Do you tip in restaurants?

aleks1244

Its your choice if You want to tip or not, i hardly ever tip... like most people say,ITS YOUR JOB...

I was in a restaurant where one of my friends left a 30£ tip on a 70 pound meal ... Some people do it to for service others do it to show that they are more wealthy than others.

Nick_C

takman wrote: »

They already get a fair wage for their job!. Carrying plates of food and copying down customers orders doesn't take any skill and i don't see why they should get anymore than the minimum wage.

That very much depends on the type of restaurant.

A good waiter will be able to tell you about the dishes on the menu, give advice, and deal with special requests. They should be keeping an eye on you and liaising with the kitchen, making sure your food isn't prepared to soon and isn't sitting around on the pass once it's ready. They should make sure you are happy with the meal and deal with anything that is wrong. They should be topping up your wine and water, and making sure you have everything you need. A good waiter ensures you have an enjoyable experience.

Many "waiters" these days, particularly in chain restaurants, do little more than carry plates, but there are still restaurants around where the waiters are involved in preparing food table side, such as flambees or steak tartare. This requires skill.

max99x

i live in London so tips are ALWAYS added, its annoying as if the service isnt good you don't want to really tip but then it has to be really bad for me to ask them to remove it from the bill.

I think tips should always be optional, and always go to the servers

NBLondon

I was in a semi-gastro pub a fortnight ago - order and pay at the bar, then food is brought to the table. The card machine automatically invited me to add a tip with a choice of None, 10%, 12.5% and more. That looks very dodgy to me - at that point, I haven't experienced the service beyond placing an order - so if the food or service is lacking, I can't adjust the tip appropriately. Wonder how many people just add on a percentage because they think it is the norm (or out of habit)?
As it happens - the food was fine and the service was good. Had I been paying at the end, I would have happily tipped. I looked for the server as we left intending to thank him personally and cash tip, but he wasn't about (knocked off? on a break?). I did give feedback online afterwards to make both these points.

Robisere

It is NOT compulsory! That is what we Brits forget, so many of us still worried about 'what will be thought of us.' I tip if food and service are good. If they are not, I don't. If the food or the service is particularly bad, I vote with my feet and don't return. If I am asked when paying the bill "Was everything allright?" or similar, I tell the truth.

It's market research in basic form: if you believe that some part of the meal or service is good or bad, tell them. Either by tipping and saying how good it was, or by not tipping and saying what was wrong.

I will refuse to tip under compulsion: including a "service charge" should be illegal.

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

i find myself apologising for not leaving a tip and consequently i actively avoid restaurants of any description once there is an expectation of tipping.

I cringe at the thought of seeing "gratuity" on a card machine!

ViolaLass

Voyager2002 wrote: »

...and when the waiter pays tax s/he will be taxed on the income from tips that HMRC estimates from the volume of work so that s/he will have to pay tax on the tip that you don't give!

Haven't scrolled through the entire thread - has this been picked up? It's not true, is it? (I gather it is in the US but didn't think it was here)

takman

ViolaLass wrote: »

Haven't scrolled through the entire thread - has this been picked up? It's not true, is it? (I gather it is in the US but didn't think it was here)

Yes it is true if they don't fill out a tax return then they are taxed on estimated cash tips. But they can easily supply information so they are only taxed on what they receive.

https://www.gov.uk/tips-at-work/tips-and-tax

ViolaLass

takman wrote: »

Yes it is true if they don't fill out a tax return then they are taxed on estimated cash tips. But they can easily supply information so they are only taxed on what they receive.

https://www.gov.uk/tips-at-work/tips-and-tax

So only a disorganised waiter would get taxed on the tip I didn't give.

Kim_kim

I went for a meal last Thursday night, only the Harvester.

I left the obligatory 10% tip - as it's expected to make up wages.

But the service wasn't very good at all. I asked for a coffee with the puddings as we had to leave right after pudding. It never arrived & I couldn't catch her to remind her, so we just asked for it to be removed off the bill.