Tipping is not the done thing.

[Lyndaishistory]

You are not expected to tip in the UK! I'm not sure why some people think otherwise.
I would only tip if service was above and beyond but it is not an expectation and I wouldn't "cave" if it was crap service.

Husband and I had a rubbish meal at a well known resturant chain for our anniversary. I complained at the time but nothing was done about it.
Left husband to pay the bill and he tipped them. Bloody hell, I want my fiver back!
Seriously considering LTB over this.

2up2manydown

Think about it lol!

noeffingidea It has been answered.

It’s to do with etiquette and tradition, not with expectation.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratuity

I tip in restaurants in the uk because it is customary to do so. The amount I tip varies depending on the service and food. If it's awful I don't tip.

In the US and other countries I have visited I tip if it is customary to do so. In fact I google tipping before I leave so I understand exactly who to tip and the appropriate amounts. It also helps to know if tipping is not the done thing to avoid embarrassment all round

Westendwellies yes but that tradition is from pre minimum wage days.
There really is no logical reason why it should persist now. As I said, I've always tipped, but some of the posts I've read on here from waiting staff do seem rather entitled.
I accept it's often very hard work and some customers are rude and demanding, but that is true of any customer facing job. There are many demanding shitty jobs that only pay minimum wage, why do some waiting staff seem to feel they are a special case?

Fuck me, so this thread turned in to the playground last night it seems. I think some of you could have done with an early night.

I left the service industry in June this year. Since I was 16 I have worked in both retail and hospitality and received tips in both.
In retail, I received tips when I worked really hard for someone (so not just doing my job) for example, when a lady came in, burst into tears as she was going to a close friends funeral and needed a dress. I got her a cuppa, found her a changing room and brought over a selection of dresses for her, found her shoes and a bad. This was in NewLook so hardly high end.
In hospitality, I've received tips when I have gone above and beyond to make sure my customers had an amazing experience. Making sure I was always visible, making them feel like the only people in the room, the VIPs, small acts of kindness like hanging up their coats, picking up their children's toys with a smile, letting them sample some drinks before making a decision.

In hospitality by the way, usually the tip you give the waitress doesn't just go to the waitress. In many places all the tips are pooled together and divided up between the waitresses, chefs, pot wash and the dedicated bar dispense person. Managers and supervisors are taken out of the pool so it is only the minimum wage staff who get the tips. These tips are also taken off the staff if they have a group walk out without paying or if their till is down. However if a customer did come over and say "this is specifically for you and you alone" we would then speak to the manager who would decide if this tip was to be pooled or if you could keep it.

When I eat out it's a treat for the children and is done on a shoe string. We all share a jug of water as cokes/juice add about £12 to the bill. I can rarely afford to tip but will do if the service has been good. Not much, but then the bill is rarely more than £20. I always worry they'll feel insulted but I can't afford to give more. My ex only left a tip once. Once. He was loaded compared to me and it embarrassed me that he didn't leave a tip. Although maybe he added a tip to his card payment. I don't think he did though as clearly remember him asking about the tip the one time he definitely did as it was a cash tip. He was such a tight wad over lots of things

I work in one of those low paid service jobs - obviously missed the lessons at school about divorce leaving you on your arse.

I tip when I'm out and my regulars will always offer me a drink. It's polite.

It’s to do with etiquette and tradition, not with expectation.

Ah, tradition. Because all traditions are automatically customary and make sense.
It's tradition, therefore should be done. OK, bet that's what people who put holes in their baby's ears or circumise say too.
Doesn't mean you're wrong for not doing it just because "that's not the tradition."

Westendwellies yes but that tradition is from pre minimum wage days.
There really is no logical reason why it should persist now.

Exactly.

I tip in restaurants.
I tip hairdressers, depends a bit on the price. Moved recently and still trying to find a good hairdresser. One charged me 60 quid for a "style director" short back and sides.
Round up in taxi.
Thats how i was brought up!

I work in hospitality, have done for a while, also in care and retail.

