Poll: Tipping in restaurants

[Molikroth]

Tipping seems to me to be a waste of money. I pay the restaurant who pays the waiter whatever their previously-arranged salary is. Whether or not it's minimum wage the waiter gets what he's entitled to.

I have no responsibility to fund the waiter's quality of life. If at all possible I'd even prefer to serve myself in restaurants - that is, collect my plate/tray from the kitchen, cutting out the oily middle-man.

So, what do you think about tipping? Should tipping be mandatory, should it be illegal, should it come out of the staff's normal wages, should all tips be collated and split at the end of the day?

EDIT: Something I forgot to ask but meant to: many have strong opinions on whether or not you OWE wait staff a tip. If you do, why?

 

[gomerkyle9]

I usually tip 20% unless the service was less than acceptable. In that case I tip whatever I feel they deserve... Sometimes nothing if it's that bad, but that's rare. I think they should keep tipping how it is... You don't have to but it's the appropriate thing to do.

 

[Molikroth]

I think they should keep tipping how it is... You don't have to but it's the appropriate thing to do.

It's only a tradition, or if you don't want to dignify it to that extent, a common social convention. Why would it be inappropriate to neglect to tip?

 

[Frybird]

I only tip when the service was very good to exceptional, but then again in my country there's nothing about that whole appropriate percentage thing, most waiters/waitresses get enough salary (well over the minimum wage...except maybe when thier employer really sucks)

 

[rottenbutter]

I go with the Mr. Pink philosophy [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5ODhIFawfs&feature=related] on tipping.

If they put forth the extra effort, I'll tip them. If they don't, I wont.

 

[gomerkyle9]

I think they should keep tipping how it is... You don't have to but it's the appropriate thing to do.

It's only a tradition, or if you don't want to dignify it to that extent, a common social convention. Why would it be inappropriate to neglect to tip?

You know... I don't think appropriate was the right word to use. What I mean to say is that in our culture it's the customary thing to do and it shows etiquette.

 

[Labyrinth]

It depends on where I am. I'll tip occasionally if it's in one of my favourite cafes, or if I actually decide to go to something like a fast food place. I don't tip at poncy restaurants.

The first is because if I like the cafe, I'm more generous, and I get along with the staff.
The second is because of pity.
The third is because of arrogance.

 

[Molikroth]

The video basically sums up my opinion, except for the parts where he says he gives a damn about tips being taxable.

If minimum wage doesn't get you by, it's because you're a moron. I get less than minimum wage, have to pay extortionate utility bills and my internet/phone bill, and still have enough left over to fill my home with trinkets and junk.

Besides which, assuming minimum wage wasn't enough to get by on, it'd be none of the client's business. You go to a restaurant for a meal, not to save the starving waiter. Unless you're rich, bored and famous, in which case you pay $500 for a mushroom with some urine drizzled around it - in which case tipping is probably mandatory, because the waiters in those places drip off snobbiness rather than greasy pandering to your every want.

 

[chimmers]

Usually through in a pound or two. Depends heavily on service though, have left 3 pence on a £30-odd bill. Most waiters/waitresses seem nice though, they get money for amusing me also

 

[corporate_gamer]

I used to work as a porter for a fancy hotel. So i generally fall on the side of always tipping. But having said that i only tip a small percentage. People who add more than 1/5 of the price of their meal as a tip are just show-off arses. Oh and i always tip cash, otherwise manages have their hands out and NI gets added and the people who served you; waiters, porters and kitchen staff get very little of what you give.

And i never tip at fast food places.

 

[glambo]

i tip because i know a lot of people who work very hard at restaurants. i also know that they remember everyone who doesn't tip, so if you ever plan on going back to that restaurant again, prepare to unknowingly eat saliva. bon appetit!

 

[Saskwach]

Living as I do in Australia, there is no expectation to tip, so I gladly don't. I don't want to have any part in bringing that stupid custom to this sunburnt country. Firstly, when tipping becomes endemic in a culture anyone who doesn't is considered rude, which I consider the opposite of how things should be: if someone tips, they're nice and think the service was good, because (ideally) there was no social compulsion for them to do so. Instead, most people tip in a country that habitually tips because "that's how things are done, and the waiters might pee in my soup if I ever come back (exaggeration)". There's a certain stigma attached to expecting that the price on the menu is the actual cost of a meal.
It's not my job to pay a restaurant's waiters/waitresses beyond what comes out of the meals themselves. I've worked in service myself and I never expected a handout because I put on a smile and treated customers well - that's what my pay check was for. You shouldn't need an income on the side to twist the edges of your mouth up and give a damn about those you're serving.

