MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. How much should Nigella tip?

davidphi

In most circumstances I do think tipping is appropriate, but only if you've had a good service. The expectation of many waiting staff is that they'll get their 10% for nothing more than a gunt when they are taking the order and delivering the food, especially in the chains. Eating out in America brings a whole new meaning to what service is and many of our chains would do well to take a visit over there.

I do also think that tips should be made in cash, but here's my quandry. I've worked away from home extensively for the last few years and so eat out in lots of resturants. If I tipped with cash every time I paid the bill (especially if there is a lot of us) I could easily spend £50 a week on tips! I've got no quibbles ususally in putting a tip on the bill though, so it can be claimed back as an expense. Cash doesn't give me that option, so more often than not, if there isn't the space on the bill to do it, they don't get a tip, unless they've made a special effort.

It does feel wrong, but I'd have little other money for me otherwise!

robpw2

a tip should only be left if completley happy with the service and should be 10% of the bill that is produced to the table in most cases

however i believe that anymoney is appreciated and you should only give what you can afford

and nigella gordon jaime and delia should spend more time at home cooking

funkyshaman

bennett2kuk wrote: »

I absolutely detest the idea of tipping. I don't care if they earn very little, they should be pushing themselves in a job that pays more. I don't want to earn minimum wage so I go out and bust a hump in my chosen profession. I suggest they do the same.

We already pay taxes to support those doley "jobseekers" why the hell should we feel pressured into supporting people who don't earn as much as they would like. It's like benefits for those who lack ambition and drive.

If anything I might leave a £1 or so, but I very very rarely carry cash, and always decline the automatic tip system in places like TGI Fridays. And if anything goes wrong like a wrong meal, spillage, delay, anything like that then I don't tip. Why should I when I'm not fully happy with the service.

Tipping is disgusting and I refuse point blank to take part.

:mad:This seems like an exceptionally closed minded and bigoted approach. I would imagine that you are the sort of person that most bar staff, waiters and waitresses despise serving.

I currently work in a bar/restaurant and this is due to being made redundant from a previous job not because I lack ambition or drive.

I must assume by the nature of your rant that you have never worked in catering or hospitality? Have you ever tried working a 12 hour shift without a break or food? I believe that bar work and waiting on tables is probably more complex than you are giving it credit for.

It is an unfortunate situation that tips are an integral part of the hospitality proffesion and constitute a significant proportion of wages but I don't think this is likely to change soon.

If I go out then I'll tip:

10-15% for a meal if the service was good and the food good.
For anything else a sliding scale between 0-10% depending on how bad it was.
If I get good cocktails in a bar (not the standard chain bar/restaurant rubbish) then I will leave a tip because I know that the skill and knowledge required to construct them is not reflected in their pay.

I know these forums are set up for those who want to save money but there is a difference between a money saver and a tight b*****d! It seems that some on these thread are struggling to differentiate.

yannicka

I have worked in the hospitality business both in the UK and the States and have stopped as soon as I came to the UK because it simply was not worth it.

In the US you could live off very well on a waiter salary (it only pays for your NI contributions so you get a zero salary every month) + tips (all your money came from that). In the UK you'll make very little money unless you work in a very busy restaurant with high prices and turnaround.

What's one to do? Personally, because I know how it felt to be short-tipped, I always tip on the original price of the bill not the discount, but - if I get bad service - a) I won't leave the tip if the faulty service was because of the waiter or b) if the fault is with the kitchen I would leave the tip but ensure my complain is noted.

At the end of the day, the focus is on the fact that you got something for free (your discount) and you could take that opportunity for being generous with the waiter (if they deserved it). It's not all about saving....it's about saving without worsening other's people finances because of your savings (in this case, your discount versus the lower tip). Anyway - this is my opinion - you can all keep yours and I am sure there will be enough geneorus tippers around to make up for the fewer reluctant to do so.

jaydub83

RubiconCSL wrote: »

A few thoughts and responses to previous posts....

I'm really surprised some peope think no tip at all is correct - but then it takes all sorts I suppose. If restaurants simply increased their prices to basically include the tip, then a) waiters would have no incentive to do a good job b) I would have no way of indicating my satisfaction or not of their service c) I'd effectively have to tip even for poor service (mush as one does with that rediculous automatic adding of 10% to the bill) d) they'd earn less, as it would all be taxed (most tips I believe aren't taxed).

Here's the thing: ALL earnings are taxable above the annual tax free allowance so tax should be paid on tips anyway. If you don't pay the tax on the tips, you're technically tax evading.

