To not want to leave a tip ?

[cookieswirls]

Went for a meal tonight nothing fancy just pizza and my friend seemed mortified that I didn't leave a tip. I was paying for our meal and I generally don't leave tips. Ive never left a tip for anyone actually not taxi drivers, hairdressers, waiters is that mean of me ?

Thinking about it I have never come across a non tipper. It would be totally socially unacceptable not to tip. Interesting that there is such a divide am surprised at how many non tippers there seem to be.

I tip 10% in the UK, 20% in the US, but I don't tip in France as it's not really the done thing.

To be honest though I think you get what you tip for...service in the US is generally better (as in more attentive) than in the UK, and the UK is better than France which can be awful! I've had a lot of bad experiences with waiting staff here. For that reason I do sometimes tip here if I get really great service, but it's pretty rare.

ShowMeTheElf Fri 25-Nov-16 23:25:19 waiting staff, taxi drivers and hairdressers are taxed on a presumption of tips at a certain rate. Tipping isn't that complicated, but for waiting staff, taxis and hairdressers it is a non-optional social convention IMO, unless they have done a bad job.

Is this true? From the HMRC? Because they're pretty exacting with tax returns and what is owed to them and by them. The above seems illegal to me.

Why should the diner, who is potentially on min wage themselves for all anyone knows, have to tip another min wage worker? It's not as if people go around tipping all min wage workers. So what makes one type of min wage earner worth a tip more than any other?

Totally this. Interesting how no-one can actually answer when this question is asked.
WHY do some minimum wage jobs expect tips but others it's not expected to and they're not allowed to accept them either?
Why are some entitled to this way of thinking and not others? Are the hospital workers giving a service not working just as hard?? Why don't they deserve it?
If you stop and think about it instead of blindly doing it "just because", tipping really is the biggest load of nonsense.
There really is no reason to be doing it in the UK.

Agree with gues103 completely, that post by pringlecat at 0200 is the most blisteringly pompous post I've read in a very long time... I'm actually cringing for them.

YANBU

if people didn't tip, then maybe their bosses would pay them a decent wage.

No one should expect the customer to subsidise someone's wages.

You generally tip someone who's given you a personal service over a lengthier period of time then, say a shop assistant, and to someone to whom you handing over money, so this would exclude hospital workers for example. I generally tip all the time but i am not crazy about tipping black cabs and hairdressers cos they are so expensive sny way. Tipping is a kind act that makes the world a better place. If you can afford it you should definitely tip. Don't be so mean!

I thought everybody tipped if they receive good service.
I tip waiters-waitresses,taxi drivers,hairdressers,all food delivery drivers etc.
the only times I haven't tipped have been:
1 ) a taxi driver who turned up 30 minutes late to take me to work which made me late and I had an hour's pay taken off my wage.
2) a very rude waitress.

"Tipping is a kind act that makes the world a better place"
Just LOL!

Question: do people who tip generally, tip uber drivers? I never know if it's the done thing or not as there isnt a convenient 'keep the change' moment...

I tip in the UK if there isn't a service charge and if I've been happy with the food and service. I don't tip in Belgium (where I live) in restaurants as service is included, but do at the hairdressers, and give my cleaner a cash bonus every Christmas. I was in Copenhagen recently, and they don't seem to tip there either as the service is included.

Service in UK restaurants is generally quite mediocre and focused on upselling rather than an enjoyable experience.

DP used to work in a high end bike shop for a few pence an hour above minimum wage.

He would spend an hour or more with each customer helping them choose an appropriate bike and accessories and would also build it to suit the customer, who would often be spending thousands of pounds.

About once or twice a year a customer would bring in some beer or other token of appreciation but apart from that, tips were none existent.

But somehow, a waiter paid the same amount for asking what food you want and bringing it to you should be given sometimes quite substantial cash tips for simply doing the job they are being paid to do. Makes no sense at all.

I don't where this idea has come from that waiters and waitresses are living in poverty. Thanks to tipping, if they are working in the right restaurant, are female, attractive and charming there is a very good chance that they will be earning more than you. Although I am only a lowly paid teacher, I have known of waitresses that earned more than me through DH's job (and certainly more than him as the chef). Their apparent service skills are more down to the restaurant having an efficient method for letting the waiting staff know that the food is ready, the kitchen hands being on top of the washing up and the chefs being on top of the orders so that you get your food within a decent time and still warm. Not a lot to do with the waiting staff. Some people here are overstating what a waiter or waitress has power over in a restaurant. Basically you are tipping for someone making your dining experience more pleasant, which is surely in their job description.

Call me a tightarse all you want, but if something is 10 quid on the menu I would like it to be 10 quid. Not 10 quid + wages for the staff because the boss doesn't want to part with their profits (or considers that minimum wage is fair enough for a low skilled job). I can imagine Tesco would get a right pasting, if it tried to pull that trick.

BTW if you really want to help the wages of the restaurant staff, go into the kitchen and find the dishie. Often they are on zero-hours contract, will definitely be on minimum wage (or less - they are often illegal or topping up their benefits on the slay), work less hours than the restaurant is open because the chefs will often take care of light washing up when prepping or cleaning down. They often try to stack up jobs just make ends meet. Never assume that the waiting staff will pass on a share of tips to the dishies or bus boys. While customers may be very caring about the economical plight of their waitress, the waiting staff don't always feel the same about the kitchen hands. In the pecking order of the restaurant the dishies are at the bottom.

