so where did this mandatory 10% tipping thing start??
Discussion
just a quick question, after a disagreement with my sister yesterday...
had this arguement with my sister , I refused to leave a £10 tip for an £80 meal. Which would have seen the waiter left with £20 total tip ( splitting the bill 50/50 between us) for half an hours work that he was already being paid for........
I also wondered what business it was of hers what level of tip I would leave and why she considered 10% simply HAD to be paid on top of the bill to be reasonable....funnily enough her tip was put on her card which likely the staff will see none of and mine was cash which will have went straight into the waiters pocket..
This percentage of the bill malarkey is b
ks, the bill actually included drinks we had bought at the bar before dining and carried through to the restaurant..
I left a tip was a lot less than £10 which put my Londoner sisters nose well out of joint....and she left disgusted calling me a tight bd...
I am honestly not generally tight with money , in fact the exact opposite I waste money like it was water, but I simply dont agree with this unwritten LAW that says that 10% addtional to the bill HAS to be left as a tip because of the poor wages paid to the staff by their employer for doing their job.
I cant remember when the last minimum wage shop assistant selling me my groceries or pair of jeans expected a 10% tip for doing their job.
I was a waiter and barman through college and before leaving school.... I certainly never relied on "tips", if I had I would have been a rather wealthy teenager if I was getting 10% from every table that I waited on... would easily have earned well over hundred a day on top of my wages even back then....
had this arguement with my sister , I refused to leave a £10 tip for an £80 meal. Which would have seen the waiter left with £20 total tip ( splitting the bill 50/50 between us) for half an hours work that he was already being paid for........
I also wondered what business it was of hers what level of tip I would leave and why she considered 10% simply HAD to be paid on top of the bill to be reasonable....funnily enough her tip was put on her card which likely the staff will see none of and mine was cash which will have went straight into the waiters pocket..
This percentage of the bill malarkey is b
ks, the bill actually included drinks we had bought at the bar before dining and carried through to the restaurant..I left a tip was a lot less than £10 which put my Londoner sisters nose well out of joint....and she left disgusted calling me a tight b
d... I am honestly not generally tight with money , in fact the exact opposite I waste money like it was water, but I simply dont agree with this unwritten LAW that says that 10% addtional to the bill HAS to be left as a tip because of the poor wages paid to the staff by their employer for doing their job.
I cant remember when the last minimum wage shop assistant selling me my groceries or pair of jeans expected a 10% tip for doing their job.
I was a waiter and barman through college and before leaving school.... I certainly never relied on "tips", if I had I would have been a rather wealthy teenager if I was getting 10% from every table that I waited on... would easily have earned well over hundred a day on top of my wages even back then....
Edited by hedgefinder on Sunday 5th October 15:16
Gruber said:
It's not mandatory. It's a social convention. Respect it or ignore it - your call.
Personally, I always tip good service in restaurants at 10% ish, especially if it's somewhere I plan to visit again. Poor service => no tip.
I know its not officially mandatory, but my sisters attituded showed her to almost believe otherwise.Personally, I always tip good service in restaurants at 10% ish, especially if it's somewhere I plan to visit again. Poor service => no tip.
the stupid thing was that at least £35 to £40 of the bill was for Drinks bought at the bar before carrying them through to the restaurant and were only on the bill as we had an open tab..
And I have NEVER EVER seen my sister tip a barman in her entire life..
She made a rather a scene, which didnt bother me in the slightest because as far as I was concerned she was being utterly ridiculous conforming to an unwritten rule that has developed by way of social/class pressure.
She started with "its disgusting, these people dont get paid as much as you do."
This comment was from someone on over 100k a year.. yet her charitable works and donations have so far seemed to add up to approximately 0% of her net income....... thats not counting restaurant tips of course..
And I have NEVER EVER seen my sister tip a barman in her entire life..
She made a rather a scene, which didnt bother me in the slightest because as far as I was concerned she was being utterly ridiculous conforming to an unwritten rule that has developed by way of social/class pressure.
She started with "its disgusting, these people dont get paid as much as you do."
This comment was from someone on over 100k a year.. yet her charitable works and donations have so far seemed to add up to approximately 0% of her net income....... thats not counting restaurant tips of course..
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: Do you tip the checkout person at the supermarket or the person behind the counter in McDonalds?
They're both likely to be on minimum wage and I've never honestly understood what makes someone getting you some food or drink different.
this is exactly the point i tried to make earlier..They're both likely to be on minimum wage and I've never honestly understood what makes someone getting you some food or drink different.
sday12 said:
Worth the money surely?
For not looking like a cock in front of your sister?
I thought the person looking like a cock was my sister for making such a big issue out of it. For not looking like a cock in front of your sister?
So you obviously never stand up for your own principals then and are very easily led/pressured into things to conform to others will?
