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 ?

Margaret I think the tax credit system has kept wages artificially low. Whilst I obviously wouldn't remove them because it would put people in poverty I certainly don't agree with them. Companies should pay a fair wage so that tax credits are required.

Having said that you can't compare tax credits with tips.... Tax credits do not discriminate on the basis of occupation in the way that tips do.

It's funny really- 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.

Maybe they were brought up to tip and in our currently greedy, want-everything-for-free generation we are losing that view.

Whilst I obviously wouldn't remove them because it would put people in poverty

Right, and this is my point. You can disagree with the system without deliberately punishing the people within it. You can think there are better ways of paying restaurant staff but still tip in the meantime - not doing so makes you look illogical and also, just to be clear, fools no one. We all know that you're actually too tight to tip, and are making up a spurious ideological objection.

I don't tip the checkout person at Tesco, or the person who works in new look, the guy in the corner shop. They probably all work for minimum wage. I didn't get a tip when I works minimum wage in the pub or the office. I don't see it any different!

Margaret Where did I say I don't tip? I said I believe in discretionary tipping. I have also tipped begrudgingly in the US, where I feel my hand was forced and the service was infact not great.

So we must tip minimum wage restaurant staff (who incidentally could also be getting tax credits) because to not tip them would be punishing them... I ask again why are we rewarding one set of minimum wage workers over others.

Oh yes we've already had that answer "just because"

Call me tight all you want, I know I'm not I don't have to justify why on here but I will never be convinced that I should tip every single time just because.

It's not just restaurant staff though is it. They will probably get the greatest amount tip wise but basically anyone providing a personal service to me I will tip -beauticians, hairdressers, bar staff, taxi drivers, takeaway delivery etc, usually just a token amount but they add up if everyone does it. Where I live (north West) everyone also tips binmen and postmen at Xmas.

Not in the UK. We never tip here.

Not sure where go out to eat, maybe in Nando's you don't tip but in almost all restaurants (even 'casual dining') it is expected you pay service, 12.5% is the norm now.

There was a really interesting restaurant industry study about tipping levels by ethnicity and gender. Groups of women (of various ethnicitys) /made the absolute worst at tipping. All white male groups the highest level of tipping.

Oh yes we've already had that answer "just because"

Right? We do it because that's just the way it is. That's great isn't it? Let's see if that works elsewhere on mumsnet.

Husband is demanding you take his surname? Well it is convention.

Found out your male colleague who does the same job as you gets paid more? Well, it's convention!

"They will probably get the greatest amount tip wise but basically anyone providing a personal service to me I will tip -beauticians, hairdressers, bar staff, taxi drivers, takeaway delivery etc, usually just a token amount but they add up if everyone does it. "

So, heaven forbid, you end up in hospital unable to care for yourself and a minimum wage care assistant is required to give you the most personal service of all wiping your arse after assisting you to the toilet. It isn't convention to give that person a tip though. .. why not?

I've always tipped. Waiters are usually students on minimum wage with barely bean to rub together. I think it's exceptionally tight not to tip them and yes I would judge someone who didn't tip!

I've tipped taxi drivers at Christmas as well. I don't relly use taxis at other times if the year. I don't live in London either.

I tip after beauty appointments, in restaurants, and taxi drivers. Always have

I guess frikadela because no money changes hands between me and a health care professional when they are doing their job. Whereas if someone has just given me a massage I am paying them directly for their service so it's easy to add a couple of quid on to thank them for good service. The convention isn't there because the transaction isn't monetary. Alot of people do leave gifts after hospital care though which I guess is a kind of tip?

It is getting cheekier though, I have noticed in my local Chinese takeaway, there is a tip box, whaaaat! Your not providing me with a waiting service, I am already paying a lot for the take away. In my local Beauty salon, there is a tip box, cheeky, I am paying £8.25 just for an eyebrow wax, which is a lot, I am not giving you anything extra! I think people are more likely to tip if they don't feel ripped off and if they like the service. It seems everyone is expecting a tip, Even for doing nothing!

Runny Do you tip shop assistants? If not, why?

