Friends didn't "tip"....bit tight?

[tvsavec]

Me and three friends went to a little family run Greek restaurant.
The bill came to around £80 for four of us.
At the end of the meal
Friend 1 put £2 on the table and I also put £2
Friend 3 said "is that for a tip"
We said yeah.....she shouts for the waiter and hands him the £4 and says thanks
They didn't bother to put a couple of pound in each

Aibu to think it's a bit tight?

We've cut back on our restaurant visits due to needing more money for energy bills etc. but we'd always factor some tipping into the cost.

I must admit now that restaurant costs have escalated and our wages not so much, we're not quite as precise about making sure we tip 10% like we used to be - so maybe a fiver for a meal for two costing £60-70 - but we wouldn't leave nothing.

If telling yourself that not tipping is totally normal makes you feel better about not tipping, you do you I guess

i tip. Where did I say I didn’t?

however on the other side I don’t care if people tip me or not. I give them all the same service, as do the other staff.

The place I worked though had a tip jar and all were pooled and split at the end of the night. So it made no difference if you got the “non tipping” table. I couldn’t work anywhere where people were treat differently based on the expectation of a tip. Or where staff would shaft each other to get the better tippers. That is not a healthy environment to work in.

Yeahhh I just don't believe you.

i tip. Where did I say I didn’t?

however on the other side I don’t care if people tip me or not. I give them all the same service, as do the other staff.

I simply don't believe that everyone where you work would give gold plated service to a group of people who come in regularly and are known for never tipping when they could be focusing their efforts on other customers who might tip generously for excellent service.

I also don't believe that none of your colleagues care about tips.

The place I worked though had a tip jar and all were pooled and split at the end of the night. So it made no difference if you got the “non tipping” table. I couldn’t work anywhere where people were treat differently based on the expectation of a tip. Or where staff would shaft each other to get the better tippers. That is not a healthy environment to work in.

We pooled our tips too, in all the places I worked in. So you wouldn't feel the full hit of a non-tipper, but at the same time, we all expected to get at least 10% - this was about 15 years ago - from each table, and it was a significant addition to our weekly wages.

"Is there any actual evidence of a link between people not tipping and restaurants being better able to stay afloat?"

It's simple. Restaurants need people to walk through the doors irrespective of whether they tip or not. If people choose to restrict spending on luxuries then businesses that are already struggling will close. And people will be out of a job.

Your previous point was staff don't care about a share of profits - they want people tipping. But without customers they don't have a job.

Every place I have worked you do what’s needed, not just “your” tables. I’d have been sacked if I gave preferential treatment to anyone.

This is definitely my experience of being in a pub or restaurant. Very rarely do you get one person serving you all evening. One person brings over drinks, one person takes your oder then sometimes another different person brings it and checks on you and whoever is nearby when you look ready collects your plates.

In the US as far as I know ‘servers’ are paid very low wages, this keeps the prices of the food down which is good for the restaurants and earning enough money to get by is dependent on the customer’s good will. I don’t see why some Americans are so fiercely proud of that - it’s not a good thing.

It's simple. Restaurants need people to walk through the doors irrespective of whether they tip or not. If people choose to restrict spending on luxuries then businesses that are already struggling will close. And people will be out of a job.

Your previous point was staff don't care about a share of profits - they want people tipping. But without customers they don't have a job.

That'll be a "no, there is no evidence", then.

I worked as a waitress for many years in different places. Tipping was nice and reasonably common but not mandatory or expected anywhere I worked.

I personally don't leave a tip if there's a service charge already included or if the service was poor. Otherwise I do.

I don't think it's tight not to tip and I don't think it's generous to tip. It's an individual choice and neither are wrong.

Back on the topic of the OP, I went for lunch with a colleague once and we had great service from the waitress. We split the bill and I paid first, adding on something for a tip. He then paid the rest, not including anything, which meant not only had I subsidised his lunch, the lovely waitress didn't get a tip, because I had no cash on me.

I found it excruciatingly embarrassing, and the next time he suggested going out for lunch I made an excuse. I hate eating out with stingy people.

I've had times before where a group of, say, 10 were splitting the bill and had decided to add on a service charge. So you go around the table and everyone pays individually until you get to the last person who says "whatever's left" and only pays for the remainder of the bill. It's obviously not your place to tell them they agreed to pay more. That's a bit disheartening when you are told you will be getting a tip (and you're thinking about the rest of your team here, too) and then some stingy bastard ends up with an £8 bill subsidised by everyone else at the table.

Thankfully not a very common occurrence!

"Is there any actual evidence of a link between people not tipping and restaurants being better able to stay afloat?"

That'll be a "no, there is no evidence", then

could you post the (uk) evidence of a link between people tipping and restaurants being better able to stay afloat?

you can’t dismiss an opinion for no evidence, yet expect yours to be accepted with no evidence..

When I was a waitress, the big tables where everyone split the bill were always the most unpredictable in terms of tips, but you'd have to be an absolute CF to be the last to pay your share and let all the tippers subsidise you like that, as well as depriving the staff of the tip they had earned.

