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Other To tip or not to tip

Discussion in 'General' started by CarlT2001, 14 Jun 2013.

  1. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    No, I'm saying that people tend to. They expect the chef to cook their meals with passion and skill, and waiters and waitresses to be friendly and gregarious. Hospitality, like chevalry, is an ideal that never quite dies.

    The reality is that it is just a job, and bloody hard graft to boot. If you want that stranger who cooks the food that you will eat to actually care about what you put in your mouth, you'll have to engage with him a bit.

    It is a cultural thing, perhaps. I actually foster a relationship with all the important people in my life: the staff at the good local restaurants, the mechanics at the local family business garage (which has saved my day a few times when my car unexpectedly needed repairs stat), the staff at the hospital canteen, my local plumber/gas man, electrician, builder etc. I don't necessarily tip them, but I give them some attention and ply the latter with cups of tea and biscuits while they work.

    Depends on what kind of relationship you want with the restaurant, which in turn depends on whether it is a chain franchise which you may never visit again, or the local independent restaurant which you really like and expect to visit regularly.

    Quality of experience = quality of food + quality of service = quality of cooking + quality of relationship
     
  2. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    I'll tip based on service. A particularly friendly waiter or bartender, the poor pizza delivery person sent just before closing, the baker who tossed in an extra doughnut.

    The idea of building a relationship also plays into it. A place I intend to return to with some regularity is more likely to recieve a tip, or a larger tip. It's somewhat of an investment, by showing that their quality service was appreciated future visits are likely to be quite pleasant as well.
     
  3. digitaldunc

    digitaldunc What's a Dremel?

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    If I'm satisfied by the food and service, then yes.

    As a chef I worked with once said to me, to be in hospitality you have to enjoy pain. Considering the hours he worked in prep and during service, I'd have to agree. None of the positions in both the kitchen or front of house are fun and a chef needs an almost zenlike state of focus to keep track of all the covers and have any chance of meeting demand.

    Some weekends I'd have £60+ plus in tips, and we earned every penny.

    No to service charge, it's vulgar, presumptuous and probably doesn't even go to the staff.
     
  4. supermonkey

    supermonkey Deal with it

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    This raises another point, I think. We seem to be talking mostly about monetary tips to the wait staff for acknowledgement of good service, but what about the cooks, cleaning staff, and all the other people that help make the restaurant experience as nice as possible. I admit I'm not entirely familiar with what goes on behind the swinging doors, but if I give my waiter a generous cash tip, what portion of that goes to the chef? Should I leave a separate tips for the cooks and the people who bus the tables?

    I think that's quite admirable, though fostering relationships with the people with whom you interact on a frequent basis is a bit more than just adding a few extra quid on your bill. I admire your patience and desire to develop personal relationships. I wish I could do that.
     
  5. yodasarmpit

    yodasarmpit Modder

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    With 12 dining, that is the minimum standard of service I would expect, that's just doing their job tbh.
     
  6. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    In the UK all tips go into a pot which at the end of the evening is divided equally between all serving and kitchen staff.
     
  7. benji2412

    benji2412 <insert message here>

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    In some places, yes. But not everywhere.
     
  8. CrapBag

    CrapBag Multimodder

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    My wife has her hair done by a local hairdresser who owns the shop so I've told her not to tip. It's her shop and her prices so gets all the profit anyway.

    I do tend to tip at places like pizza hut but I'm in the mindset that the waiter/ess should be paid properly in the first place and not have to rely on tips.
     
  9. Lovah

    Lovah Apple and Canon fanboy

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    I will often leave the change (<1 euro) for a waiter. In a restaurant if I'm exceptionally pleased with service/meal I will tip up to about 5 euro. It does happen I don't tip at all though. In Belgium this is a common way of tipping.
     
  10. Throbbi

    Throbbi What's a Dremel?

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    I will tip when it's clearly deserved; someone simply doing their job to the required standard does warrant a tip, they've already been compensated by their wages/salary.

    I work in retail and I frequently go well beyond the expectation of my job to ensure customers have a good shopping experience but since I'm not in a restaurant or hotel does that mean I'm not entitled to some gratuity for exceptional service? According to what appears to be the majority consensus here then no, I'm not.

    Personally I find that people who tip automatically seem to get some kind of power trip from it, 'Here, have the coppers I don't need peasant now clear the way for my carriage!'. Customary tipping is antiquated to the point of being archaic and does nothing but make the low feel lower and the high feel higher.

    TL;DR: If someone really performs their job to an exceptional level and makes the difference between a crap meal/hotel stay/service/whatever and a great one then tip, that's fine and obviously deserved and will be more gratefully received. Any other circumstance is a backhanded way of saying 'I'm better than you.'
     
  11. Scroome

    Scroome Modder

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    Socialist swine!

    I almost lost my monacle is disbelief. ;)
     
  12. sniperdude

    sniperdude Minimodder

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    personally I think its stupid we are obliged to tip people to reward them for doing their job they get paid for.
     
  13. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    Always at least 15% if it's good service and the food is good.

    10% if it's medicore (Which means every chinese restaurant.) It's just a matter of being nice for good service. If I find the food to be good the cooks and staff deserve more than their wage. It's just courtesy tbh.

    20% if it's something amazing.
     
  14. law99

    law99 Custom User Title

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    I tend to tip 10% if my service went well. If it was exceptional I'll tip more, up to 20%.

