by minimus 40 Replies latest jw friends
If you go to a restaurant, do you tip and typically how much? If you were given a 90 minute time frame to eat at a restaurant, would that restriction limit your tipping to the waitress or waiter?
Also if you order a coffee and donut and pick it up, do you contribute to the “tip jar” that’s on the counter??
There are a few places we visit a lot more than others (favourite pub and kebab shop) and often have a good chat with the owners or the wait staff to the point that we all know names and about each others lives and family and they know our usual orders or want feedback on new menu items.
I'll normally tip 20-30% at those places depending on how much I'm spending in total. It doesn't have to be somewhere we frequent, I tip the same wherever the service has been good.
I'm way more inclined to tip at an independent store than a fast-food chain but thinking about it, I am more likely to also tip at somewhere like Subway, but can't remember tipping at McDonalds - I guess it's that the former has more of a "personally made" aspect to it rather than just buying a product? For the same reason you don't tip the cashier at Walmart ...
I also tip food delivery drivers well, because it feels like they do more work to deliver your food and especially if it is miserable and cold out. We also tip at the bottle recycling because I wouldn't want to do that job and I doubt they get paid a lot.
Right now, there are a lot of people hurting and people's jobs in restaurants can disappear in a flash with the lockdowns, so if you're doing OK and have a good income I think you have a duty not to be stingy.
I tip on the bases of the quality for the entire experience.
From the table settings and comfort while seated, the time for the prepared food to come to are table, the waiter's attentive behavior and finally the quality of the prepared food.
I've left a 20% tip on occasion right down to only leaving a 5% tip if things went totally wrong.
I have also on occasion tactfully stated to the check out person what I found was wrong with the dinning experience.
The thing is I only go to restaurants that I know that are good from personal referrals.
I always tip, it's a dick move not to here in the US. I either tip at the expected 15% or maybe a little more if the service or food was fantastic.
I always tip. Its a given. Poor service gets 15-20. Often mistakes are not the fault of the person you are tipping. Good service gets 20-25%.
IMO, if you don't tip (and i dont care what your reason is) you're a jerk and/or a cheapskate.
I have started asking the waiter/waitress if the service charge which has been added to the bill goes directly to them. If it does, I opt to keep the service charge in with the main bill and I pay it all together. If the waiter/waitress says the service charge goes towards staff salaries/costs etc (which I think is not allowed in some countries any more) I do not include it in the main payment. I opt to have it removed from the bill. I then pay the bill and on my way out I give the waiter/waitress cash.
I am not sure if this is the best way to do it, but I hate to think the restaurant adds the service charge and then keeps it. Am I doing this right?
If I buy a coffee or cake at the counter, I always put some change in the tip jar. I am assuming the staff share it out. I'd hate to think the restaurant owner keeps it
R
Serious question: is it true that Brits typically give measly tips??
I always tip well - 20-25%, however lately, because service has been limited, I tip less.
Example:
There are places where they don't even give you a menu anymore, you have to go online and scan a code. Because printing a sheet of paper and either laminating it so you could wipe it or just giving you the damn piece of paper is so darn expensive? It's what 1 or 2c of a modern laser printer? I don't tip there as much, because I have to do all the effort to find and order food on a screen when I just told my kids they couldn't have a screen. Sure it saves THEM money, and COVID is just an excuse for them to not have to spend $50/month at the printer, but I go to restaurants to avoid my screen and take a break.
Another example:
I went to a place where they had this huge entrance space. Couldn't wait there, I had to wait with my family of 5 outside in the cold for 30 minutes. There is no government regulation right now that prevents us from waiting there, but because some patrons felt uncomfortable that 'too many people' were inside and kids would run around and those people were loud and annoying that it was "unsafe". So they now kick everyone out. Guess what: I don't have to service your restaurant either, if you cave to the woke and uninformed idiots that are loud, then have just them as your guest.
On the other hand:
I went to another restaurant, treated us nicely, owner talked with us across the tables. They did their best to accommodate us and the kids, didn't complain when the 3 year old didn't want to mask to go to the bathroom. That waiter got a good tip, because they understand that having 3 kids is hard and you go to the restaurant so you don't have to do dishes and need a break.
Tipping was never as big of a thing in the UK. Part of that is that I don't think people generally eat out as much.
Maybe it's changed now.
Sorry, but not tipping because they are not handing out menus which is a good idea right now? That sounds like an excuse to justify it to yourself.
Likewise, waiting outside - these are often rules mandated on restaurants or the view that people don't want to see tightly packed groups of people. Punishing the wait staff for it is petty and low and again it sounds like an excuse more than a legitimate reason.
You should tip more now because wait staff are facing extra challenges, often having to wear masks and wipe things down more thoroughly and more often and the volume of visitors is often less - fewer covers means fewer people who potentially tip, so make up for those people who chose to be assholes.
I hate tip jars at fast food places. They aren't doing anything but putting stuff in a bag. Usually I still tip depending on my mood.
Pretty much 20%+ for reasonable service or better at a restaurant. A time limit probably wouldn't change that.
I've left low or no tips a couple times for terrible service.
i.e. nobody came and asked if I needed anything, I had to get up and go get something for myself.
Usually this happens at the type of place where they split jobs. Someone takes your order and someone else brings it. I tend to tip lower at those types of places in general because I don't know who I'm actually tipping.
I try to leave tips in cash when I have it.
One place I frequent told me that the bartender gets tipped on your drinks whether or not the wait staff got tipped. So a zero tip might cost your waitperson some money.
