View Full Version : Tips and Gratuities
On a recent holiday in the US, I noticed that in the restaurants and bars the waiters and bar staff expect a 15% tip on all things whether it be a drink or a meal.
I also learnt that they get paid a pittance from their employers so they need the tip to make a living.
I think this is a great system. It is good for the employer and good for the employees.
This system makes sure that they will provide a good service and will share in the business' success rather than being paid minimum wage and not have the business' success at heart.
All too often in the UK we have bad service in cafes and restaurants and we are happy to put up with it. I think this is because we are not a tipping nation.
In the catering trade they are reliant on summer working students. I need a lot of convincing that such students on a minimum wage will put on all the frills of good service if they know they aren't gonna get a tip.
OK we have the choice to go elsewhere for our lunch but that other place will have the same problem, so why do we have such a system that is not conducive to good efficient service and puts businesses at risk?
omg dare i say it i agree! *G*
actually in america waitresses/waiters make good money most of the time..and you have the satisfaction of knowing that the tip you gave actually goes to the person you are tipping!
i was shocked to find that over here when you get a tip you do not get to keep it but it goes into a jar to be shared at the end of the year and the people who get the most are the ones that are there the longest!
it dosent matter how much some one works or how hard they try.. they do not get rewarded for it..
when i was a waitress back home as a teenager.. i was well pleased to finish a day with 50 dollars in tips in my pocket.. because the better waitress you are the better the tip..
and we all strove really hard to make sure the customer had a really lovley lunch tea ect.. as we knew that at the end of the meal we would be rewarded .. well usually they are those that think a dollar is a good tip for a table of 10 when you are running flat out refilling drinks bringing extra napkins listening to their idiotic jokes smilling and making them feel as if they are the most important person on earth while you have 9 other tables to cover at the same time.. but those are few and far between.. *laughs*
This system makes sure that they will provide a good service and will share in the business' success rather than being paid minimum wage and not have the business' success at heart.
I have to disagree there, on many occasions in many restaurants all this does is makes sure that they will hound you at your table consistently asking if everything is Ok to the point where you cannot carry on a conversation with your guests. They do this to protect their tip not to ensure good service.
And do they pay/declare taxes on the tips? Chancers...
If the customers ends up paying the bill plus 15% tip, why does the restaurant not just charge 15% more and the employees pay their taxes - like the rest of us!
I for one take exception to the expectation that people should be rewarded extra for doing what should be the basis of their job anyway. Alll waiters and waitresses should be courteous, appropriately attentive and aware of their customers needs as a minimum! not rewarded for being so. If they can't manage that, they should get a job they can handle. Its not rocket science after all.
Oh, and buy the way, most restaurants in the US automatically add an 18% gratuity if you are in a party of 8 or more regardless of what the quality of service was. If you ask for it to be reduced because of poor service, they automatically think the problem is with you the customer and not with their service....
aarrghhh!!! has the world gone mad...?
courteously and attentively yours
hereboy
PS. Exceptional service is worth a discretionary tip though in my opinion. But I mean exceptional... and thats rare.
I have no problems tipping a waitress or similar but I find that in some establishments the bartender expects to be tipped for every round of drinks they serve. And if you fail to tip them just once it has been known that they will ignore you when you return for more drinks. This is the extreme end of the tip 'culture' - even buying a coffee in, say Starbucks, a tip is expected?
I actually hate the whole obligement to tip in the US.
(I wonder if this topic was inspired by the latest HSBC ad of Iceland being a non tip nation?)
Naefearjustbeer
19-Aug-05, 13:50
Before we went to Canada on holiday I was of the opinion "why tip they get paid dont they?" But after seeing the high quality food we were being served at not too much cash with a happy smiling waitress I was quite happy to leave a generous tip.
However after coming back home and seeing the poor service that you get in a lot of places with sour faced waiting staff I am back to my old opinion they get paid dont they!. Every now and then i will leave a tip in this country but ony when i feel it is deserved and thats not very often.
Margaret M.
19-Aug-05, 14:00
I am with Hereboy on this one. I consistently find the service in all arenas to be much better in Scotland than over here. They probably love me because I did not know that tips were not expected in Britain.
I consistently find the service in all arenas to be much better in Scotland than over here.
Are you quite sure?
Take Reids bakery/cafe for instance. It is the only cafe in Thurso with a smoking room BUT the staff don't ensure that the smokers use it.
The burgers come without a smile,butter, side salad, sauce and without seeing a grill or a frying pan. They are just microwaved and put between a sliced roll.
If I ask for a burger in the US, I get a whole choice of fillings, sizes, smiles, etc
The only tip I would give in Thurso is:-
'Don't go Reid's if you don't smoke and if you are unhappy with poor service!'
Bobinovich
19-Aug-05, 22:50
My wife and I regularly eat out and have no problem leaving a tip (usually around 10%) where the meal has been especially nice and the service very friendly/extra helpful.
