US restaurants try "foreigner tax" for non-tippers.....
Discussion
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1247988-...
The interesting thing about this article is the wages of the waitstaff. As can be seen, tipping is critical for the US folks who make $4 an hour base. Without revisiting the whole tipping thing yet again, this is an original approach!. Personally, I do what most people do here...15% in most places, 20% in Manhattan, assuming normal service.
The interesting thing about this article is the wages of the waitstaff. As can be seen, tipping is critical for the US folks who make $4 an hour base. Without revisiting the whole tipping thing yet again, this is an original approach!. Personally, I do what most people do here...15% in most places, 20% in Manhattan, assuming normal service.
Bluequay said:
Charge proper prices, pay proper wages, problem solved. There are loads of great things about America, but tipping and their habit of quoting prices "without tax" really get on my nerves. Do I have to pay the tax? Yes, then include it in the bloody price!!!
This, its not down to me to pay "your" staff directly.RDMcG said:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1247988-...
The interesting thing about this article is the wages of the waitstaff. As can be seen, tipping is critical for the US folks who make $4 an hour base. Without revisiting the whole tipping thing yet again, this is an original approach!. Personally, I do what most people do here...15% in most places, 20% in Manhattan, assuming normal service.
I love how the report calls the customers 'stingy' when it's the restaurants paying $4 an hour. . . . . . .The interesting thing about this article is the wages of the waitstaff. As can be seen, tipping is critical for the US folks who make $4 an hour base. Without revisiting the whole tipping thing yet again, this is an original approach!. Personally, I do what most people do here...15% in most places, 20% in Manhattan, assuming normal service.
If tips aren't at the discretion of the customer and a precentage of the bill is mandatory, put it on the menu so the customer knows what to expect and can decide before they dine.
Bluequay said:
Charge proper prices, pay proper wages, problem solved. There are loads of great things about America, but tipping and their habit of quoting prices "without tax" really get on my nerves. Do I have to pay the tax? Yes, then include it in the bloody price!!!
Wholeheartedly agree.Bluequay said:
Charge proper prices, pay proper wages, problem solved. There are loads of great things about America, but tipping and their habit of quoting prices "without tax" really get on my nerves. Do I have to pay the tax? Yes, then include it in the bloody price!!!
One the one hand I'd agree, but when looking at quality of customer service you'll find pretty much universal praise for the US with people gushing about how helpful, pleasnant and friendly the staff are. This is usually then comparared to the kind of miserable, jobsworth, bored and rude reception that you tend to get in the UK. The pay/tipping system may have something to do with this.Uriel said:
Bluequay said:
Charge proper prices, pay proper wages, problem solved. There are loads of great things about America, but tipping and their habit of quoting prices "without tax" really get on my nerves. Do I have to pay the tax? Yes, then include it in the bloody price!!!
One the one hand I'd agree, but when looking at quality of customer service you'll find pretty much universal praise for the US with people gushing about how helpful, pleasnant and friendly the staff are. This is usually then comparared to the kind of miserable, jobsworth, bored and rude reception that you tend to get in the UK. The pay/tipping system may have something to do with this.
Uriel said:
One the one hand I'd agree, but when looking at quality of customer service you'll find pretty much universal praise for the US with people gushing about how helpful, pleasnant and friendly the staff are. This is usually then comparared to the kind of miserable, jobsworth, bored and rude reception that you tend to get in the UK. The pay/tipping system may have something to do with this.
That's poor management.Umm,
Double the price? It's 15%, 20 of service is good. I've been known to tip a third or more for exceptional service.
If the bill is, say, $50 at 7% tax that's $53.50 and with a 15% tip it's $61 all in. Not exactly doubling the bill.
Meanwhile I've found that eating out here is a lot less expensive tha it is in the UK. Regardless, it would be like me whining abut paying extortionate prices for fuel in Britain. "Why it's 58p a Liter back home so that's all they're getting". Somehow I don't think that would fly, just sayin....
