MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. How much should Nigella tip?

Pee

Having just had a La tasca half price voucher and being very impressed by the waiting staff, we left just over 10% of the full price as a tip. 10% of the half price wouldn't seem right to me, BUT I don't always tip. Some people tip because they worry what the waiting staff will think of them, I would rather tip when I feel I have had a great service. I don't ever tip in McDonalds, though, and sometimes I have had a really good service. (Not often, as McDonalds isn't that type of place.)

Money_saving_Martyn

I can't afford to eat out that often, and the last few times I have there have been 2 or more waiter/esses serving us. Not knowing whether to leave a tip for one person to get, or share an equal amount out into envelope and label them "waiter with dark hair, waitress with glasses....etc" I've ended up leaving nothing....

Tipping is a little old fashioned and hard to do correctly in my opinion. The etiquette is complicated. You can't go running up to the service staff giving them a pound, or mention it to them at all..... it's suppose to be subtle. "There's a little bit of money for you" sounds rude and yet, "hiding" a fiver on the table is fine.... arrggghhh. What if someone from the table next to you pinches it?!

Or does the waiter/ess you had actually get the tip. Some places put all the tips in one jar in the back and share them out equally......

I admit myself, that I am a tight tipper, even when I get service from one member of staff. I have to be impressed to tip. They get paid minimum wage in the UK, so if they make minimum effort, that's what they get I guess...... but I do tip when I can afford to and was impressed. I don't expect them to spoon feed me and sing my favourite song.... just be nice.

Whilst if the food is bad you're inclined not to tip, remember you're normally tipping for the waiting on service, and not the chef. Why punish the lovely friendly waiter/ess just because the chef is bad. There's food for thought.

In some countries (Canada I believe) the waiter/esses "buy" tables and get paid nothing or very little - they are entirely/mostly reliant on tips for their income. I'd be more inclined to tip if that were the case - but again only for decent service.

It might be worth checking out a youtube clip on tipping. Linking to it might be against the rules but search for "3rd Rock From The Sun !!!!!! tips"
(Don't worry, "!!!!!!" is the character's name.... and "tips" is a verb )

As a bit of an aside, the last time I tipped was at "Autoglass" (Carglas) in Germany. My rear view mirror fell off and it's larger than average due to a rain sensor hidden in the massive plastic dome attached to it. I tried all sorts of glues and pads and nothing stuck it. The guy in car glass was nearly beaten, but in the end he stuck it on with some of the stuff they use for doing the windscreens (thick black gue!). In the end, he didn't charge me at all for it, but because he had done me a MASSIVE favour, I insisted on giving him a tip (or "drinking money" as it's called in Germany). It was however done in a "matey" way.... (i.e. get yourself a drink on me, thank you) rather than "there you go Carglass man, buy yourself some sweeties".....


Happy Tipping!

russeta

To say tipping is outdated is to say that the minimum wages doesn't exist. I work as a PA during the week, I also work in a restaurant in the evening to pay off the bills - don't do it for the love of it having to serve ignoramuses who don't have the courtesy to tip. I get paid minimum wage for this and have to do it in the evenings as my little ones are asleep. I am also pregnant so tipping goes without saying, me having to lump your dinner in and out, get your sauces, get your drinks, please sir thank you sir, deserves reward. I assume that you also don't believe in bonuses being paid for good service at work? This is one and the same thing. Have a little respect for your fellows who are trying to bring themselves back to normal financial situation - show me a waitress who loves her/ his job because of minimum wage.....tipping is polite, otherwise stay at home and get your own dinner.

hullight

spuffy1979 wrote: »

Tipping waiting staff I think is very important and very different from somone working on a till in Tesco or McDonalds staff for example.
Firstly Waiters in restaurants do much more than someone sat at a till, passing things across a scanner etc or stood passing you a burger from a station.
Waiters do a lot of running about to ensure you get everything you want, on time etc, most have to make all your drinks and desserts them selves which is time consuming and hard to prioritise what to do first when you may have 10 tables all requiring something.
Obviously the tips motivate waiters to ensure they work as hard as they can to make your meal experience as good as possible, however if no tips were given, why run around like a madman, going above and beyond to ensure you have quick, efficeint service for minimun wage, surely they would rather sit at a till, beep, beep, beep, than run around day after day, taking orders, dealing with complaints, being spoke to like :mad: etc.

So, if you are a regular non tipper in a restaurant and always feel the service is below standard, take a look around, maybe the tippers are getting all the service!!

So why not tip the cooks in the kitchen who cook your lovely meal? Why not tip the cleaning staff who make a shop/restaurant a pleasant place? Why not tip the human resources department for hiring such fantastic people?

There is more than one person involved in delivering excellent service in the hospitality industry - not just the server you see.

GSXRCarlos

I used to work in bars and restaurants, and would often make a lot more money in tips that the girls that used to work there. I spent a lot of time with customers, attending to their needs, and i got lumbered with a family that no-one wanted, but they tipped my £5 every time they came in

So i now tip, 10% of the original bill, and more if the service was worth it.

i often don't tip too, especially if i think i could have done a better job, or the service was crap.

But the young people now (listen to me, i'm 25 going on 80) aren't as quick to help as i was, or willing to go the extra mile if a customer needs something.

I never had time to stand and talk, let alone sit down and gossip all evening

GSXRCarlos

hullight wrote: »

So why not tip the cooks in the kitchen who cook your lovely meal? Why not tip the cleaning staff who make a shop/restaurant a pleasant place? Why not tip the human resources department for hiring such fantastic people?

There is more than one person involved in delivering excellent service in the hospitality industry - not just the server you see.

Chefs get paid more than waiting on staff, but if we had a good night we'd give 5p per person eating - not much, but a contribution all the same

gunsandbanjos

hullight wrote: »

So why not tip the cooks in the kitchen who cook your lovely meal? Why not tip the cleaning staff who make a shop/restaurant a pleasant place? Why not tip the human resources department for hiring such fantastic people?

There is more than one person involved in delivering excellent service in the hospitality industry - not just the server you see.

1. The chefs get paid more to compensate for lack of tips
2. 90% of the cleaning in the restaurant i work in gets done by waiting staff
3. HR gets paid more than minimum wage and generally has a bonus(kinda like tips i suppose) scheme.

liz545

Assuming they went to somewhere like Pizza Express, where main courses are around £10, and using the voucher meant their meal went from being around £60 to around £30-£40, the difference between tipping on the pre-discounted bill and the discounted bill is around £3. Personally, I have no problem with tipping around £2/head for decent service in a mid range restaurant, and if you're haggling over £3 at the end of the night, all you're going to do is sour the memory of a nice meal. Give the waitress a decent tip and you'll both go home feeling good.

prgraham

jsknight100 wrote: »

Nothing I think that tipping is deeming both to the giver & the recipient. Everybody should be in-titled to a fair days pay without relying on tips! I have never understood why we are expected to tip hairdressers, taxis & waiters why them & not doctors or gardeners or bus drivers?

And photographers.....:D
Phil
FILMAR Photography

mon£y_p£nny

just check that the waiting staff get the tip, I worked part time and they only shared the tip with the full time staff (also the tips are split with people on higher wages too, like the head chef). Plus it's not hard work carrying food out to a table, so if the service is not good, i leave a small tip or if it is really bad no tip!