tipping? do you or don't you?

[k-herm]

You make good points, but that is how they do things over there - rightly or wrongly, when in Rome though.........

Quite right kevin.
I should have said that I do tip when in the US.

 

[ejones999]

I must share an experience which we had at a Black Angus restaurant on I-drive a few weeks ago.
After waiting 20 minutes or so for a free table, our server Donney came up and introduced himself and we ordered some drinks - no problem so far and drinks duly arrived.
Next we ask what the soup of the day was (can't remember what he said) but the jist was that he would not serve anything that he would not eat himself and basically it was pants - great we thought a server who cared what we eat!
So we said forget starters we'll order main course now - nothing special steak for me, chicken for SWMBO and pizza for the kids (NOTE; TIME NOW 8pm).
At 8.30 no sign of food and got Donney's attention who apologised and brought another round of drinks on the house to make up for the delay.
8.45 called him over again - he apologised again and this time brought us all a Ceasars salad, again on the house - again sorry for the delay and yet another couple of bottles of beer on the house.
9.00 Drinking on an empty stomach does'nt do much for me and I had another word with him - by now he was sweating profusely and calling the chef all the names under the sun - he dissapeared for a few minutes and then brought over 4 meals and placed them on the table. Great we thought food at last;
BUT ALAS as we were just about to tuck in we realised the food in front of us was not what we ordered and just as they appeared on the table they were taken away again and put on the table in front of us. Guess what?
Another couple of free beers!
About 9.15 we eventually did get our meals which were very nice.
10.30 ish time to pay the bill;
Donney comes over with one of those till type bills where everything is totted up and they automatically add 15% as a gratuity, before I get a chance to say anything, he says that he will personally deduct the tip from the bill and apologised for the umpteenth time about the poor service.
I'm not sure whether it was because Ifelt sorry for him or because I was pi***d but I put the tip back on the bill and thanked him for the entertainment he had given us.
Moral of the story - It wasn't his fault that the kitchens were busy and mucking orders up - he did everything he could to sort it so in my opinion deserved his tip.
If ever you end up there when its busy be prepared for anything to happen.
Eric

 

[Feralpeg]

Hello. I'd like to ask a question. I am planning on a trip to the UK next summer. I've heard, and based on this thread, believe that tipping is not the norm in the UK. Should I plan on tipping? I don't want to upset anyone, but the thought of not tipping seems very strange to me. Thanks!

 

[kevin harrison]

Hello. I'd like to ask a question. I am planning on a trip to the UK next summer. I've heard, and based on this thread, believe that tipping is not the norm in the UK. Should I plan on tipping? I don't want to upset anyone, but the thought of not tipping seems very strange to me. Thanks!

When you are in resturants, it's up to you if you tip. We only tip if the service is good, the majority of brits are too tight and never ever tip from what I've seen. Hotel bell boys and taxi drives we may also tip, but really it's completely up to you. No one is going to get upset at you like in the States.

Incidentally if you do tip in resturarants, don't leave the money on the table at the end when you leave as you are likely to get it nicked before your server arrives to collect it.

One last thing, it will be expensive enough for you over here so don't let worrying over tipping spoil everything.

 

[Pootle]

When you are in resturants, it's up to you if you tip. We only tip if the service is good, the majority of brits are too tight and never ever tip from what I've seen. Hotel bell boys and taxi drives we may also tip, but really it's completely up to you. No one is going to get upset at you like in the States.

If the service has been okay in restaurants here we always tip, as do our friends so I find the suggestion that the majority of us are too tight to tip in the UK extremely strange. Equally I find it hard to believe that the money left is regularly stolen.

We also tip the expected 15%-20% in the USA - sometimes more if we have shared a meal. On a couple of occasions over the years though, we have noticed that a gratuity has been added to our bill in the US automatically and on further investigation, it turned out it was because we were British!

