To stop tipping?

[DavAtTheCampaignForMoreBankHolidays]

Like ever?

Everything is already so expensive and sometimes the people Im paying earn more than I do.

I know some people will say that if I cant afford to tip the hairdresser, I cant afford to go there and maybe that's true. But when my cut and colour is already £160, an extra 10% is a lot.

Last time I ate out, the server showed us to the table, then pointed out the QR code to order, then disappeared until she bought our food and pointed out the QR code to pay. We didnt see her again. Then when we paid, the app had the cheek to ask for a 20% tip!

DH and our youngest went to Yo Sushi yesterday. As everyone knows, you kind of help yourself to whatever you want from the conveyer belt, unless you want to order something hot.
Anyway, we ordered drinks, which took an age to come and then had to ask if they’d forgotten us.
At the end of our meal we had to go and look for someone to pay and they calculated the bill based on our sushi plates.
The server told us the amount and highlighted it automatically included the service charge. I told him to take it off. It really really REALLY boils my p!ss.
If I choose to tip for great service, that’s down to me. I hate this seemingly new culture, where they are reliant on people being too polite to ask for an added service charge to be removed.

I do tip at restaurants but I remember years ago a gratuity being added to a cup of coffee! Generally though I don’t tip if all they are doing is taking my order at the counter then delivering a cup to me.
In the States it has become ridiculous- went into a bakery to order a couple muffins to take away and the card reader asked how much I’d like to tip. Nothing was my answer. I have been followed in a NY restaurant because the waiter didn’t think we’d tipped enough. We had both said to each other that the waiter was a bit rude while we were eating so left a minimum amount. When he stopped us the manager was standing there and asked us why. We said because we didn’t think the service was very good and that the waiter was a bit rude. The manager said ‘maybe it was you who was rude’!! We took our tip back (the waiter was holding it out in disgust) and walked out.

I used to tip 10% unless the service was bad, or the food fell below standard. Now I don’t tip. Maybe if service was outstanding, but in my experience that’s rare these days. More often than not the server does the minimum.
I think tipping as standard is not necessary, as others have said, we have minimum wage and many of us do similar jobs without expecting customers to top up wages.

Nobody should be tipping. We have minimum wage and it’s completely unnecessary not to mention arbitrary. Why tip a waiter and not a checkout operator? It makes no sense and just ups the ante for everyone.

I don't know why people need a tip for doing the job they are paid to do.

No one tips for administrative work done in an office or retail staff. Why are waiters, taxi drivers, hairdressers and luggage handlers treated differently?

I’d not go to restaurants if I couldn’t afford to tip. It’s part of the deal, imo.

Genuine question:

Do you tip in McDonalds / Subway / Pret / Costa etc? If you don’t, why not?

It’s not though. There is no deal.

Just had this discussion with friends, we went out for food and had friendly staff but mediocre service, we had to ask for the table to be cleared, ask for more drinks, ask for cutlery, the staff did the bare minimum but in a friendly manner, then the bill came with 12.5% discretionary service charge of £27 . We asked for it to be taken off and left a £10 tip instead.

No it’s not, it’s discretionary in most places

We have started taking service charge off at restaurants which is automatically on the bill. Every time. More people need to do it though if they don’t want it to be the norm.

I hate the automatic tip that gets added now. I feel like they add 12.5% because it’s a bit more than I’d imagine the average Brit tips (probably 10%), but not so much more that people ask for it to be removed.

I never tip.

I HATE tipping. We all get the same minimum wage, why should you get extra on top for bringing a few plates out?

Now NMW has increased I've reverted from tipping generally to tipping for excellent service. And I don't necessarily give 10% - it depends.

The last meal we did. I gave 15 percent. It was a bring your own drink place, the food was fab and not over expensive and they brought us glasses and ice and no corkage fee.

They deserved it.

I'm happy nowadays to not leave one though, or less.

