Can someone give examples of 'over and above' exceptional service, because I'm confused. Being nice and knowing about the menu, explaining the specials and any 'tweaks' is part of the job - ie if you order something and would be better off getting it as part of a set menu etc. So not something extra that needs rewarding.
I do tip when eating out in groups, but mostly out of obligation and to avoid arguments. I probably tip when the service has been quite crap tbh but don't want to waste money but I probbaly do tip more than exceptional or even good service, like I said upthread, service often isn't that great unless we have extremely low expectations from wait staff.
There are a lot of people out there doing a lot more than being nice to people and fetching and carrying a few plates for NMW. It seems like some people on here have very low expectations of what is an easy or hard job too if you think waiting tables is hard. I've done it and I've done retail work and some other low paid jobs and they aren't that hard really. I can think of a lot more jobs that are a lot harder for similar pay. Care work is one, but there are many others.
Bus drivers earn similar money, but need to be able to get a PSV licence. There are loads of people on here that seem terrified of driving and can barely pilot a small car on local roads, so I can't imagine them be able to drive a large and difficult to see around and manouvere vehicle to the desired standard.
Not so long ago I had a little lunch by myself and I gave my order and the waiter said 'do you want anything to drink today'? and I said, 'apart from the pint of lager and jug of tap water that I asked for'? which suggested to me he had taken no notice whatsover of my order. He then tried to persuade me to have the 3 for 2 tapas deal but I had already ordered 3 tapas, one of which wasn't in the deal but I really wanted it so was happy to miss out on 3/2 to get the food I wanted, but he was insistent, so I said 'unless I can have the 3 tapas I want on 3/2, I'll just have them at nomal menu prices' and he wasn't particularly happy about me not taking the deal, but I still left a couple of quid and that was just for a quick lunch whre the bill was around £16.
I did have to work quite hard to tip a hotel receptionist 5 euros after she searched an entire hotel for a trolley so I could move some heavy and expensive equipment from my car to my hotel room when staying in Ireland for work.
To me that was exceptional service as she seemed to treat it as her mission of the moment to find the trolley and help me with the equipment but when I tried to give her a 5 euro note to say thank you, she didn't want to accept it.
But apparently the basics of fetching and carrying plates warrants a similar amount or else you are stingy.