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?

Just as I said. No logical arguments, just throwaway emotional judgement 😏

@ThreeLittleDots so on one hand you’re saying it’s not customary to tip in the uk. In the next breath you’re saying it’s outdated.

which is it?

and not saying you won’t tip because you’re not earning much yourself is absolute irony right there. Why do people think they must race each other to the bottom?

Both. It was perhaps once more customary, not it is outdated since the introduction of the minimum wage, plus in my area at least, hospitality wages have increased to attract staff amidst shortages.

*now it is outdated

No it's not tight. I never tip.

Stop being so judgemental over how people spend their money. This is exactly the reason why I dine alone.

Yes very tight. I tip 10% in the U.K. as standard, more if I’ve had excellent service so I’d have felt bad handing over less than that. These places are struggling to recover from covid. I went to the US with a friend and she really struggled with the 18% tip expectation. She’s not a tipper generally but she did in the end

look why are you so very upset about this

I'm not upset at all...You tip, I don't, we disagree about what is reasonable.. that's it!

saying you won’t tip because you’re not earning much yourself is absolute irony right there. Why do people think they must race each other to the bottom

What do you mean by "the bottom"? Are you above me somehow?

Having considered some of the arguments on this thread, even if I did earn more I don't think I would tip.

I hate the concept of tipping but I always tip at least ten percent irrespective of how the service was (unless they were extremely rude but that has never happened). I tip because I feel compelled to and because I don't want the waiters to feel bad that I got seated in their area.

I wish restaurants would just pay better or add a service charge. I don't go out to eat to judge people or their service. It takes away from the evening.

You think I'm 'tight' when I do actually tip? The difference probably is that I tip really well but not for standard or indifferent service which is very much the norm in the UK.

Breakfast waiting staff are generally streets apart from lunch/dinner waiting staff. Guess which ones expect financial reward for basic performance? Clue: It's not the breakfast waiting staff.

You and your cohort are contributing to the problem. Previous posters have patiently explained and you're still too blind/deluded to see it.

I'm quite happy to be distinct from you and your silly 'lady bountiful' view. We do all have a 'tribe' and you'r'e welcome to yours.

This is the exact reason you don’t go out to dinner with friends? Because you think they will judge you not tipping?

I worked as a waitress in the UK through my degree and I earned peanuts and counted on my tips for a living wage.90pc of customers tip.

Certain 'cultural' types of people are less likely to tip. eg Italians don't tip generally.

Sadly everyone dodges serving them when we see them at the door. Every waiter wants to serve the Americans- always tip.A pleasure to serve...

Most waiters really do view people who do not tip negatively I am afraid to say and many will give you the proverbial finger as you walk away- if you come back they will hope to avoid serving you.

It is tight to not tip.

However in Europe they do tend to expect less than 10 pc- between 5 and 10 pc depending on the country and of course in the US it is 18%.So they may have thought that 4 quid was the required 5 pc to be fair.

I judge. You don't tip- yes I think you are tight and think less of you, it is just the way it is, we have all seen reservoir Dogs by now surely?

I can't believe the harrying of the posters who can't afford to tip. There's so much wrong with that viewpoint and it's embarrassing that some adults think this way without any thought beyond their own narrow-mindedness. Do any of you who posture about what other people should be doing bother to think?

I don't mind whether other people tip or not, it's their business. If it truly mattered that much then we absolutely would be lobbying for ALL NMW-salaried businesses to raise their game and pay their staff properly.

chiweenie so you chose to work for an employer who didn't pay properly yet you judge/think less of, the paying customers who enabled you to get paid, because they didn't always pay a tip or enough of one for your liking? You avoided the customers you thought weren't 'worthy' of serving?

If that's true, you weren't worth whatever you were paid.

Exactly.

I wasn’t going to be very invested in this thread tbh but the harrying is atrocious. Businesses are now raising their wages because of a lack of staff - so are people still going to tip? How much is an ‘adequate salary’?

With prices rising I doubt that many of these places will have enough customers to remain open anyway, let alone tip.

@chiweenie ‘certain cultural types’ do you realise how discriminatory that sounds? Even if they had wanted to tip your terrible service would have put them off.

I also worked as a waitress, was paid ok. A tip is nice, but I didn’t expect it, or treat customers differently. I knew the wage for the job I was taking.

I can't believe the harrying of the posters who can't afford to tip. There's so much wrong with that viewpoint and it's embarrassing that some adults think this way without any thought beyond their own narrow-mindedness.