I don't agree that the indication for a tip is excellent service - it should be purely the customer's wish. For example, we are not fussy patrons at all, no food allergies or restrictions, we don't ask the waiter for recommendations or questions about food, the children are grown up so we don't make mess which takes effort to clean up, etc. We are given menus, decide between us what we want, place the order, then latet we confirm to the waiter that yes, all is great when they ask, and then we request the bill. We are always very friendly and polite but there is really not much room for "going above and beyond", we just don't require it. So no, I don't see how the waiter deserves extra for basically just doing their job with us. Maybe, some other table will indeed need something which would give the waiter a chance to demonstrate "an excellent service" - and they can tip then.

But why? Why restaurants? Why not every other service you get from someone on minimum wage?

If we are talking about basic pay, why do waiting on/hospitality get special recognition for tips for doing their job?

Supermarket staff, hospital/factory/school cleaners, and petrol station staff etc arent recognised for their service and typically on lower earnings.

Business owners need to pay a decent amount and quit relying on auto tipping which is now becoming "the norm". Cant the customer decide?

I dont typically tip 20% by default. I am on not much more than Min Wage but I wont be announcing that the the waiter... I dont get tips in my employment so realistically they could be earning more than me.

It would be a v special occasion or service received to warrant that. I would usually leave 5 to 10 pounds, if bill £100+ and felt staff were hospitible/attentive. Others may feel they can and want to auto tip or pay more. Good for them!

Minimum wage being what it is I don’t tip any more
certainly don’t tip the hairdresser - I only go in for a colour touch up and blast dry - 5 mins putting the colour on and then I sit reading my phone for 45 mins and then she returns and takes 5 mins to shampoo off and 5 mins for a blast dry - at a cost of £55 that works out an hourly rate of £220!!!

I tip a taxi driver (because we live out of town and they may not easily get a return fare)

I tip my hairdresser (because they listen to me and cut my hair just as I want) and because they have a sharp pair of scissors in their hands

I tip restaurants that give good service and enhance my experience.

But I will not tip for someone to add hot water to a teabag.

I hate hate hate the 'automatic' added 12.5% that I have to ask to be removed.

I only tip in restaurants, nowhere else. I don't even tip in all restaurants - if I have ordered via QR code on my phone and paid by card before I have even met any staff, then I don't tip. All they have done is bring the food to my table. I don't carry cash any more so can't leave anything on the table.

Why should restaurant staff be tipped?

I don't understand UK tipping culture - everyone is on at least min wage - would you tip your checkout assistant? The asda driver? So why a waiter and why a hairdresser??

Do people still tip? Really? In the UK? Why?

As has been said, everyone is paid National Minimum Wage or more. No need to tip anyone. Hairdressers (when they were starting out) and waiting staff, and some hotel staff (like porters) got shite pay, so it was nice to leave a tip, as it boosted their wages. But now, they get paid as much as everyone else. ( on NMW.) So tipping them is weird. And unnecessary.

No-one tips the bank clerk, the GP receptionist, the checkout operator in Aldi, the admin assistant at the council, the postman, the person on the counter in HMV or Game or Boots or Savers, or the person who brings your online shop from Morrisons, or the person serving in McDonalds or Costa etc. So why do waiting staff and hairdressers need to be tipped? Never mind 'but they do a good job.' They're paid to do a good job!

Tipping has no place in the 2020s in the UK. It has no place in the 21st century actually. NMW has been a thing since 1999!

!

The bank clerk cannot accept a tip but when I worked in banking the amount of tubs of quality street etc from customers was extremely generous. I tip the postman at Christmas with some beers or a bottle of wine at Christmas, same with the bin men. The online shop delivery driver was tipped during Covid by us but now it’s whoever brings the big Christmas shop. If we stay in a hotel we always leave something for the cleaner. Never tipped the GP receptionist but I haven’t seen a GP since 2017 but If I receive good service I will speak with a manager or leave a positive review naming them. There are other ways if you can’t give something financially. The people that I work with, whenever a coworker does something above and beyond or something that others have avoided I will add comments to their annual review. The service industry can be crappy so I am more than happy to tip or leave positive feedback. If someone doesn’t want to tip, whether they don’t feel it’s necessary due to NMW, they can’t afford to or don’t agree with the concept, it doesn’t bother me. I hope they take the time to say thank you when they get good service though.