tipping

Honestly, I've never tipped a non-food delivery driver in the UK and can't imagine anyone doing this here. Movers are a different story.

Oh, that's good to know. Previous deliveries which were v. late were a) the movers (remembered to tip them) and b) when I was out so I've no idea what they got, if anything.

They certainly weren't hanging around looking like they expected a tip, or they'd have got one. Straight out of the door as soon as paperwork was signed.

Back when I bought a bunch of appliances (fridge/freezer etc) the delivery guys made a great show of moaning about how heavy said appliances were and I was all 'you deliver for Argos, at what point did you think there wasn't going to be any heavy lifting, and when did you wise up?' in other words OH BOO HOO, GRAB A TISSUE.

ok, here's something weird i'm noticing that i'm hoping someone can shed light on:

i've had at least 3 times at 3 different places in the last few months where i've paid a tab and left a tip on my debit card. (i know servers prefer cash tips and i do it when i have the convenient cash, but that's not always the case.) but anyway, in these instances, when i check my bank account a few days later, all i see charged is the amount of the tab, not the tip. at first i thought it might have to do with a lag time -- they initially authorize the amount of the tab and have to enter the tip separately -- but i just checked the one from about 3 weeks ago, and the tip never shows up on my account at all. it was a good tip too! i tried to work out if there are some kind of shenanigans involved, something worked out between staff and management where they accept a smaller tip in cash so they don't have to pay it, but the bottom line is still that i'm not getting charged for any tip at all, so i don't understand how anyone can make money off it.

and if it had only happened once, i would think it was just a screwup by someone forgetting to enter the tip. but 3 times at 3 places seems more like a pattern. any ideas?

i mean "a smaller tip in cash so they don't have to pay taxes on it"...

oops, i take it back. i see that one of them does now have the full amount charged. so maybe on two of them (including the most recent, which is still showing just the tab) it was just the lag-time, and on the other one it really was just a mistake.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=132000908466&ref=nf

1 Million Servers Strong Against Oprah's Comments

Oprah Winfrey has recently stated on her TV show that it is acceptable to tip servers 10% in our current economy. This group is being put together to show Oprah that her comments have a crippling affect on servers all over the world. There are so many fanatical people out there that take Oprah's word at face value and will now believe it is acceptable to tip servers only 10%. She gave this "money saving tip" on her tv show as a way to tell her audience how to enjoy a night out while cutting back costs in our current economy. Oprah obviously does not realize that servers rely on their tips and only make 2-4 dollars an hour BEFORE taxes. If Oprah wanted to give her audience some tips on how to save money when eating out she should have told them to have only one drink with dinner instead of two, or cut back on appetizers and desserts, or check the paper for coupons. Oprah needs to realize that the majority of servers are people that are trying to put themselves through college or have a family and kids that also rely on tips as 90% of their income. To sum everything up, the purpose of this group is to unite servers all across the country and try to show Oprah that she is wrong in using her platform to tell people that 10% tips are acceptable regardless of service. Oprah needs to go back to her studio and tell people better ways to save money that is not directly taking money out of peoples pockets and food off of their tables. Thank you for joining this group and please, please tell every server you know about this group and urge them to join!

god oprah is a shithead

Hoax.

ok but i still hate oprah!

That's cool.

I went out for dinner in Lisbon on Saturday with some Portuguese people. When I asked whether it was the norm to tip in their city, they fell around laughing.

because it is or it isn't, though?

I got the impression that they reckon that tipping is something stupid tourists do.

If you go to somewhere casual to eat, semi-regularly, and one time you have really bitchy service, is it ok to 'retaliate' by leaving a small tip or none? Or just rise above it and pay for having the server make you feel like crap, just because you don't want even bitchier service next time?

just don't go back (for a while)

give a regular tip because unless u are richie rich eating at fancytown its an extra couple bucks and probably your server is just having a bad day and if she/he is always a bitch than she/he will eventually get fired

not necessarily, i remember hearing a "this american life" story a while ago where they tested this and found that the same waitresses got better tips when they were bitchy, i guess because people wanted to be liked or something.

in the situation of outright bitchy service i would probably leave a smaller tip than usual but would not leave none.

And really, it's a requirement by law in Canadian provinces that restaurant staff are all paid (a) minimum wage (um I think a couple have separate wages for servers/bartenders but it's not much less than normal minimum wage). Yes, in some cases that isn't very good, but it's pretty much on par with the rest of the service/retail sector... it's not like in the US where there's a massive gap between state minimum wage and the wages servers get... yet people still follow the same tipping custom... which might be even more frustrating because it seems so unnecessary compared to in the US

^^

Seriously, I completely understand the reasons why one should leave a standard 15-20% tip in the US. Since coming back to Canada, though, it seems odd to me that I should pay the same tip during an economic crisis in a province where waiters and waitresses make these wages and have free health care. (The cost of living outside Toronto is not that much higher that this seems justified to me.) I'm willing to pay all the taxes in the world but I don't understand why we need to tip so highly for average or below-average service. All this said, I tip generously and will continue to do so until the social norms change.

