Money Moral Dilemma: Should I tip if other diners don't?

Gavin83

I've still never seen a good argument as to why some minimum wage jobs should be tipped and some shouldn't. If people want to leave tips fine, do so, it's your money. However I don't think people should be guilt tripped into it, tipping really has no place in this country.

Waiting jobs will always be low paid, it's frankly a job anyone could do. Unskilled jobs will never attract decent salaries and that should be expected rather than expecting customers to top your wages up.

I'm also against the minimum wage, I think it causes more problems than it solves and increasing this further really won't solve the issue.

dcc251 wrote: »

'The person on the checkout in Tesco' isn't on minimum wage at all; they get reduced rate food, they get career development, they get paid holidays, they get subsidised uniforms, they get employment stability, they get automatic pay rises, they get to sit down, they get breaks, they get protection from the drunken !!!!!! that think it's okay to treat waiters and waitresses like crap, they get to know when their shift ends, they get promotions, they get £9.30 an hour minimum, and on and on and on.

I think you've got a really misguided view on what working in retail involves.

What about care assistants? They're never tipped and can't imagine you'd even begin to suggest that job is easier than working in a restaurant.

dcc251 wrote: »

If you don't think you should tip for decent service, don't go out to restaurants.

I'll do what I like thank you and pay the price I've been asked to.

cheeky-peach

I dislike tipping. I have a similar opinion to others here... I know lots of people working minimum wage jobs who don't get tipped. I find it ridiculous that there's an expectation.

PasturesNew

One aspect that is never discussed on such threads is: where are you eating?

Everybody's "usual eatery" is different.

I saw that Roux chef on the telly - trying to train some "under-privileged" people once... and he was going through all sorts of things that were service, from how long people should wait before orders being taken, how/when to approach, how/when to clear a table, how/when to offer drinks, or desserts, how long to wait for the bill....

It was entirely all alien to me!

My eating out experience is you walk in, you sit down, they give you a menu, they come back and take an order, food appears, it leaves, the bill comes. Nothing special going on there.

There's a massive difference in "service" between a meal costing you £6-10 and one costing £20-50 and one costing £50+

My answer when I eat at a Wetherspoons on the "Two Dine for £6" menu will differ from another's answer regarding their fine dining taster menu nights.

RajaStyle

HH70 wrote: »

I used to be quite rigid about tipping but in recent years, it's tailed off and now I tend to just leave some loose change rather than a specific amount. I don't know why, maybe I've just become less reliant on tradition as I've got older but like others, I am on the national living wage and both my husband and I work in the public sector. Neither of us gets tips or an annual bonus. Maybe that isn't important but I agree with other posters that if the service is really good, and the individual server has gone above and beyond, it's good to tip a bit more but if it's been average or as it should be, I just leave the coins. I don't mind it when restaurants add in the extra as standard as I know before I eat there. One of our local chains does this and their service is generally really good. However, when it wasn't I had no issue with asking them to remove the tip and letting us give our own; it was a bit embarrassing but it was a family birthday meal and I didn't see why I should pay another £15 on top of a big bill for service that was just as it should have been and nothing special.

I agree with you, didn't realise your could remove the service charge it normally says obligatory right? Can you remove it?

pollypenny

We usually tip unless the service has been poor. In our local Prezzo I'm always asking for alterations from the menu for my order.

They certainly deserve a tip.

We usually round up tradesmen's pay, too or give a fiver for a pint.

dcc251

RajaStyle wrote: »

I agree with you, didn't realise your could remove the service charge it normally says obligatory right? Can you remove it?

No service charge is ever obligatory and it would be illegal to say that on a bill. In any decent restaurant they will also be able to tell you exactly where it goes. This is, I think, a good example of that.

kevinb1969

I hope it is not just me but when I leave a tip it is for excellent service and good quality, not because it is expected.

We regularly go to Toby Carvery with my in-laws who insist on leaving a tip, even though we have to queue and serve ourselves and in my opinion, the food is mediocre at best.

People should get over the desire to leave a tip for everything, sometimes you have to accept that you have paid the amount asked for and nothing more is needed.

onwards&upwards

undrop79 wrote: »

I wonder how many of those calling for a "proper living wage" would be happy to see a blanket 15% price hike across the board on all restaurant menus to pay for this?

Tips exist to incentivise the waiters to give you the diner a better experience. If you don't think you received this, you have the ability to not give a tip. If menu prices went up to pay for the wage increases you're calling for, you wouldn't have the option.

I would.

They’re working they should be paid properly, it shouldn’t depend the pot luck of who comes in that evening or how busy it is.

NeilCr

Gavin83 wrote: »

I've still never seen a good argument as to why some minimum wage jobs should be tipped and some shouldn't.

I think it may be, at least partly, that you get a longer, more personal service from waiting staff - particularly if you are, like us, people who tend to spend some time over their meal

We tip - as long as the service is not poor - but I, completely, agree that no-one should be guilt tripped into it. While I, also, agree that they should be paid properly the fact remains that some are, I gather, not and I am not prepared to withhold a tip on the off chance that my action will somehow change this

In terms of the OP I would have sought out the waiter/waitress and quietly given them a tip

crmism

I wouldn't think about giving a tip unless the service given warranted it, and definitely not 10% every time, and it could be in the instance you cite that your friends were disappointed with the lack of it. Some restaurants and hotels get away with blue murder.

There would have been nothing to prevent you collaring whoever served you, and explaining that the tip was from you and no-one else. Doing that would have allowed you to leave with your conscience clear.