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?

Tipping taxi drivers is something else I've only ever heard of on mumsnet. Have never seen anyone do it in 'real life'. Last time one of these threads came up I had a wee ask around friends, family and colleagues and no one else I asked had heard of it either.

That's illogical because using vouchers 'hits' the restaurant profits, not the server's pay. The only thing you should be mindful of when using Pizza Express vouchers is that you base your tip on what the meal would have cost without the vouchers (as the server is doing the same work) rather than on the smaller, drinks only bill you get

How is it illogical? It doesn't hit the restaurant's profits, Tesco reimburses them. As for being 'mindful', as I said, we tip well because the meal was essentially free. On a £50 food bill we usually leave at least £15.

I tip if the service and food is lovely . I agree if it's crap then I don't and I explain why, so they can maybe try to improve.

But, do remember that very often kitchen staff and waiting workers are on probably a lot less income than you ( given you can afford to eat out ) so please consider that before you decide wether to tip or not .

Tips can top up a meagre wage. £6:15 per hour for 18-24 year olds !

I'm wondering if it's only people on here who have worked in pubs/waited on as students who tip. They realise what a difference it makes to the often minimum wage the servers earn. Amongst my peer group this seems to be the case.

If the service is good I always tip something but I tip more if the person is younger (I know that seems unfair!). I know how hard my student daughter works in the pub she's at and some of the crappy, unreasonable, drunk, letchy people she has to deal with.
I always check with the server who gets the tips before tipping.

YABU. Also cheap, mean, stingy, tight - take your pick.

I tip if the service and food is lovely . I agree if it's crap then I don't and I explain why, so they can maybe try to improve.

But, do remember that very often kitchen staff and waiting workers are on probably a lot less income than you ( given you can afford to eat out ) so please consider that before you decide wether to tip or not .

Tips can top up a meagre wage. £6:15 per hour for 18-24 year olds !

hoppy
I've not worked in pubs/waitressing but tip if the service is really good.

I don't tip if it's someone just doing their job.

I'm also more likely to tip in pubs and independent restaurants where the tips go to the severs than I am in mid range chains where they try to swindle people into paying silly service charges

Tipping taxi drivers and hairdressers is something I've only ever heard on MN though.

I'll do a standard £1 tip per person on the table (so £4 if there's 4 of us) when I'm eating out, unless the service was awful, in which case I won't tip. I'll tip more (around 10% if the service was great). I haven't figured out yet how to deal with the ones when the 12.5% service charge is added to the bill- normally I'll pay up to avoid making a fuss but I'm often pissed off about it as it's very presumptuous.

I always tip taxi, uber and food delivery drivers (around 10%) unless they are very late or provide bad service.

Don't really tip anyone else though.

I tip at least 10% in London and the southeast every meal, maybe not as much anywhere else. Minimum wage is the same country-wide but the cost of living varies enormously. I'm sure someone could live off national minimum wage in Cumbria, and I know people who do, but there's no way they can in London. Some restaurants pay London living wage but not all do. I tip taxi drivers and delivery drivers too.

And no, I don't tip shop workers who are also on minimum wage. But they generally work more sociable hours and they aren't serving me personally for 1.5 hours.

I tip. I don’t understand the argument that because we don’t tip everyone on minimum wage we should therefore tip nobody. Seems like an excuse to be tight to me. Just because everyone doesn’t benefit from a particular custom doesn’t mean we should take it away from those who do.

Tipping taxi drivers is something else I've only ever heard of on mumsnet. Have never seen anyone do it in 'real life'. - this is so weird - I thought it was absolutely the "done thing" to tip taxi drivers! I'd feel really awkward not doing so and always round up to the nearest bank note IYSWIM - the once or twice I've not had extra change (e.g. if the fare comes to bang on 20 quid and that's all I have), I swear the drivers have been arsey/given dirty looks. Does no one else get that?!

I tip at least 10% at restaurants, unless the service was terrible. Again, would feel awkward not doing so or feel like I've made the server feel like they've done a bad job when they haven't.

Does irritate me no end though when people add on a service charge though. Once had an absolutely awful server, massively arsey etc, we left the cash for the cost of the stuff minus the "optional" service charge then left, she chased us out of the place and said we'd not paid the whole bill - we said we did, just took the service charge off - she scoffed and gave us a filthy look and marched off! Needless to say, never been back

YABU. Also cheap, mean, stingy, tight - take your pick

It's not that straightforward.

What about people who sometimes tip and sometimes don't? Are they stingy or generous

Also, it states the non-tippers are mean and indicates the tippers are generous.

A lot of people are tipping because of social pressure and expectation, perhaps of not wanting to be perceived as mean or stingy, not because they're generous.

