waiter unhappy with tip

[petemurphy]

daddy cool said:

I don't tip any more... I mean, I don't pay the woman in Sainsburys an extra 10% of the value of the loaf of bread shes selling me, so why should I pay a pub an extra 10% for the food im buying from them? If they are so confident that the food and service is worth it, just put up the prices 10% across the board and then say "we don't accept tips", and see how that goes for them.

Ultimately, the waiter is getting *at least* the same minimum wage as lots of other minimum wage workers across the country, so im not sure why they deserve several quid extra for carrying my food all the way from the kitchen to my table. I mean, i'll happily go and collect it myself if its such a burden.
Hilariously, theres a pub nearby that we really like. Went one evening a while back and bought drinks from the bar, put them on a tab, and carried said drinks to our table. When the bill came, they had added 10% service to the entire bill. So, Im supposed to pay them for the fact I carried my own drinks?! Nope. Left enough cash to cover the food and drink consumed.

Then we went back there last sunday, and sat in the garden. Bought and paid for meal and drinks at the bar, and they brought the meals out - about 2 or 3 times the distance they would bring them to the "restaurant" section where they charge for service.

It literally makes no sense, and the majority of people just tip out of peer pressure and social convention.

v true. i know a bar that adds service charge when you are even sat at the bar!

i'll pay the service charge included as I basically think of it as the actual price as its just a tax dodge.

getting back to the op I can see that taking off the service charge and then giving less to the waiter indicates that they were not happy with the service so prob looks bad on the waiter. I'd never take off the charge unless its really really bad and I would never go there again. I like them adding it in a way as it bypasses the awkwardness at the end.

but dont see why they need tipping unless great service for the reasons in the post above. not all waiters are on min wage some are well paid. I went to mcd's this morning and they brought the food over but didnt expect a tip.

all for paying the staff the correct amount in the first place. so I dont tip often but did on saturday for example in my local pub as the waiter was excellent and we'd be going there again and there was no service charge included.

[roadsmash]

Robertj21a said:

roadsmash said:

tannhauser said:

roadsmash said:

I always tip (generously), providing its deserved.

I think it’s bullst, but I still do it.

Why then?

Simply because society tells me to.

It’s just another Americanism that we have adopted over here in the U.K. Totally unnecessary as all our waiting staff are paid by the hour/salaried.

I’m not a tight arse, nor do I want to be perceived as one...

So I tip.

Never a good idea to just cave in due to peer pressure. Tips should be for service better than you had expected, not to subsidise a company that doesn't pay staff adequately.

I appreciate your heartfelt concern but doing something because society tells me to and doing something due to peer pressure are very different things.

I don’t pay the 12.5% optional service charge which was added to my bill because my mate is egging me on, I do it because I’d genuinely be considered a tight bd if I asked the waiting staff (who may have done an OK job) to remove the charge.

Of course if the service was crap then I’d have good reason to remove it, but if I asked to remove it every single time (except for when the service was exceptional) then I’d be removing it all the time!

Further, I use the same restaurants regularly so being considered “that tight bd” would probably result in me receiving a worse level of service.

I don’t ever pay tips begrudgingly, but I do always wonder why this seems to have caught on in the U.K.

[Rick101]

I very rarely pay the stupidity/guilt tax of tipping.
I do tend to eat in decent places where staff will be paid a reasonable wage hence, not reliant on charity or more accurately tax free handouts.

Paying someone a fair wage will undoutably result in better productivity and staff retention than giving them the absolute minimum you can.


https://philebersole.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/obse...

Edited by Rick101 on Monday 12th August 13:08

[Mobile Chicane]

Sa Calobra said:

keirik said:

Title needs changing to "Tight git gets pissed off when someone highlights what he is"

£250 means a few people, so a fair bit of work to do for the waiter, but hey fk him, your mate only left a tenner because it shows who's more important and he wanted the waiter to feel subservient

there are some real tts in the world nowadays

How is it a fair bit of work? He's being paid to carry glasses or plates.

A tip should be a bonus NOT expected. It's also a fast way to lose customers. Three business owner should appreciate that the waiter is the face of his/her business and pay them.

Tips are generally shared between Front of House and the Kitchen (a debate in itself) and from the other side of the fence I can assure you that to serve larger parties properly is a lot more work than tables of two or four.

For a start, the logistical challenge of serving 10 people hot food at the same time when they've all ordered different things and there may be only one or at best two chefs...

Anyone who doubts this should try it some time.

[Cotty]

Just out of interest how many of the people in this thread received tips for the job you do. I don't.

I don't like the whole tipping rigmarole, just tell me home much the meal, service etc, is, ill pay it and be on my way.

[Teddy Lop]

Tippings weird here, its one thing in the cheap/fantastic local curry house where you know the staff are doing 2/3 jobs etc to leave a few quid but when your north of £200 bill in some west end swanko has 15% service added then they stick an ostentatious big empty box marked "gratuity" on the bill it's a bit of a piss take.

[petemurphy]

Mobile Chicane said:

Tips are generally shared between Front of House and the Kitchen (a debate in itself) and from the other side of the fence I can assure you that to serve larger parties properly is a lot more work than tables of two or four.

For a start, the logistical challenge of serving 10 people hot food at the same time when they've all ordered different things and there may be only one or at best two chefs...