However we wouldn't think of tipping for snack foods such as in Reids or the Central, etc. - in fact, thinking about it, it's usually only when we order a multi-course meal with full table service that we even think of tipping.
It peeves me off too, knowing that the tip is shared with all the staff - I'd prefer it went to the person who is waiting on us. However if the food had been good and the service lacking, is it polite to say you want the tip to go only to the chef or kitchen staff???
The service in the UK generally is dire. When last back home I can only think of one establsihment where I would call the service acceptable, and that was the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow.
just to let you know the average wage of a waitress back home is about 3 $ an hour.
and they depend on their tiips.
also yes they do have to declare the money and pay taxes on them
every day at the end of your shift you put down how much you make into the books
and let me tell you waitressing back home and here are two entirely dif kettle of fish
have you ever heard of back breaking labour?
well back home it is..
it is no easy job
where as here you find that staff have time to sit and chat and have drinks and snacks.. wheras back home if they get a 15 min break in an 8 hour day they are lucky..
ive worked on both sides of the pond and have to say its loads easier here..
i doubt i could do it again in america... as its a young persons jobs but there are people who slave away day after day year after year because at the end of the day it is good money and they have families to feed..
has anyone who's replied to this post actually work in a pub or restaurant?
yes i have both here and in america
I did in the 1960's as a Steward on the passenger liners and as a waiter in hotels when I came ashore.
In the Merchant Navy the normal rule was we got the money from the passengers, usualy £2.00 a head per trip of 5 weeks to Oz , we normally had two sittings of 10 bodies per waiter but from that we paid a percentage to, the Silver, Dairy, Linen Pantrymen so we could have spotless Silver, fresh Dairy produce and clean and starched linen, which helped us to be better waiters, and we also paid a chef to cook our meals as the crew grub was normally terrible. This was the accepted way to circulate the gratiities to the members of the crew who did not come in contact with the passengers.
On coming ashore in '63 I naturally went to the trade I knew best "Catering" so started a short career in the hotel trade. I was earning the enormous sum of £5.50 a week for a 48 hour week. All tips received were pooled and divided up at the end of the week, the amount of cash each week was calculated up in the presence of all the staff, and was alloted by a share method, I was alloted 4 shares as I was the new boy, the Head waiter got 10 shares, this could add usually to £4.00 a share, so I was getting £16.00 a week in tips, the Head Waiter was getting £40.00 a week. We had to survive on our tips, so therefore we had to be polite and good at our job, or you soon got the boot if the Head Waiters tips went down.I was married with a heir on the way, so I soon saught a job elsewhere, but thats another long story. So I always tip for GOOD service, if there is a service charge I dont tip, and yes the Tax mannie got his share whether you earned tips or not.
has anyone who's replied to this post actually work in a pub or restaurant?
What difference does it make? Bad service is bad service.
honestjohn
21-Aug-05, 20:16
Why should they expect a tip from us? They should be thankful we eat in their establishments. One tip I would give is "Don't eat yellow snow" [lol] [lol]
has anyone who's replied to this post actually work in a pub or restaurant?
What difference does it make? Bad service is bad service.
what about bad custom? the amount of people that have no manners is shocking. nevermind bringing back national service.... how about introducing customer service so people can see why they should be a bit more respectful.
i'm sure you wouldn't like it if i came up to your table and said "oi, who's having steak and chips?" why should it be any different when people come up to the bar and say or shout "oi, gimme a pint".... where's the manners??
annoys the hell outta me
i for one never expect a tip from anyone, if i am offered a tip i accept it with thanks.
I agree on the subject of bad manners Jeid, no need for it.
Margaret M.
22-Aug-05, 13:32
Are you quite sure?
Probably a stay of a few weeks is not long enough to judge service anywhere but I have always found the people in Scotland to be more friendly and helpful than others, even more meaningful when it is not driven by a desire for a tip.
Personally i can see both sides of the argument, but i cant help feeling that a genuine good person is always going to try hard to please you and that it is pretty obvious to see through a person being nice in the hope of a tip.
On a recent holiday in the US, I noticed that in the restaurants and bars the waiters and bar staff expect a 15% tip on all things whether it be a drink or a meal.
I believe in this tipping system. When I am extra pleased with the service I might tip 20% to demonstrate my approval of the extra good service. There have been times when service has been poor that my wife argues against any tip and might just pick up any tip that I leave to make her point.
George Brims
24-Aug-05, 21:20
When I'm in Scotland, where tipping isn't expected, I make a point to when the service is good. These days I find I'm tipping more. Either the service is getting better or I'm eating in better places!
In the US where it is expected, I also make a point to not tip, or tip smaller, when service has been poor. .
BTW, in the US the staff are taxed on 12% of the total bill of the food they serve, so it's not just expected, it's built into the system. The most extreme is the really upscale restaurants where there is little or no salary, but a good waiter can pull in a couple of hundred thousand a year!
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