I have just had my share of our 3 monthly tips, and had a day out with dd with it, and a good one, and it was massively appreciated. We still would have had the day out, but the extra money swelled the coffers so we had a better time - and in a place we ate, left a tip for good service.

I'm a night porter and As someone who works partly behind the scenes in a hotel, I don't get tips directly, very rarely anyway, although I am quite often the one that deals with odd situations, drunk and obnoxious guests and work across every department. As a team we pool all tips and they're divided up by management and everyone except the top level managers get a share.
I get paid above NMW for my role, not much but it reflects the responsibilities I have. I appreciate the tips every time they get given out, but a little while ago I really did go that extra mile for a guest. I didn't get a tip, or even a gift, I got a thank you card, and the guest had remembered my name. That meant much more than if they'd left £100. I don't expect tips, and I resent the attitude from some people that I do, and that I'll somehow be awful or give them crap service if they return because they don't tip. Everyone gets the level of service I can give, and if the opportunity presents itself, I'll go above and beyond. Sometimes because there are only 2 people to deal with, the service will seem better, if I've got 22 the service may not seem as good, that's just circumstances, but I try with each person to give them everything I can.
When I have waited on, being treated with a little respect by guests was higher on my list than someone who has been awful to me but left a large tip.
I never would assume someone was tight for not tipping, rather I assume that they could be on a tight budget and this meal/drinks/stay is a big treat. That's if I think about it at all.

Tipping is just so inconsistent in the UK, it makes no sense.

Why do people insist on tipping a waitress in a restaurant for a couple of hours service but then complain about how much it adds up to tip a TA in their child's classroom at the end of the year when there is far more personal service involved in the latter over a much longer period of time, and much more underpaid skill involved? Both people are just doing the job they are already paid for.

Why tip a taxi driver or someone that delivers a pizza, but not cabin crew when we go on holiday?

When I realised how bonkers the expectations are in the U.K., I stopped tipping people like hairdressers and I like to give tips to wait staff only if the service is good. It doesn't take much to offer decent service in a restaurant, so I don't feel guilty about not leaving a tip if the service is poor.

If the food industry conditions are so 'crap' then why are we not doing something about that to make them better? Why are we impotently abusing posters on her instead of putting pressure on the industry regulators?

But no, instead of this, we just march into whatever establishment we like, pay for the service and the food - and then throw down some shrapnel (which 10%) generally would be - and look around to see that we've been acknowledged (according to some on here). It's pitiful.

If people actually NEED tips to do their job then they are in the wrong job because a) it's not compulsory and b) it's not paying them enough for their lifestyle.

Also, what incentive is there for great service? Most of it is pretty standard - and I've already paid for that - the cost of the food includes overheads of which the waiting staff is one. Where the service has been great then I give a really good tip, not change.

I have no problem with people who tip or don't tip. If you say that you wouldn't go out with somebody who doesn't tip then that's great - far better that you go about your pointless bullying with likeminded lemmings. Your opinions matter not a whit to anybody else.

BusWankeress, you're obviously brilliant at your job and that's proved by your customer taking the time to remember you and send a 'thank you' card.

I'd be unlikely to have sent a card but I would have given you a good tip if you'd done that for me - and I'd have asked your name and written to the manager and/or put a good review (mentioning you personally) in TripAdvisor.

We should be tipping for that service if we want to tip... not mediocre.

There are inconsistent ethics around tipping too. There are some people that would never be allowed to accept a cash tip (eg care workers, nurses etc) even though someone might be happy to give them something. You can get away with giving them a box of chocolates or whatever, but not cash.

Disclaimer: I'm not actually suggesting that it would be ok for nurses to take cash rewards from their patients as clearly that is wide open to abuse.

rainbowsandsmiles you are being sarcastic gor nothing, the question wasn’t whether it was right, it was why.

@treaclesoda

Very good point. In one care establishment I worked at (few years ago now so rules may be different) one resident used to take a collection from other residents and families at Christmas and buy each member of staff a small gift, the same resident also used to organise collections for each residents, member of staff and regular visitors birthday and organise a card and gift. Same with the birth of babies, weddings and deaths in our 'family' of those who spent a lot of time in the home for one reason or another. She was a lady of note in the community and if she didn't already know you she soon would!

