To not tip when eating out?

[JemimaPuddleDucksPuddle]

Saw a thread on another board that mentioned tipping when eating out and whether or not you should. The majority of posters seemed to think of a person as being tight fisted or ungenerous if they don't tip. I disagree and don't tip as a matter of routine, only if the service is exceptional. AIBU?

When I was a waitress for 3 years I was on £6 an hour. This had to pay for my rent, driving lessons, saving to buy a car so I could get to and from a better job (the pub was the only place of employment within walking distance), a mobile phone bill (albeit a small one), textbooks for college, food, public transport to and from college, the list goes on. £6 an hour working 6pm-1pm every evening and 9am-5pm saturday and sunday (I was a full time college student) is so hard to live on without relying on other family members for money (which I did not). While I did nit receive tips it was so helpful when I received one and by god did I work hard for them.

I always tip and would not date a non tipper - evidence of a mean streak.

I pay for everything by card so don’t tip. Some restaurants are cheeky and the card terminal will ask if you want to tip beforehand, it’s awkward but I almost always say no. The staff earn at least minimum wage and honestly, eating out costs enough as it is without adding extra.

I don’t tip taxi drivers, shop assistants, supermarket staff, McDonald’s staff etc so why are waiting staff an exception?

Tight arse. 12 hour shifts on your feet feeding winey fuckas that dont tip gets my goat. Exceptional service??? Elaborate please.

Bless you. When you return to same food joint again they remember and probably lick your plate before serving.. I no this to be very true. Noone forgets a card weilding tight arse.

If service is included - Which in London it almost always is - then no. If there is no added service charge, I have received the menu with 5 minutes, the drink within 10, and the food within 30, then, yes, I would probably tip.

nonmerci it's not cheeky, it's illegal for servers to bypass the gratuity option on card machines because it is seen as a form of tax evasion.

I would be interested to know if anyone has ever asked for the automatic gratuity/service charge to be removed from their bill. And if you have how did the server react??

I don't tip unless its exceptional. Noone tips me for doing my job.

I worked as a waitress in an Indian restaurant for a short while, and I never received much in the way of tips. Most of the money went to the longest serving members which included the boss!, the head chef (who had a financial stake in the company) and all the other chefs. As it is unlikely your particular server will actually receive the whole of the tip, I wouldn't bother with tipping waiting staff. I do tip my hairdresser occasionally and at Christmas though as I know the money will go straight to her.

Oh and I always tip the chambermaid when I stay in a hotel as I feel sorry for her having to clean the toilet after my boyfriend has left brown streaks in the bowl!

I've been out in a group where we refused to pay the service charge and asked for it to be removed from the bill. The service was truly abysmal. Waiting an hour for a drink, that sort of thing. Our table was booked for 7.30 and we got no food until 10pm, and at 12.30 we still hadn't been served dessert. The food was cold in the middle and we feared food poisoning.

The waiting staff tried to argue that the service charge was compulsory but unfortunately for them, three of the people there had hospitality management degrees and worked in hotel management, and a fourth was a university lecturer in hospitality. The restaurant backed down...

We tip whenever the bill lands on our table (not like nandos where you pay at the till). To be honest, I wish this tradition disappear as we can't afford to treat ourselves as much as we would like because we have to pay extra everytime time.

Some cheeky restaurant owners put service charge in your bill, i definitely won't tip for those!

I'm really shocked by some of these posts. I'm not well off by any means but wouldn't dream of not tipping at restaurants, hairdressers and the nail bar (my twice yearly treat). I honestly thought pretty much everyone left tips. My DD is under 25, and has done part time restaurant work through school and uni and now only earns minimum wage of £7.70. When she was under 18 it was way less. These figures are from the govt. website.

Year 25 and over 21 to 24 18 to 20 Under 18 Apprentice
April 2019 £8.21 £7.70 £6.15 £4.35 £3.90

Many waiters/waitresses are on the younger side and have to put up with long hours, rude customers, and often rude chefs and managers. It's tiring and many of them are on a zero hours contract so no guarantee that they will get anything like full time hours or even regular weekend work. There are employers who will find ways to get rid of staff once they reach 25 so they can get younger ones in and pay them less. My DD and her friends who do similar jobs are ridiculously grateful for any tips they are given - she certainly relies on tips to make ends meet while at uni together with the occasional free meal provided by the restaurant which is a bonus. If you've worked as a waiter/waitress you will have more of an idea, I think, of how valued tips are and how a complimentary word goes a very long way too. There are no bonuses for late hours and she often works until 2 am if there is a wedding on in the restaurant. The tips go into a pot and are shared out between all the staff. If she's lucky, she might get £10 tips on a good day. She's pretty sure not all the tips go in the pot but it's instant dismissal if one gets caught. When she was at school the place she worked at gave her £1 tip per shift as standard. She didn't stay there long!

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've been to a hairdresser in my adult life (am over 40). This is entirely due to my uncertainty over tipping. Literally no idea. Would I offend if leaving nothing, how much do they expect, should I specify if it's for the person who washed my hair, the person who cut it, or the poor sod who is presumably earning the least sweeping up my cut hair? Easier just not to go. If you're telling me tipping is no longer a thing op then I may very well make an appointment. Maybe.

We always tip and feel bad if we don’t. Minimum wage is not a lot to live off I imagine so what’s wrong with appreciating someone’s service? We tip taxi drivers, hotel staff, and sometimes hairdressers too. If you can’t afford to I don’t see why you wouldn’t. If it’s seen as old fashioned then that doesn’t surprise. The country’s going down the pan. Bring back manners and decency.

I normally don't. I'm on minimum wage too and don't get tipped so I don't really have the money to top up their minimum wage out of mine. If the service is above and beyond I will. But only in cash directly to the servers not on the card machines etc.

Generally I don't tip but I do for exceptional service.

That's the point of a tip: it has nothing to do with minimum wage.... this is not the US.

I tip when the server makes me feel comfortable but it all honestly I've had better service in mcdonalds than some restaurants.

@Cockadoodledooo. At the hairdressers I give £2.00 to the hairdresser and £2.00 the lady who washed my hair. Sometimes I just pay the cost of the cut and blow dry, they don't mind. I think they don't expect anything extra to be honest. Just go and have your hair done.

YABU to not at least round up the bill. Waiting wages are pretty rubbish.
If the restaurant automatically adds a service charge, don't tip.

I don't tip. I work in Mental Health and earn just slightly over the minimum wage. I have a responsible job and I work hard but I never get tipped. This idea that some low paid workers should get tipped but not others is bizarre.

But it would unethical to tip you though wouldn’t it @Countrygirl38?

Mustard Girl of course it would be. But some on here are implying that as waiters and waitresses spend a couple of hours with clients they give more personal care than other minimum wage jobs and that they work anti-social hours etc. That retails workers etc don't. Other minimum wage industries involve giving huge amounts of time to people and very long and anti-social hours too. I don't want people's tips because it is unethical. But equally I don't have much money to be topping up other peoples wages. On the odd occasion I go out to eat it is already generally expensive for me. Not tipping doesn't mean people aren't generous in other ways though.