Edited by hedgefinder on Sunday 5th October 17:58
btdk5 said:
It's quite simple. One is giving you a service the other completing a transaction.
what absolute rubbish... the poor young people in mcdonalds dont just serve you the food, they usually make it and bag it up for you as well!In ALL areas of retail the people serving you are providing you with a service that they are paid to do. Whether its pouring yu a drink in a bar or finding you the correct size pair of shoes in the dpeartment store.
Edited by hedgefinder on Sunday 5th October 18:03
BarbaricAvatar said:
Always tip 10% (in a restaurant), because waiters/waitresses have memories too. I used to be one once upon a time, and you remember the tossers. 
yeah, so was I and also my wife for that matter.I never once "expected " a tip or thought that a tip should be a certain percentage of the bill if one was given, I was grateful to be given anything.
I just dont get the people who consider it socially unacceptable to leave less than 10% in a restaurant yet leave f
k all anywhere else that people on minimum wage work......if anyone has a genuine argument as to why this should be the case then I am all ears.....
190bhp said:
This Fb group is trolls winding poor American servers up.
https://www.facebook.com/bodybuildersagainsttippin...
lol,https://www.facebook.com/bodybuildersagainsttippin...
I recognise that it did indeed travel over from the U.S. and started there but
but my post was referring to how and why it travelled to the UK which has completely different salary laws etc....
longblackcoat said:
It's not tax free. There's an assumption that you'll earn a certain amount in tips and that goes into your tax code - at least it did when I was at PizzaExpress!
I wasnt aware that any employer or tax office could make assumptions based on a voluntary contribution you may or may not recieve.... exactly how would that possibly stand up in court if they were pressed on the matter??I am still struggling to undestand this "but waitresses dont get paid enough for what they do " attitude in the UK...
Remember I used to be a waiter in my teens... if you arent capable of writing an order on a piece of paper then carrying the meals to the table when they are ready and be pleasant whilst doing so then you really need to involve the care in the community program.
I would suggest that the poor guy on miniumum wage driving the multi drop delivery van that delivers their food stuff isnt paid enough, but he wont see any tips..... not one thing so far in this thread has gone even 1% towards explaining why resteraunt staff in the UK are deemed by society to be more deserving of tips than any other members of the service industry, or why their level of tip should be anyway related to a percentage of the bill!
Remember I used to be a waiter in my teens... if you arent capable of writing an order on a piece of paper then carrying the meals to the table when they are ready and be pleasant whilst doing so then you really need to involve the care in the community program.
I would suggest that the poor guy on miniumum wage driving the multi drop delivery van that delivers their food stuff isnt paid enough, but he wont see any tips..... not one thing so far in this thread has gone even 1% towards explaining why resteraunt staff in the UK are deemed by society to be more deserving of tips than any other members of the service industry, or why their level of tip should be anyway related to a percentage of the bill!
MethylatedSpirit said:
Nobody asks why sales persons can't just be paid a proper hourly rate instead of commission? The common thing between a sales person and tipping is that you get paid on your performance. If you're st, you get basic wage and if you're good you can earn a fortune.
it's not just about taking an order and running it to the kitchen
it involves taking orders, walking them over to put through the "system". But while you walk over you're stopped to order more drinks and then stopped again for something stupid like lemon. Then someone appears at the door to be seated. There's no slots, so you walk over to introduce yourself and tell them that there's a 10 min wait for a table.
After greeting the new customer
Remember to process the first customers order
Remember to do the drinks order
Remember that the 2nd customer that stopped you wants a bit of lemon
and then seat the person that you greeted
While you were doing that, someones food has something wrong with it and more people have asked for drinks.
Thats far different from just taking an order and running it to the kitchen, never mind having knowledge of the entire menu and drinks.
I asked a similar question a few months ago.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=15&...
as I said previously - it isnt rocket science and being polite isnt difficult either, let not mix this with high pressure sales here, which it definately is not. The customer comes to you so you have a captive market already wanting the produce on offer.t, you get basic wage and if you're good you can earn a fortune.it's not just about taking an order and running it to the kitchen
it involves taking orders, walking them over to put through the "system". But while you walk over you're stopped to order more drinks and then stopped again for something stupid like lemon. Then someone appears at the door to be seated. There's no slots, so you walk over to introduce yourself and tell them that there's a 10 min wait for a table.
After greeting the new customer
Remember to process the first customers order
Remember to do the drinks order
Remember that the 2nd customer that stopped you wants a bit of lemon
and then seat the person that you greeted
While you were doing that, someones food has something wrong with it and more people have asked for drinks.
Thats far different from just taking an order and running it to the kitchen, never mind having knowledge of the entire menu and drinks.
I asked a similar question a few months ago.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=15&...
Sales jobs are not paid "tips" by ther clients, they a paid commision based on their sales by their employer and they take the job on based on this. Maybe you should take this up with your employer and refuse to work a minimum wage job and not "expect" your customers to subsidise your wage which they certainly do not have to do.
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