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.

Cardinal I don’t know what it’s like in your area but no one who works for the council get minimum wage here . They all get a few pound over minimum wage and great benefits too. Unlike most people in retail many who are on zero hour contracts .

I live in the countyside 10 miles from the nearest shop and village so I will gladly shakes those bells chew on that

I also gave gifts to my ob-gyn team, but I didn't leave twenty quid in a card! Surely people give gifts to people who help them, quite aside from monetary tips (the latter of which is what this thread is about).

Yeah I have lived deep in the countryside too and I still don't believe you. Pubs and cafes count too, you know.

I work as a bar maid/waitress in a chain pub and I very rarely get tips. I take pride in my work and always try to give a very good service.

Maybe it's because of the clientele that happen to come in or because you pay for the drinks and food at the bar when you order and then it is brought to your table rather than paying a bill I don't know.

I would be over the moon if someone left a fiver though
I can say to the people who don't tip that I honestly don't expect it and I don't think any less of people who don't. I get a wage to do my job and I don't think I'm better than a carer or a shop server or anyone else who serves but doesn't get tipped.

I might start another thread sometime moaning about the mess people leave on the tables and floors though

Ok Tokyo you know my area more than I do 😂hilarious

Rightontheedge haha the mess doesn’t get much better in retail sadly. I won’t tell you what I have found in dressing rooms

Janni, of course you don't expect the consumer to pay! That is the point I was trying to get you to articulate (finally). So, leaving aside your rudeness regarding my head, you are clearly angry at the system which doesn't pay you enough (and you have my full support in that). Yet you take it out on other low earners. Race to the bottom! Lovely. Direct your anger towards the system. Don't punish others. You will be laughed at by restaurant staff as being a tightwad for your behaviour though- that's just facts. Being angry at others in jobs that you perceive as equal/ lower skilled, yet better paid is thankless- and pretty horrid.

You couldn’t really give a cash tip to a carer, without I imagine it raising some safeguarding concerns.
If I encountered a retail worker that had done a good job, I would speak to the mgr or fill out one of those ‘ what do you think of our service’ type surveys and say it there. Again you can hardly pass on a cash tip to a retail worker without it causing issues.
I will tip waiting staff, hairdressers etc.. but It’s just not customary to pay ‘cash’ to other nmw occupations, without it causing issues. you have to find other ways to express your appreciation.

@Rightontheedge. Thank you for that.

May I add if me or my friend could afford high class establishments then we would.
But the pubs and restaurants we frequent are cheap chains and like what @Rightontheedge describes.

I ask for the tip to be taken off bills at restaurants 100% of the time.
Not because I don't want to leave a tip but because a) I don't want to pay the tip on my card in case the staff don't get all of it, and, b) I'll decide if I'm going to leave a tip thanks very much.

My kids are always very embarrassed when I ask for the tip to come off, but I shouldn't have to ask!

sweet

I once moved in with a boyfriend who lived 6 miles from the nearest village/shop/anything and needed a job in a hurry. I handed my CV in to every shop, restaurant, pub, hotel and petrol station within a 10 mile radius and had a job by the end of the day. In a hotel. Where I got tips. This was at the height of the financial crisis, by the way.

If you genuinely live so far from civilisation then it's no wonder jobs are in such short supply near where you are. Consider moving? But saying you can't get a job as a waitress "because it's 2018" is a load of bollocks.

And since you felt qualified to inform me, on the basis of a Google search that there are definitely no waitressing jobs available within a 15 mile radius of your home which you later changed to a 20 mile radius, forgive me for not taking you very seriously.

I'd stick to the retail if I were you. Doesn't sound like you've got the necessary grit for waitressing.

I think you should tip if you can afford it. These people are on minimum wage and it's a nice thing to do. If you're struggling then that's different.

And again like said, me and my friend do tough shit jobs but don't get tips and work minimum wage. So I can't afford to give a top up to their wage. I find it rude I'm called a tightwod, or stingy or whatever other name just because I don't pay someone who earns the same as me, an addition to their name.

Wage not name

This website's comparison tool suggests around 10% is customary in the U.K. at restaurants but sometimes 12.5% is automatically added as service charge.

www.gocompare.com/travel-insurance/how-much-should-you-tip/

Also if you want to tip try to give it directly to the waiter and don't do it through the till as the company takes a percentage!!

sweetsomethings uurgh what is wrong with people?

In the U.K. I don't tip if the service is poor. Why would I?

And ime the prices is US restaurants are bit cheaper. A few years ago they were in some areas, but not these days. Big portions generally, yes, but an entree is generally no cheaper there than here. Just got back from California last weekend. It was most definitely not cheap to eat out! Even before you add taxes and tips, the prices weren't low!

TokyoI changed it to 20 as I went back and extended the search to prove even further that no jobs were available . I never once said I used a google search 😂 please point out where I said that. Anyone I will let you keep living in your fantasty land . Actually laughing my head off right now how far from reality you really are. Keep handing out tips you think it makes you a better person. If that’s all that can make you feel like a better person go for it.

I tip routinely. I tip 10% in the UK and 20% in the US and 5% in France. Those being the countries where I spend most of my time. Tipping is the norm although the extent of the tipping varies from country to country. In the US which has no real minimum wage legislation the waiting staff live of their tips. The UK has some minimum wage legislation so tipping rates are lower. In France where employees are properly protected the tipping rates are lower. It is expected. It's not just a courtesy.

I would only withhold a tip for pretty disastrous service. And even then it probably isn't the fault of the waiting staff. I do check to make sure that if I pay by card the waiting staff receive the tip.

I think that not tipping is mean and discourteous. I am very old and senior in my role and what have you, But I still remember my days as an undergraduate working in a lovely restaurant when a decent tip meant I could buy my then boyfriend a chocolate bar on the way home.

I changed it to 20 as I went back and extended the search to prove even further that no jobs were available

You don't find waitressing jobs on the bloody internet! That's not how they recruit. They like people with enough drive to get off their arse, walk in and show that they're a proactive and presentable person.

Why would they bother to advertise on the internet in the hope that lazy old you will find the ad when all they need to do is wait for Keen Kathleen to walk in with her CV and a smile on her face and say she's available to start tomorrow?

Aragog that’s a very good point about where in the USA you eat out I have never went to Popular tourist areas over there so yes when I said eating out was cheaper over there . It totally depends where you go

For those who think waiting staff are more deserving of tips than retail workers etc, that's totally fine, tip who you want.
But expecting one minimum wage worker to tip another (who apparently relies on their tips despite getting minimum/living wage) doesn't make any sense.
Or should all these other minimum wage workers just stay inside and never socialise?

When we were young we genuinely could not afford to tip very much, but left something small for good service.

These days with grown up children who have both worked in waiting jobs as students and when they needed extra cash in low paid work, we do tip. One night on holiday abroad a young girl got on the bus late at night and opened up a small envelope to pay the bus fare. it was probably her share of the evening tips and I found it quite touching as she was a similar age to one of my own kids at the time.

I remembered my daughter once telling me that she had stopped on the way home and bought a bottle of diet coke with her tips money as a treat, when she delivered pizzas until late at night. She knew the value of money and was prepared to work hard for it. Great preparation for life in the adult world.