MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. How much should Nigella tip?

nathanhill69

GSXRCarlos wrote: »

Sorry, you've misunderstood me.

As a waiter i would give the kitchen staff 5p per cover (person eating) it's not much, 20p per table of four, but when we had busy nights could add up to quite a lot. when split between the kitchen staff it paid for their first few drinks behind the bar

Fair do's - totally my mis-understanding - that makes more sense:D:D

jaymez_lock

Ok well I work in a shop, on minimum wage and no one tips me. I run around in the stock room, out to the till, doing jewellery all over the store wherever I am needed at that time. I deal with complaints, refunds, sales, all sorts. I work just as hard as waiters do, when we are busy it can get pretty hectic, trying to juggle several different tasks.

The other thing is that I probably get fewer hours per week then a lot of other students who work in a restaurant so I also earn less per week (although it is only right as I do less hours - I would like to do more though).

I go out of my way to find ways to help the customer, the company I work for is on a big drive over customer service and satisfaction. I help customers, discuss products that I am knowledgeable on (mostly tech, as this is what I am good at - and what most people who come in struggle with. I don't just try to flog them the most expensive either, but the one that is most suited to their needs.), take items out to cars, find different and more creative ways around problems so that I can get the customer what they want. I always try to give excellent service, certainly better service then I receive in other shops, and probably better service then I have received in restaurants.

However I do tip if I feel that the service had been good.

To be honest I sometimes tip otherwise, I feel a social pressure to do so as it the norm an expected thing to do. Which is stupid, and something I need to get out of the habit of doing I guess.

Cloudane

IMO, tips are for when you've received a higher than average service, rather than an automatic thing to be done even if all the waiter/ess has done is taken your order, quickly bunged it on the table and disappeared.
And I'm afraid if they have to be prompted (how's that drink coming along) it doesn't count as above average.

Here's one for you - sometimes a taxi driver will have £5.50 on the meter and say "just give me a fiver". Are you then supposed to give the discount back and call it £5.50-6.00, or graciously accept the discount as it stands?

Moneyspice

Ask who gets the tip? e.g. your waiter keeps it all, shared with kitchen staff or retained by managment :mad:? Ask if it makes a difference if you tip cash instead of adding to the bill?

If the service was poor - no tip at all but if the meal/service was good and the right people are getting the tip then I usually tip 15% to 20% of the NET food cost. Nothing on the drinks though as they are often massively marked-up anyway - £4.95 for 750ml water!! (big mark-up = service included in my view!)

On rare occasions when I don't leave a tip I always make a point of explaining why - if you're not prepared to face it out then you should leave a tip?

finlay666

10% + if the service was good

They could always tip half of what the discount was if it was heavy, that way they both save money and give a reasonable tip

I don't tip at all if the service is bad (if it's one of the paper ones when you say I clearly write no tip) but will if the service is good. Generally 10% or so, maybe a bit more if it was really good etc.

pennypinchUK

I tip according to what I feel the service was worth. So it varies - sometimes I leave a big tip, other times a gesture, occasionally nothing at all. I loosely base the tip around the cost of the meal but it's nothing scientific. After all, I'm out to enjoy myself, not sit my GCSE Maths exam.....

More importantly, I tip in cash. Some unscrupulous restaurateurs dock tips paid by credit/debit card on the main bill from staff wages.

jaymez_lock

Also people mentioning America, the wife of one of my youth leaders is American, and he lived over there with her for a while. I'm sure he told me that the reason they expect such a high tip is that restaurants, bars etc are allowed to pay below minimum wage (which in America hasn't been revised for years anyway and is appealingly low if I remember the documentary I saw on it right) as the tips are expected to make it up to or above the minimum wage. So it is different in the UK as all the staff have to be paid minimum wage either way.

Tracy551162

No tip should be left as tipping is getting as bad as America in this country. People do a good job at the checkout, the toilet cleaner in my office does a great job and they don't get tipped. Who decides which jobs should and shouldn't get a tip. If everyone just did their job properly and got on with it then we wouldn't have to worry about shall we, shalln't we. And the you get the evil looks and tuts if you don't tip. I even had one manager in a Soho restaurant begging me to pay the tip as his staff are hard up actors.

Surely you get employed for a job and get pay according to skills/experience/etc. that you have to carry out that job. These days it seems I have to tip if a waitress is friendly and smiles - shouldn't being friendly and smiling be part of the job description of a waitress?

Also, it seems tip jars are popping up on all counters at coffee shops these days too. They expect a tip for me going up to the counter and ordering a drink. It's just getting silly.

I would tip only if the waitress or whoever did something well above their job description as they have then done extra work for me which deserves extra pay. Not in any other circumstances.

Oh and can I just genuinely ask, why a tip should be a percentage of what you spend. Whether I order the most expensive dish/bottle of wine on the menu, or the cheapest, the effort to get it to my table is still the same no?

Hopefully someone out there agress with me...

nathanhill69

Tracy551162 wrote: »

Oh and can I just genuinely ask, why a tip should be a percentage of what you spend. Whether I order the most expensive dish/bottle of wine on the menu, or the cheapest, the effort to get it to my table is still the same no?

I think the percentage thing is really just a guide, not a hard and fast rule.

pambutterfly

It's fair to tip on the pre-discount amount. This is what my friends and I do when we use 2-4-1 vouchers. As Jamie says, the waiting staff have done the same amount of work for half the cost.