In my circle, eating out and tipping culture is relatively recent in the UK, my parents (70s) never used to eat out when they were my age and we never used to as children in the 80s or if we did it was rare. Tipping seems to be a generation X and younger thing, although we always tip hairdressers and cabs (not taxis), and I always tip in restaurants unless awful or I don’t get the option on the card machine and I don’t have cash. My parents tip if there are a lot of us or it is a special occasion.

Itisnotapuppet - these are all things that take considerable time for waiting staff and offer no real profit to the business.

So if I have a table of 8 (as I did on Saturday night) all want serving tap water (8 glasses, lemon, ice and jug - topped up several times, 8 glasses to wash up afterwards) then all 8 wanted to pay individually by card at the end - so I was standing at the table doing those transactions for a good 10 minutes (possibly longer while they then decided to start discussing who should pay less!) And unsurprisingly they left no tip.....

Always tip unless the service is bad - and it generally isn't. Those teenagers work long hours, have to be helpful and smiley (often to rude people) and get paid £6.50 - £7.50 per hour. I would think less of someone who didn't tip, and everyone I ever eat out with does.

When DD was a waitress she said tips partly made up for the appalling way she was treated by some customers.

Fortunately this won't be me, so I have no need to feel guilt for the actions of others, which is what this seems to suggest LOL.

I tip by default - it is accepted convention, and I know it's bloody hard work - but equally I have absolutely no issue with not tipping when service is dire or the server is rude/miserable. The latter is within the control of all waiting staff, so perhaps those who often don't get tips should look at their own attitude.

(If service is dire because it's apparent that there is chronic under-staffing, would still tip if server has obviously done their best.)

Never worked in hospitality. Definitely not younger generation.

Always tip unless poor service or food. Usually 10% restaurant bill, taxi depends on length of journey and how helpful they’ve been with luggage etc and hairdresser usually just add £10 or thereabouts to the bill.

I always tip if I’ve had good service/food.

The big problem is not knowing who the tip goes to. Some places everyone inc managers and porters share the tips (which I think is great, why shouldn't the cook get a tip?) other places (looking at you Mr Roux) keep all tips and the staff are often not allowed to give you full disclosure. It's a bit of a minefield.

Many of the restaurants and even coffee shops where I live add on an "optional" twelve and a half percent, you have get it stricken from the bill and are then expected to pay gratuities on top! I feel this is disingenous basically their prices are twelve and half percent more than listed. It's a bit much to pay almost £3 for a mediocre coffee and about another fiver for a piece of cake and then pay service and gratuities on top sometimes for just counter service. A fish restaurant my DD went to recently had cover charges (remember those?) not disclosed on the website for a few pieces of bread with a balsamic vinegar dip as well as the twelve and half service charge and a space left open for gratuities! She explained she couldn't eat the bread as she is celiac but apparently the bread was complimentary the cover charge wasn't. But what do I know, the places are always rammed, especially at the weekends some with queues out the door and down the road.

I guess when you are as hard up as the staff, the prices just feel prohibitive and you feel scalped. Yes, I do know businesses are set up to make money.

To be fair a lot of waiting staff are quite young and on mw for their age group which isn't great so a tip helps them out.

I've worked in shops and I've worked in restaurants, waitressing is harder and the service given is prolonged and will often go beyond the please tell you, take your money you get in a supermarket, it's also unlikely that your child throws peas and half chewed fish fingers all over the floor in Tesco, whereas it's your waiter who will clean that up when you go, and however much they smile and say it's not a problem, it is gross. I won't tip of the service is bad or if you order at the till and they just bring your food out, but in a full service restaurant the default is to tip. Oh and I worked in various restaurants from 16 -22 and never had an employer take my tips.

And the vast majority of wait staff are under 25 and thus not entitled to NMW

I've waitressed, done bar work, kitchen hand, cleaning etc ... but the hardest I've ever worked was as a hotel chambermaid. And that was for the lowest hourly rate I've ever earned.

Hardly anybody tips chambermaids and it is really hard, physical work. Very little time was allocated per room, so I had to work very quickly for the whole shift. Didn't help that it was in a mediocre three star hotel, where things were falling apart and many things should have been replaced.

Worst thing ever was having to clean a very, very messy toilet and bathroom floor during one guest's three night stay. He left me 50 pence when he left. I wished he hadn't. 50 pence made me feel really humiliated.

I always leave money in the room for the chambermaid staff when we leave a hotel.

Absolutely riles me though when a tip is included in the bill automatically and you can’t remove it.

Oh you can, and I do if service is crap.

This is a really interesting thread. I came on it to say I always tip (I do) but you're right, My reasons are out of date. Waiters are now paid the same as everyone else.