do you tip?

[theman]

just wondering.if it's been done before i apologise and will ask for the thread deleted. just wondering what the general consensus is in the uk and among other poster.

Bars - never
Hairdresser - never
Taxi's - Never
Restaurants - if the service has been very good and the food exceptional then yes. I always tip in my fave indian because they treat me and my family like royalty and I love it

Didn't know that tipping hairdressers was the norm outside the US - given what I pay to have my hair done I would have thought they were doing pretty blumin well actually!?
Always tip at least 10% at restaurants unless terrible service. Normally round up a taxi fare.
If am at dinner with a non-tipping friend (only have one I think) then would pay thier share of the tip rather than appear rude to the staff.

why does no one tip bar staff? i know they dont do as much but they get paid as little as the waiting staff. and are often a lot busier!

i always tip everyone and usually 10%

no i'm in dublin, how bout yourself?

I'll often leave change for bar staff.

"so what is this 'policy' you speak of theman? Why no tipping?"

well basically i see tipping as an excuse for managment in the service industry to underpay their staff and expect the customer to pay twice to make up for their shortcomings.
if i go to a bar and pay 4/5 euro for a pint of beer which most likely has a cost price of under 2 euro the mark up is the businesses profit.now every other business uses their profits to cover expenses such as heating/rent and staff wages. if the managment offers useless wages and the waiting staff accept it is simply providing the business to improve their margins and then they expect the customer to pay twice. i mean why would i pay someone to do a job they are being paid to do?

restaurants 10% unless rubbish service or service included
hairdresser 10% as well, because she is brilliant
taxis usually keep the change
barstaff never

so do we need to organise a mass non-tipping movement to put pressure on the service industry to improve pay rates? Where do I sign.....

< sorry for weird hijack.

Co.Wicklow, but from Dublin originally.

Please continue your discussion...>

We always tip. DP moreso than me. If we go to a restaurant then generally 10% - more if we feel the service was really good.

I never tip taxi's but he will. He even gives the delivery man from the takeaway the change!

but theman you need mass organisation and no tipping to stop this. believe it or not soft drinks have much higher mark ups on them than alcohol and these are where bars make their money. I dont think they use it as an excuse to pay staff less. I earn much more now working in a bar with tips than i ever did working behind a checkout.

In the hairdresser's I normally tip the junior who washes the hair, they're the ones on crap money.

10% average and more if good service. I won't if crap though.. Only restaurants though, not at a bar if you've stood up got your own drink and walked back with it though - you've done your own serving then.

Hairdressers, no but I bring cakes instead!

Taxi - never

I have spent several years in the service industry. It means a lot to be recognised for the usually thankless task of making people feel special and catered for (god I sound like a prostitute....no!)

it probably would need a mass organisation to make a difference but does that mean i should just go with the flow because there is not one?

"I dont think they use it as an excuse to pay staff less."

of course they do.thats why where there is a tipping culture somehow the customer is made out to be mean spirited for not giving a tip rather than the bosses who pay shit wages.if people didn't tip do you think waiters and the like would put up with the shit they do for barely any money?
i mean even in this thread alone you have comments like this
" hairdressers paid a pittance (likewise waiting staff) and rely on tips to bring themselves up to something resembling a decent wage."
which is completely true but it shouldn't be. i used to work as a waiter and my sister works in a salon at the moment where a customer will hand over 90 euro for a half hour massage when she is on about 11 euro an hour. she relies on tips but i think it is audacious for business to expect the customer to pay their marked up price (be it a service,alcohol or soft drinks). do you tip your accountant or lawyer?no because they get paid a decent wage.what about the person behind the till in asda?they're hardly loaded are you going to tip them?

If service charge is already added to bill I dont give them anything extra. You can even refuse to pay the service charge if the service has not been up to scratch apparently.

theman, you have a very good point, but it is true, it is the culture. You pay EUR 4/5 for a pint, why support the business when you can get a few cans for a quid? It's for the SERVICE, not the product.

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theman:

it probably would need a mass organisation to make a difference but does that mean i should just go with the flow because there is not one?

Indeed - get mobilising!!

I tip the hairdresser 10% unless he/she is the owner in which case I don't. Always give the hairwasher £1.00.

I also tip the wonderful girl who threads my eyebrows as I always look so much better.

In a restaurant I always leave the tip in cash and never fill the space of c/c slip as I'm never sure it will get to staff.

I was a waitress once, I nearly always tip, unless the service is really bad. I really depended heavily on my tips to subsidise my wages, as I was a student at the time, and so working for a shitty wage. I don't tip bar staff though, never really thought of it tbh.

"it is in the management interest to keep the wages low! "

which is exactly what i've said. now i'm not punishing staff for managment decisions, i don't differentiate it is a company as a whole in my eyes. similarly i'm not going to throw an extra fiver onto my sky direct debit because i think the people on the phones are being underpaid.it's not a matter of not being able to afford the extra 20 cent,it is the principle. if the bar wishes to charge an extra 20 cent for the drink and pass that onto staff that is there perogative and then at least you pay the price quoted and can take your business elsewhere if you deem it too expensive.no one has made them take this job, they accept the low pay based on the assumption that they will recieve tips, in my mind that is a calculated risk on their part. do you tip everyone you feel is not on enough money?

Tipping encourages better service.
Waiters are not lawyers and will never be paid like one whether you tip them or not.

What annoys me most is that some restaurants take tips paid on credit/debit cards and use them to pay thier staff their basic wage - ie staff only get any extra once thier tips cover their normal wage! Because of this I always tip in cash regardless of how I pay the bill.

"So, they didnt actually make your drink for you then, no?
And I assume by that standard that you will return your empty glass, wash it, put it back on the shelf, wipe your table and put your chairs back neatly before you leave, yes? "

well if you find me a bar or restaurant which is happy to allow me to fetch my own food and pour my own pints to avoid a service charge and get cost price pints i will gladly do so.
so what are you saying, that the wages they are paid are not based on them doing everything you just said. what do you think they get paid for?to stand there and if anyone wants a drink they are subcontracted out per pint and per order?
bollocks, a barman is paid to take orders,pour drinks and keep the bar in a presentable fashion.

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