(While the cost of living is not that much higher, the cost of alcohol certainly is, which exacerbates the frustration.)

not to stoke old fires but why is british tip 10% and american tip closer to 20?

I didn't even know you tip at all in the UK, TBH. What is a server's wage in the UK?

you'll get about £5 an hour at the very least, often more, sometimes quite a lot more if it's a posh joint

and we are not the sort of disgusting savages who don't tip. except we don't tip barmen or coffee vendors, that's dumb

;)

Been stuff in the news lately that even if you do tip in the UK it probably won't go to the server anyway, they're trying to change the law to stop that tho.

Yeah, that should answer your question. After the exchange rate (and health insurance), consider the difference: http://www.humanresourceblog.com/2009/03/24/server-minimum-wage-in-new-york-for-2009/

Barmen = liquor servers?

xpost

yeah, people who hand out drinks, behind a bar :P

also wow that's a low minimum wage

Yes, in the most expensive city in the country. Wake up, this is the basis of every ILX tipping argument EVER.

If the employee does not earn enough tips to average $7.15 per hour, the employer must pay the difference.

Would be shocked if any employer actually paid the difference, btw. Can anyone confirm/deny?

British system is fairer IMO, and besides you often get Brits who give 20% anyway for the hell of it.

give a regular tip because unless u are richie rich eating at fancytown its an extra couple bucks and probably your server is just having a bad day and if she/he is always a bitch than she/he will eventually get fired

so what are tips for? I thought they were a way of rewarding good service.

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Oh dear, have I just triggered the recurring ILX tipping war?

theyre a stupid way of making sure that servers get paid at least a minimum wage

10% in the UK is fair enough I think (more for great service), as eating out can be a lot more expensive. I never used to tip in the jar at the counter when getting a coffee or whatever though, only table service. How expected is this in the US?

Here in the US, eating out is generally a fair bit cheaper so 15-20% doesn't work out so expensive. Also the service is generally a lot better - people give you glasses of water without having to ask! They bring the bill quickly! That said, in the UK I've never experienced bitchy service - if it's not up to scratch it's usually just incompetence or gormlessness....

i don't tip for coffee and you shouldn't. if i ordered a fancy coffee drink or sandwich maybe.

Also I've read a few accounts of (American) servers who just assume Brits won't tip. So I'm still feeling a bit like I need to tip on the higher end just to over-compensate. But then if you get crappy service it rankles a bit, either pay through the nose or reinforce their 'tight Brits' assumptions!

Britishes were never unreasonable about service/tipping. Germans and the French, OTOH, fucking sucked.

Also, civil servants.

Right on.

In the USA, do you reckon the per centage you have to tip has gone up over the years? I have the impression that in days of yore it was c. 10%, but it has now crept up to c. 20%.

Yes, it has gone up from 10% for good/15% great to 15%/20%, just in the last couple of decades. I'm guessing this has to do with the preponderance of chain restaurants paying a shitty wage but not having a high volume for servers to depend on (and forcing servers to tip out other employees to cut labor costs as well).

I have some 70s-tastic Berlitz guide to deciphering menus round the world which also mentions US and UK differences and tipping etiquette worldwide and it says US tips 10-15%, so I thought "oh that is like Britisherland 10%-and-round-up, no problem", but subsequent years of ILXing have made me realise I was a v. mean tipper when in the States

sorry Californian wait staff, April/May 1999 :(

in the situation of outright bitchy service i would probably leave a smaller tip than usual but would not leave none

boggling my mind a little

i just want to pop in and say that i now make it regular practice to tip extra big on the first drink, for good luck

wait what, you americans tip bar staff?!!1!?

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― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:57 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i just want to pop in and say that i now make it regular practice to tip extra big on the first drink, for good luck

― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, January 20, 2010 2:19 PM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

$2 on the first beer always!

wait what, you americans tip bar staff?!!1!?

― free the charmless but occasionally brilliant Dom Passantino (history mayne), Wednesday, January 20, 2010 8:02 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

is this a joke??

What about soft drinks? Serious cos I am trying to cut down my alcohol intake..

if yr bartender is charging you for a soda you should go to a different bar

If you're not drinking booze at all, a bartender should charge you for a soda. Plus, at some bars, they get that money.

in the situation of outright bitchy service i would probably leave a smaller tip than usual but would not leave none

boggling my mind a little

In the states, leaving no tip at all is basically taking money from the server. If a clerk at the grocery store is rude, should you be able to take a dollar or two from their wallet?