Just Saying -- the soapbox thread

[rullywowr]

All joking aside, tipping in the US (at least for servers) is a huge part of their income and they actually get taxed on the tips as well.  I used to be a waiter back in college and know this first hand.  Minimum wage in the US is around $7.50/hr however if you are a server the employer can pay you as little as $2.50/hr (it varies by state) because they count the tips they receive as part of the minimum wage.  As long as your tips + the crappy wage they pay you ends up over $7.50 it is considered OK.  Therefore, it is customary to tip about 15-20% here in the US.  All credit card tips are automatically taxed (because they are in the computer system) and most employers count at least 10% of a servers's sales as the minimum for being taxed.  So if you sold $1000 worth of food in a night, they would assume you made at least $1000 (even though you probably grossed about $150 @ 15%) and tax you on it.  You would also get a measly little check at the end of the week because they would calculate out the hours you worked, times the "server minimum wage" and then take the taxes out of it calculated on both your sales and what you claim.  Lots of times my checks would be like $30-$50 for around 30+ hours of work due to the taxes.

Depending on where you serve food here, it could be quite a lot of money depending on the price of food you serve (say at a fancy seafood lobster restaurant) or it could be crap (say at a waffle house/breakfast shack).  Also, servers here in the US often times have to split their earned tips between the bartenders who make alcoholic drinks for their tables, the busboys who clear the tables, and the runners who bring food out from the kitchen.  Not to mention that they work every holiday, and usually Fri/Sat nights (where the money is).  It's safe to say that I don't miss that profession any more..but it could be great money for a kid going to college. 

Other tips here in the US are usually for taxi drivers, bellhops, tour guides, babysitters, dog walkers, valet parkers, and even sometimes those who give you food in a coffee/donut shop.  These are optional and nowhere near the customary 15% for servers.  Depends on the amount of the service but it could be an extra $1 to an extra $5.

Totally different than the EU or other places I travel to around the world!

[alanp]

Hmmm... well, like I said, I don't like the idea of it. I'm not their boss, supervisor, or employer. They're supposed to pay the wages. I'm out for a good night, not to figure out someone else's wages.

The only places I've ever seen "tip jars" are in American coffee shops, like Star Bucks, and even then there's never much in them.

[rullywowr]

Yeah it's pretty funny when I go to Europe and tip for a beer they look at me funny and then are super happy. It's not uncommon in the US to tip $1 per drink.

[Ettore_M]

Here in Greece, tipping is not even mandatory or imposed by law or anything. Although the wages are extremely low, something like 3 Euros per hour for a typical cafe server (convert that to dollars and you'll see), customers rarely leave a tip for the servers. In the end of it, it's their job and they get paid for it, regardless the number of customers on the table they serve. And they do leave a tip, they do it out of true generosity to the server.

To truly understand the financial state here in Greece, most of the times, even the customer can't leave a tip, because he can't afford it. Really. It sounds extravagant, but if you take to account that the minimum monthly wage is set to 586 Euros, you'll see what I mean.

Nevertheless, I do leave a tip, when I can. But it really (I mean, really) bothered me when I recently visited Wien, Austria, and went to a restaurant where the 10% tip was already included in the check! 
I now understand that this is a legal policy in the States and other countries, and although it would bother, I would indeed leave a tip, if it's imposed by law.

Hector

[muddyfox]

You think Greece economy is in the crapper? Over here the minimum wage is 392 Euro... 
Tipping happens but very rarely, mostly because people don't have any extra to give, no matter how great the service.

[Ettore_M]

You think Greece economy is in the crapper? Over here the minimum wage is 392 Euro... 
Tipping happens but very rarely, mostly because people don't have any extra to give, no matter how great the service.

Oh god, I'm sorry man.. Where do you live?
Then, we're both in the crapper. Sure thing, there are people who get paid under the minimum monthly wage, you know. We are pretty crappy here too.

Hector

[muddyfox]

Same thing here, unfortunately plenty of people "living" on money way below minimum wage. Even worse, it often includes pretty hard labor.
I'm just a bit north of you, fresh in EU, right here in Croatia. Luckily I'm quite a bit better off but I still struggle to make ends meet every few months.
I do make it a point to tip when a tip is well deserved but, as you rightly noticed, having restaurants include the tip on the check is just preposterous. I'm pretty sure none of that makes it's way to employee's pocket (mostly because it's taxable).

