I dated a pizza guy once.. once, he delivered 12 pizzas and got a "change" tip, as in, the difference between the price and the nearest higher dollar amount. He felt that 3-4$ was a decent tip, an additional $ per bad weather, long distance, or large order. Anyway, 30% is way too much for me, generally. I stick to 15% when it's a small group & 20% when in a large group, as it's much more work & groups tend to short on tip. I've hosted guests from overseas (&/ places where tips are not given), and have paid upwards of 20$ over to compensate for them not tipping. I would much rather, however, that wait-staff be paid a fair wage and tipping not be expected. But I suppose that's socialism.
Do you still tip a full $5 if the restaurant already has a delivery fee? I would feel a little ripped off tipping $5 when the pizza place is already charging me $3 bring it.
This is a perfect example of companies using tipping to willfully harm their own employees. When Pizza Hut charges that $3 delivery fee, it does NOT go to the driver. Yet customers are a) often unaware of that and b) unwilling to pay twice for the same service.
Tipping is a tool of oppression. If VPs lived off tips, it would be less of a problem, but the reality is that economies of scale cause tipping to have a profound and nasty effect on the income of the lowest wage-earners.
Tipping is, in my opinion, a criminal institution that should be abolished. It's a private-industry tax that benefits business owners at the direct expense of workers.
If you attempt to tip in the UK and Spain, some waiters will be offended, or otherwise say something to the effect of, "That is wholly unnecessary." There aren't even tip jars at places like Pret A Manger, in my experience.
That's why I always really appreciate when restaurants in the US note that a service charge is already included in the bill (regardless of party size). It lets you know that the establishment actually cares about their waitstaff.
If you attempt to tip in the UK and Spain, some waiters will be offended, or otherwise say something to the effect of, "That is wholly unnecessary." There aren't even tip jars at places like Pret A Manger, in my experience.
That's why I always really appreciate when restaurants in the US note that a service charge is already included in the bill (regardless of party size). It lets you know that the establishment actually cares about their waitstaff.
Not just a UK or Spain thing. This seems to be mostly the same across most of Europe. France is certainly like this and usually the checks say the service is included. Portugal is also similar, although there the etiquette seems to be to leave a token 1 or 2 Euro tip (that's what my uncle does, at least) as opposed to a percentage of the total bill.
If you attempt to tip in the UK and Spain, some waiters will be offended, or otherwise say something to the effect of, "That is wholly unnecessary." There aren't even tip jars at places like Pret A Manger, in my experience.
That's why I always really appreciate when restaurants in the US note that a service charge is already included in the bill (regardless of party size). It lets you know that the establishment actually cares about their waitstaff.
Not just a UK or Spain thing. This seems to be mostly the same across most of Europe. France is certainly like this and usually the checks say the service is included. Portugal is also similar, although there the etiquette seems to be to leave a token 1 or 2 Euro tip (that's what my uncle does, at least) as opposed to a percentage of the total bill.
Same here, too. We don't tip except for absolutely exceptional service, because we actually pay our hospitality staff a decent living wage, rather than giving them a pittance and leaving the rest up to the kindness of strangers.
Let's face it, these people are handling your food and drink, do you want them to be well-paid and happy, or desperately seeking their next few bucks for the rent?
Tipping is a great institution. It's not like brain surgeons are relying on tips. It's a service industry convention that allows customers to very directly express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service they receive. What breaks the system are cheap bastards like basically everyone in this thread. :-)
Now, sub minimum wage for tipped staff, I do not agree with. It should be a premium. But then everyone in this thread would bitch about the price increase at every restaurant everywhere.
30% may be excessive according to Dear Abby, but I'm not eating out to be frugal.
What drives me nuts is when I eat out with someone else and we split the bill. I contribute enough money cover myself plus 20% and other people contribute enough to make the bill what they think is an appropriate tip (usually a lot less than what I put in), rather than their share + whatever tip they want to give is.
Now, sub minimum wage for tipped staff, I do not agree with. It should be a premium. But then everyone in this thread would bitch about the price increase at every restaurant everywhere.
I don't think an extra $2.80 (in NY) per server per hour is really gonna jack prices up all that much. I'd be willing to bet I pay a fair bit more in tips than I would in increased prices.
Assuming Me and Three friends take an hour to eat and spend $60. 15% tip would be $9 for that meal. Over the course of that hour the restaurant would only have to pay the wait staff an additional $8.40. That's assuming three waitstaff (Waiter, Busboy, Bartender/Wine steward).
I know that there are some variables to consider, but I seriously doubt I would see a price increase totaling more than what I already spend on tips.
What drives me nuts is when I eat out with someone else and we split the bill. I contribute enough money cover myself plus 20% and other people contribute enough to make the bill what they think is an appropriate tip (usually a lot less than what I put in), rather than their share + whatever tip they want to give is.
