **** ty as they want and still get their tip
You can slate the American system, but the service is generally a lot better than we get over here. It does piss me off that you're tipping for every **** ing thing though. $5 drink at the bar? Think again because if you don't throw down a couple of dollars tip the first time, you're not likely to get served again.
In the UK, would you tip people in other jobs making minimum wage? Would you tip the guy clearing away your tray in McDonalds? Would you tell the person serving you at HMV to "keep the change"?
I actually do tip 10% if the service has been good-excellent, but that's about it. If I'm flailing my arms like a $5 drag queen to get another drink or the bill, then they can **** right off.
If there's an automatic "service charge" added I'll usually just leave it, but I'll make sure I'm not leaving any change. That pisses me off really. Most people won't question it, so, in effect, you're forcing people into paying a tip and some will inadvertently tip twice because of it. The "service charge" bull **** ensures that the server can be as rude, lazy and downright **** ty as they want and still get their tip
You can slate the American system, but the service is generally a lot better than we get over here. It does piss me off that you're tipping for every **** ing thing though. $5 drink at the bar? Think again because if you don't throw down a couple of dollars tip the first time, you're not likely to get served again.
nadroJ
CF Legend
See, I never expect a tip, and so work really hard to 'earn' a tip from some tables. And it does work both ways. If someone is absolutely vile to me, I won't really pay attention to them because they're being gross, they aren't going to tip me anyway, so I really don't care.
However, if someone is nice to me, especially if something goes wrong with their food and they let me know in a civil way I'll do everything I can to get it sorted and be nice back to them, partially to earn a tip but also because if someone is nice to me I'm more likely to be nice to them.
As I said in my first post, I've gotten to the point where I know who is going to tip me and who isn't, so the tables I know are going to tip me get extra attention and niceness, whereas the others just get bog standard service. Which is bad, but at the end of the day if there is money to be earned then I am going to cut my losses.
Something happened today that kind of annoyed me. I had a 50th birthday party (a small family affair of like, 8 people, mix of oldies, mums, dads and kids) and I was really good with them. There were balloons and attention for the birthday girl, balloon animals and 'fun' things added to drinks to make them more special for the kids and just generally good service, I thought anyway. And I got everybody round to sing happy birthday and stuff. Their bill came to almost £200 and they gave me a £2 tip, which was made even more annoying when the guy paying got a wad of cash out of his wallet and counted out the exact amount f the bill down to the penny, then handed me £2, thanking me for my service. Now, I don't HAVE to do all that, I could have done none of it, but it just annoys me when people give a really measly tip and act like they're giving you so much, it kind of makes me wish I hadn't bothered </3
And with regards to service charge I always remove it from my bills before I put them down (we only add them for tables of 12 or more) because I don't think it is right for us to set the amount you should tip, and also it eliminates a chance to make more than 10%. In fact, it is just a way of the company making the waitress push her guests to buy more stuff, because the higher the bill, the higher their tip. Which I don't agree with.
However, if someone is nice to me, especially if something goes wrong with their food and they let me know in a civil way I'll do everything I can to get it sorted and be nice back to them, partially to earn a tip but also because if someone is nice to me I'm more likely to be nice to them.
As I said in my first post, I've gotten to the point where I know who is going to tip me and who isn't, so the tables I know are going to tip me get extra attention and niceness, whereas the others just get bog standard service. Which is bad, but at the end of the day if there is money to be earned then I am going to cut my losses.
Something happened today that kind of annoyed me. I had a 50th birthday party (a small family affair of like, 8 people, mix of oldies, mums, dads and kids) and I was really good with them. There were balloons and attention for the birthday girl, balloon animals and 'fun' things added to drinks to make them more special for the kids and just generally good service, I thought anyway. And I got everybody round to sing happy birthday and stuff. Their bill came to almost £200 and they gave me a £2 tip, which was made even more annoying when the guy paying got a wad of cash out of his wallet and counted out the exact amount f the bill down to the penny, then handed me £2, thanking me for my service. Now, I don't HAVE to do all that, I could have done none of it, but it just annoys me when people give a really measly tip and act like they're giving you so much, it kind of makes me wish I hadn't bothered </3
And with regards to service charge I always remove it from my bills before I put them down (we only add them for tables of 12 or more) because I don't think it is right for us to set the amount you should tip, and also it eliminates a chance to make more than 10%. In fact, it is just a way of the company making the waitress push her guests to buy more stuff, because the higher the bill, the higher their tip. Which I don't agree with.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ I had a similar tip related experience yesterday. I was working at another club owned by the same club I work at now because they were short staffed, and I sold the most I have ever sold. I sold 120 shots, which is considered really good, and to put things into perspective, when I usually sell 80 shots I typically get about $70 in tips. I sold 120 shots and got a measly $15. People were cheap as heck, and I was being super nice too because I knew people were being cheap and so I sat at tables and talked to people and got to know them, and then one guy complained that I accidentally short changed him twenty cents (I thought I had given him four quarters in change, but it was three quarters and a nickel). Nobody was tipping, so by the end of the night I was like **** it, I'm not gonna sit and waste my time with people an try to flirt my way into getting business, so instead I just walked around like, shoving shots into people's faces and forcing them to buy.