I agree - not everyone has the means to eat at a restaurant on a regular basis. It might be a one off birthday meal that they’ve carefully had to budget for, and rather than spending £10 extra on staff who are already paid at least minimum wage, perhaps the same as they are earning themselves, with tips on top from other people, that £10 can be spent on something that they or their children need. Suggesting that people need to pay a charitable donation to staff who could in fact be better off than them (plenty of waiting staff are teenagers living with their parents, mums working part time with spouses earning a comfortable main income, in the summer it’s students back at home for the holidays, they don’t live off their wage, it’s essentially pocket money to some people) don’t deserve to go out for food is ludicrous and completely out of touch.

Exactly.
lots of forgetting that paying customers you know are paying for all the restaurants’ costs. Including the server’s wages.

Well then it sounds like we agree more than I thought. Neither of us tips 100% of the time! Wait staff are paid minimum wage, so I’m not contributing to any problem when I do choose to tip

Some people can't afford it. OP gave £2 she has utter cheek and so do you.

Lots of people will earn similar to a waitress or a food chain. It's a joke too because I went to a restaurant which was Lucia in York recently and I asked about how tips are given.... the manager/supervisor took a percent and the rest "allegedly" goes to staff.

I would rather give a staff member the money personally (I know some places won't allow this).

lyinwitch

I didn't say I avoided serving them did I?
I served them knowing they probably would not tip and you know it is disheartening when you are getting 4 quid an hour back then so yes I was happy when I did not get certain people who we could predict would not tip because yes 99 pc of the time we could predict which people would not tip because that is how it is- certain kinds of people don't tip and it is about 10 pc of customers so the people on this thread saying they don't tip are in that minority and you can defend your choie as much as you like but know that waiters hearts drop when they see you enter their restaurants and when they go to clear your mess up and find no tip.

Yes as a student unable to access loans I took the job that I was able to do around my full time during the day study, which was evening work in a restaurant as a waitress and that is the deal- you depend on tips and 90 pc of the population just understand that is how it is and now I as a customer understand that and I leave 20% when I eat out because of this.

Carry on not tipping and sticking to your I don't agree with tipping excuse principles that saves you a few measley quid. Go watch the opening scenes of Reservoir Dogs on Youtube whilst you are at it. Don't think the servers don't notice, they do and know that you are in a minority in the utterly devoid of generosity choice you are making so there you go. Most people tip, thanks to those 90 % you helped me get my degree 20 years ago.

Well I also do tip sometimes, can I join the club? :D
Was in Cornwall recently and most pub/restaurant staff were brilliant. Patiently explaining the specials, alcohol choices , had a bit of good chat. A lovely atmosphere. Was happy to leave a big tip.

But in a lot of city restaurants recently all they do is bring the food. You order and pay on the app. Food and drink appears, put down without a word. You eat and leave.

I fail to see how that deserves a tip.

Haha of course. Yeah I see what you mean there. I also find that those places often add gratuity, which is a bit of a cheek! That frustrates me, when it is taken out of my hands completely and the service is poor.

I feel like this thread is getting a bit toxic. Someone said I have my “tribe” and they theirs, and I don’t view it that way and really wouldn’t like others too. So I’m sorry my comments were judgy, I had a knee jerk response to the question but I’m not looking down on people who can’t afford to tip. It’s just drilled into me to do it as standard. Let’s not all pretend there’s a huge divide here, because I don’t think there is. Seems like we all worry tips don’t reach the right people, none of us want to tip bad service, and all of us tip when the service is great.

chiweenie you're back-tracking now.

Your tipping practice means nothing to me and who even knows what's the truth? You said you dodged customers. How would you know which ones were going to tip/not tip? I can't imagine you had repeat business if that was accepted practice and no, you didn't earn your wage.

Lol at all these rumours of ever increasing staff wages!!
Must be the same source of information that gives pearls of wisdom like "those on Universal credit get their houses furnished for free didn't you know?"

The minimum wage is 9.50. Some places might be paying a tenner an hour. I'm not talking about Cornwall in summer obviously! But then with rents in Cornwall all waiting staff would be homeless (or just not there) on NMW only.

Dunno what the solution is but the cluster shaft of increasing cost of living plus tipping going "out of fashion" probably will end up with all uf us ordering food McDonald's style everywhere.

This.

Tipping is such a polarised topic, there are people who have a COMPLETELY random list of those who must be tipped otherwise you’re a Bad Person. And those who wish to exercise common sense and refuse to subsidise pithy wages of the establishments we visit.