ChatterBank1 min ago
to tip or not to tip, that is the question?
what do other people consider right regarding tipping?
I thought tipping was a way for people to reward staff who have been especially attentive and gone beyond the call of duty. not something that is practically demanded and even added to your bill without your permission!
I don't see why we are expected to supplement their wages. Their bosses should be made to pay them a decent wage instead of relying on the generosity of the customers to pick up the slack
I find i get increasingly annoyed at people who expect tips regardless of the level of service they have provided and who get visibly irritated when they don't think you have given them enough.
why also are we expected to tip some people but not others? and even when sevice has been appalling.
is it too much to expect people to do the job they are employed to do by their boss and by us to a decent standard and not dependant on a reward?
we don't tip shop assistants who show us where the item we want is, carry it to the till for us, bag it up or even gift wrap it for us, yet we are expected to tip someone who has merely performed the job we are already paying them to do, such as a taxi driver? - and particularly when you are already paying over the odds for something anyway.
the amount of times i have been grossly over charged for pizza, and taxis because they either think you won't know or that if its the weekend you might be too drunk to notice
and why tip the pizza delivery boy? why not tip the person who has actually cooked your food?
we don't tip postmen. we don't tip binmen. we don't tip our doctor, or bus driver, or cinema usher.
I am not adverse to tipping i just don't like being made to feel like i have no choice
its all a bit strange. who made these unwritten rules i wonder. what do you think?
Answers
No best answer has yet been selected by joko. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I usually give tips but I try to relate it to service and nothing else. (e.g. If I've had good food with poor service, I'll either leave a very small tip or none at all. If I've had revolting food but with efficient and friendly service, I'll probably still leave a fairly large tip for the waiter). I suppose my only exception might be when I've had an outstanding meal + outstanding service, then I'll leave a really big tip. (I've given a �60 tip on a �90 bill before now).
And what's this about not tipping bin-men? You mean I shouldn't have handed over that �20 note at Christmas? (I was brought up with the rule that the bin-men, postman, newspaper boy, milkman and breadman all receive tips at Christmas. This was on an impoverishered council estate. Any neighbour who didn't do this would have been ostracised for months!)
In some countries, e.g. Singapore, it's illegal to give or receive tips. All that happens is that people seem to 'forget' to give you your change!
Chris
The worst restaurant in Britain for this is the Ravi Shankar in Drummond street London. I paid for a �35 meal for two and found out that if you pay by credit card as I did, the waiter doesn't get the �5 tip the owner keeps it even though he wasn't even there when we were served.
Adding 15% to bills for meals should be made illegal.
Now the Canadians are more subtle they say �Do you need any change� (nice one)
and on a cruise ship you are told what you should give the head waiter, the waiter, buzz boy, and the chambermaid �2 to �3 per day each per person and your charged an extra 15% on any drinks you buy, like Joko is saying you are expected to subsidies their wages and when this becomes the norm the service drops
Yes I do tip but I decide what I think the service is worth