I can think of loads of reasons why tipping is rubbish.

I tip, but never excessively.

Waiter/waitresses - always tip unless service is poor. £81 meal last week we rounded up to £90 between 3 of us.

Taxi drivers - round up to nearest £5 or £10 depending on cost of journey and if they are polite and/or chatty)

Hairdresser - £5 normally, £10 at Xmas.

Paper girl(14/15ish) - local weekly paper costs £1.80 so round up to £2 as she only gets paid something like 26p a paper. Also give her £10 at Xmas. (don't even read the paper but admire her delivering every week especially in dark, cold, wet).

Takeaway delivery - usually pay through JustEat so don't handover money, but if handing over money round up a little but never more than £2 as I always think they deliver to many customers so will get a fair bit through lots of little tips.

Guest2013 I'm glad I never served you when I was a waitress!

I tip in restaurants and my hairdressers, however it is annoying as usually you are paying by card and so then either have to add the tip onto the card amount so it's far from clear it goes to the right person, or you leave cash which I rarely have on me in the right amount.

I don't tip taxi drivers ever, not sure why but they don't seem to expect it! I sometimes say keep the change and they are over-grateful, so I'm guessing most other people don't tip taxi drivers either. I certainly wouldn't tip a black cab driver as their rides are so darn expensive!

I have ran bars and restaurants and I can confidently say that old people, who generally have the least income, are the most frequent and generous tippers

NMW was introduced in 1999. I dare say those older folks and many posters here are tipping based off this 'convention' which arose from a wages model more like the US when tips made up most of your salary and meant you could, you know, afford to live. That's simply not true any more.

I don't tip. They get paid more than I do.

I really am laughing at the 'lady bountiful' posts on this thread. Do you ever listen to yourselves? Tip/don't tip, who cares? But to judge others for not doing it and coming up with the tripe that 'minus tip = don't go out to eat at all', is just ridiculous.

Hearing things like '£100 cheered me up" as some sort of expectation of what they feel they deserve and 'I served large portions... hated waiting to give them 5p change from a £4.95 bill" - the portions weren't yours in the first place, you didn't pay for them, the owner did. And the one who 'got handed tenner all night and no sharing', cackling to herself... These kind of justifications have been peppering this thread and no wonder waiting staff feel so entitled.

No wonder service is routinely mediocre or even rubbish in the UK. On the plus side, the outstanding service is that much more outstanding and tip-worthy. I'm delighted to tip for exemplary service - and I tip high - the recipient is in no doubt that they have really thrilled me - and I make sure their manager knows too.

Everybody else can just manage, like everybody else does.

That's your choice RhiRites, that is a lot for 10 mins work, so I don't tip. But in a Resturant, if the service is good, and that waiter has been nice, than I tip. I also round the taxi to the next £, so if its £5. 60, I give them £6 and tell them to keep the rest.

I recently ate in a tiny restaurant with an open kitchen. The waitress walked to our table once to take our order, which was about six steps for her. Then she walked to our table again with a jug of water. Then lastly she walked to our table with two plates of food. So if you count walking back again each time, let's say it was 36 steps in total. They added a service charge to the bill which came to around £4. I paid it, because it seemed churlish not to, but I did think . That's a huge amount to pay someone, on top of their actual salary, for taking a few steps.

I am starting to tip less but I do tip generously when I do tip.

I don't tip if I am going to Pizza Hut for example. The kids usually get the buffet, the wait staff do nothing except bring my bill over. I get the food and drinks so I'm not tipping them.

Sometimes I will tip a taxi driver, depends on what money I have. My hairdresser gets tipped because she charges quite little and I would be willing to pay more anyway.

In my favourite restaurant I tip very generously but they really look after us.

I don't think anyone should feel like they have to tip at all. It's fine if you want to, also fine if you don't want to.

I don't tip unless I think I'm getting really good service. To be fair I rarely go out and when I do it tends to be places where either there's no-one around when you want to order / get the bill / get another drink, or where they're doing that whole I'm-your-new-best-friend routine which is suffocating when you just want a meal.
If you tip then where do you stop? Do you tip the person at the till in the supermarket, because they're probably on crap wages too? Your postman who varies week on week and doesn't make that much effort to put the right post through the right letterbox? Your local garage when they've done your car service?

I always tip the lady who does my downstairs waxing quite handsomely... because what has been seen cannot be unseen but a fiver might help!

Waiting staff and hairdressers, 10-20% depending on how the change works out/level of service. It's just a nice thing to do!

When I was a junior in a hair salon as a teen earning £15 a day I relied on the tips I'd get from the ladies who's hair I washed. Normally £1, it was a nice touch.

I tip only at my own discretion, only if I've had really good service which I have to say is very rare. I don't think people should b made to feel bad if they don't tip! I've never ever tipped a taxi driver, delivery driver, hair dresser or beautician! I find that quite odd if I'm honest.

And to the people saying that shop assistants and cashiers only interact with customers for a few minutes so don't deserve a tip - I used to be a retail manager and had a couple of staff in particular that would spend literally hours with customers finding them exactly what they wanted resulting in them spending hundreds of pounds, yet they didn't get tipped. And this wasn't in a ridiculously expensive shop, I'd say it's one of the cheapest shops on the high street after primark!!