Do you usually Tip on top of the bill when you eat out?

[LunarLass]

Hi everyone,
Just curious, how many of you usually leave a tip when you eat out?
I generally don't, but the other day, we went out with some friends who always tip. This time, I stuck to paying just for what we ordered—no tip—and you should've seen the looks on our friends' faces! Our bill came to £55, so it wasn't exactly cheap, to be honest. The meal was lovely, no complaints there; it's just that I don't usually tip out of principle, since they're getting paid for their job like anyone else

It's about time restaurants/cafes, etc. calculate the cost of the food, including service and any other amount they want to charge - and put that as the cost of the food on the menu. Upfront, so customers know exactly what they're paying.

Perhaps then the ones worth their salt would pay their staff what they think they're worth and the establishments that don't will fall by the wayside. Everybody wins.

Parsimony is not an attractive quality

This scene always plays in my head when these threads come up 😁

if you rely on tips then you need to get a job that earns more

I live in Scotland too and was not brought up to tip unless getting exceptional service although I sometimes do tip depending on service but certainly not always.

Not all restaurants are equal and not all menus are qr codes.

gotmyknickersinatwist, cool gif but what's your point? Where is your concern for the other minimum wage staff who are not tipped? Relying on a gratuity to cover your bills isn't ideal, is it?

Everytime these threads come up I think of care workers/nursing staff and others who provide services that by rights, ought to be far better paid and aren't. They don't even get tips and there's no Mumsnet thread breast-beating about that.

If and when I do receive exceptional service then I very much make a point of (quietly) appreciating it. I leave the rest of the noisy shrapnel tipping to the bosom hoickers here.

I’m mid fifties and I have always tipped in restaurants - where the heck were these non-tippers living that they think leaving a tip is an American habit that ‘crept in’? My parents are in their 80s and always tip.

If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out. My Dad taught me that. He also said:
”Never trust a cheap tipper. If they’re stingy when they think they can get away with it, you can do better.”

He had a point. Mr Pink is not a goal.

NB - The service charge is generally split between front of house and kitchen staff.

I do tip, just rounded up to nearest few quid I suppose though I'd rather not. I never pay service charge though and find it bloody cheeky when it's added on. More and more common these days and they think people won't notice. I even had service charge added on to a cup of coffee the other day!

@MissPobjoysPonies I realise that, but I was responding to a comment that was talking generally.
And while it may not be an QR code that gives allergen info, it probably won't be the waiter. It will be a book. DH has an anaphylactic allergy and we've never had a waiter who has known the allergen info by heart. Which is fine. I wouldn't expect them to - I think they're required to have it written down somewhere anyway, and I think DH would rather rely on a menu than someone's memory.
It's just that it's silly to say that being a waiter is harder because they must know all the allergy information.

I always tip and would have the same reaction as your friends if one of my friends refused to tip, unless the service was really bad of course.

Always. Typically 20% unless the service is poor. As you may have guessed, I'm in the US, but whenever I come home to the UK I tip the same. I once left a 20% tip on the best Indian meal I'd ever had (it was one of those "three courses for £20 on a Wednesday" places) and the waiter came back to check that I really meant it!

Always - unless the service was diabolical

If there is a service charge added, I leave it at that

If not, then between 10-15%

I see it as just one of those things where service is paid for separately from the food - food cost is per the menu, service is on top and depends on the quality of service provided

If service is added I wouldn't tip but I do otherwise if it's a proper restaurant and we've had a good experience.

Good luck with that; the very worst employers will carry on regardless, but fortunately there's always the option to work for someone else

Like so maany others I won't tip for poor or mediocre service, but certainly will if they've made a real effort - unless of course service is already added, in which case not

Always.. if we are paying by card.. we make sure we have some cash for the tip.
I don't know anyone who doesn't in my family and friends circle... if they didn't want to.. l would think them very mean

in the UK yes we do... but its based on the service we have received, we don't always tip.. and we always give cash to our waiter/waitress because if it gets added to the bill.. they don't see it

Depends a proper restaurant with proper service, yes. A chain where you order on an app, no.

This makes no sense to me. Do you tip everyone else on minimum wage?

Sometimes I find there is no way to tip. Paid on card, no facility to add a tip on the card reader and I have no cash on me. I assume they have a no tip policy and go about my day.

We don't generally tip when we eat out as a family. However, if we were eating out as part of a larger group of friends, and others wanted to tip, we would do the same so as not to embarass others / ourselves esp if it's only a few pounds on a rare gathering. And I always tip my hairdresser as she comes to my house, is loyal and punctual and she fits me in at short notice.

I honestly think it's just young people assuming it's some modern American import like baby showers or something but it's not. My grandmother was born in 1910 and always tipped at restaurants, cafes, hairdresser etc. Tipped the porter at hotels. She was always tipping.

I don't routinely tip when eating out, though sometimes round up the bill. It feels like an Americanism to me, the fact that its apparently become expected.
I don't particularly understand why wait staff deserve more money for doing their jobs than other minimum wage jobs that don't have the culture of tipping.
That being said, I do know that its a flash point for some people, so when eating out with friends, I just follow their lead and round up if everyone is leaving a tip. However, I've noticed that people tend to leave 0-5% tips that seem to bear no relation to the actual service received.

You said 'if you rely on tips then you need to get a job that earns more'
It's Tommy Cooper in the gif. His catchphrase was 'just like that'.

ETA Relying on a gratuity to cover your bills isn't ideal, is it?
I would argue that if someone relies on tips to pay their bills, then they have a problem with managing their money. When I was single & child-free on a minimum-wage hospitality job I lived within my means. Now, as a parent, I would struggle on minimum wage. Friends who work full-time on minimum wage need UC to top-up. That shouldn't be the case. Minimum wage should be enough to support yourself on.

It's not just care workers/nursing staff and others who provide services who ought to be far better paid.
You could apply your argument to those professions too, that they need to get a job that earns more if they can't support themselves on their pay. Minimum wage simply isn't enough for most people.
Oh, and for what it's worth, I believe care workers should be paid much much more than they currently are, which is, I believe, typically minimum wage. They do an INCREDIBLE job.

Always at least 10%, unless service charge was included.