 

[marfoir(IRL)]

The only thing I hate about tips is how they are almost mandatory. I have nothing against tipping, its a good way of showing you appreciated their service but it should not be automatically expected. Also I hate places that have a service cherge AND a space for "gratuity".

EDIT: Forgot about regular haunts. Tipping is fine there but it probably balances out the few free drinks you get every now and then

 

[poleboy]

Very rarely and only small amounts. And only if I felt the waiter provided some extra level of service. The reason for this is that I've worked as kitchen assistant (bottom of the restaurant business food chain) a few different places, and they handle tipping very differently. Some places have a pool that they put all their tips in and share once a month. Other places simply let the waiters pocket the cash. I personally don't feel it's fair that the waiter (whose job may be demanding, but not so much more than everyone else in the restaurant) gets extra money simply for serving the food, perhaps chatting a bit and recommending a wine, when the actual work put into the meal is done elsewhere. If the meal was excellent, tell the waiter to pass your compliments on to the kitchen staff. If the waiter provided some sort of bonus waiter-y service, go ahead and tip him/her. But don't give waiters credit (and cash) for something they didn't do/deserve.

 

[CoziestPigeon]

I used to be a waiter, and a bartender. And trust me, from that side, every single customer is a total wad and does not deserve your service. So the tips are your way of thanking them for not poisoning your food or setting you on fire or something. I always tip, never really a percentage, just like $5 or more if the service is good.

EDIT: Also, tipping makes them like you more when you come back. I'm a regular at my local pub, and I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be nearly as welcome if I never tipped.

Double Edit: This might also just be how it is in North America, our people ARE generally more idiotic and painfully ignorant than most other areas of the world.

 

[Molikroth]

I used to be a waiter, and a bartender. And trust me, from that side, every single customer is a total wad and does not deserve your service. So the tips are your way of thanking them for not poisoning your food or setting you on fire or something. I always tip, never really a percentage, just like $5 or more if the service is good.

Don't you feel the previously-arranged wage your employer provides is all you're OWED? Sure you can have tips, and many may feel you earned a tip, but I don't see how you have any leg to stand on when it comes to feeling entitled to a tip.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Waited tables in college. You really get paid absolute piss in America if you're a waiter (my checks were typically zero or in change), so I empathize and always drop 20%. You might as well ask the waiter for ten bucks if you're not going to tip them, because you basically just robbed them of their time they could've spent making money. Got sick of the unsteady pay because of people thinking they didn't have to tip though, so I switched to being a line cook.

And yeah, the waiters definitely dictate the quality of your food if you're a repeat bad tipper.

 

[Milford Cubicle]

I once tipped a taxi driver in New York for a journey from Newark Airport to Central Park. I think the bill, including the tolls, came to $66. So I thought it was reasonable to round it up to $70.

You'd think I'd shat in his hand, the look he gave me! So instead of his $4 tip, he got nothing. Tipping is optional, people shouldn't expect a tip unless they give a service that was in excess of what I was expecting.

 

[CoziestPigeon]

I used to be a waiter, and a bartender. And trust me, from that side, every single customer is a total wad and does not deserve your service. So the tips are your way of thanking them for not poisoning your food or setting you on fire or something. I always tip, never really a percentage, just like $5 or more if the service is good.

Don't you feel the previously-arranged wage your employer provides is all you're OWED? Sure you can have tips, and many may feel you earned a tip, but I don't see how you have any leg to stand on when it comes to feeling entitled to a tip.

The company owes you your wage, the customers toss in something extra for you putting up with them. The company only pays you to bring out food and drinks, the extra customer service is entirely up to you, and most of the time the customer doesn't deserve it. So they toss you a few extra bucks as a thanks.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I once tipped a taxi driver in New York for a journey from Newark Airport to Central Park. I think the bill, including the tolls, came to $66. So I thought it was reasonable to round it up to $70.

Right...but you cost him a lot of money in small 4 dollar tips because he spent all that time driving you around rather than taking multiple customers over smaller distances. You might as well have taken a dump in his taxi while you were at it.