tipping

[Kath2003]

If an employer employs a person to do a job then they should pay that person the proper wage for doing it and not rely on it's customers to judge that person's work and reward them for it.

They already do that by frequenting that establishment or buying a product from their staff.

When I go out for a meal I want to be served in a timely fashion by someone who is good at their job and not fussed around every 2 minutes by someone asking if 'everything is OK sir' by someone looking for a big tip. Nor do I want to have to monitor that person's performance in order to calculate how much to 'pay' them. If the service is bad I don't want the embarrasment of having to ask for the manager to explain why I'm not giving a certain tip. The management should monitor the server's performance and act accordingly.

If the service is bad enough not to tip, you should be complaining anyway, regardless of whether tipping is expected or not. I also don't see why you have to 'monitor' them - if you're happy with the service, tip. If they really made your day, tip more. I'd rather have people make the effort to do a decent job and get a tip than have disinterested, nonchalant servers like we have in so many of our restaurants here, who know they're getting paid £6 per hour regardless of whether the food turns up cold or you have to wait 20 minutes for a drink.

Across the board, customer service in the UK is TERRIBLE compared to in the USA. People here simply don't take pride in their work and do the bare minimum to get by an awful lot of the time. Tipping also makes serving a viable career option - very, very few restaurants in the UK pay more than minimum wage and that is why most serving is done by students because you simply cannot support a family on that wage.

 

[zippy99]

My husband is the head chef in a very busy restaurant in the UK, when people tip there, the tips are put together and 90% is shared out between the waiting staff and 10% is shared between the kitchen staff.

He is well paid, however, his commis chefs are on a low wage like the waiting staff yet they get a bigger share. Whilst I know waiters work hard to 'earn' a tip, at the same time there are people working their socks off in a kitchen making the food look stunning (and some of the disney deserts really do look good).

I am happy to tip, but there is such a culture now of expectation, the server is only one person who makes a good experience in a restuarant, ultimately though it is the food and I wish you could tip the kitchen staff as they miss out yet are also on the same low wages.

 

[wideeyes]

I don't tip the maid, it is not a tipping position however I tip the ME driver for handling our bags, taxi drivers and waiting/bar staff the recomended amount.

 

[kevin harrison]

Just thinking out of the box and playing devil's advocate...

If you are not happy to tip, maybe it's best to tell your Server/Maid/Valet etc beforehand.

That way there is no expectation on the part of the person supplying a service to you.

I can guarantee that you will get a xxxx service, but at least you are being straight beforehand.

 

[Pegasus928]

I have regularly heard how 'us Brits' are the worst tippers in the world, but since I have been working with a lot of Americans over the last 2 years the subject of tipping has come up time and time again.
The usual result is that they are amazed that we tip as much as we do. And to be honest I have taking my tipping 'guide' from forums like this, and from people who are constantly telling us that we don't tip enough.
Next time we go I will be basing my tips on the service I have received - simple as that. If it is good I will go up to 20% - as my American friends do.

 

[dbriggsq]

Just thinking out of the box and playing devil's advocate...

If you are not happy to tip, maybe it's best to tell your Server/Maid/Valet etc beforehand.

That way there is no expectation on the part of the person supplying a service to you.

I can guarantee that you will get a xxxx service, but at least you are being straight beforehand.

If you tell your maid that you are not going to tip then there should be absolutely no difference in the service you receive. Housekeeping is not a tipped position and if I received a below par service from them I would convey my concerns to the management who's duty it is to ensure that housekeeping service my room in the way they are paid to do.

As for the server part -my son and daughter both work in hospitality at a major sporting venue where tips are absolutely not accepted. They work in a professional manner , knowing if they do not do a good job they are responsible to the management who hired them. Perhaps that is the difference - if you are working for tips then if you can't be bothered you might lose a good tip - but if you are working in a professional manner then if you don't perform you might lose your job.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

I agree with the earlier poster who said they would be relieved if tipping was removed altogether. I don't know why we have a hierarchy with some positions deemed eligible for tips, some no tips and and some automatic tips.

It would be much simpler all around if everyone received an appropriate wage. It becomes especially problematic when places insist on an automatic gratuity. Then it is really not a gratuity at all.

 

[kevin harrison]

What does it say if you have spent a fair bit on your holiday and you cannot bring yourself to maybe tip a cleaner $2 dollars a day who is receiving a pittance in pay?

Someone said it earlier, you tip well early and you get very good service for the rest of your holiday.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

I would tip, no question.

I do, however, support the idea that the requirement to tip should be replaced by appropriate wages and good management.

This would require a large-scale change of ethos, which would not be instigated by someone's reluctance to place $2 in an envelope.

It would, in my opinion, be a postive thing for both staff and customers. If staff received a wage which did not require a supplement, they would no longer be vulnerable to the poor tipping customer.

It is a nuisance to calculate and leave a tip at the end of a meal, but while people need it, I will continue to be one of the better tippers.

 

[dbriggsq]

What does it say if you have spent a fair bit on your holiday and you cannot bring yourself to maybe tip a cleaner $2 dollars a day who is receiving a pittance in pay?

