Tipping???????

[Morgstar]

Having seen the huge amount of responses to a post on another thread in the 'main' forum, i want to get the opinion of us Brits about tipping.

There is quite an argument going on over at the other thread about what is an exceptable level of tipping. As we are not so used to tipping in Britian i was wondering about what everyone thought of 'being forced' to tip while in America.

Personally i do tip servers in Britain but tend to be a lot less regimented about it, just leaving a couple of quid unless ive had a large bill. However knowing that servers in America get paid min wage if that, i always make sure to leave the appropriate tip unless service has been poor.

What does everyone else do?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Personally around 15-20% is what I tip if I have had good service, if the service was not good I reserve my right not to tip at all.
Some restaurants already include a 'gratuity' in the bill, so you may need to watch out for that also.

Generally speaking eating out is cheap in Florida so I figure a reasonable tip is worthwhile.
To be honest we do not eat out a lot, so most tips I give tend to be more alcohol related.

 

[AliceGardner]

Hi

In restaurants in the UK, I always tip 10% (unless the service has been bad).

In restaurants in the US, I always tip 15-20% - sometimes more if the service has been excellent. Have never has a reason not to tip in a restaurant in the US. I tip a couple of dollars a bag to a porter - if there are a couple of bags, then normally give him $5. We don't tend to drink in bars in the US and I don't have spa treatments there either, also we don't tend to use valet parking.

Personally I believe that if I visit a country, then I should abide by what is acceptable in their local customs etc: since the going rate is 15%-20% there, then that is what I do. If I felt that the cost of the meal INCLUDING the tax and the "15-20% tip" was too much, then I would eat somewhere else: as far as I am concerned, the 15%-20% tip is just part of the cost of the meal (just like the tax).

Alice

 

[Jakey Rowling]

I normally give 15 - 20% unless service is really poor or they carry me to my seat.

There are several reasons why it is cheap to eat out in Florida, the staff wages are one so I don't have a problem in factoring this into the overall cost.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Further to my earlier post, one thing I would add is that if you stay on-site there is a danger of 'multiple tipping' regarding your bags.

We kind of suffered that on our first on-site stay at the Boardwalk last August, where it was such a long walk from the car park to the room itself.

It could easily have cost me over $20 just to have my bags taken from the car to the room, which is excessive in my opinion.
I paid one guy $5 for taking them out of the car, another guy $5 for 'something else' cannot remember now - then another one for actually taking them to the room and it appeared another guy was looking at me as if to say I have organised this for you so tip me too!

Needless to say on the way out I took all my bags to the car myself, although it was tiring.

I fully appreciate people rely on these tips, but I think when it's getting to the stage you are tipping perhaps 4 different times for essentially one thing then it's too much.

 

[AlanUK]

We always tend to give about 15-20% whilst in the US as that's the suggested norm. Like Johnny says it's best to be aware of gratuities automatically being added to your bill, we were caught ut like this once and ended up double tipping. We only worked it out later when we were looking at the receipt back in our room, although it does indicate how cheap food is in the US as neither DW or I thought it was an unreasonable amount!

The only real problem I have with the tipping culture in the US is with some of the more incidental services you come across but are expected to tip for such as the Valet who takes your car, the bell man who unloads your car and the different bell man who delivers your bags to the room. This seems to be a system that is designed in a way to extract the maximum amount of money from you in tips. I do still tip them all an appropriate amount but it always leaves me feeling like I have been fleeced!

 

[AlanUK]

Looks like we agree on that then Johnny

 

[JohnnySharp2]

The only real problem I have with the tipping culture in the US is with some of the more incidental services you come across but are expected to tip for such as the Valet who takes your car, the bell man who unloads your car and the different bell man who delivers your bags to the room. This seems to be a system that is designed in a way to extract the maximum amount of money from you in tips. I do still tip them all an appropriate amount but it always leaves me feeling like I have been fleeced!

Blimey Alan I kind of just posted the same thing - great minds think alike!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Looks like we agree on that then Johnny

yes mate - obviously typing away at the same time here.

 

[gilld]

Here we would never tip less than 10% and in the US we tip 20%. Should we get bad service, rare in our experience, we would still leave a tip, but a meagre one, so that it was apparent that it was because of poor service rather than just an oversight.

I agree that when in another country, it is appropriate to abide by their customs ........and in the US that means tipping.

 

[AliceGardner]

The only real problem I have with the tipping culture in the US is with some of the more incidental services you come across but are expected to tip for such as the Valet who takes your car, the bell man who unloads your car and the different bell man who delivers your bags to the room. This seems to be a system that is designed in a way to extract the maximum amount of money from you in tips. I do still tip them all an appropriate amount but it always leaves me feeling like I have been fleeced!

