Do you usually Tip on top of the bill when you eat out?

So arrogant. By the same token, if you rely on tips then you need to get a job that earns more. I don't find waiting staff in the UK do a particularly good job. Not all but some of them are really in the wrong business altogether. The expectation of tips when other service employees do not get and do not expect them is bizarre.

An example of deserving waiting staff would be hotel breakfast servers; they are really busy but quick and deft in the main. They don't get tipped. Call in at lunchtime/dinnertime and the waiting staff are less efficient (generally) but expect tipping for doing the job.

I see the usual "if I can't tip I would eat out less" nonsense has been trotted out. Ask the establishments concerned whether they think patrons should do that... they're going out of business every day.

Alright Mr Pink?

What if the customer is also working for minimum wage? Are they supposed to tip too?

To answer the op, I might leave a pound or 2 if the service has been especially good. But don't agree with tipping as a general rule no.

@LunarLass I always tip unless service charge is already added (visible on bill) unless the service is bad. Even if there is a food issue, still tip the server if they handle it appropriately/give good service.

Unless they have added 12% service charge on top of course I tip for seated service meals!
I’ve done waitressing, and so I know that tip counts.

I always tip unless service charge is included. I just think it looks so cheap not to. You will also be remembered if this is a place you regularly go to.

Never. Unless is exceptional service. Tipping culture is toxic and American.

I was going to say this - absolutely does no waiting staff know the allergens of by heart and claiming to do so would be endangering to customers in case of error. They all use QR code or printed out paperwork provided by the restaurant.

Also, tipping creates inequality. Good service should be rendered regardless of tip, and with tipping, the small-tippers or people who are deemed less worthy so to speak are often then provided sub-par service! Whether someone orders a £5 meal or a £60 one, the service should be the same!

However suggesting that a waitressing minimum wage job is the same as a supermarket job is ridiculous. They do much of the same role (carrying/restocking/standing) BUT they also have to know all the allergens of the food, give recommendations

Know all the allergens? Tell you to scan the QR code in the menu and check the allergen list online more likely.

Unless there is a service charge already included in the bill when it comes, or unless the service has been awful ( when I would already have complained) - Yes I always tip.

And @YellowComb - I live in Scotland and was brought up to tip.

but thats not the case in the UK. The minimum wage for someone over 21 is £11.44.

I always tip unless the service has been particularly awful or if they have automatically calculated a service fee. Which I consider to be BS to be honest as then it's just a price hike and undermines the whole point of a gratuitous payment.

My dh always makes a big deal of asking the wait staff if they personally will receive the tip. He won't tip if it goes directly to management, and I agree with him.

If table service I normally round up. Lots of places are now over 10% service charge. I don’t tip etc.
Also the tip should go to everyone not just the server. The staff in the kitchen work really hard for minimum wage too( Unless head chef)

I do tip but I don't actually want to. i find most wait staff do the bare minimum, and having worked in retail and care, as well as hospitality, I found it a very easy job.

Sorry, should add, I don't think wait staff deserve more than the others. If anything, the tipping makes minimum wage a bit unfair on the others.

Not sure which way to vote is which - is 'Yes, YABU' yes to the question or a 'YABU' not to have tipped?

No, I don't tip. I am appalled at service charges being added separately.

The listed price should be the price, as in all other industries. There's no call for me to pay more, and arbitrarily so based on the value of the item (it's not more work or effort to carry a more expensive wine/dish to the table than a cheaper one).

Well I live in the US and as far as I know their wages are only around $2.00 a hour so we tip at least 20% or 25% if someone was really helpful.

It's cheeky as hell too. They add it because they know people will feel too awkward to ask for it to be removed as the concept of looking 'tight' is too much to bear apparently.

In reality it's not a service charge at all, because the price of the service is included in the price of the drinks and food. If it wasn't, the service charge wouldn't be optional. It would just be mandatory. So they get around it by saying it's optional but really they add it as a default and you have to ask them directly to remove it.. but if you remove it you're not underpaying for your meal and service, it's all a swizz. It's the entitlement that gets me. Just be upfront and make it mandatory if you wanna separate out service and the cost of the food/drink. Or get rid altogether.

It's funny how the price of service apparently can go up and down depending on the price of the meal eh, as if bringing out a £40 steak is more/better service than bringing out a £12 salad...

I’ve stopped tipping unless I receive exceptional service. More often than not we’re being served by someone that really doesn’t want to be there and it shows. We’re always polite and friendly to servers, used to be a waitress but I also used to at least smile at my customers which is very rare these days.

Where have you been the last 30 years you think it's only just made its way?

It does depend.

If a place insists on an 'optional service charge' I always have this removed, as I will decide if and how much to tip. Sometimes I tip nothing, other times I tip more than the service charge would have been.

I ask the waiter if they get all of the tip, and if they don't I don't tip. Not giving them money when they'll see a few pence and it's shared out amongst everyone else.

If it's been really great service and they get to keep it I often do, and have been known to tip £20 between a friend and I just as a nice gesture as I know how much it means in those jobs, having done them. But I don't feel pressured to tip ever and won't buy into the idea that tipping is a given. We don't have a tipping culture in the UK, people are paid a minimum wage for their work regardless, so tipping really is just an optional thing if you truly want to do it. I laughed once when someone at Toby Carvery handed the card machine over with the message asking if you want to tip lol. After we'd got our own drinks and our own food haha.

I worked as a waitress for years, as a food delivery driver, all sorts, and I 100% support people who don't tip. You've already paid for the cost of the service, it's built into the price of the food for goodness sake. If you want to, go for it, but if you don't that's absolutely fine and nobody should be getting shirty over it. Plenty of people can barely afford to eat out and have to save up for it, they can't always justify handing over an extra fiver or more on top of the bill just because of social pressure.

I have to regularly have a meal with work colleagues. Tip would be £1-2 each.
2 of them don’t tip, they make me look tight and rude. I think a lot less of them

If there’s not a service charge already included in the bill then yes, I’ll always tip 10%. Unless the service had been bad.

I worked in hospitality for a while when the children were small, just to get me out the house for a while and evenings worked with dh's hours.

I did it because I enjoyed the environment not because I needed the money.
I actually think it's quite degrading to leave some change to someone who you assume doesn't have a lot of money.
Some tips would be a pile of coppers or small silver equating to about 80p and we were expected to be grateful for the hand out.

Even that got pooled between about 10 of us.

There is no doubt waiting staff should be paid more, but running a hospitality business is excruciatingly expensive - many close weekly.

However suggesting that a waitressing minimum wage job is the same as a supermarket job is ridiculous. They do much of the same role (carrying/restocking/standing) BUT they also have to know all the allergens of the food, give recommendations (do you ask staff at the supermarket what the latest ready meal is like - it’s not hugely usual to do so). And importantly they have to put up with often rude, lewd customers, some of which treat them like shit.

And tipping is a new thing? Don’t be ridiculous, it’s been part of our culture for decades - hairdressers, hair washers, postal workers, milkman etc. So let’s not pretend it’s a recent thing from the US!