However I have offended people in the past if they have asked me to get them something from the shop and wanted me to keep the change and I've had to refuse. Those in care are generally vulnerable to financial abuse, and unfortunately it happens and the rules are there to protect the service users from this happening.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

Thank you, sometimes an opportunity presents where you can go above and beyond. I can honestly say that I would have done the same had I encountered the lady and her problem anywhere, I'd have helped, the fact that I was at work made no difference to how I reacted. In fact it's only because there were no other guests around that I could give that level of attention really. Sometimes it feels utterly crap when you can't give the service you want because of other constraints on your time.
Though I do actually have a bit of a reputation for not taking any shit, and I don't. I don't allow people to treat me badly anymore (I mean aggressive, shouting, threats etc) I shut them down calmly and professionally and refuse to do anything until they are reasonable, no matter how justified the complaint is.

@PickAChew
I can guarantee they aren't.

This article is from 2015 so fairly recent. Interesting how much tipping varies around the country.

I've worked in bars/restaurants for 15+ years. Im bloody good at my job and earn more in tips than wages some weeks.
I've also done retail and bar work has been much harder imho. Most waitresses/bar staff don't just take your order and bring you food. We also clean up after you, and the 100s of other people passing through. Not a day goes by when one of us isn't cleaning up piss,shit,vomit, spilled drinks, food mashed into chairs , carpets, we split up fights, get accused of flirting, get abuse from some drunken Pillock who's been waiting "20minutes" to get served (it's always 20 minutes) , we jump in to cook meals/prepare desserts when the chef is sick. We are keeping an eye on the pissed girl and weird guy, the lairy bloke in the football shirt whose team has lost, the elderly gentleman who just wants a chat and company, the kids running to and from tables while we're carrying hot heavy plates or a pile of glasses. We are working our arses off so people can celebrate bank holidays/Easter/xmas/new years/mother's Day father's Day have a nice time, nice memories and safely, we are there 7am for deliveries kick people out at midnight (not without a row over "just a quick one and we'll go) and are leaving at 3am after cleaning up the monumental mess people seem to leave in their wake and paying tariff 2taxis home because walking alone isn't an option.
In my last job I had glasses thrown at me, spat at, punched, my arse pinched, called every name under the sun, told my life is a waste working behind a bar (a job I love btw). I didnt work in a "rough" place either, all this in a naice area in a "family" style place!
I always tip bar staff, I always tip wait staff directly and if a meal has been amazing I'll leave a tip for the kitchen, how much depends on my experience, and if someone has been particularly great I always leave an online review mentioning names.

Sorry that was very long and ranty but there's always an attitude that these jobs are easy, mindless, because they are "unskilled" when there's so much that goes into it. goes back to hiding under a beer mat

P.s I don't ever expect at tip, but when I do get them it's very appreciated, I don't judge anyone who doesn't leave one either (although we did used inner eye roll at the Xmas parties who'd settle £99.99p drinks bill and wait for the penny)

Does tipping happen in Japan and Australia???

I wouldn't say that your job is 'unskilled', Ahardman, or that it's easy. I'd say that you obviously have skills; I'd say that some of your counterparts don't have those to the same level.

'High impact' customers SHOULD pay a 'mess toll' and perhaps should be made to do so if they are that slovenly and boorish. Some customers though pass through your doors with barely a sign that they've been - and they don't create and draw attention to themselves as some of the customers you've described seem to do. Some of us just want a quick, quiet drink/meal without constant attention needed.

But people have been trying to change the food service industry for years, it just goes unnoticed because if that happens then those 'further up the social chain' will feel the effects.
Where I've worked we've tried to strike, but they just hired agency staff and started recruiting straight away. We've wrote petitions and suddenly found ourselves not a 'culture fit' and therefore let go. We've tried just doing the bare minimum but you get left behind and let go. Unless you commit 100% to each shift, they will find a way of replacing you.