Someone said it earlier, you tip well early and you get very good service for the rest of your holiday.

Housekeeping is not a tipped postion therefore they do not received a 'pittance in pay' - tips are not expected to make up that person's pay.

And if I've spent a fair bit on my holiday assuming that having my room cleaned is part of that price why should I have to spend another $200 to make sure it is cleaned properly.

I have never tipped housekeeping and I have never received less than adequate cleaning or service.

 

[kevin harrison]

Housekeeping is not a tipped postion therefore they do not received a 'pittance in pay' - tips are not expected to make up that person's pay.

You are joking? Housekeeping isn't a lowly paid job - as in pittance?

I suggest a visit to http://www.hotelworkersrising.org/

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Is there a recommended list of what constitutes a tipped position and what does not?

Which professions are taxed as is they have automatically received tips?

It really is complicated when you look into it isn't it?

 

[wickesy]

I don't look on tipping as making up a person's pay (even though it might be), I look on it as thanking them for a service they have provided for me, so whether it is considered a tipped position or not doesn't matter to me.

 

[tttessa]

Hiya,

I tip for good service, not for just doing the job. Like another poster here, I also earn peanuts (school dinner lady) and I have to save for 3 years to get to Disney in the first place, so do not see why people are tipped just for having low pay.

Some American friends tip - even working out the precise 20%, some tip just for good service, some don't tip at all.... just like us really...... If someone gives excellent service, or goes above and beyond, I tip and tell their boss - "employee of the month" schemes can come with fast track promotion and financial reward.

Tessa

 

[dbriggsq]

You are joking? Housekeeping isn't a lowly paid job - as in pittance?

I suggest a visit to http://www.hotelworkersrising.org/

I'm sorry I thought we were taking about Disney housekeeping - rates of pay for housekeepers are the same as for other cast members - those in shops, on rides etc. If we followed the logic should we feel obligated to tip these too.

 

[dbriggsq]

I don't look on tipping as making up a person's pay (even though it might be), I look on it as thanking them for a service they have provided for me, so whether it is considered a tipped position or not doesn't matter to me.

I understand why people want to thank others for good service - but I do think there could be a better way than giving money - I just find it very uncomfortable.

Again why do I feel obligated to tip my hairdresser and not my physiotherapist - the latter has probably provided me with much more personal service.

 

[fleurbie]

I don't mind tipping when i feel i've had good service, but when we stayed at por we went to the bar in the hotel, and was told to sit down at a table and our drinks would be brought over, we later learnt this was because they get more in tips for table service, which i feel is making sure they get a bigger tip,and he was quite rude the next time when we stay at the bar, even though we did tip 10%. This makes you feel that they just expect tips instead of us thanking them for good service.
We did leave a couple of dollers for the mousekeeping each day but some days we forgot and didn't feel the room was any different either way.

 

[scojos]

my husband was alos a head chef, and they had the same 90/10 restaurant/kitchen policy.
in the uk at least the rest staff end up with more money in their pockets than kitchen staff - we often send coke/beer into the kitchen for the chef who cooked our meals if they were good, a small gesture, but often appreciated here.

i tip, probably not as much as i should, but mousekeeping and bellboys, we even asked how much the bell boy was very embarassesd and said he didnt want a tip he was just doing his job. he had put the kids on the "golf cart" thingy and rode them round the block the kids had loved it, as we werent quite ready when he arrived, the refused the tip! (we went to reception checked what we should give him and then gave it to him. ok, it wasnt alot but would pay for pizza on the way home...

we always leave a tip (if the service is good) in restaureants, i also read about the 1 cent tip, so they know you havent forgotten them , but you really wernt impressed, and yes, i did that at the LTT, cause it was very bad service...

i think its a question of choice, we went then year after i trained to teach, and yes, im on a better salary now, but financially that trip was hard, i dont get tipped, like alot of people, but then we went to tomy romas for ribs, and the waiter was lovely, we talked , he brought the kids loads of stuff out, and went above and beyond. then he gave us the tipping card... "bit cheeky, i said" he told me (6 years ago) he earned less than $2 per hour, worked 12 hour days, had left his kids 1 hour drive away with his wife (thats why he had made a fuss of our daughter she was tyhe same age as his own child) saw them once a fortnight, sent money home, and struggled even with tips. he was either an excellent actor, or very very genuine, we liked him, and left a huge tip (about 50 dollars if i remember right...
from that day, i have always tried to be straight. no its not a god given right, but i agree, whats another $100 on top of holidays that cost £7000???

Trcay

 

[kevin harrison]

I don't look on tipping as making up a person's pay (even though it might be), I look on it as thanking them for a service they have provided for me, so whether it is considered a tipped position or not doesn't matter to me.

That's exactly right. Some need a tip more than others, but we are the same, we tip in the USA and here in exactly the same way. Never add the tip through a card machine though, always in cash.

 

[wideeyes]

I have never had bad service for not tipping room service, it has always been very good at Disney. It is not expected to tip, and I didn't always have change to tip anyway.

My mum used to be a chambermaid at a Manchester airport hotel and never got tips so obviously all you generous tippers didn't stay there.