(While the cost of living is not that much higher, the cost of alcohol certainly is, which exacerbates the frustration.)
― Sundar, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link
not to stoke old fires but why is british tip 10% and american tip closer to 20?
― your favorite toy dinosaur ruined my asshole (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:33 (fourteen years ago) link
I didn't even know you tip at all in the UK, TBH. What is a server's wage in the UK?
― Sundar, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:34 (fourteen years ago) link
you'll get about £5 an hour at the very least, often more, sometimes quite a lot more if it's a posh joint
― your favorite toy dinosaur ruined my asshole (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:37 (fourteen years ago) link
and we are not the sort of disgusting savages who don't tip. except we don't tip barmen or coffee vendors, that's dumb
;)
― your favorite toy dinosaur ruined my asshole (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:38 (fourteen years ago) link
Been stuff in the news lately that even if you do tip in the UK it probably won't go to the server anyway, they're trying to change the law to stop that tho.
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:40 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, that should answer your question. After the exchange rate (and health insurance), consider the difference: http://www.humanresourceblog.com/2009/03/24/server-minimum-wage-in-new-york-for-2009/
Barmen = liquor servers?
xpost
― Sundar, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:42 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah, people who hand out drinks, behind a bar :P
also wow that's a low minimum wage
― your favorite toy dinosaur ruined my asshole (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:48 (fourteen years ago) link
Yes, in the most expensive city in the country. Wake up, this is the basis of every ILX tipping argument EVER.
― WHY DON'T YOU JUST LICK THE BUS DIRECTLY (Laurel), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:51 (fourteen years ago) link
If the employee does not earn enough tips to average $7.15 per hour, the employer must pay the difference.
Would be shocked if any employer actually paid the difference, btw. Can anyone confirm/deny?
― WHY DON'T YOU JUST LICK THE BUS DIRECTLY (Laurel), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:52 (fourteen years ago) link
British system is fairer IMO, and besides you often get Brits who give 20% anyway for the hell of it.
― your favorite toy dinosaur ruined my asshole (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:56 (fourteen years ago) link
give a regular tip because unless u are richie rich eating at fancytown its an extra couple bucks and probably your server is just having a bad day and if she/he is always a bitch than she/he will eventually get fired
so what are tips for? I thought they were a way of rewarding good service.
― The New Dirty Vicar, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:56 (fourteen years ago) link
popcorn.gif
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:57 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh dear, have I just triggered the recurring ILX tipping war?
― The New Dirty Vicar, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:57 (fourteen years ago) link
theyre a stupid way of making sure that servers get paid at least a minimum wage
― max, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:58 (fourteen years ago) link
10% in the UK is fair enough I think (more for great service), as eating out can be a lot more expensive. I never used to tip in the jar at the counter when getting a coffee or whatever though, only table service. How expected is this in the US?
Here in the US, eating out is generally a fair bit cheaper so 15-20% doesn't work out so expensive. Also the service is generally a lot better - people give you glasses of water without having to ask! They bring the bill quickly! That said, in the UK I've never experienced bitchy service - if it's not up to scratch it's usually just incompetence or gormlessness....
― Not the real Village People, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:58 (fourteen years ago) link
i don't tip for coffee and you shouldn't. if i ordered a fancy coffee drink or sandwich maybe.
― harbl, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:59 (fourteen years ago) link
Also I've read a few accounts of (American) servers who just assume Brits won't tip. So I'm still feeling a bit like I need to tip on the higher end just to over-compensate. But then if you get crappy service it rankles a bit, either pay through the nose or reinforce their 'tight Brits' assumptions!
― Not the real Village People, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 18:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Britishes were never unreasonable about service/tipping. Germans and the French, OTOH, fucking sucked.
Also, civil servants.
― smashing aspirant (milo z), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 18:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Right on.
In the USA, do you reckon the per centage you have to tip has gone up over the years? I have the impression that in days of yore it was c. 10%, but it has now crept up to c. 20%.
― The New Dirty Vicar, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 18:16 (fourteen years ago) link
Yes, it has gone up from 10% for good/15% great to 15%/20%, just in the last couple of decades. I'm guessing this has to do with the preponderance of chain restaurants paying a shitty wage but not having a high volume for servers to depend on (and forcing servers to tip out other employees to cut labor costs as well).
― smashing aspirant (milo z), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 18:19 (fourteen years ago) link
I have some 70s-tastic Berlitz guide to deciphering menus round the world which also mentions US and UK differences and tipping etiquette worldwide and it says US tips 10-15%, so I thought "oh that is like Britisherland 10%-and-round-up, no problem", but subsequent years of ILXing have made me realise I was a v. mean tipper when in the States
sorry Californian wait staff, April/May 1999 :(
― canna kirk (a passing spacecadet), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 19:14 (fourteen years ago) link
in the situation of outright bitchy service i would probably leave a smaller tip than usual but would not leave none
boggling my mind a little
― dumb mick name follows (darraghmac), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 19:18 (fourteen years ago) link
i just want to pop in and say that i now make it regular practice to tip extra big on the first drink, for good luck
― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 19:19 (fourteen years ago) link
wait what, you americans tip bar staff?!!1!?
― free the charmless but occasionally brilliant Dom Passantino (history mayne), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:02 (fourteen years ago) link
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:57 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― take me to your lemur (ledge), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:06 (fourteen years ago) link
― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, January 20, 2010 2:19 PM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
$2 on the first beer always!
― max, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:10 (fourteen years ago) link
― free the charmless but occasionally brilliant Dom Passantino (history mayne), Wednesday, January 20, 2010 8:02 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
is this a joke??
― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:13 (fourteen years ago) link
What about soft drinks? Serious cos I am trying to cut down my alcohol intake..
― Not the real Village People, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:37 (fourteen years ago) link
if yr bartender is charging you for a soda you should go to a different bar
― max, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:37 (fourteen years ago) link
If you're not drinking booze at all, a bartender should charge you for a soda. Plus, at some bars, they get that money.
in the situation of outright bitchy service i would probably leave a smaller tip than usual but would not leave noneboggling my mind a little
In the states, leaving no tip at all is basically taking money from the server. If a clerk at the grocery store is rude, should you be able to take a dollar or two from their wallet?
― smashing aspirant (milo z), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:42 (fourteen years ago) link
hmm good idea
― harbl, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:43 (fourteen years ago) link
― smashing aspirant (milo z), Wednesday, January 20, 2010 8:42 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
i work in the service industry, and it's really not that hard to not be a bitch. if i treated people like shit, even once, i wouldn't expect to get tipped.
― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:50 (fourteen years ago) link
otm
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 20:53 (fourteen years ago) link
Depends on your definition of bitchy. Some people think it's bitchy if the bread takes a little while to get to the table.
If the server yells at me or throws a drink in my face, sure, no tip. But anything short of having the meal completely and utterly ruined, you still have to tip.
― smashing aspirant (milo z), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:01 (fourteen years ago) link
mhmm, i don't think i've ever not tipped at a restaurant.
― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:05 (fourteen years ago) link
say what you want but In the states, leaving no tip at all is basically taking money from the server is mind-boggling
― conrad, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:09 (fourteen years ago) link
well, this idea necessitates an implicit understanding of the industry payscale on behalf of the customer, which isn't always the case, obviously
― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:19 (fourteen years ago) link
PS it's a slow workday today
― you have to forgive me (surm), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:20 (fourteen years ago) link
some people are embarrassingly bitchy about food service; i am not one of them. i don't recall ever failing to tip on food. but i certainly reserve the right to not tip if the server is an asshole.
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:26 (fourteen years ago) link
It's the way they figure out how much to tax those tips (yes, they have to be declared) that makes the proposition of 'stealing from the server' accurate. In the US, servers are responsible for declaring their table takings - their employer is then required to pass that on to the tax man, and as the figure they estimate as the server's taxable income is 10 per cent of the house's takings.
― keyser (suzy), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:28 (fourteen years ago) link
It's not just taxes - everyone lies about their tipped income, anyway - it's that at your average restaurant, the server is tipping out the hostesses and busboys on gross sales and the service bar on liquor sales. This accounts for 2-5% of their tips for the evening, and cannot be avoided.
So even aside from taking up time and a table, and whatever they might pay in taxes, they're paying out a percentage of your meal's cost for the privilege of waiting on you.
Short of having a meal completely ruined (in which case it should be comped anyway), it's never acceptable to not tip on a meal.
― smashing aspirant (milo z), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:31 (fourteen years ago) link
my last waiting job i flirted w/ middleaged women and got crazy tips, i wld b a good gigolo i think
― plaxico (I know, right?), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:38 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm surprised more places don't include a gratuity on the bill, in that case (I mean, if it's so definitely expected that you tip a certain amount, and people's accounts depend on it). They often do if it's a party of 6 or more, but occasionally I've seen it (in the US) for smaller parties. Would this be considered too cheeky by the public? I didn't mind when I saw it on the bill, as it was on the conservative side, and you can always leave extra cash on the table if you want.
I think in the UK (correct me if this seems wrong) a tip is seen more as an optional extra which is impolite not to do.
TBH I hate the whole thing, I'm one of those people who likes to know what a thing costs and just pay it, rather than have the tip I leave be considered as some kind of judgment of performance by me, the mighty customer.
― Not the real Village People, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:39 (fourteen years ago) link
haha but what if, like me, you frequent fine establishments where your beers are $2.50?
also, for restaurant tipping, i'm confused about the symbolism of different tip percentages...i grew up being told 15% was standard, 10% was for subpar service, and 20% was for great service, but lately i've been hearing all of these numbers increased by 5-10%. honestly being paranoid about this influences me to order cheaper food so i can still spend the dollar amount i'd planned while not worrying about stiffing someone percentage-wise.
― Maria, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:41 (fourteen years ago) link
i always always always do 20%
― that sex version of "blue thunder." (Mr. Que), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:42 (fourteen years ago) link
even if your bill is 75 bucks, that would make your tip 15 if you do 20%. if you do 15%, it's 11.25. is it really worth that extra 3.75 to not tip 20%?
― that sex version of "blue thunder." (Mr. Que), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:43 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah i do 20% automatically regardless of quality of service as a silent protest against the stupid system
― max, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:44 (fourteen years ago) link
er, not 2-5% of their tips, 2-5% of their gross sales. So if it's a $1000 Friday night, they're tipping out ~$20-50 altogether and hopefully walking with at least a bill.
― smashing aspirant (milo z), Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:45 (fourteen years ago) link
I was in a couple of places on holiday recently where they added 18% onto the bill. Dunno if this is standard, or whether in touristville FL they just figure the place is hoaching with dumb britishes who don't tip right. We tipped around 20% everywhere else we ate, and stayed out of pubs except one place where we just left five dollars on the bar after a couple of beers and then ran away in case they thought we were cheap because we didn't have a clue.
― ailsa, Wednesday, 20 January 2010 21:45 (fourteen years ago) link