USA Gratuity And/Or Tip?
Discussion
paulguitar said:
bad company said:
I disagree. After I posted yesterday’s receipt Mrs BC & I had another pint of beer each + burgers & chips. Total $60.71 including the service charge. Didn’t think that was too bad.
Rather a small sample size.
bad company said:
paulguitar said:
bad company said:
I disagree. After I posted yesterday’s receipt Mrs BC & I had another pint of beer each + burgers & chips. Total $60.71 including the service charge. Didn’t think that was too bad.
Rather a small sample size.
gotoPzero said:
Am I reading that right.... $18.53 for a pint of IPA in FL?
It was 2 pints by the look of it (receipt suggest 7.50 base price). Although, of course, they seem to be allowed to use the term 'pint' to describe any sized drink between 16-22oz.The poor apparent value of food over there is mostly down to the weaker exchange rate of recent times.
I think they still have the edge on the lower end and fast food, just through larger portion sizes and more readily available free drink refills.
Their supermarket food also seems pricey compared to the UK.
Got back from Chicago earlier this week. Tipped everywhere 15-18% for food and drink regardless of venue type. Ended up being incredibly expensive to eat and drink out vs the UK. But hey, it was a holiday after all and I tried not to let it bother me. It’s just something you should do if visiting the US.
Truckosaurus said:
The poor apparent value of food over there is mostly down to the weaker exchange rate of recent times.
Their supermarket food also seems pricey compared to the UK.
Not entirely.Their supermarket food also seems pricey compared to the UK.
Their 'standard of living' has gone up by something like 40% or more relative to the UK since the 2007/08 recession. So while we were busy going through austerity and not giving anyone pay rises, incomes in the US were going up substantially. Of course, that led on to increased costs for pretty much anything not imported...
Plus I don't think most places over there know (or care?) what good food looks like - I went to a restaurant recommended by the guest-house I was staying in, had the seafood platter, and it ALL came out deep-fried - cod, prawns, scallops (!
!). Not battered, just deep fried. The service was good, sure, but for 1.5 courses plus 2 medium glasses of local wine it cost c.$80 before tip, so even at the old 1.5:1 exchange rates that's equivalent to over £50 before tip in the UK. Which (outside of London) is good bistro / top-end gastropub prices for frankly average drinker's pub-food.
I've not been to the US for a few years now (10?), but what I found was this for eating and out compared to the UK:
At the lower/cheaper end of the market, the US was cheaper than the UK.
But as you went up the scale, that position changed over, such that up market chain restaurants where way more expensive in the US than the UK.
At the lower/cheaper end of the market, the US was cheaper than the UK.
But as you went up the scale, that position changed over, such that up market chain restaurants where way more expensive in the US than the UK.
Prohibiting said:
Got back from Chicago earlier this week. Tipped everywhere 15-18% for food and drink regardless of venue type. Ended up being incredibly expensive to eat and drink out vs the UK. But hey, it was a holiday after all and I tried not to let it bother me. It’s just something you should do if visiting the US.
Last time we went, that was my view as well, i.e. well, I'm on holiday and it's what they do in the US, so try not to let it bother me. But the thing is, by the end of the holiday, it was bothering me, to the point it was more than bothering me, it was annoying me greatly.havoc said:
...Plus I don't think most places over there know (or care?) what good food looks like....
Why must they put melted cheese on everything?Also why is the butter bright white
And don't start me on the super shiny apples, even in the 'healthy' shops like Whole Foods. If you sprayed your car with whatever it is they coat the fruit with you'd win every concourse competition in the land.
Panamax said:
The only reason they've got that basic gratuity on there is to get something out of the absolute tight-wads (you know who I mean) who would otherwise pay nothing for service.
US etiquette is remarkably straightforward. Bear in mind these percentages are based on the pre-tax amount, not the post-tax total,
Any service at all - 15%
Adequate service -18%
Good service - the standard 20%
Why not just add 18% to the prices on the menu. That way no one has to bother with this pathetic tipping situation.US etiquette is remarkably straightforward. Bear in mind these percentages are based on the pre-tax amount, not the post-tax total,
Any service at all - 15%
Adequate service -18%
Good service - the standard 20%
Im refering to the UK. The USA can do what it likes as far as im concerned.
Edited by Cotty on Friday 15th December 10:27
WindyCommon said:
In parts of the US, tips are now being requested at some self-serve pumps in fuel stations, and some self-checkout tills in supermarkets…
hmmmm - seeing as you are the server does that mean you can tip yourself? 