 

[terrynewpack]

It's a way of life over there and most waiting staff are on poor wages. However, in my book, you have to earn a tip. I have left no tip before for poor service and over-tipped for exceptional service. Funniest time was at RaceRock on I-Drive when the server followed us into the car park for leave less than 20% (left 15%). Wife followed Him back into the building when He became argumentative.

We tip and always have done. However now we tip according to service like above. Service in Florida is generally now far worse than it was 20 years ago and whilst a lot of that is down to expansion and poorly trained staff some of it is down to Brits not tipping and in the process getting everyone a bad name for meanness.
Having said that the majority of folk on here claim to tip and that is a great improvement on similar discussions years ago when the majority didn't.
The main thing is do not be intimidated by some servers who think they should receive a whopping tip for awful service.

Terry

 

[Candy]

When you are in resturants, it's up to you if you tip. We only tip if the service is good, the majority of brits are too tight and never ever tip from what I've seen. Hotel bell boys and taxi drives we may also tip, but really it's completely up to you. No one is going to get upset at you like in the States.

Incidentally if you do tip in resturarants, don't leave the money on the table at the end when you leave as you are likely to get it nicked before your server arrives to collect it.

One last thing, it will be expensive enough for you over here so don't let worrying over tipping spoil everything.

I think to say the majority of brits are to tight to tip is very rude. how do you know what the majority of brits do what facts do you base your information on? and as for tips in resturants getting nicked as you put it.i dont know what kind of resturants you go to. but i have never seen this happen. lots of brits do tip both here and in the states.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Shall I, shan't I . . . . it's one of those topics that I really want to respond to quite forcibly, but on the other hand don't want to upset anyone

So here's my toned down views.

I don't get tipped for doing my job. HOWEVER, I don't expect to because I don't work in a "service" industry. But should we leave it at restaurants, pubs, bars, etc . . . . why do we tip our hairdresser? We're already paying her a fortune to do her job . . . and so the argument goes on. "Free" valet parking . . . you still feel 'obliged' to give em a tip

In Florida, we have only ever had one occasion (in a Bennigans down St Pete Beach) where we did not tip - and even the server knew we wouldn't because he honestly did such an awful job - not only to us but all his other tables, and then blamed the world and his uncle when it was his own ineptitude.

The service which we receive over in Florida is so much better than we're used to over here; it doesn't seem quite as bad as handing over the extra dosh for a tip than here.

I get so fed up when dining out with friends (over here) and they're too mean to leave a tip. For goodness sake, it's only a couple of quid each normally, and we all know waiting staff rely on their tips.

Ferlpeg - I'm ashamed to say you will no doubt notice the difference in the quantity and the quality of the service when you come over here

These are MY views and opinions

 

[k-herm]

I think to say the majority of brits are to tight to tip is very rude. how do you know what the majority of brits do what facts do you base your information on? and as for tips in resturants getting nicked as you put it.i dont know what kind of resturants you go to. but i have never seen this happen. lots of brits do tip both here and in the states.

Well, I don't know about Brits tipping in the US, but I have daily experience of tipping in the UK.
Probably 50% of our customers tip. Many just don't believe in it, which is fine - I can see their point.
However, of those who do tip, the ones who leave more than 10% are the minority. It's a different culture, that's for sure.

I've never seen tips being knicked though.

 

[peewakio]

I am definetely going to pay Donney a visit

 

[ejones999]

Peewakio

The restaurant is next to the Best Western Movieland hotel in middle of I-Drive.
Good luck.
Eric

 

[KayleeUK]

Just a reminder to keep this on-topic please

 

[kevin harrison]

I think to say the majority of brits are to tight to tip is very rude. how do you know what the majority of brits do what facts do you base your information on? and as for tips in resturants getting nicked as you put it.i dont know what kind of resturants you go to. but i have never seen this happen. lots of brits do tip both here and in the states.

Candy, do you always tip at Hotels, bellboys, restuarants, hairdressers, deliverymen etc? You seriously believe that the majority of Brits tip all the time? I read a survey that only 23% of Brits tip and the average was 9%. Read up the thread where I posted about the TGI Fridays server who told me about Britis abroad and their lack of tipping....

