Tipping...

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In restaurants I usually double the tax (8% here) and round up. In bars I usually tip a few dollars on the first drink and they treat me well after that.

I never knew Aussies were so cheap.

I always tip at least %20, sometimes as much as %200, servers work damn hard and deserve a tip.

I can't stand people who under tip, I've stopped being friends with people before because of it.

one person I use to know said they didn't tip because they couldn't afford too... if you can't afford a tip then you can't afford to be eating at that restaurant.

I live in the UK, so it's not obligatory here either, which makes it confusing.

We generally tell them to keep change, rather than tipping certain amounts - not everyone gets tips either, because the work ethic here is terrible so people rarely do anything to deserve the tip. Possible places to tip; restaurant, hairdressers, taxi.

Restaurant - difficult as some restaurant's use tips to subsidise pay, so tips don't benefit waiting staff. If the waiting staff have been especially good, and I know the company actually lets them keep tips, they get around 10-20% or the change. Although this also depends on how we pay, I don't like leaving money on the table, but paying at the till or with card doesn't always give the opportunity to tip.

Hairdressers - confuse me, I don't know if we are supposed to tip them, and they charge FAR too much anyway (£52.50 for a haircut, especially when women are going weekly, hairdressers don't need a tip!). I'll sometimes tell them to keep the change and I'll run out the salon quickly because it feels embarrassing not knowing if that's the done thing or not.

Taxi - very much 'keep the change' if less than £5 or slip them a couple of £'s, unless you're very drunk then they may get more. If they're hackney then they don't get tips as they cost ten times the amount of private hire so also giving a tip is too much to pay-out. I'm usually happy to give taxi drivers tips, I've had a couple let me off with paying full fair when I've been stranded, so it's good karma.

Last edited by Bloodheart on 31 May 2011, 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

No, because what the restaurants would do would be to have a heavy automatic gratuity (that would go straight into their pockets) and then suggest that the customer give them further tips for their staff. So you'd probably end up tipping 25% of your meal cost with half of it going straight into the restaurant's pockets! They can piss off if they think they're getting away with that. If you ordered the salad and that was expensive, say £8 on its own (forget the drinks), why would you want to tip them another £3 just for bringing it if you include drinks on the bill?

People in pubs here never tip when they're buying beer. They might, in extremis, offer a half or a pint to the person serving them but that's all.

Also, you'd have a terrible confrontation with angry management taking it off the bill if the food was bad, or the service was dreadful. They would threaten to call the police and all sorts. That system encourages greed. Over and above the meal (if that isn't in dispute), I decide whether or not to tip.

The quality of service in a lot of countries and occasions isn't up to scratch in any case - why should I reward it?

When I was in Canada, a lot of Canadians seemed to expect tips when they'd done nothing whatsoever to earn them.

Last edited by Tequila on 31 May 2011, 12:45 am, edited 11 times in total.

Even for a regular guy's haircut around here it's still about £15!

If where i'm eating doesnt have a service charge I usually tip around 10 to 15%, if it does then they dont get a tip.

US here. I was always taught that unless the service absolutely stinks to never tip under 15%. Preferably 18% or more for average or better service.

But in Europe it's very different. People don't tip because most European countries have large welfare states, prices are high, and wages are higher.

I wouldn't want to tip a Norwegian street vendor after he'd just charged me nearly US$20 for a burger for example - in fact, he'd laugh in my face most probably. Would anyone here seriously want to?

I tip because it's something we're supposed to do. If the waiter/waitress was bad, you give them 10% or nothing. I found out on Babycenter if they were excellent, you tip them 20% and 15% is just average.

People often don't tip at all here, or tip very small amounts (3-5% most often) usually. Some people (like myself will tip 10% if it's good, and 0% if it's average or bad). If it's exceptional, we may move up to 15%. Most I've ever tipped was 22% but those were exceptional circumstances.

But again, the issue is that in the UK, the attitude towards work is very different and indifferent service is extremely widespread.

Last edited by Tequila on 31 May 2011, 2:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

I actually happen to like the tip system, since it solves the principle/agent problem commonly found in business and allows for a relatively high wage for the work involved. Because tips are usually calculated as a percentage of the bill, as a server it's in your economic interest to encourage a larger sale, or up-sell, something that usually has to be coerced in the straight retail sector. I happen to live in a state that doesn't allow tip credit against wages, so it's not unusual for even delivery drivers to clear $20/hr or more, which is quite good for a relatively low skill job that can easily be done part time; waiters and bar staff do even better.

Well £52.50 is nearer the top end (still not the very top) in salons like Tony & Guy, which seems to be where normal twenty-something women go these days, and again they seem to go between once a week and once every two months. I only do this once a year or once every two years and mine is cheap at 'only' £32.00 - when it comes to a simple trim, no clue why women's hair has to be so much more.

My babbling = yeah dude, that sh*t expensive.