Restaurants - please ask who gets the tips

ibizafan_2

We are off to the U.S next Monday for two weeks and will be tipping as much as is customary. I am is strong believer in "when in Rome" etc. By the way, although Australia has a much bigger minimum wage and tipping isn't part of their culture, it isn't entirely discouraged. We noticed this on the last two visits.

Kim_kim

I was at a buffet restaurant on Sunday - they charged 10% service.

They put 10% on all bills (not just buffets), why not just be upfront & increase prices 10%

Person_one

I'm happy to admit I only tip because its a social norm and expected.

I actually really dislike the practice, and I had hoped it might start to die out when the law was changed in 2009 so that waiting staff had to receive NMW direct from their employer and couldn't have tips counted towards it. That didn't happen for some reason.

It doesn't seem like a fantastic job, on your feet for hours, hot, busy, rude customers to deal with etc. That's the same for lots of jobs though and I find it a bit odd and a bit too much of a hangover from another era in terms of class, that we only tip certain people who are the ones who 'serve' us in the most obvious ways.

Detroit

ibizafan wrote: »

We are off to the U.S next Monday for two weeks and will be tipping as much as is customary. I am is strong believer in "when in Rome" etc. By the way, although Australia has a much bigger minimum wage and tipping isn't part of their culture, it isn't entirely discouraged. We noticed this on the last two visits.

In my experience most Americans don't tip 20%.

There's was a survey done on US tipping behaviour which gives some stats on this.
Apparantly it varies by state, and averages about 11%.

If your interested enough to Google it, you can find out the average tip for the state you're visiting.

JReacher1

Detroit wrote: »

In my experience most Americans don't tip 20%.

There's was a survey done on US tipping behaviour which gives some stats on this.
Apparantly it varies by state, and averages about 11%.

If your interested enough to Google it, you can find out the average tip for the state you're visiting.

Have you read something where this poster has said they were going to tip 20%?

It seems random to tell them not to tip 20% when they've not said that is the amount they are going to tip.

Very strange.

Gavin83

JReacher1 wrote: »

If people didn't tip in restaurants then the price of food would rise as the restaurants would need to pay staff more to perform the role of waiter.

As a customer I'd prefer that to be honest. Seems better for everyone involved, including the waiting staff. If I was in charge of this country I'd make the whole tipping thing illegal.

It also seems a weird mix of who receives tips and who doesn't. The weirdest has to be black cab drivers who earn a huge salary. Saying that I don't use them anymore.

Detroit

JReacher1 wrote: »

Have you read something where this poster has said they were going to tip 20%?

It seems random to tell them not to tip 20% when they've not said that is the amount they are going to tip.

Very strange.

It's seems 'random' to me that you take my post, intended only to share a survey someone may find of interest, as me telling the poster what to do.

You appear to be reading things that aren't there again JR.

Very strange indeed!

However, ill indulge you this once on the off chance you genuinely don't understand...

The poster said they were going to tip what is 'customary' in the U.S.

It is a commonly held belief that the customary tip in the U.S. is 20%.

You stated this in one of your own posts I believe, as did another poster.

You're perfectly correct the poster did not say actually say were going to tip 20%.

However, putting together their use of the term 'customary' with what I understand people to believe is customary, I made a wild stab in the dark that the poster meant 20%.

If the poster in fact meant some other unspecified sum, also thought to be customary in the U.S, then I apologize to them for any confusion or offence my post may have caused.

Happy now?:)

JReacher1

Detroit wrote: »

It's seems 'random' to me that you take my post, intended only to share a survey someone may find of interest, as me telling the poster what to do.

You appear to be reading things that aren't there again JR.

Very strange indeed!

However, ill indulge you this once on the off chance you genuinely don't understand...

The poster said they were going to tip what is 'customary' in the U.S.

It is a commonly held belief that the customary tip in the U.S. is 20%.

You stated this in one of your own posts I believe, as did another poster.

You're perfectly correct the poster did not say actually say were going to tip 20%.

However, putting together their use of the term 'customary' with what I understand people to believe is customary, I made a wild stab in the dark that the poster meant 20%.

If the poster in fact meant some other unspecified sum, also thought to be customary in the U.S, then I apologize to them for any confusion or offence my post may have caused.

Happy now?:)

I think the only person who has mentioned tipping 20% in America is you when you said that wasn't the case!

The exception is the poster who contradicted you with her own experience in America where they said it was 20%.

You seem to be deliberately making up information and posts just so you can say that 20% isn't the normal tipping amount in America.

It's very confusing

JReacher1

Kim_kim wrote: »

I was at a buffet restaurant on Sunday - they charged 10% service.

They put 10% on all bills (not just buffets), why not just be upfront & increase prices 10%

Makes the price look cheaper to someone who is walking in off the street. It's a marketing ploy.

Person_one

Gavin83 wrote: »

It also seems a weird mix of who receives tips and who doesn't. The weirdest has to be black cab drivers who earn a huge salary. Saying that I don't use them anymore.

You're right that its odd who we decide deserves tips, but black cab drivers don't earn a salary, and their earnings are only average.