Box of chocolates where you probably get one if you're lucky enough to be on shift when they come vs money.... Totally comparable.

My argument isn't that I think care workers should be given tips but that no one should. It shouldn't be a convention at all. You get paid for the job you do and that's it. There are lots of countries where tipping is not a thing, even frowned upon, and they seem to manage fine.

10-15%. Always.

I don't like to dine with people who don't tip. When it's a bill-splitting situation, I hate the people who just put in their exact share and don't think about the tip.

However, in OP's situation I wouldn't have been "shocked" at my friend not tipping, I would have put the tip down myself. This is fairly common for us if we're being treated to a meal out - say if my ILs decide to pay, we would offer to put the tip down.

I know not everyone on MW gets tipped. But if you work in a restaurant you do. Ditto a taxi driver where I would round up to the nearest pound or note amount (e.g. £3.75 fare keep the change from a fiver).

It may not be "fair" but then plenty of jobs aren't. My workplace may give us free tea & coffee when you have to contribute to a kitty. You might get a perk of free train travel whereas I 'only' get a free lunch. My company might pay maternity leave at 90% for 9 months, and yours only pays statutory. These are called perks for a reason. You can choose what job you do, and take these things into account.

Hate dining with non tippers.
Awkward

OP, you are most definitely and emphatically NOT BU!

I think tipping is an outdated, demeaning and patronising practice that has no place in a modern, developed country with minimum wage regulations and a welfare system, such as the UK.

n my local Beauty salon, there is a tip box, cheeky, I am paying £8.25 just for an eyebrow wax, which is a lot, I am not giving you anything extra!

That doesn't seem unreasonable at all to me. I'd probably round it up to £9.

I tip because people in food service or beauty or taxi drivers are spending significant time looking after you. A cashier in contrast only sees you for seconds each day, I do say thank you though to cashiers and bus drivers - lots of people don't even do that.

And it really, definitely, absolutely isn't "a London thing", "a US import" or "a new thing" to tip. In fact I would say the opposite, that it is a new thing NOT to tip.

It may be outdated, but that's another argument.

The perks of refer to squirrels are paid for by the company. What we are talking about here is an apparent society wide practice that tacks an arbitrary amount onto your bill "just because" and if you decide to opt out you are seen as a tightwad or rude.

And fyi you may be able to choose your occupation or the company you pay for however the majority of people working minimum wage jobs are doing so because they have little other choice.

It's high time the tipping practice stopped in the UK. I stay in hotels all the time and, without exception, the breakfast waiting staff are superior to the lunch and dinnertime staff. There's no tipping for breakfast staff and it's not expected.

It's a ludicrous expectation that waiting staff need to be tipped for providing the service they're paid to provide. They don't. Other services on that pay grade aren't tipped.

I tip waiting staff because it's 'expected', not because they've deserved it. How do you show delight at exceptional service if you tip for mediocre or average?

I tip my hairdresser because she's exceptional - ditto my beautician. I appreciate them so much and that's what tipping is for, imo.

So many people are also on minimum wage and/or struggling - the expectation is Dickensian and I hope it is relegated to the annals of history.

I'm surprised at the amount of people insisting that taking the very valid choice of not to tip automatically means you're a tight arse, when at the end of every school term we have plenty of (probably the same) posters proudly stating that they won't buy presents for their children's teachers. If they do, the teaching assistants are given less despite their wage being significantly lower, and pitiful for the work they do even if it is just above minimum wage. The dinner ladies, playground assistants and school cleaners aren't even considered for tips, and they're providing a vital service for your children, not a luxury one like the waitress that brings you a meal.

Same thing for carers and healthcare assistants. They're providing a personal service on minimum wage or close to to it and don't get tipped.

A box of biscuits two or three times a year doesn't really equate to the same as being tipped a few pounds for every table on every shift.

When there's more equality in tipping, I'll feel obliged to do it. Until then I make a choice each time on whether I think an individual waiter deserves it or not.

before there was national minimum wage in the Uk it was usual practice to tip however....now there is and many are earning the same wage its not a case of being mean. As others have said being efficient and polite is part of many peoples job description as well as being patient and understanding towards those that are rude to you...