DOH!
And here I was trying to keep my head down
Ok, I am in the UK and I will give you my take on things.
We DO tip in the UK. However, not anywhere near like you folks in the States do. (I think in general, we only tip in restaurants and taxi's - oh and maybe bellman, but I can't afford to stay in any hotels over here that are up-market enough to employ bellman, LOL, so that rules me out) Waitstaff are not wonderfully paid over here, but it is much better than in the US. If I were to go out for a meal over here - and was especially happy with service, I'd be looking to tip 10%. If service was ok, but nothing special, it would be less. If service was poor/slow, there would be no tip at all. Period.
For Brits visiting the US, it can be difficult to get into the right 'frame of mind' - tipping for food, drinks and goodness knows what else it seems sometimes, LOL - for us, the amount of people you are expected to tip (in general) and the % seems excessive compared to our habits at home, especially when you are talking as high as 20%+. As a result, the Brits in general are known to be poor tippers. A catch 22 situation has developed. Waitstaff may not work so hard serving a Brit because they think there will be little or no tip at the end (Darn accent is a bit of a giveaway!). The Brit then receives poor service
therefore they don't want to leave a tip! I personally am, however, a firm believer of 'When in Rome...' So I do tip more than I EVER would at home. Generally, I leave around 15% for good service (or $1 a drink at the bar - I've learned it's important to keep my barman sweet, hehehe) - but the service would have to be exceptional for me to leave more.
There are good servers and bad servers everywhere - I've been well treated in the UK, and I've been poorly treated in the US....and vice versa.
Given the choice - personally I prefer the system in the UK. Yes, I pay more for my meal, but pay a smaller % tip - the 'incentive' for the server to put that little bit of effort in for you is still there. It is unthinkable over here that we feel obliged to pay a tip simply because that is the person's salary- at the end of the day, I am not that person's employer, the restaurant is. It's believed a person is tipped for the service they provide over and above the minimum required effort to do their job. Because of the Brit 'tipping reputation' we have in the tourist areas of the States, the US system is actually prejudicial against me - regardless of my own tipping habits, therefore, for that reason alone, I'm not so keen on it.
And here I was trying to keep my head down

Ok, I am in the UK and I will give you my take on things.
We DO tip in the UK. However, not anywhere near like you folks in the States do. (I think in general, we only tip in restaurants and taxi's - oh and maybe bellman, but I can't afford to stay in any hotels over here that are up-market enough to employ bellman, LOL, so that rules me out) Waitstaff are not wonderfully paid over here, but it is much better than in the US. If I were to go out for a meal over here - and was especially happy with service, I'd be looking to tip 10%. If service was ok, but nothing special, it would be less. If service was poor/slow, there would be no tip at all. Period.
For Brits visiting the US, it can be difficult to get into the right 'frame of mind' - tipping for food, drinks and goodness knows what else it seems sometimes, LOL - for us, the amount of people you are expected to tip (in general) and the % seems excessive compared to our habits at home, especially when you are talking as high as 20%+. As a result, the Brits in general are known to be poor tippers. A catch 22 situation has developed. Waitstaff may not work so hard serving a Brit because they think there will be little or no tip at the end (Darn accent is a bit of a giveaway!). The Brit then receives poor service

There are good servers and bad servers everywhere - I've been well treated in the UK, and I've been poorly treated in the US....and vice versa.
Given the choice - personally I prefer the system in the UK. Yes, I pay more for my meal, but pay a smaller % tip - the 'incentive' for the server to put that little bit of effort in for you is still there. It is unthinkable over here that we feel obliged to pay a tip simply because that is the person's salary- at the end of the day, I am not that person's employer, the restaurant is. It's believed a person is tipped for the service they provide over and above the minimum required effort to do their job. Because of the Brit 'tipping reputation' we have in the tourist areas of the States, the US system is actually prejudicial against me - regardless of my own tipping habits, therefore, for that reason alone, I'm not so keen on it.