I don't tip because it's up to a company to remunerate its employees appropriately. I'm a professional and I don't get tipped by my clients for providing a high quality, speedy service: it's implied. If they like it they'll bring future work to me too and I benefit. Similarly, if I'm eating out and paying for the privilege, I expect my food to arrive hot and relatively quickly, for the server to be polite and friendly and for the bill not to take eons to arrive. If I'm satisfied I'll return resulting in more custom for the restaurant and consequently more profit; equally, if I'm unsatisfied I won't return resulting in less custom and possibly fewer jobs for the servers. There's the incentive to provide the service, not the tip.

For the record, I worked in bars and restaurants while I was at university and I didn't expect tips just for doing my job properly.

Pegase

Jay1b wrote: »

Personally I leave a tip if I feel that the waiter/waitress has been particularly helpful. If they just went through the motions and done the bare minimum then I won't tip. If they've been particularly helpful then I will tip.

When I do leave a tip, it has no baring on the cost of the meal, but of the service that I've received. Why should someone unhelpful get a £5 tip when I spend £50, and someone helpful get a £2 tip when I've spent £20? Often there is the same workload involved.

On the odd occasion when the tip has been automatically added to the bill, I will utterly refuse to pay it on principal - even if I had been planning on leaving one previously.

My thoughts exactly.
you shouldn't get tipped to just do your job (most of us don't) and not tipped for doing it badly. you should get extra only for doing extra.(bonuses are paid by your employer, not the clients. and you get them for doing MORE than your job description).
Tips being treated as a due are exactly why the service is bad, since you don't have to earn tips.

also outrageous is the extra service charge they put when you're in a group (why??!) then still expect a tip on top!

but it often puts me at odds with my british friends (though not as much as with my American friends! :rolleyes:.) and I resent that social pressure.

on the other hand, we went to a restaurant with my (french) family in France last week and they thought I was mad for suggesting to leave any tip, let alone 10% (there was 10 adults, bill was around €150-200 and we left 50c change..I thought maybe €5, so 50c each, would have been appropriate, service and food were fine).
And no, waiters are not paid more in France.

minerva_windsong

When I worked in a hotel bar I never got to keep my tips - all the tips, regardless of what event it was or how many of us were on the bar, went in a tip jar which was then put in a kitty and split amongst the staff at Christmas according to how long you'd been there. That said though I never expected tips and I certainly didn't always get them, although it was quite nice when I did get them as it felt like my work was being acknowledged, especially when I was running the bar on my own.

Oh, and for what it's worth I had to set up the bar and function room and take it all apart and clean it afterwards, plus do the weekly cleaning jobs like polishing the pumps and dusting the glass shelves (trust me, that takes years!) - as far as I know other than the occasional bit of hoovering Housekeeping never went anywhere near the function rooms. And I didn't stand around and talk all the time either! There's always something to be done...

To answer the original question, personally it would depend how flush I was feeling, but I'd generally err towards the side of what the meal cost before the discount.

As for who I tip, I tip my hairdresser when I can (I got 10% student discount anyway up until last month so figured I'd use it), normally tip cab drivers (see above, the two big cab companies I used at uni did student discount so I made it up in tips), and restaurant staff if I've had really good service.

I never tip by card though, it's always cash and as direct to the person who served me as possible.

iwanttosave_2

I only ever tip if I've had great service, if its normal service or below standard then no.


"I don't tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I'll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it's for the birds. As far as I'm concerned, they're just doing their job."
...................................................................................... - Mr. Pink, Reservoir Dogs.

Tracy551162

So glad to see there are some poeple out there who also don't tip. I think if you tip automatically, even if the service is mediocre, then waiting staff are not going to do much for it and just become complacent.

Also, doesn't tipping staff directly just take the responsibilty away from employers to pay staff better wages. It also takes the pressure off the government to set a higher minimum wage if they see that the general public is already footing their wage bill.

It really annoys me that when I'm out with friends and the service was not that great, they become a bunch of lemmings and are all embarrassed to not leave a tip. When I ask them what they thought of the service, they say it was not that great, but that they still have to leave a tip. We must stop this attitude of being embarrassed to not tip.

Personally if I worked in a tipping profession, I'd be embarrassed to take hand outs from people.

stars_bright

I would not tip because I think it is open to abuse. My 16 year old daughter took a job in a local cafe and on her first (and last) day she was paid £10 for working a 8 hour day. This would not have been too bad if she had been allowed to keep the £10 tips she was given during the day. However the cafe owner took the tips off her and used them to give change to the customers. There was nothing a 16 year old could do in this situation but she did not go back again and he has lost the custom of our family since then