Double the price? It's 15%, 20 of service is good. I've been known to tip a third or more for exceptional service.
If the bill is, say, $50 at 7% tax that's $53.50 and with a 15% tip it's $61 all in. Not exactly doubling the bill.
Meanwhile I've found that eating out here is a lot less expensive tha it is in the UK. Regardless, it would be like me whining abut paying extortionate prices for fuel in Britain. "Why it's 58p a Liter back home so that's all they're getting". Somehow I don't think that would fly, just sayin....
SpeedMattersNot said:
I love not tipping. Especially in America.
An old colleague of mine, who happens to be a two-million £p.a. tax barrister these days, was paying a bill at an hotel in Detroit in the nineteen-seventies when the desk clerk mentioned that it was normal to add a gratuity before paying. He replied that he was sorry and took the bill back off the clerk, worked out 15% of the bill, wrote it beneath the sub-total, subtracted it, wrote the new (reduced) grand total then handed the bill back to the clerk to process. The clerk was so convinced that this was a normal transaction that he thanked by colleague profusely and put the amount on to my his Diner's Club card. I slunk away before I discovered whether my colleague fessed up and paid the real amount...Captain Cadillac said:
Regardless, it would be like me whining abut paying extortionate prices for fuel in Britain. "Why it's 58p a Liter back home so that's all they're getting". Somehow I don't think that would fly, just sayin....
No it wouldn't. It would be like pulling into a petrol station that says £1.40 a liter, putting 50 liters (£70) in and then being charged £80 for service.AJS- said:
Captain Cadillac said:
Regardless, it would be like me whining abut paying extortionate prices for fuel in Britain. "Why it's 58p a Liter back home so that's all they're getting". Somehow I don't think that would fly, just sayin....
No it wouldn't. It would be like pulling into a petrol station that says £1.40 a liter, putting 50 liters (£70) in and then being charged £80 for service.Why does the US restaurant trade have such a problem with putting the price you will actually pay on the menu so that prospective customers can decide if they wish to eat there?
It's not difficult to work out why customers might want that is it?
It is about reducing the amount of tax the restaurant has to pay by reducing the taxable wages of the staff. No one in the US declares all of their tips to teh IRS and so the consumer is not [aying the full tax on their meal. It is just an accepted way of doing things and allows the consumer to decide if the waiter did a good job. If the restaurants were forced to pay the staff a "good" wage then the cost of eating out would be substantially increased. I for one do not want this and therefore am happy with the process.
Anyway, you bunch of cheap b
ds, the final cost of the meal in the US including tip is going to be a lot less than the equivalent in the UK so when in Rome do as a Roman and don't try and have your cake and eat it.
Anyway, you bunch of cheap b
ds, the final cost of the meal in the US including tip is going to be a lot less than the equivalent in the UK so when in Rome do as a Roman and don't try and have your cake and eat it.h0b0 said:
It is about reducing the amount of tax the restaurant has to pay by reducing the taxable wages of the staff. No one in the US declares all of their tips to teh IRS and so the consumer is not [aying the full tax on their meal. It is just an accepted way of doing things and allows the consumer to decide if the waiter did a good job. If the restaurants were forced to pay the staff a "good" wage then the cost of eating out would be substantially increased. I for one do not want this and therefore am happy with the process.
Anyway, you bunch of cheap bds, the final cost of the meal in the US including tip is going to be a lot less than the equivalent in the UK so when in Rome do as a Roman and don't try and have your cake and eat it.
bringing food from a kitchen to a table isnt rocket science, I know I did it for years before I left school to make extra money. And this auto tipping % added to bills or 20% expected tip has now also filtered over to this country anywhere in London expects it now..Anyway, you bunch of cheap b
ds, the final cost of the meal in the US including tip is going to be a lot less than the equivalent in the UK so when in Rome do as a Roman and don't try and have your cake and eat it.I think I will write to my local MP and ask if I can not declare half of my own salary to the tax office and see how far that gets me..
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