[Gledison]

In Brazil, the tip is included in the bill. I think 10%. The good thing is that if you are not satisfied with the service, you can ask to remove it from the bill (it has to be very bad for that). I've travelled to lots of different countries and I like the Brazilian way, once you don't have to bother thinking how much you need to give as a tip. and when the waitress are cute, you can give them your telephone written on a napkin, you might get lucky!

[alanp]

Sorry, but every time I see an international hospitality news story, this pricks up my ears.

"Thanks for buying a pair of jeans... that will be forty dollars, plus YOU DECIDE whether the shelf boy eats tonight!"

[chromesphere]

You'd be ok in the UK. Very little tipping occurs here. It freaked me out when I went to the US and you had to work out how much to tip everyone.

Really John?  I ate in a restaurant in London, first day i arrived, didn't tip (was not accustomed as tipping in Australia is optional) and the owner nearly punched me out.  Yelled some derogatory comment at us as we left.  Great first impression of London by the way lol ;-)

Needless to say after which i started to tip.  And for the larger part of our trip, discovered you cant scratch your balls in Europe without SOMEBODY needing a coin.

[raulduke]

Really John?  I ate in a restaurant in London, first day i arrived, didn't tip (was not accustomed as tipping in Australia is optional) and the owner nearly punched me out.  Yelled some derogatory comment at us as we left.  Great first impression of London by the way lol ;-)

Needless to say after which i started to tip.  And for the larger part of our trip, discovered you cant scratch your balls in Europe without SOMEBODY needing a coin.

That's because you were in London 

Us Northerners are a friendlier bunch 

Tipping is semi-expected in the UK. If you have had good service and good food then around 10% is usual game. If you have had bad service and bad food then a tip is no way necessary.

I can't say tipping get's on my tits to be honest... but then it is usually just me and my wife I'm paying for (not a whole family), so the amounts involved aren't that large.

[Muadzin]

Never been to a country where tipping is expected because the minimum wage system is broken, but then again I've never been to the US. I can imagine I would be pissed though if I went to a restaurant and at the end I'd be forced to pay more then the price as on the menu. Hidden service charges do piss me off. If I have to pay 20% so the serving staff can have a living wage then include that in the prices as on the menu. Just like airlines should be honest and advertise their tickets including airport taxes and service charges as well.

And since we're soapboxing, how about airport security checks? A massive inconvenience and for what? A zero % apprehension rate in caught terrorists. None. Zilch. Nada. Njet. Non. Niks. No terrorist plot has ever been stopped by the guys and girls checking everything you wear and carry and who stop just short of fingering your colon. More lives could probably have been saved by hiring a psychologist to check the mental health of airline pilots, or by applying some common sense as to not fly airliners over a war zone.

[Justus]

What I don't understand is the amount expected in a tip.  For a restaurant, for example, when I was younger a pretty standard amount was 15% of the final bill.  Then I run into some friends who tell me that when they were servers 15% was a minimum, and 20% was more acceptable.  But my sister-in-law was also a wait server and when I tried tipping her she scoffed and said "for a pizza place, don't tip more than a dollar a person.  That's plenty."

So I really have no idea about what's expected even where I live.  I think it varies by person and by restaurant and by city and by State here in the U.S.

[juansolo]

You'd be ok in the UK. Very little tipping occurs here. It freaked me out when I went to the US and you had to work out how much to tip everyone.

Really John?  I ate in a restaurant in London, first day i arrived, didn't tip (was not accustomed as tipping in Australia is optional) and the owner nearly punched me out.  Yelled some derogatory comment at us as we left.  Great first impression of London by the way lol ;-)

Needless to say after which i started to tip.  And for the larger part of our trip, discovered you cant scratch your balls in Europe without SOMEBODY needing a coin.

London is a shithole (actually that's unfair, the centre is actually quite nice now). But like Paris, please don't confuse the capitol as being anything like the rest of the country... It's it's own separate entity.

Some posher restaurants might expect a tip. Don't go to posher restaurants

Find a proper pub, get pie (chips and mushy peas) and a pint. You won't need to tip.

[blearyeyes]

I'll give ya a tip: Get out of the food service business!

What irks me is when you order room service and at the bottom of the page it has a 3% service charge and a 15% gratuity charge and then the guy waits for his tip after bringing your food.

I'm starting a new business called AFM Ltd.  Anything for Money!