Why do some people think *gratuities* should always be paid?

jon81uk

Mark_d said:

A number of years ago the Advertising Standards Agency gave advice that non-optional charges should be included in the total cost, or at least made explicit (if memory serves me correctly).  Lots of places, from restaurants to cruise ships, expect people to pay tips - sometimes a significant proportion of the total cost.  I feel this is completely unjustified and downright greedy.

If I choose to pay £25 for a meal, or £2000 for a cruise, that's the amount I've committed to paying because that's what suits my budget.  Why do people think I should offer more if the staff provides service with a smile?

Some people say that the workers get low pay and rely on tips.  That's not my fault.  If/when I want to support people in need - there are plenty of people more in need of money than the workers on cruise ships or in restaurants.

Most of the cruise ships are American, price things onboard in US Dollars and therefore the customs of the USA where low wages which are topped up by tips should be taken into account. Those cruise lines do offer the option to pre-pay the gratuities when booking, but yes its not displayed in the price. P&O who are more British in they way they operate do not add a gratuity and price things in GB Pounds.

Same as if you go on holiday to the USA you should expect to add 18% to every meal, its the same on those US owned cruise lines.

However I do agree that restaurants adding 12.5% is becoming a problem in London, gratuity isn't part of British culture and they should pay the staff better instead, but I also understand the VAT reason for not just increasing prices.

jon81uk

sheramber said:

Why do some people get upset by the fact that other people want to leave a tip?

I think the OPs issue is gratuity added to the bill by the establishment, not people leaving a tip.

Emmia

jon81uk said:

sheramber said:

Why do some people get upset by the fact that other people want to leave a tip?

I think the OPs issue is gratuity added to the bill by the establishment, not people leaving a tip.

I see the gratuity line if it appears as another item on the bill, like a glass of wine or the dessert. If it appears I don't tip on top of this - even if the food/service was exceptional. This might mean the serving staff get less, than if I was free to choose 

If it's poor I ask for the service charge/gratuity to be removed. 

DullGreyGuy

As the service charge is actually optional, even if included by default it means it doesn't attract VAT whereas were it non-optional then you'd have to pay 20% on top of it. 

It therefore becomes a bit circular... were they to do away with the 12.5% optional service charge the price would go up 15% for the staff to still be paid the same. By being a service charge it also guarantees it goes to them whereas the 15% pay increase would go to the business owner and would be at their discretion as to if the net amount goes to staff or not. 

In principle I would prefer to choose my own tip but because of the above can accept the optional service charge. I find those with an optional service charge who also handover the card machine with a "add tip" question 

Exodi

Tipping culture is becoming out of control across the pond so I think it's expected that we feel some of that influence in the UK (even though the setup is totally different, with US wages subsidized by tips).

Regarding tipping in the UK, to be honest I find it hard to form a complete stance on the matter.

One part of me says it's a good thing paying people extra for providing a good service, and it motivates servers to provide the best possible service.

The other part of me questions why would we tip servers, but not other staff members? Why don't we tip our dentist or the guy that services our boiler? Is the criteria earning near minimum wage, because if that's the case then why don't we don't tip supermarket cashiers, or the hotel receptionist, or customer service call handlers? I'm obviously not the first person to notice a discrepancy here, hence the growing popularity of the (sarcastic) suggestion on the internet that you should 'tip your landlord'.

HillStreetBlues

Mr Pink said:

Tipping automatically is for the birds.

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Bighitter32

Tip based on service levels, never, ever, feel obliged to tip….. in fact, I do on occasion explain why I never tipped to the waiter or waitress.