I'll admit that the constant tipping in the US does bug me (pay your frickin' staff a decent wage to start with!) and the increasing prevalence over here grates even moreso. Apparently in Japan it's viewed as insulting to tip
Regarding costs in the US/Florida, food didn't seem (to us) to be a whole lot more expensive than when we last went 6 years ago with prices comparable to those in London/S.E. Shortly off to Vegas for a couple of days which'll be interesting from a tipping persfective...
DavePanda said:
C5_Steve said:
bakerstreet said:
If there is any truth in that, its ridiculous. I thought there was a recent union deal where UPS drivers were getting north of $80k. I don't know if thats the case for Amazon/FedEx.
We are off to Florida on the 25th and I am mentally preparing my self for tipping
I believe that UPS headline was misleading as that was the value of their TOTAL compensation package so included health insurance, other benefits, time off/sick pay etc etc etc. Can't remember the ins and outs but they weren't taking home the $80k cash a year. We are off to Florida on the 25th and I am mentally preparing my self for tipping
It was a much-improved deal though for them from what they had but like a lot of service roles in the US they were starting from a pretty low base in terms of what the job offered.
Tom8 said:
Another reason why the US is weird and full of weird people. The more I learn the more I dislike it.
The one thing that struck me when I was there was that, in recreational spaces (this was in NV and CA) you'd typically encounter people very like us. Educated, eloquent, but typically more welcoming and engaging. Some of them had rather right-wing political views, esp. one old-boy from Alabama who seemed to feel he had the right to tell me where the UK was going wrong, but he was very charming nonetheless. (His two sons seemed rather more balanced and were both decent people)
BUT...you go to a supermarket, or a fast-food joint, or somewhere equivalent, and even in CA it was like the stereotypical trailer park...people with barely 2 brain-cells to rub together and often a similar number of teeth. Your average Tesco's / McDonalds employee seems like a brain surgeon in comparison.
...which got me thinking - if CA is a state of two halves - the have's and have-not's, essentially - what the f
k is the rest of the country like?!?havoc said:
The one thing that struck me when I was there was that, in recreational spaces (this was in NV and CA) you'd typically encounter people very like us. Educated, eloquent, but typically more welcoming and engaging.
Some of them had rather right-wing political views, esp. one old-boy from Alabama who seemed to feel he had the right to tell me where the UK was going wrong, but he was very charming nonetheless. (His two sons seemed rather more balanced and were both decent people)
BUT...you go to a supermarket, or a fast-food joint, or somewhere equivalent, and even in CA it was like the stereotypical trailer park...people with barely 2 brain-cells to rub together and often a similar number of teeth. Your average Tesco's / McDonalds employee seems like a brain surgeon in comparison.
...which got me thinking - if CA is a state of two halves - the have's and have-not's, essentially - what the fk is the rest of the country like?!?
I haven't lived in the UK for a long time, but I don't recall people in supermarkets and fast food joints over there being educated, eloquent and typically welcoming and engaging. Quite the contrary, in most cases, if memory serves me.Some of them had rather right-wing political views, esp. one old-boy from Alabama who seemed to feel he had the right to tell me where the UK was going wrong, but he was very charming nonetheless. (His two sons seemed rather more balanced and were both decent people)
BUT...you go to a supermarket, or a fast-food joint, or somewhere equivalent, and even in CA it was like the stereotypical trailer park...people with barely 2 brain-cells to rub together and often a similar number of teeth. Your average Tesco's / McDonalds employee seems like a brain surgeon in comparison.
...which got me thinking - if CA is a state of two halves - the have's and have-not's, essentially - what the f
k is the rest of the country like?!?This thread has a recurring theme - i.e. British people b
hing about the tip culture in the USA. It isn't a legal requirement. If the level of service does not warrant it, don't give it. If you are such a tight-fisted git that you refuse to recognize good service, then don't. If you are easily coerced into handing over a tip, despite your reluctance then more fool you. Where I live (Central Florida), Brit tourists have a bit of a reputation for being miserly, but is generally recognized as being more a cultural/environmental difference than out-and-out meanness. Generally, service is very good here. The only time I ever got into a spat with a server I chose not to tip (Orlando Alehouse on Kirkman Rd) - the sever was Irish, not American.
Personally, I think the subject has been hammered about as flat as it's ever going to get...
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