Yes this happens a LOT and its truly some seriously uncool control freakish bullshit.
Tipping is a great institution. It's not like brain surgeons are relying on tips. It's a service industry convention that allows customers to very directly express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service they receive. What breaks the system are cheap bastards like basically everyone in this thread. :-)
Not cheap, I just come from a country where a hard day's work is rewarded with a good day's pay. I do tip when I'm in the US, unless the service is completely absent.
I guess the big difference is that in the states, if you're bad at your job, you don't get as many tips, whereas here, if you're bad at your job in hospitality, you don't have a job for very long. You either get good or get gone. And funnily enough, the quality of our hospitality industry is known and respected worldwide - at least in part, because our hospitality workers are given a good wage, dignity and respect.
You don't want me to mention what is thought of the majority of the US hospitality industry.
Now, sub minimum wage for tipped staff, I do not agree with. It should be a premium. But then everyone in this thread would bitch about the price increase at every restaurant everywhere.
In that case, nobody here has any concept of how the hospitality industry actually works. My co-workers and I worked it out, a while back - if you look at the sale price per drink VS the cost of the ingredients/drinks, then a single night's take paid the wage for all of the bar staff, and every other night of the week was cream in that regard. I've certainly worked in restaurants where it's precisely the same thing. Most hospitality businesses make money hand over fist, and unless your place is already dead or dying, or you're a fucking idiot when it comes to running an establishment, then you can afford it without raising your prices more than a few cents on each dish, if you even bothered to raise them at all.
Tipping is a great institution. It's not like brain surgeons are relying on tips. It's a service industry convention that allows customers to very directly express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service they receive. What breaks the system are cheap bastards like basically everyone in this thread. :-)
You know there is a easy and effective way for expressing satisfaction or dissatisfaction, it's called words and talking and communication. It has quite a lot more expressive power than a number spelled with money.
The problem with tips is that there are a lot of assholes out there who don't tip, tip poorly, or give the wait-staff an unnecessarily tough time. Too often, tipping is seen as a manipulative tool, an ego boost, a power trip. I'd rather someone be secure in their wage and less irritated and cynical because the fifth customer just shafted them on tip. The incentive for good service should be keeping a job one doesn't hate, instead of occasional compensation amidst crappy bosses (who don't pay fairly) and crappy customers (who don't tip fairly). Edit: agree with apsup
If you attempt to tip in the UK and Spain, some waiters will be offended, or otherwise say something to the effect of, "That is wholly unnecessary." There aren't even tip jars at places like Pret A Manger, in my experience.
Its a real UK thing. If we tip then it is a sign that the restaurant and its staff have gone beyond the normal service.
Yep, Churba, apsup, and vaguelyweird hit it right on the head. If waitstaff was paid and treated properly and liable to be fired due to not working well, then we wouldn't need tipping at all. The fact is that we need to tip even for barely adequate service because the waitstaff is paid like crap here is seriously messed up. That said, nothing says you still can't tip for particularly exemplary service or out of politeness, but then that's just a case of a token 1 Euro tip (to use the example of my recent experiences in Portugal) on a 30 Euro meal as a "thank you" as opposed to a 5 or 6 Euro tip on the same meal to keep the waitstaff from starving.
If you attempt to tip in the UK and Spain, some waiters will be offended, or otherwise say something to the effect of, "That is wholly unnecessary." There aren't even tip jars at places like Pret A Manger, in my experience.
Its a real UK thing. If we tip then it is a sign that the restaurant and its staff have gone beyond the normal service.
Mhm. I loved tipping with the two pound coin, because you can slam it on the table with your thumb, like a medieval lord. "Let the tavern know I am well pleased."
If you attempt to tip in the UK and Spain, some waiters will be offended, or otherwise say something to the effect of, "That is wholly unnecessary." There aren't even tip jars at places like Pret A Manger, in my experience.
Its a real UK thing. If we tip then it is a sign that the restaurant and its staff have gone beyond the normal service.
Mhm. I loved tipping with the two pound coin, because you can slam it on the table with your thumb, like a medieval lord. "Let the tavern know I am well pleased."
I kinda felt the same way when tipping with a 1 or 2 Euro coin in Portugal.
I know that feel. The two pound coin is a full 3cm in diameter and almost 4g heavier than the 2e coin. I feel like they should be carried in a leather sack with which to pay your bannermen.
I know that feel. The two pound coin is a full 3cm in diameter and almost 4g heavier than the 2e coin. I feel like they should be carried in a leather sack with which to pay your bannermen.
The US seriously needs better coinage.
I dunno, the dollar coin is pretty boss, it's just rarely used.
The dollar coin is fairly boss, and I wonder why we don't use it more. Though we could also use a two-dollar coin, and a dime that isn't freaking tiny.
