tips in restaurants - moral question

jetplane

I always ask how the tips are divided up before tipping, some tips are put in a kitty and shared out and at least one well known chain pays the tips through earnings and they are subject to tax and NI. However, this also means the chefs receive a fair share and how many of us ask to see the chef and tip them when the food is great?

There are people working just as hard for minimum wage in other jobs who are not allowed to accept any gratuities. My nephew has always waited on while studying and maintains he earns far more working in a smart restaurant than his peers doing shop work or cleaning jobs.

I tip my hairdresser, not for cutting my hair but because I frequently ask her for last minute appointments and she always accommodates me, even staying late on the odd occasion.

My good friend always tips the bar staff and never has to wait for a drink, she used to work in a busy bar and tells me I have no idea how hard it is being on your feet and shouted at all night.

Oh and I always ask for the service charge to be removed especially if the staff are lazy.

kaflinkle

It's always a bit of a strange one to me as what profession do you tip or don't tip. Do you only tip low paid staff? In that case why not a shop assistant who's gone above and beyond locating an item from the darkest depths of the stockroom? Why only restaurant/bar staff?

This thread reminds me of the conversation in Reservoir Dogs.

Coopdivi

Faith177 wrote: »

I have had a raise on my second job but that has pretty much be wiped out by my NI and tax payments. My main job I have not had a penny all of our bonus's were stopped everything has gone

I worked 9am - 8pm Christmas Day for minium wage when we had groups of people spending £200-£300 mainly on booze then walking out with our even a thank you

If you can afford to eat out you can afford to leave someone who has given excellent customer service £1 but then that is my opinion each to their own and all that.

However I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of people who are quick enough to complain about the service and often things that are simply outside of your control but not quick enough to complement

First world problems lol

totallyrandom

Was in Chicago a few years ago and left a waitress a 10% tip and started to leave. She came running after me and stated "My rate is 15%!".


Needless to say I didn't go back to that restaurant despite the food being excellent!

boliston

keyser666 wrote: »

I always round it up to the nearest fiver or if decent service tenner

This is a bit mean if the bill comes to £49.99

kaushal101

ElefantEd wrote: »

You're in saving mode but frequently eat at restaurants? You may want to rethink that............

We visit restaurant once in 3-4 weeks perhaps.

prowla

I tip 10%, unless I am unhappy or the payment machine doesn't include a tip option.

Powered_By_Pies

kaflinkle wrote: »

It's always a bit of a strange one to me as what profession do you tip or don't tip. Do you only tip low paid staff? In that case why not a shop assistant who's gone above and beyond locating an item from the darkest depths of the stockroom? Why only restaurant/bar staff?

This thread reminds me of the conversation in Reservoir Dogs.

It's finny how the tip culture only seems to work in catering and not so much in retail.

I had two examples in my old job - one guy who came in, all flash Harry, made me run around getting everything for him whilst he sat on a seat hacking into his mobile, paid £3,000 for the goods (it was a high end winter sports store) and left without so much as a thanks.

A few days later, a guy came in with some ski boots that he was having a small issue with, I spent about 30 minutes with him to fix the problem, and he can in the following day with a tenner and a crate of beer for me.

If both of those guys walked in at the same time, I would be more inclined to help the second guy first, because he acknowledged the service I was providing. To some that would probably make me sound greedy. I wouldn't expect him to tip again but it's that notion which stands the guy in good stead with me, whereas the first guy seemed to think I was nothing more than a mule who could do his bidding for him.

A matter of principal I feel - in a customer-facing role, you tend to want to help the more pleasant people because you build a good rapport with them. And before people argue that I should serve the first guy first because he spent so much money, the second guy came in a couple of weeks later when I wasn't in and spent a thousand pounds on new ski gear, because he was impressed with the level of service he received. Swings and roundabouts, really.

Sharon87

I tip sometimes, not all the time. I don't really have a set amount I tip, it depends on 2 things, how much money I have (eg pay day I'm more inclined to tip more than just before payday) and also the service received.

I find a lot of the big chain restaurants like Pizza Express, Zizzi's.etc I don't tend to tip that much as much as their service isn't always up to scratch. I may leave them a pound or 2 on a £20-£30 meal. But once I only left 5p as the service was terrible! (I didn't want to wait 10 minutes for my 5p change...)

I do hate service charges, unless I'm in a big group or in a really posh restaurant and it states that on the website or on the menu beforehand. I had a meal up the Shard last month, it was amazing, amazing staff, amazing food and everything was explained to us about the food before we ordered, so we had no qualms about the £50 odd service charge (we ordered a lot of food). It's not like I go to posh places often.

Money-Saving-King

totallyrandom wrote: »

Was in Chicago a few years ago and left a waitress a 10% tip and started to leave. She came running after me and stated "My rate is 15%!".


Needless to say I didn't go back to that restaurant despite the food being excellent!

This post just shows ignorance of another countries culture.

I've known for ages 15 to 20% is the standard tip in the the States.