To be not looking forward to NYC holiday

[Kakamora]

Because of a post I’ve just seen about servers complaining they’ve had a tip that doesn’t reflect what they spent on food.

Yes I know that tips top up their wages but I want to take my mum on some pretty fancy dinners while we’re there and just because I spend $100 dollars which I’ve saved up my minimum wage money for, I don’t see why some server thinks that’s entitles he to a $20 tip because I’m spending a lot of money.

It is annoying me thinking I will have to save around an additional £150 for tip money. I always tip, but I don’t think waitresses here in the U.K. (which I am part time, think that spending £100 you know people have budgeted for warrants an expensive tip

And you can eat very well in very good restaurants for less than 100 dollars for two people.

What a small-minded attitude. I hate the tipping system in the US, but that’s the system and people don’t get paid enough to get by without tips. It has nothing to do with being a server in the UK.

Please cancel your trip and dine in the UK instead where you’ll be less of an embarrassment.

YABVU.

Tessellated no, you're looking at it wrong. I look at it like the sales tax, as in it's a fixed value added tax, you don't quibble that just because you paid for the Chanel handbag in a store rather than the cheaper store ownbrand bag you should pay less sales tax on it do you?

Don't do this to your servers, nitpicking around making a sliding scale depending on what you order, they didn't make the bloody rules and it's a shitty, degrading system - agreed a million times over - which thankfully is slowly changing in some places with minimum service charges getting added to menus, but they depend on their tips to balance out over the shift.

If you look at the prices on the menu and can't afford to factor in the 15-20% service charge (because that's what it is) no matter what you order - go somewhere else where you can afford it.

Wow - I just read your reply.

I think you're best to just stick to McDonalds while away!

It does not matter what you think of tipping, if you go to the USA you tip 15% to 20% in a restaurant. The servers make almost zero in basic wages and tips are what they actually live on. It is expected and not an option. If you can't afford the tips, pick a cheaper restaurant.

Have you thought about everyone else you need to tip while out there? It is not the UK and you need to educate yourself on what is standard practice.

OP why did you post if you're going to disregard the advice anyway?

I said in my OP people budget to go out with their money.

Then learn to budget. What you're doing is akin to someone coming into your job and not tipping (which you are ok with because IT'S A DIFFERENT COUNTRY AND SYSTEM) but then taking money out of your wage packet. Which probably then means you're going to struggle to pay your rent let alone take your mum travelling and pay for fancy meals.

Never been back to the US since, there are SO MANY better places to go.

I bet they miss your ‘patronage’ desperately.

If you don’t like the custom, don’t go. I wouldn’t dream of parading round in a skimpy outfit in a country where it’s frowned upon and I’d rather avoid countries where girls are whipped if raped because they’ve had sex outside of marriage.

First off, good luck getting a fancy dinner for two in NYC for $100. And please let me know where when you do.

Second, on your point about waitresses here not expecting to be tipped more if you spend more, eh, where!? My standard tip amount is 12.5% of the bill, 15% if it's been amazing service 10% if not great and nothing at all if they've really pissed me off....twice that I can remember in the last few years.

YABU OP

What a total cheapskate embarrassment you are, OP. Makes me cringe to think that people will be judging the British by your rude behaviour.

'm used to tipping 10-20% when eating out in the UK, but I'm going to Boston in March with DP and we'll be drinking - do you need to tip per drink? Not just when you settle the bill?

Yeah.

I find this annoying. Order a bottle of beer from a bar tender. Hand over a dollar tip. IT TOOK YOU 2 SECONDS TO OPEN MY BEER!

as a bartender and waitress myself I don’t ever expect anyone to tip

You would do if you earned £3 an hour because where you work reduces menu prices and people then pay you for your service directly.

You’re thinking about it wrong. Anything you order costs 20% more than it says on the menu. In the U.K. you’d just be charged if automatically. You are not paying extra - the menu prices are lower. It’s really not that difficult.

It’s a shitty system that ends up with hard working people being unable to pay their bills because people like you think they can get away with not paying what they’re supposed to pay.

How does the one dollar per drink thing work then? Working a full shift in a busy bar would yield many hundreds of dollars, making bar staff much better paid than any other part of the service industry.

Same for busy, expensive restaurants. Twenty percent of all those posh dinners and wine is presumably hundreds or even thousands of dollars per day?

I would tip unless I got bad service, same as anywhere. You dont deserve it if you've got a shit attitude, no matter where you are from.

So much for travel broadening the mind.

I’m really shocked to read that minimum wage for servers is $3.25 in NYC - I’ve checked the government site as well and this is correct.

It’s obscene. I think for me I’d have to make sure that the tip takes them to a decent minimum - so maybe an additional $7 per hour we’re there? That would probably be about 15-20% based on what you’re expecting to spend.

Disgusting that the govt can get away with that. I don’t blame you for not wanting to tip as highly as expected but I think it’s unfair to not.

So basically, you have decided you're entitled to eat at restaurants at a certain price level, but can only do so if that means waiting staff don't get paid? And you don't really care what the system for waiting staff wages is in the US, you're going to pretend that they get minimum wage like you do? Nice.

If you can afford "fancy dinners" you can afford a 15% tip. If you can't afford the tip, lower your expectations of where you'll eat out & how you can spend.

This.

Doesn't matter what you do in the UK, the system is different in the US.

When we were in Vegas we only tipped per drink if we were paying per drink, if we had a tab opened we settled the bill and tipped at the end of the night when we were leaving, usually it was the same person serving us. If we had 5 drinks each we'd tip 10 dollars or more depending on service.

Yes, Morris and on slow nights sometimes servers who made out like bandits on a Friday or Saturday night were standing around for hours making zero on Tuesday and Wednesday. Like with the cost of what you order it balances out to a much lower average. Trust me when I say most servers are not living in penthouse apartments with views overlooking Central Park.

If you don't want to keep tipping bartenders a dollar here and there and you're planning on staying for several drinks open a bar tab with the bartender and pay the 15-20% on the whole bill.

Tip is 15-20%, plus there is tax on top of all published prices. It definitely doesn't have to be a full 20% ime. Most restaurants add suggest tip amounts at the bottom of the receipt. Last week those shown for us were 15, 18 and 20 percent. It was perfectly acceptable to do the 15% by the way.

We don't tip in fast food places, nor just for a drink. We also haven't tipped housekeeping. Taxis we just round up. We always carry our own bags, etc. We tip valet parking assistants but just a dollar usually.

If you pay using credit card you can use a tip option function :10%,15%,20%.

I always pay 15% and tbh it works out less money than my calculations as I round up I. E. and end up paying more like 20%.

Oh, and I disagree that it is cheaper to eat out in the US. Thats not been our experience at all. Was in the past, but hasn't been for the last few years for us. Serving sizes are huge but we noticed this year that many places have added a charge for sharing portions now - on an entree (mains) at least.