    If I feel that the service wasn't good. I like to leave a minuscule tip, say 1 or 2%. This is as I believe it makes the waiter/waitress know I am aware of the concept of tipping, yet have chosen to leave such a small amount as to not mistakenly be interpreted as anything other than "You've missed out on a good tip" or "that was a **** tip" so any colleagues doing a good job, by comparison, will shine in any later talks about tips - How much did you get tonight? sort of banter.

    If I see the restaurant adds the tip on to the bill and I am forced to pay, I will ensure, that even if it is 5%, it ends up in the waiter/waitresses pocket if service was of reasonable standard. I will tell them why I am giving it to them. "I don't know if you see any of this mandatory tip, so take this and put it in your pocket"

    As a rule, I refuse to tip by card unless forced as above.

    For taxi drivers and take away drivers, they always keep the change. Providing it isn't excessive.

    At the end of the day, people moan about bad customer service in this country and I think it is a powerful tool and incentive for good service. I do think it is wrong to pay someone less though and to have the tips make it up.

    EDIT: I also feel that not tipping doesn't tell the waiter/waitress anything. If I don't tip. They'll just think I don't tip and will not, unless I confront them, learn anything if they aren't naturally retrospective.

    I partially agree with the sentiment. Not wholly as I think about myself and my tipping and look at my salary and don't see myself being too far off those in the food industry. (plus as far as I am aware, I don't think like that. I just had to for this posts sake)

    Largest tip I ever received was £20 in PC World when I was a kid. The guy wanted to be in and out in 5 minutes. He told me what he wanted, said he trusted me and I went off and assembled it all together and met him at the tills. He hadn't even looked round the shop. He just said: "Laptop around £400 with blue-tooth. Not vista. Anti-virus software. Office software. Carry case that is black. Mouse. Web cam. I'm pressed for time... sorry. Please help. I need it for this afternoon and I'm off to a funeral."
     
    Last edited: 16 Jul 2013
  15. Sp!

    Sp! Minimodder

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    I don't mind tipping, but it does seem stupid to me that if the service is not optional, I can't take my order to the chef and pick my food up when he/ she has cooked it, so why is the service charge optional??

    and it's never clear should I tip more if the food is good? or just if the service is good? Does the chef / kitchen staff / management take a cut of the tips??

    If the service is slow is this because the kitchen staff are being slow or because the wait staff just haven't brought the food out prompty? how should this be refelcted in the tip?

    Basicly the system is broken and unfair.... but is it ever likley to change?
     
  16. Carrie

    Carrie Multimodder

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    As a general rule in the UK I tip 10% if I'm content with the service, more if it's better than expected and less if it's not so good. Once in a blue moon I leave nothing if the service is dire. I almost always remove the optional service charge though and settle tips in cash where i can. That's for taxis, restaurants, etc. For bellboys carrying luggage it's a few quid.

    Also, if the food was very good I always ask the waiter to pass on my compliments to the chef - appreciative feedback is always appreciated :thumb:

    All this stems from an age before legal minimum wage in the Uk though so is it really necessary? Up to you.

    The best "tip" i ever received, in none of those industries - a thank you really for all my help on a project, was a £500 designer handbag :D
     
    Last edited: 16 Jul 2013
  17. KayinBlack

    KayinBlack Unrepentant Savage

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    In the US, the federal tipped wage is $2.15/hr. If you make tips, the entirety of that is taxes. You receive a check for exactly $0.00. If you do not tip, our server does not get paid. In many establishments they may yet have to split those tips with the back.

    If you don't tip in the US, you practically made sure that you just pulled a dine and dash. At least from half or more of the restaurant's POV.

    (former food service, including waiting tables, as well as helping friends find ways to save and invest so that when tips are thin they still get to eat and have a place to live.)
     
  18. mansueto

    mansueto Too broke to mod

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    Depending where you go, some places include a "gratuity" though normally it's only applied when its a large group (6+). I normally tip whatever the tax is, give or take some cents / dollars, which is 13%. If I go out somewhere and the service is terrible I'll just leave a lower tip, if the service is good, they get the 13-15%. On certain occasions, I'll tip very generously, such as with a $16 bill, I'll just leave a 20. I can't be bothered to wait for $2, I'd rather just pay and leave instead of sitting around for even longer. I also tip more generously if the waiter / waitress remembers me or is a friend. I had one girl who I knew, hadn't talked to for 1.5 years, and she gave my entire group a 15% discount, so I gave her something like a 20-25% tip.

    I used to work at a mechanic shop just washing and detailing cars, I had my bosses father tip me $5, and a few customers would often bring us coffees and muffins, but we generally never got tips. My brother who is a mechanic though does receive tips every now and than, mostly from satisfied repeat customers, and normally they are gift cards for Tim Hortons. On the plus side, when we worked on Saturdays our boss would always order pizza for us for lunch, and once the day was over we would close up shop, clean up and have a beer or two.
     
  19. slaw

    slaw At Argos buying "gold"

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    Here in the uk, i have noticed that most places put on an automatic service charge on your bill. I find it a bit weird as in other industries you dont pay tips.

    The thing i hate the most is when you pay by card. They have already added a service charge and then they leave the tips function on the card machine.

    Having said all that, I have paid decent tips when I have had really good service.
     
  20. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Takeaways Cheesecake! They normally deduct 10% if you collect too :)
     

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