If people are tipping and it's a good night, I'll try extra hard, but if not, there's not really much point, so I agree with you Jordan. If people want to be cheap scum, then they don't deserve good service, haha.
If people are tipping and it's a good night, I'll try extra hard, but if not, there's not really much point, so I agree with you Jordan. If people want to be cheap scum, then they don't deserve good service, haha.
nealbie
CF Legend
Taylor, you embody the precise reason I hate tipping culture.
You're saying if you don't think you're going to effectively get a bonus to your agreed contractual wages you're going to do your job worse than you can.... ON PURPOSE
That'd be like a decorator leaving you with a set of wonky kitchen cupboards because you're not giving him extra to what he has agreed to do his job for.
You're saying if you don't think you're going to effectively get a bonus to your agreed contractual wages you're going to do your job worse than you can.... ON PURPOSE
That'd be like a decorator leaving you with a set of wonky kitchen cupboards because you're not giving him extra to what he has agreed to do his job for.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ No, but if people are gonna be arses and ask for discounts off shots, I'm not gonna be nice to them. I completely get it if people don't want to tip, but if I actually spend ten minutes talking to people or being extra nice and stuff, it does get discouraging after a few hours and so it effectively makes your mood worse, thus you do a worse job. If I was actually just not really in the mood to work at all and I wasn't being friendly, I couldn't complain about not taking tips, but when I talk to someone for ages and then take their empties to the bar and stuff which I'm not even meant to be doing, then come back and chat some more and they try to get a discounted shot, they can **** off.
I don't tip and I always complain if a service charge is added on without my prior knowledge.
Most of my friends won't go to a fancy restaurant with me because of my refusal to tip and insistence on getting my change. It embarrassing apparently.
Sorry, but if I've spent £15 on a meal that would have cost me £3 to make at home (plus the enjoyment I get from cooking), I'm not going to part with any more of my hard-earned.
Most of my friends won't go to a fancy restaurant with me because of my refusal to tip and insistence on getting my change. It embarrassing apparently.
Sorry, but if I've spent £15 on a meal that would have cost me £3 to make at home (plus the enjoyment I get from cooking), I'm not going to part with any more of my hard-earned.
LiveForTheLaunch said:
The thing is, you're not talking to them for ten minutes because you're a trained councillor, or because you're a loving, gregarious person looking to make friends. You're doing it because you hope they'll pay for your company. If they don't (they've come into the bar to drink, not have you draping yourself all over them tattling away), then it's hardly their fault is it? They're doing their job as a customer, it's you forcing yourself on them to get more from them which is causing your issue.
I don't mean that to sound as nasty as it came out :lol: but do you see what I mean? It's not fair for you to take it out on them?
I tend to tip if the service and food have been good and it's reasonable. I tend to tip in good Indian restaurants where a meal will be about £15 a head and the staff are generally excellent and the food great too. You know it's not just something thrown together out of a packet (or off a predefined universal menu). It's more personal. I'll tip in places like TGIs if I have change in my pocket (rare, I tend not to carry cash and pay with cards) and service has been okay. If I pay in cash, I'll always round up.
I do agree though with most people. Having earned under what was introduced as minimum wage for several jobs where tipping isn't considered appropriate (installing anti-virus, fixing printers/PCs, selling TVs, supporting an entire network and computing infrastructure), I do find it hard to come to terms with the concept. My jobs have all been customer service roles (okay, the customers are also employed by the same people who employ you, but they're still customers in that their work pays my wages) and I don't even expect a thank you. I'm just doing my job and getting on being paid for the work I do.
