Forced to tip in (not so fancy) restaurant... card payment...

[Forforkssake1]

Aibu to think it's so awkward when you pay a bill and the waitress stands there and hands you a card machine which asks if you'd like to leave a tip? The service was ok, the food was ok, but the glasses were dirty, and one of the meals came much later then the others and one of the sauces had congealed goop on it... because I have no backbone didn't want to make a scene I don't complain, and tipped 10%. Because I felt PRESSURED in to it. When did tipping become such a regular thing in the UK?

Aibu to think the should just up the cost of meals so you don't have to tip?!

A fair proportion of Chinese restaurants in Chinatown in London give you the bill written in Chinese with a 10% service charge included. Most customers don't realise that they've added a service charge. They also provide a tipping dish. So worth asking what's included if the bill is in a foreign language or doesn't clearly state each item.

I tip in cash, always £1 per person.

For spending what amount on food and drink?

I alwaus tip 10% providing we get good service but not on tge card machine.
I also ask the waiter if they get the money. Thing is restaurant chains are wise to it and staff are trained to say they get tge tips when really the company take a cut. Its annoying.

Still what can you do. Good service is worth paying for. In your situation i wpuld have tipped less.

I don't think tipping is the norm. It was nothing my parents did an the few times we went out. But then my mum was a lowly paid nurse and my dad an unskilled labourer. Different cultures, different experiences.

I started leaving tips when out with friends, used to be 10% (easy to add up) then it went up to 12.5%. Then service charge came along. The moment that is added to a bill is the moment I don't need to calculate. But it's also the moment I really critique service.

Went to a restaurant once where we used a discount card. So knew had to pay a tip. Their service charge was 20%. Service was less than average, hardly any food on our plates (Indian food), we refused and told them to lower it. I mean 20% is ridiculous, the discount was 25%, so therefore no real discount if you're one of those people that pay service and tip.

I prefer to tip on the card machine as I rarely have any cash. There have been occasions when I haven't tipped, for example when my food arrived cold after waiting for ages. I always check the bill very carefully for a service charge as I hate it being added on.

Faultymain5 why would you pay service and a tip? Surely it's one or the other.

I always tip 10% and if service is really good I tip 20%. I've never known it not to be the norm in the U.K. I grew up with my mum leaving a tip.

I would always tip but if i had no cash i would chose my amount. i tipped last night but not 10%, less, but i dont think they minded or at least they didnt show they minded.

I always press on the card machine and leave 10% on the table...unless something has been actually shit and then I leave nothing.

Always press No...

The card machines where I work give the option for a tip, I always press the X button before I hand it to the customer. I don’t want them thinking I’m hinting for a tip, all cap in hand, big eyed and hopeful!

user1471426142
I am a bit uncomfortable with tips now. With minimum wage why do restaurant servers get it while shop workers, care assistants etc don’t? The latter are the group that are arguably most deserving. I could understand it in the past when wages were nothing and the bulk of income was made up in tips but now I never know what to do.

I agree with this, if there is a service charge I ask it to be removed, If I want to tip I only do so if that person gets to keep it, (I ask). I always say I don't tip on a card. Some business put tips on wages and I'm not prepared to subsidise the company.

When I was a waitress, the company I worked for made us present the card machine to the customer before the tip question. It was even part of the mystery diner process - which could get you in a lot of trouble if missed out.
We found out later that the company kept 72p of every £1 tipped through the PDQ leaving us with a lowly 28p. No wonder they pushed it so hard!

I never tip on the card.... Press no! It does get easier....

I leave 0-20% cash.... Depending.

There is a whole wider issue of why we tip waiting staff and not other low paid people.

@user I also have a part time retail job (poor student!) and I feel the opposite to you! With retail there’s a lot of time to yourself tidying/sorting, and till work is easy enough.

The restaurant I work in has me on the go from the minute I walk through the door to the minute I leave, and a normal 6 hour shift there leaves me exhausted in a way even the busiest day in retail never could.

Care workers should be paid more than minimum wage, that would solve that issue.

I am happy to tip if I get good service, having good service really makes a difference to a meal out. I work in customer services myself & am very aware of service levels, which are sadly frequently shockingly bad or at the very least just about average. I hate eating out & being served by a bored teenager who clearly has been given no advice or training in customer skills.

I never tip on the card mexhine, I either leave cash or it’s usually added on the bill these days.

*machine

I had 10% already added to a pizza express bill. The service was horrible, they forgot they had us booked in- a table of 12. Food was cold and late. Dirty table. I complained and got the 10% taken off, the manager wasn’t happy but nor were we. He did remove it in the end, and lost another big booking as one of my was having a works do with 40+ the week after which they got moved to ask instead

I don’t tip unless there’s loads of us, lots of food, and waiter/tress has to work really hard. It’s their job. They’re paid. It’s not the US. Usually it’s me/husband/child... they come over once to take the order and once with food and drink. Why do they need a tip for that?

I tailor my tips - standard at about 10% (I generally go for an easy rounding - like when you say to a taxi driver to keep the change), or some cash left if the machine doesn't offer.

If service has been bad, then I don't tip. If they've done that thing where they sneakily add the service charge, then I don't tip, and I don't go back to the restaurant (I pay it, I don't mention it, because they can charge what they like, and I can choose if I agree with that, and I'm not going to try to persuade them otherwise).

If the waiter/waitress points out that there has been a service charge added, or has been friendly/professional/thoughtful then I make sure I tip in cash, and say thankyou, to be extra certain they get the money.

With minimum wage why do restaurant servers get it while shop workers, care assistants etc don’t? The latter are the group that are arguably most deserving. I could understand it in the past when wages were nothing and the bulk of income was made up in tips but now I never know what to do.

^This. I never tip

Just grow a backbone and press no!

I always tip even though I’m on minimum wage. I used to work in kitchens and it’s hard work. Far harder than retail

I went with a group to Turtle Bay, there was a 10% service charge already on the bill. The waitress also asked for a tip to be added to the card payment. We pointed out the service charge but she still demanded a tip.

As a result they got absolutely nothing.