Anyone who doubts this should try it some time.

it almost as if its their job

[Robertj21a]

Mobile Chicane said:

Tips are generally shared between Front of House and the Kitchen (a debate in itself) and from the other side of the fence I can assure you that to serve larger parties properly is a lot more work than tables of two or four.

For a start, the logistical challenge of serving 10 people hot food at the same time when they've all ordered different things and there may be only one or at best two chefs...

Anyone who doubts this should try it some time.

Most of us do jobs that can be very busy at times, need careful co-ordination etc. What's that got to do with tips ?

[HTP99]

I remember at a wedding a few years ago whilst waiting at the bar to order the first few drinks of the night; it wasn't a free bar, a guy in the queue behind me said to me "watch out for the included gratuity", it was 12.5% for a sullen woman and man to pour an overpriced wine, Bacardi and Coke and to take the top off a bottle of beer, I asked for it not to be included, much to the embarrassment of the wife!

Yesterday whilst out for a Sunday lunch with the wife and youngest, the pub was heaving and clearly the waitress was stressed, however she always had a big smile on when dealing with us and also suggested to my daughter not to have the choux buns when she ordered them; we liked her honesty, service was a bit slow but we were in no rush and she was very pleasant and clearly had difficult people to deal with so I gave her a tenner, she was extremely greatful.

Edited by HTP99 on Monday 12th August 18:30

[Mobile Chicane]

Robertj21a said:

Mobile Chicane said:

Tips are generally shared between Front of House and the Kitchen (a debate in itself) and from the other side of the fence I can assure you that to serve larger parties properly is a lot more work than tables of two or four.

For a start, the logistical challenge of serving 10 people hot food at the same time when they've all ordered different things and there may be only one or at best two chefs...

Anyone who doubts this should try it some time.

Most of us do jobs that can be very busy at times, need careful co-ordination etc. What's that got to do with tips ?

The original post related to a diner lowballing a service charge for a large party.

[alfaman]

Scabutz said:

I was a waiter years ago when I was at college. Tips were nice, but never expected. Just more beer money.

Not getting a tip I would just assume that person doesnt tip. Getting a really st tip like the one in the OP was fking annoying. Because it says I do tip, I'm not against it, but this is what I think you're worth. It's not being tight, proper tight fkers never tip. It's an insult and a way of making people feel above others. Here you are peasant, some lose change, buy yourself something nice.

yeah - lowballing a tip like in the original post - especially for large group just makes you look like a c / 2@ with little empathy for the low waged waiting staff.

Edit : to be fair it does vary by culture / location.

Ppl don’t tip in the Netherlands (no surprise there )

same in japan

Edited by alfaman on Monday 12th August 15:18

[CustardOnChips]

keirik said:

£250 means a few people, so a fair bit of work to do for the waiter

That could easily be a meal for 2 somewhere decent.

And, the waiter is already being paid to do the job. Why does he need a tip to do it properly?

[Cotty]

CustardOnChips said:

keirik said:

£250 means a few people, so a fair bit of work to do for the waiter

That could easily be a meal for 2 somewhere decent.

And, the waiter is already being paid to do the job. Why does he need a tip to do it properly?

Why it is a percentage of the bill? Why should we tip two people who have done the same amount of work differently because the food and drink is more expensive in one restaurant that the other?

[petemurphy]

CustardOnChips said:

That could easily be a meal for 2 somewhere decent.

And, the waiter is already being paid to do the job. Why does he need a tip to do it properly?

plus half of it could be a bottle of wine which the waiter may get commission on!

[Terminator X]

Leave 10% whether cash or on the card, your "friend" is a cheapskate.

TX.

[Terminator X]

paulwirral said:

I leave 5% ,if it's a problem I'll gladly take it back . I detest the already added discretionary ten per cent tip, I can work all day and I'd get laughed off the job if I added ten per cent to my price just for carrying my gear into someone's house

You should eat at home, bellend attitude.

TX.

[Cotty]

Terminator X said:

Leave 10% whether cash or on the card, your "friend" is a cheapskate.

Why not just charge 10% more and let people chose whether to eat there or not.

[PurpleTurtle]

I'm a 10% tipper in the UK, always tip unless the service has been poor.

However my inner Britishness resents the fact that restaurants have started automatically including it almost by default, when not pre-warned with the old 'a discrentionary service charge of X% will be added to bills for tables of Y or more'.

I always like to tip in cash rather than card too, as I suspect many restauranters don't let their staff see the full value of their tips.

[Muzzer79]

I tip as a matter of course in areas where I think the operative is genuinely low-paid - the only example I can think of is at the car wash. Those guys are not on minimum wage.....

Apart from that; I don't use barbers and suchlike so it's only really restaurants.

They're all on minimum wage now so I really don't see the need for a compulsory tip.

Ergo, I tip when the service and/or food has been good. If either isn't satisfactory; I don't.

If it's just me and the wife - 10% is usual. Larger groups maybe a bit more.

[Terminator X]

Cotty said:

Terminator X said:

Leave 10% whether cash or on the card, your "friend" is a cheapskate.

Why not just charge 10% more and let people chose whether to eat there or not.

Because it depends on "good service" hence discretionary. Leave nowt if poorly served but if all was ok then tip them 10%.

TX.