As Gavin says, I don't feel the need to tip McDonald's staff...
nadroJ
CF Legend
furie said:
See this comes up time and time again, and I think I've come up with a possible reason as to why some jobs get tipped and some don't.
So, in the UK (the US, for example, seem to tip EVERYONE) it seems we tip waiters, taxi drivers, toilet assistants (in clubs and restaurants) and hotel employees. Now, when looking at these, I came to realise that these are all domestically related. In a restaurant, you don't have to cook or get anything, somebody brings it to you. In a hotel, you don't have to make your bed, fetch extra towels, fetch clean bedding, etc. Somebody does it for you. So, it seems that any job where you are paying for a service of something you would do at home, you tip. And it is for that reason that like, McDonalds, etc, you don't tip, because you're doing all the work (except the literal cooking of the food, and as we have discussed, chefs don't get tipped) yourself. So I think it's like, something you COULD do yourself but don't have to because someone is there doing it for you instead, you tip.
Or something? XD
If a checkout at Asda packed your bags for you, would you feel the need to tip them though?
How about nurses wiping your arse?
I think you may be on the right track, but you don't tip bus drivers either. It seems to be where somebody is giving you the impression of a "personal service", there's facial interaction so you feel obligated to tip because you've exchanged pleasantries.
How about nurses wiping your arse?
I think you may be on the right track, but you don't tip bus drivers either. It seems to be where somebody is giving you the impression of a "personal service", there's facial interaction so you feel obligated to tip because you've exchanged pleasantries.
nadroJ
CF Legend
furie said:If a checkout at Asda packed your bags for you, would you feel the need to tip them though?
How about nurses wiping your arse?
I think you may be on the right track, but you don't tip bus drivers either. It seems to be where somebody is giving you the impression of a "personal service", there's facial interaction so you feel obligated to tip because you've exchanged pleasantries.
Yeah, obviously there are exceptions but I'm just trying to think of a reason why XD And the whole back packing thing, I always decline anyway but I think if somebody helped me like that I would feel inclined to tip, I wouldn't, because it's not the 'done' thing but it would make sense to.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Actually Furie, I do talk to people because I like to enjoy myself at work. One guy the other night wouldn't buy a shot unless it was a shot of scotch, which I didn't have and couldn't get yet I still spent a good 10-15 minutes talking to him and his friends. People at restaurants half the time aren't being extra attentive because they love you, they're doing it because they want a tip. Talking comes with the job, you have to be social, but if I spend ages dancing with you and talking to you and you buy a shot and are cheap about it, yeah I get annoyed. I don't force myself on people and I only talk to them if they seem friendly. I've had guys tell me to go the **** away because they don't want a shot.. I only talk to people if they're the type of people I'd actually talk to if I were on a night out. I'm not the only shooter girl who has this problem and it tends to annoy all of us because our wages are crap and we try our best to make the night fun for people, and also have to pay for parking to come to the job, so if we don't get tipped we literally make next to nothing.
So yeah.. I'm a friendly person as it is and I don't only talk to people in hopes of getting a tip. Dancing? Yeah, because I hate dancing and typically it will get me a tip, but it also increases the enjoyment of the person who asked me to dance in the first place. So it's a win win for both, but as for talking it's usually just because I like to talk, haha. Sometimes I have a forced conversation with someone but usually it's a normal friendly conversation that I could have with a person even if I weren't working.
Something else I hate is when people hand you ten cents or twenty cents and you have to pretend to be super grateful about it. It's just a pisstake really.. I feel like throwing it back in their faces, but instead I have to act like the ten cents is really gonna change my life.
EDIT- How is it any different to what Jordan said? She said she's extra attentive to tables she knows will tip, so if I'm extra attentive to people I know will tip me, how is it any different?
I also work in a restaurant and work in one that adds a discretionary 12.5% service charge to all bills.
The restaurant is owned by a Michelin starred chef and this and his other restaurant have very good reputations for good quality food & service. We aren't starred, but his other restaurant that I worked at for a year is.
I try and give the same level of service to every table. We aren't a sectioned restaurant and just work as one team serving all the customers we have in.
I've got the high level of service experience from working in the starred restaurant and use that as much as possible.
If customers are being arseholes towards me which has only happened a couple of times in my 18 months of working in a restaurant, I'll just talk to the rest of my team and won't go near them for the rest of the night. I usually deal with a fair amount of customers whom may be getting on my other colleagues nerves. Which is fine, just a lot of smiling and being extra polite just to make them try and enjoy the experience somewhat.