I worked for many years in the hotel industry and trust me either tips were being nicked or people were very tight.....

Finally asking what kind of resturants I go to is quite rude......

 

[tiggerlady]

As brits we are not known for our tipping but obviously in Usa it is the norm we always leave a tip,however we feel it should be earned ie a good service and lots of attention coming and asking if we require more coffees and soda (we have to pay for these back home) also when tipping base the amount on the pre tax amount of the bill not the full amount and when in the self serve type resteraunts eg Ponderosa or Sizzlers we only leave about a$1 per person.
A quick story whilst in New york we had a lovely meal in the Planet Hollywood we tipped a lot as we has a really nice time and the waiter was really nice, as we left he came and thanked us and said it was unusual for Brits to tip so generously it made us feel sad and good at the same time if this makes sense.

 

[DebIreland]

This thread is very helpful. I was wondering about the whole tipping thing too. I was thinking 15% at restaurants but it sounds like 20% is the norm? I guess, as many say, it would depend on the service.

I'm kinda amazed that people are saying it's not common place to tip in the UK. Ok, I don't live in the UK so you guys would know a lot more about it than me. But I have visited countless times and have always tipped and anyone I've been with (including English friends) has tipped. 10% usually but often rounded off to 12 or 13%, same as here. It seemed to be totally the norm in restaurants. I guess I'm talking about London - maybe it's not common in other areas. I'm surprised though. Just to add, as a visitor to England, I've always found the service in restaurants very good.

What about tipping in cabs - 20% too? Housekeeping? Did someone say 2 dollars a day? Would you give it at the end of the stay? It seems kinda scabby handing someone 2 dollars each day! What have I forgotten? Are there other scenarios where I should tip? What about fast food places? Or, let's say, we ring reception and ask for more towels or something else. Do we tip the person who brings them up? Thanks.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

What about tipping in cabs - 20% too? Housekeeping? Did someone say 2 dollars a day? Would you give it at the end of the stay? It seems kinda scabby handing someone 2 dollars each day! What have I forgotten? Are there other scenarios where I should tip? What about fast food places? Or, let's say, we ring reception and ask for more towels or something else. Do we tip the person who brings them up? Thanks.

We tend to leave our housekeeping tip each day - simply because seem to get different housekeepers during our stay, therefore it's only fair that the one doing the room that day gets the tip. Luckily we've never had a problem with housekeeping, so have always been happy.

With regards housekeeping services, ie bringing towels up, extra shampoos, that sort of thing, we've never tipped them Where does it end

 

[DebIreland]

Thanks Mrs Dazzle, your post makes a lot of sense! I agree it's only fair to tip every day as I hadn't thought of staff being off on certain days.

 

[Disney owl]

As for us Brits been terrible or non-existant tippers I do think we occasionally forget.

We ordered pizzas to be delivered to our villa. To save on time and trouble I had the exact money ready. It wasn't till the delivery boy hinted , that I'd realised I had totally forgotton to tip. Needless to say I quickly put it right.

A friend at work always tips. for bad service leave a $1 which shows our feelings better than leaving none.

 

[GarryK]

Don't know if this means I'm mad but I love tipping when in Florida. To me it's part of the holiday and the overall experience ! From the guys at the airport car collection who help with bags though to bar staff, servers and maids.

Maybe it's because the flippin' holiday costs as much in the first place but I don't seem to mind having $1 bills to hand to tip whoever gives good service (not so sure DW likes me spending the money this way - she'd much rather using at the Premium Oulets !).

Only once at Sizzlers have I refused to leave a tip.

There's a wonderful scene is the film Goodfellas where Ray Liotta tips everyone $20 bills when he jumps the queue and takes his date through the kitchen of a club before getting prime seats. That's me in Florida !

Garry

 

[whiteboy]

Got to admit i like to leave a good tip if service is good but to be asked if you want your change is so rude!!! I even had one restaurant not even ask if i wanted change they just kept it!!!!