I would say it was more likely to be the other way around, that a few people would underpay and the person at the end would be left with a big bill and have to either suck up the difference - and probably not be so flush with the tip as a result - or politely ask everyone to put their hands in their pockets again. Which is also quite awkward when you're the waitress standing there with the card machine and you can hardly say, "Do you guys need a moment in private?"

you can’t dismiss an opinion for no evidence, yet expect yours to be accepted with no evidence..

What am I expecting to be accepted with no evidence?

You tried to make a point, and failed. Then tried to move the goalposts of your point and failed again.

Or can you not grasp that staff do actually care if a restaurant is doing well as it ensures they actually have a job? If people stop going then tipping becomes a redundant point?

@babyjellyfish yes it's definitely happened the other way round too! Big tables are so awkward, although usually are quite generous with tips. It's just the amount of time sorting out payment is annoying! Especially when it's really busy and you can see five tables that need clearing, food on the pass, another two people waving at you, drinks dispense waiting at the bar and, my personal favourite, your manager badgering you (we used to have earpieces so you'd get the manager asking where you were when you were trying to talk to people).

But there is absolutely no evidence that the restaurant will be any more or less likely to close or do well if people do or don't tip.

The two things are unconnected.

The point I made was that in my six or seven years of working as a waitress, non tippers were few and far between.

Oh god, earpieces! That sounds dismal. All the other stuff very familiar though!

My feet are hurting just thinking about those days!

@babyjellyfish yes they could be a pain! They were introduced when we reopened for outdoor only service after the third(?) lockdown. Very, very handy as you wouldn't hear the food bell from the garden. Beyond that, extremely irritating being badgered pointlessly whilst serving a table. Felt really rude having to stop the customer so you could passively aggressively reply to your manager

"But there is absolutely no evidence that the restaurant will be any more or less likely to close or do well if people do or don't tip.

The two things are unconnected.

The point I made was that in my six or seven years of working as a waitress, non tippers were few and far between."

But that's not what was being discussed. The point was that it was said that staff (interestingly only waiting staff were talked about) didn't care about the profits as they don't get a profit share - they care about tips. This was in response to someone saying that people coming through the doors was the important thing, irrespective of whether they tip or not.

The obvious point here isn't about tipping despite you trying to make it about that. It's pointing out that without customers walking through the doors there is no restaurant to work in. No job. No tips. The service industry is being hit really hard and that is only going to get worse. When people can no longer afford to heat their homes, or drive unless necessary miles etc then luxuries such as eating out are the first thing to be cut back.

So it's false to say staff don't care if their restaurant is doing well or not. Most will care as they grasp that if it's not their job is on the line. Most will worry if customer numbers drop.

What a shitty attitude - “I’ll only do a good job if you give me extra money”.

Don’t complain then when people give you a shitty attitude but tip well.

You think the rude customers are the ones who tip well?

Completely agree!
its not America, not everyone Tips

But that's not what was being discussed. The point was that it was said that staff (interestingly only waiting staff were talked about) didn't care about the profits as they don't get a profit share - they care about tips. This was in response to someone saying that people coming through the doors was the important thing, irrespective of whether they tip or not.

This is true though.

On the assumption that the restaurant is in business and will continue to be in business, the individual waiter or waitress is going to appreciate the compliment of a nice tip much more than the "compliment" of a repeat customer who comes in regularly because they think the place is great but are too mean to tip. And if it's a choice between the warm fuzzy feelings of a customer who says how great the place is and keeps coming back, and a customer who only visits once and leaves a tip, it is the tip and not the repeat business that makes a difference to the person who served them, who does not get a share in the profits made by the business.

The obvious point here isn't about tipping despite you trying to make it about that.

But this thread is about tipping. And there is no evidence that tipping or not tipping is linked to businesses staying afloat or not.

It's pointing out that without customers walking through the doors there is no restaurant to work in. No job. No tips. The service industry is being hit really hard and that is only going to get worse. When people can no longer afford to heat their homes, or drive unless necessary miles etc then luxuries such as eating out are the first thing to be cut back.

What has that got to do with tipping?

So it's false to say staff don't care if their restaurant is doing well or not. Most will care as they grasp that if it's not their job is on the line. Most will worry if customer numbers drop.

Again, nothing to do with tipping, which is something the vast majority of customers do to show appreciation for the person who served them, and something most waiting staff rely on as a part of their income. Because the warm fuzzy feelings generated by a nice comment, or company profits which don't directly filter down to them, don't help pay the bills. Tips do.

We're talking about the logic of it.
Many people have said they wouldn't eat out if they couldn't afford to tip and others should do the same.
Logically, this would lead to less people going out. I'm sure you can extrapolate.

Also 'eating out' covers a wide range of experiences.

I was on holiday in Cornwall recently and received excellent service. The staff had a nice chat with us, patiently explained the alcohol and specials, got some 'off-menu' items, cleared up between courses. Happily left a large tip. Same with a lot of 'proper' restaurants.

However in a lot of casual/chain (don't know the correct words!) restaurants in Manchester.. ordering and paying done via app. All they do is bring my food. Why does that deserve extra money?

What evidence do you expect there to be? A peer led study by Oxford on “Is tipping more beneficial to a business than not tipping”.

Sometimes it’s fine just to use common sense