I agree with both Alan and Johnny - we were caught by this once and I really didn't like it. NOW my opinion is that I will tip the guy who delivers the cases to my room - no-one else: $5 for two cases is plenty enough. You are tipping for the service and not for the person (i.e. if two waiters looked after you at dinner, you wouldn't expect to tip EACH of them 15%-20% of the bill, would you?). IF more people take a role in delivering those cases to the room, then they can pool their tips and divide as necessary... If anyone asks for additional tips, then I will say that "I will tip when the person who delivers the cases to the room". I think that I might also make a point of speaking to the hotel manager about it (and asking "how many times should I tip for my bags to be delivered to my room?"): since no guest should ever feel bullied into tipping - very classless... . I think that the porters are "trying it on a bit" with the tourists (as far as anyone who touches your bags should be tips). I am pretty sure that they wouldn't try it on with your average US businessman...

If I felt that the service at a restaurant was so bad as not to tip at least 15% (hasn't happened yet!), then I would ask to see the manager and explain what the problem was and why I wasn't tipping. That makes it obvious why you aren't tipping and might make future diners' experiences better...

Alice

 

[lorapinky]

we dont have many sit down meals at WDW so we don't have to tip that much.

We have 4 PS this year and we'll tip approx 15% each time.

We tipped the CM who brought out bags (4 in total) $5.00.

We will tip our driver from the airport $20.00

We tip our mousekeepers $2.00 ($1.00 per person, per night).

 

[wayneg]

As everyone else I tip 15-20%, food is so cheap I don't have a problem with this but has anyone ever watched what others tip, It is a pastime of mine. I am amazed how many people dont tip or just leave a Dollar a person. This is americans that do this as much if not more than UK travellers.
We have a friend in North Carolina his partner just took a waitress job a few week back, this is an area all Americans no tourists, she is going to have to leave because very few people tip.
We get the bad press for not tipping but its definetly not just us.
Example of cheap food I had last week, called at Orlando Ale house and had 35 shrimps(big prawns) on a large bed of pasta covered in garlic sauce and Garlic bread. $9.95. I could only eat the shrimp and bread left the pasta. Who would object to paying another $2 tip for that?

 

[AliceGardner]

As everyone else I tip 15-20%, food is so cheap I don't have a problem with this but has anyone ever watched what others tip, It is a pastime of mine. I am amazed how many people dont tip or just leave a Dollar a person.

We tend to tip by credit/debit card (which is how we normally pay the cheque - we just add 15-20% on to the total). So, to others, it might appear that we don't tip (because we don't leave cash)...

We start watching others now.

Wouldn't change how I tip though - even if I saw a lot of other people tipping less: always hold myself to the standards that I think are correct and not lower myself to others' standards

Alice

 

[Karlai]

we usually give 15% and 20% for good service!

 

[Dimplenose]

We tend to tip by credit/debit card (which is how we normally pay the cheque - we just add 15-20% on to the total).

Us too, but in the UK since the introduction of chip&pin we don't always get the chance to add it on during the transaction. I've felt quite embarressed on a couple of occassions when I have left without tipping because I didn't have an appropriate amount of cash on me.

Libby

 

[Amyrlin]

10% in the UK and when in the US 15% - 20% for good service, a bit more if it is a low check.

 

[ford family]

In the UK we usually tip 10% but always in cash even if we have paid the bill with a credit card. We do this because cash goes to the servers directly whereas any amounts added by credit or debit card are put on their wages and, therefore, taxed.
In the US we usually tip 20% and pay in cash as we prefer to minimise the usage of credit cards for security reasons.
As we only travel with hand luggage in the US the need to tip bellboys doesn't arise but we always leave a tip for mousekeeping at BWV.

ford family

 

[AliceGardner]

In the UK we usually tip 10% but always in cash even if we have paid the bill with a credit card. We do this because cash goes to the servers directly whereas any amounts added by credit or debit card are put on their wages and, therefore, taxed.

Shouldn't servers be taxed on their tips in the UK?

Or am I just being niaive here....

Alice

 

[ford family]

Shouldn't servers be taxed on their tips in the UK?

Or am I just being niaive here....

Alice

No wish to debate your ideology but, yes, I think you are being naive.
In the UK, no NIC (tax by another name) is due on cash tips paid directly to server.
Credit/debit card tips are reallocated by employer after deduction of NIC and PAYE.
NIC cannot be reclaimed.
Many part time servers don't earn enough to reach income tax threshholds over the course of the year but they may do so in the few weeks they are working, very hard to get back small amounts of cash deducted as PAYE.
Employer can use pooled tips to reach minimum wage, i.e. employer gets to keep the tips.

One of our daughters did waitress work whilst at university so we are very aware of the minefield this area can be.

ford family