But mostly, we need cooler bills. The new fives, tens, and twenties are a nice step, but they're still boring.
Well, part of the reason for the boring bills is that there is a certain "look" that's expected of US dollars. No matter where you go on the planet, people seem to expect that the US dollar be mostly green on one side and mostly black on the other. If we did something more radical, like the multicolored Canadian dollar, for example, that may spook people (or so that's the theory).
That said, yeah... I'm all for using the dollar coin more often.
But mostly, we need cooler bills. The new fives, tens, and twenties are a nice step, but they're still boring.
Yo, how's this for you -
Also, they're practically invincible(but they do shrink in the oven, but why is your money in the oven what are you doing goddamnit stop), and incredibly hard to counterfeit. Worth more than the US dollar, too.
If you attempt to tip in the UK and Spain, some waiters will be offended, or otherwise say something to the effect of, "That is wholly unnecessary." There aren't even tip jars at places like Pret A Manger, in my experience.
Its a real UK thing. If we tip then it is a sign that the restaurant and its staff have gone beyond the normal service.
Mhm. I loved tipping with the two pound coin, because you can slam it on the table with your thumb, like a medieval lord. "Let the tavern know I am well pleased."
Dude you should have come down to the shire. Pub down the road does mead and hog roasts. It is not an uncommon sight for a reveler to bust through roaring for more drink and a lusty wench.
That sounds great. Revelling Geordies usually just roar for an cougar in a microdress and a beaker full of antifreeze to take the edge off and top off the lorry.
Comments
Anyway, 30% is way too much for me, generally. I stick to 15% when it's a small group & 20% when in a large group, as it's much more work & groups tend to short on tip. I've hosted guests from overseas (&/ places where tips are not given), and have paid upwards of 20$ over to compensate for them not tipping. I would much rather, however, that wait-staff be paid a fair wage and tipping not be expected. But I suppose that's socialism.
Tipping is a tool of oppression. If VPs lived off tips, it would be less of a problem, but the reality is that economies of scale cause tipping to have a profound and nasty effect on the income of the lowest wage-earners.
Tipping is, in my opinion, a criminal institution that should be abolished. It's a private-industry tax that benefits business owners at the direct expense of workers.
That's why I always really appreciate when restaurants in the US note that a service charge is already included in the bill (regardless of party size). It lets you know that the establishment actually cares about their waitstaff.
Let's face it, these people are handling your food and drink, do you want them to be well-paid and happy, or desperately seeking their next few bucks for the rent?
Now, sub minimum wage for tipped staff, I do not agree with. It should be a premium. But then everyone in this thread would bitch about the price increase at every restaurant everywhere.
30% may be excessive according to Dear Abby, but I'm not eating out to be frugal.
Assuming Me and Three friends take an hour to eat and spend $60. 15% tip would be $9 for that meal. Over the course of that hour the restaurant would only have to pay the wait staff an additional $8.40. That's assuming three waitstaff (Waiter, Busboy, Bartender/Wine steward).
I know that there are some variables to consider, but I seriously doubt I would see a price increase totaling more than what I already spend on tips.
I guess the big difference is that in the states, if you're bad at your job, you don't get as many tips, whereas here, if you're bad at your job in hospitality, you don't have a job for very long. You either get good or get gone. And funnily enough, the quality of our hospitality industry is known and respected worldwide - at least in part, because our hospitality workers are given a good wage, dignity and respect.
You don't want me to mention what is thought of the majority of the US hospitality industry. In that case, nobody here has any concept of how the hospitality industry actually works. My co-workers and I worked it out, a while back - if you look at the sale price per drink VS the cost of the ingredients/drinks, then a single night's take paid the wage for all of the bar staff, and every other night of the week was cream in that regard. I've certainly worked in restaurants where it's precisely the same thing. Most hospitality businesses make money hand over fist, and unless your place is already dead or dying, or you're a fucking idiot when it comes to running an establishment, then you can afford it without raising your prices more than a few cents on each dish, if you even bothered to raise them at all.
I'd rather someone be secure in their wage and less irritated and cynical because the fifth customer just shafted them on tip. The incentive for good service should be keeping a job one doesn't hate, instead of occasional compensation amidst crappy bosses (who don't pay fairly) and crappy customers (who don't tip fairly).
Edit: agree with apsup
The US seriously needs better coinage.
But mostly, we need cooler bills. The new fives, tens, and twenties are a nice step, but they're still boring.
That said, yeah... I'm all for using the dollar coin more often.
Also, they're practically invincible(but they do shrink in the oven, but why is your money in the oven what are you doing goddamnit stop), and incredibly hard to counterfeit. Worth more than the US dollar, too.
Our money is pretty goddamn cool.
>.<