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

The last time I went to pizza hut (about 3 months ago) the only interaction I had with wait staff was when they brought the food over. That was it
I'm not tipping for that.

Do you also tip in Weather spoons? Greene King?

I don't leave a tip on anything or anywhere. There's no need.

If I get brought the food and there's an option - yes. It's a shitty job and one I've done. They deserve better pay. I hate the concept of tipping. It's shite. But it is the one we have

Or just go to Japanese restaurants where they will give you the money back if you tip.

£55 for 4 people IS really cheap. I couldn't not tip, we do absolutely every time. Usually £5, £10 or £20 depending on the price of the meal.

I tip unless it was bad service. Sometimes it's a couple of quid, sometimes 10%.

I've worked in those jobs, I know how much of a difference a small tip makes.

The service I've had in Green King has always been 10x the service I have had in Wetherspoons!

(I tip in spoons if they've been attentive. It's about 50/50. I've done a stint working for spoons and I know what they are expected to do - more don't do it than do.)

I always tip and so do the people I eat with.

If a service charge has been added no, if it hasn't it depends on type of meal eg if you order on an app, no if they take order and deliver politely a small tip, if they dance attendance all evening filling glasses, substantial

If you’ve paid just for your share then that’s fine. However, if you’ve gone out in a group of three, the bill was £55 and your friends each paid £20 (so their share plus a small tip) and you’ve then put the balance on your card, then you’re a CF and you stole from a waiter in order to get away with paying less than your share. I’ve been out with someone who did that before and made a mental note never to let them pay last again. If I go out with them I make sure that I lose my purse in my bag and only manage to fish it out after they’ve paid their share. They don’t have to tip but I’m not letting them steal my tip from the waiter.

Gosh, everyone I know in Scotland tips.
I was a waitress as a student in Glasgow I made loads of tips.
My Aussie cousins left tips when they visited this year.

Maybe it is a generation thing.

This.

Although I once got thrown out of, and banned from, a restaurant in London for refusing to tip! The food and service was dreadful, so i wasn't concerned.

Allergens was one example, again NOT everywhere is equal.

Chain restaurants are not brilliant for a lot of the things - qr code, no table service, allergens etc

however by not tipping the server who interacts, clears up after your child (Wagamama are always doing that) gives you a really great experience then you are not valuing that service any more than the qr coded restaurants. Those are places that are trying to limit the amount of staff they have, which ultimately will and does make the service poorer in general.

if service is included - don’t add it, if service is included and it was shit, don’t pay it - you can determine your own tip.

in the OPs case the friends obviously thought the service was good so couldn’t fathom why you wouldn’t pay it!

I do find myself adjusting service charges on meals where the bottle of wine comes out and the only interaction the server has is to twist the top off….. but as I say I adjust accordingly :)

I always tip 10% at table service restaurants, rounded up to the nearest round-ish number. If there's a service charge I just pay that. My parents, in their 70s, have always done the same.

I quite like service charges being added as it takes the guesswork out, but I live in fear that it will become the "new normal" to tip on top of a service charge. Please let's not start doing that.

I’d probably round up unless the service charge is included - but as there is now the National Minimum Wage and my husband who’s a chef is on it (like many others) I’m not inclined to be generous. You’re supporting the restaurant by giving them your custom far better to do that than not go at all!

Always tip between 10-20% depending on level of service. The only time I don't is if they have added a service charge or the service has been terrible

And?
go do something more interesting instead! And yes I didn’t start the sentence with a capital to give you something to get angry about

Never tip if service is included but do tip otherwise - unless service is shit.

so what do all other minimum wage earners who don't get tips do then, if waiters need to 'rely' on extra money other industries don't get?

I rarely tip because the whole point is it is supposed to be a reward for service that is above and beyond, not just to supplement someone's wages because you think they might earn less than you. If service is particularly good then I might tip but usually it's rubbish or just standard.

I live in Scotland and there’s tipping everywhere?
I always tip unless service is already included.

The service I've had in both, has nearly always been far better than anywhere else.

I once tipped a bar manager in Greenking despite the fact I didn't even get anything in there. And wrote a note to their head office. He was phenomenally helpful, went above and beyond. In fact if I recall correctly I tipped, and then my stepdad went in the next day and bought him and the staff (they'd been working the night previously) a drink, including the kitchen staff.

so what do all other minimum wage earners who don't get tips do then, if waiters need to 'rely' on extra money other industries don't get?

I think, @easylikeasundaymorn, that by "rely on it" people actually mean "I'm used to getting it now and don't want it to stop", which isn't really a justification for tipping now we have minimum wage

As said I'm one of those who does tip, but that's because I choose to thank those who've made a special effort. Any suggestion that it's an expectation instead, or a well rehearsed story about how "the manager never shares the service charges" and that's the tip gone

Not read any replies.

No, I never tip. There are lots of other jobs that also get paid extremely badly that don't expect tips.

As I have said many times before, I didn't tip the doctors and midwives that delivered my children so why would I tip someone for carrying my food and drink to a table?

I'd happily carry my own food and order at a counter myself. I don't need someone to do it for me and then expect me to pay them extra for the 'luxury' and faux niceties they put on to try to get me to tip them as much as possible.

My opinion on this will never change, no matter how many people tell me how badly they're paid and how awful I am, sorry.

I dont tip, due to minimum wage. When there was no minimum wage, service staff were paid a pittance as customers usually tipped (I was a waitress).

Why tip waiting staff when they're paid the same as retail staff etc?

You embarassed yourself for the sake of a couple of quid 👏

I have worked in restaurants and bars most of my life, including working in management in some very high end London bars. I don’t tip unless the service is exceptionally good. I often have a McDonald’s and the service is better there than many standard restaurants and yet people don’t feel the need to tip there.

Also, having worked in restaurants myself I know that quite often the member of staff you tip has to share their tip(s) with the whole team; which seems unfair - yes you could argue that the whole team makes the shift run well, but quite often it’s that one particular person that has earned that tip and they don’t see all of it.