For my friend not to tip

[kangar00]

My friend suggested we meet up at a local chain restaurant as they are currently doing kids meal free with any adult main. On arrival she said that she has taken advantage of this offer lots over the holidays. She ordered a £7.95 salad and tap water. When we came to pay she put out £8 cash. I was paying by card so tried to subtly hint saying 'would you like me to add a tip' to which she replied 'I'm not working at the moment so i don't tip' and then walked off to take her daughter to the loo. I paid and added 10% of my meal. Is she being unreasonable to take advantage of this offer so often (about 4 times over the last 2 weeks) and pay the bare minimum or maybe she is just being savvy? I would feel really awkward returning to the same place knowing I was being a bit of a cheap skate. So as not to drip feed, it is true that she isn't working and has a preschooler. On the other hand she has a BTL (no mortgage on it) and has chosen not to work. However she is a single mum so this makes it harder. I suppose I most impressed/taken back by her confidence in saying she won't tip.

I don't really tip in a lot of the chain restaurants as I feel like a lot of it is a pain anyway and not deserved.

One common chain we go to with kids, waitress shows to seat, you go to bar to order drink and food and then waitress brings it out. When paying on card machine it is set as 10% so you have to 0 it out. I will not tip 10% when all they have done is bring me food and show me to a table.

Harvester now have flypay so 1 waitress shows us to table, next takes food and drink order, another brings food out and then you pay yourself on the app - it also suggests 10% as standard! Why am I paying a tip and who am I paying it to? If it is split then what if one was grumpy and one was nice?

And don't get me started on Jimmy Spices - they charge a standard service fee - what for? You go and get your won food!

I know I may BU but if I go to somewhere where the waitress takes food order,brings it out to you with a smile, is reasonably attentive and then comes for payment then I will happily tip but if the service is split out between 2 or 3 or just assumed when they don't do anything but put it on the table there is no way I am going to pay.

For her £8 she got her meal and her daughter got a main, pudding and drink free!

I usually tip but TBH how much service is involved in a salad and a glass of water?

It’s unlikely to have been above and beyond.

I think you're still missing the point regarding judging...I have a house/car/life to pay for and still allocate £10 for my meal out as that's what I can afford.

...And that was the advertised offer, not some magical scam. Wind it in, judgeypants.

If I get service, I tip. Great food, good hosting, attentive service. A proper meal in say a restaurant with a few course. If I'm only ordering a sandwich, or having a quick bite to eat in say a pub or cafe, I dont tip. It's hardly service to bring someone a plate with food on, then appear at the most inconvenient moment to ask if your food is OK when you have your mouth full, then clear your table if you're lucky

@Butteredparsn1ps
Not much service but we were there a long time as he DD took a while to eat. She also took out a lot of the toys and at times they were flying underneath neighbouring tables. Im being naughty and drop feeding now so must stop! Thanks for the opinions.

For her £8 she got her meal and her daughter got a main, pudding and drink free! And? Your friend paid the price asked of her. They offer this service for free. Had she not seen it they may never had got her custom in the first place. If you were that arsed, you could have paid the 80p tip yourself.

They are earning minimum wage like many other people (retail, cleaners, fast food and supermarket workers etc) so I don’t think they should be a case apart tbh. I was a waitress as a student but also a barmaid and a fast food worker. I didn’t make very much in tips as a waitress as they were all placed in a pot and evenly distributed. It wasn’t like if the people I served gave £100 tip, I got it all. This was a decade ago and I’m sure all restaurants differ but yeah, tips didn’t mean very much to me at the time.

I do tip in restaurants because I feel there’s some kind of moral obligation to do so. Mostly because when I go to pay on the card machine it brings up the tip option and the waiter stands looking gooey eyed so I feel terribly British about the whole thing and can’t say no... I wish the obligation was removed in all honesty, I don’t tip the supermarket staff who earn the same wage.

Kangar, you do know the restaurant chose to put that offer on assuming people would take them up on it don't you? That's the point of the offer/to attract customers which clearly worked with your friend's repeat business

McDonald's has table service now

but restaurant staff are paid very badly and many rely on tips to pay their rent

They are paid min wage, so why should other people on min wage tip them, when they don't get tips themselves?

Nothing wrong with taking advantage of the offer multiple times but she is a cheapskate for not tipping.

An extra pound on such a cheap meal? I doubt it would break the bank if she has already been there four times in two weeks.

I only tip if they go above what they’re already being paid to do.

Personally her behaviour would make me cringe inside out OP

why does it even matter if she is on a budget or not? It's completely irrelevant, of course she doesn't have to tip. There's a minimum wage in this country, why should customers have to spend more on their meal because of a tip?

The restaurant offer a meal at a certain price, of course she can go there as often as she wants. It's not a one-time coupon valid for one customer one time only. Why would it make her a cheap-stake to go several times in a row?

sometimes I am genuinely puzzled by the reasoning of some people. I think that sometimes, some people having the most issues with money are the ones with a chip on their shoulder who believe they have to make a certain impression.

Your friend is taking advantage of the promotion that the chain is offering, which is the whole point of it. They have got 4 x £8 out of her, which they wouldn't have otherwise.

I often don't tip, or if I do it is a couple of pounds. Last time I ate at BI it cost me £50 as we didn't have any vouchers to use, and there is no way I am paying another £5 on top of that.

Your friend is not a cheapskate, she is buying what the chain has to offer.

I love places where the kid eats free, or for £1. It makes eating out affordable, which is exactly why they do the promotions, to get the families in spending money, who couldn't afford it otherwise.

To answer the original rather confusingly phrased question, YANBU for your friend not tipping. But then neither is she.

I think you were unreasonable to try to tell her what to do. It is up to her whether or not she tips, - you decide whether you want to tip for your meal, and let her decide for hers - she's an adult. There are arguments for and against tipping.

Sometimes I tip. Sometimes I don't - in chain restaurants
with a huge turn over of customers, I generally don't. I think by trying to push her to tip, and drawing attention to her not tipping you were very rude - no need to embarrass her - just do your own thing and let others do theirs.

Shes taking up an offer readily available for her to do so, so what is your problem exactly? And she isn't unreasonable not to tip. In the UK waiters and waitresses earn a proper wage . Not like the USA where they rely on their tips to get by.

You don't need to tip in the UK. I only tip if the service was exceptional, which usually in a chain place especially it won't be. If they were just basically doing their job, then no, I don't tip.

Well the restaurant won't want many people going in, only buying one adult meal and that being the cheapest thing on the menu, not buying any drinks and taking the free child's meal. If everyone did that, the offer wouldn't last long. They want people to spend more than that to make it worthwhile.

But I don't see anything wrong with not tipping, especially for a quick lunch. Tipping makes no sense these days in the age of the NMW.

There are many people who earn such a wage, but only people who bring you a plate of food and interrupt your conversations to try and sell you things you don't want seem to require tipping apparently. Not fast food workers, care workers, retail staff and cleaners, all of whom do similar jobs for similar wages.

I'd just pay my own and leave my own tip and let her pay her own tipless bill

This isn’t the USA.

I don’t tip in chain places either when you have to go to the bar to order your own meal and all they do is bring it to you!

Fair play finding a deal so her dd gets a free meal!

Which restaurant, I'd like to get this offer .....

Personally I always tip. I know lots of people that don’t. I still tip wether or not there is an offer. If the waiter or waitress is really good then I always give a little extra other wise they usually only get a standard £2. I know some places put gratuity on top but I’ve been told by a few waiter friends that they don’t see that money. So I like to make sure they actually get it.