tips in restaurants - moral question

RobGuggle

kaushal101 wrote: »

My wife doesn't believe in leaving tips. If we are holidaying some place new, she will say "why leave tips, we are not coming here again".

Yesterday she did the same. Food wasn't bad. Service was slow, but okay. The waiter was pleasant and nice. I felt we should have left something, What's the usual practice?

In our town, we go to a restaurant quite frequently. There too we don't always leave tips. which I don't like. If our bill is around £20, what should we be leaving behind?

I don't deny her point that we are in saving mode right now. Then I suggest going for take-away to avoid this dilemma. But she doesn't like that idea either.

View please?

Tip when the staff deserve it and don't when they don't. Pretty simple for me.

subboy2

Generally if I pay between £20 - £30 for a meal - I tip £2
£30 - 40 - I tip £3
£40 + - I Tip £4

I will normally attend the restaurant accepting that I will tip, but reserve the right to not tip if the food is substandard and the service has been poor.

Lavendyr

In the UK, for average service I won't tip. For good service I'll tip 10%. For excellent service, up to 20%.

In the US, for average service I'll tip 10%. For good service, 20%. For excellent service, up to 30%.

We have a minimum wage in the UK and far better employment laws. The expectations in the US are very different.

Money-Saving-King

Lavendyr wrote: »

In the UK, for average service I won't tip. For good service I'll tip 10%. For excellent service, up to 20%.

In the US, for average service I'll tip 10%. For good service, 20%. For excellent service, up to 30%

In the States as the article mentioned above a 10% tip in the States means you thought the service was below average bordering bad.

anotheruser

I did a good job today.
The job I am paid to do.
Please send me a tip to my PayPal address....

Please, someone answer me, why should I tip when I don't get tipped in my job?
Servers are paid to serve, why do people feel they need to give them more money?

If you want to, that's fine, but people looking down on "non-tippers" is awful. I can't really afford to tip when I go out - eating out is a treat for me anyway.

Goldiegirl

anotheruser wrote: »

I did a good job today.
The job I am paid to do.
.

What is your job?

If it's a job where there there isn't a long cultural tradition of tipping, then of course you wouldn't expect a top.

But if you are a waiter, and didn't get any tips at all during your working day, you'd have a valid grievance about not receiving tips. Unless you were very, very bad at your job, of course.

PenguinJim

Goldiegirl wrote: »

If it's a job where there there isn't a long cultural tradition of tipping, then of course you wouldn't expect a top.

But if you are a waiter, and didn't get any tips at all during your working day, you'd have a valid grievance about not receiving tips. Unless you were very, very bad at your job, of course.

The idea of continuing to do something purely because it's "tradition" instead of stopping doing it because it's stupid, unfair, outdated is... interesting. The way you use "of course" twice, to imply that it's a given, suggests that it makes sense in some way. But it just... doesn't.

We could equally apply your post to women voting in the UK a hundred years ago. Of course they shouldn't expect a vote when there's a long cultural tradition of women not voting. Of course we should waste £1000s on an engagement ring based on an eighty-year-old "tradition". Of course female genital mutilation should continue where there's a long cultural tradition of it.

Or... we could think about the things we do, and do the right things, instead of being sheep.

As kaflinkle says, it's fairly well summed up in Reservoir Dogs! Not all Americans accept it.

adouglasmhor

Bollotom wrote: »

TIPS = To Insure Prompt Service

Utter made up backronym rot. And it would be ensure not insure in British English - you don't get a cash payout if it's slow :rotfl:

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp

luellaaa

I've worked in hospitality for 9 years and let me tell you, that for a young woman, I am bloomin knackered! We work ridiculous shifts, often working 12 - 15 hours without sitting down, without drinking a glass of water, having to hold in the need to pee because customers 'need' something. I love the industry and I appreciate that I am here to serve, but without tips it is a job that can make you go home exhausted and unappreciated and therefore, you are more likely to hate customers and fail to give adequate service.

In my current hotel, we have 'regulars' and we know each and every one by their name and their personality. You know who will be pleasant and who will tip and often you feel they tip because they have taken the time to get to know the staff, know that they are tired and hungry and just want to go home to bed after 12 hours. Those who are just in for a meal or a quick one night stay, rarely notice us or acknowledge us and therefore can be quick to dismiss tips.

I JUST manage to get by every month. I don't have a contract, work varying hours every month and when I have to take a sick day or when I have fallen ill/pregnant it is a worrying time wondering what will happen to make ends meet. So the tips at the end of the month are an absolute lifesaver at times and have made a real difference to me. I am always so so grateful to anyone who leaves a tip, even just the change from their notes. It is better than nothing. Theres nothing worse than being left absolutely nothing and then wondering the whole day what you did so wrong when everything seemed fine and the people reported their meal 'lovely'.

ThumbRemote

luellaaa wrote: »

I've worked in hospitality for 9 years and let me tell you, that for a young woman, I am bloomin knackered! We work ridiculous shifts, often working 12 - 15 hours without sitting down, without drinking a glass of water, having to hold in the need to pee because customers 'need' something. I love the industry and I appreciate that I am here to serve, but without tips it is a job that can make you go home exhausted and unappreciated and therefore, you are more likely to hate customers and fail to give adequate service.

In my current hotel, we have 'regulars' and we know each and every one by their name and their personality. You know who will be pleasant and who will tip and often you feel they tip because they have taken the time to get to know the staff, know that they are tired and hungry and just want to go home to bed after 12 hours. Those who are just in for a meal or a quick one night stay, rarely notice us or acknowledge us and therefore can be quick to dismiss tips.

I JUST manage to get by every month. I don't have a contract, work varying hours every month and when I have to take a sick day or when I have fallen ill/pregnant it is a worrying time wondering what will happen to make ends meet. So the tips at the end of the month are an absolute lifesaver at times and have made a real difference to me. I am always so so grateful to anyone who leaves a tip, even just the change from their notes. It is better than nothing. Theres nothing worse than being left absolutely nothing and then wondering the whole day what you did so wrong when everything seemed fine and the people reported their meal 'lovely'.

How does that differ from, say, a care worker who doesn't get tips?