We do get tables that don't pay the service charge which doesn't bother me. I'll happily take it off the bill. I get paid a salary, then get my own little trunk that comes from the service charge. That is added up and split between all the full time members of staff (including the chefs).
Any cash tips we get are a bonus. We decided as staff (we're a front of house team of 5, 3 full timers whom work every shift, every day without exception and 2 part timers who work on busy days) that any cash tips are collected together and then split between the 5 of us.
We do get a fair amount of cash tips. Sometimes it's just change left on the table from a cash payment or people will actually leave some money on top of the service charge.
If I handle a cash payment, and there is charge, I will always give them their change regardless!
I don't work for extra tips, I enjoy what I do (most of the time anyway..) and aim to make a customers experience the best one possible. Recently, I've had a chain of particularly nice compliments from customers which actually really makes your day. One particular lunch service, there was me and 1 other member of staff in (my boss) and they had said to her how much they had enjoyed my service and to pass the compliment on. They then left a tip on top of the service charge.
Then someone from a party of 12 just on Saturday had asked me for my name earlier in the night and I'd done everything to make this tables experience fantastic. I'd really gone beyond the call of duty and they had a brilliant time!
The one guy came up to me personally shook my hand and said to me just how much they and (he in particular) had enjoyed my service and would be back! Proper makes your day after a really hard day!
The restaurant is owned by a Michelin starred chef and this and his other restaurant have very good reputations for good quality food & service. We aren't starred, but his other restaurant that I worked at for a year is.
I try and give the same level of service to every table. We aren't a sectioned restaurant and just work as one team serving all the customers we have in.
I've got the high level of service experience from working in the starred restaurant and use that as much as possible.
If customers are being arseholes towards me which has only happened a couple of times in my 18 months of working in a restaurant, I'll just talk to the rest of my team and won't go near them for the rest of the night. I usually deal with a fair amount of customers whom may be getting on my other colleagues nerves. Which is fine, just a lot of smiling and being extra polite just to make them try and enjoy the experience somewhat.
We do get tables that don't pay the service charge which doesn't bother me. I'll happily take it off the bill. I get paid a salary, then get my own little trunk that comes from the service charge. That is added up and split between all the full time members of staff (including the chefs).
Any cash tips we get are a bonus. We decided as staff (we're a front of house team of 5, 3 full timers whom work every shift, every day without exception and 2 part timers who work on busy days) that any cash tips are collected together and then split between the 5 of us.
We do get a fair amount of cash tips. Sometimes it's just change left on the table from a cash payment or people will actually leave some money on top of the service charge.
If I handle a cash payment, and there is charge, I will always give them their change regardless!
I don't work for extra tips, I enjoy what I do (most of the time anyway..) and aim to make a customers experience the best one possible. Recently, I've had a chain of particularly nice compliments from customers which actually really makes your day. One particular lunch service, there was me and 1 other member of staff in (my boss) and they had said to her how much they had enjoyed my service and to pass the compliment on. They then left a tip on top of the service charge.
Then someone from a party of 12 just on Saturday had asked me for my name earlier in the night and I'd done everything to make this tables experience fantastic. I'd really gone beyond the call of duty and they had a brilliant time!
The one guy came up to me personally shook my hand and said to me just how much they and (he in particular) had enjoyed my service and would be back! Proper makes your day after a really hard day!
nadroJ
CF Legend
^I think that comes from the type of restaurant you work in. I work in a chain, which let's face it, hasn't got the best reputation in the world and we do get a lot of.....low end working class I guess is what I'd say. Pikeys and chavs, basically. Who not only don't tip, but they also have no manners or 'eating out etiquette' because they clearly don't do it often. Comes across as really snobbish but it is true. Obviously you get rudeness wherever you go, but I sometimes think people's ignorance can come off as rudeness, it has done a lot in my experience.
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
The reason we tip is because socially it's suggested we should. That's really it. Not because we want to, but because we think we should.
nadroJ said:
It goes the other way way though, too. I worked in a high-end restaurant (well, I say worked; my friend actually worked there and I used to do the odd shift when they had big functions on), and those people were vile c**ts. Like, incredibly rude and condescending. If any bitch is going to be rude and condescending, it's going to be me and not some stuck-up cow trying to show off to her golf buddies.