Re American views on tipping.
We stayed in a hotel in Newport Rhode Island many years ago and arriving late we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant.
We were kept waiting at the entrance (sign said wait to be seated) then even though there were empty tables we were asked to sit at the bar until the table was ready. We had a drink each and eventually a waiter came up, led us to a table and disappeared.
Long wait for the menus, long wait to place our order, long wait for the food to arrive.
Food wasn't particularly great, we weren't too impressed by then, called for the bill and I paid it and we went up to our room.
It was about 11:00 p.m. by then and we were ready to turn in for the night. Then there was a knocking on the door. I asked who it was and the reply was that it was our waiter. Opened the door and he explained that we hadn't settled the bar bill. I apologised and signed for it. He then went into a rant that I hadn't left a tip in the restaurant, how was he supposed to work his way through college without tips etc etc. I said no tip because neither of us were pleased with the service or the food and closed the door.
We were both quite annoyed by this and my wife called the duty manager who after hearing what she had to say invited us down for a nightcap. He explained that regardless of the level of service, in the States the custom is that you tip, usually 15%. We explained that in Europe a tip is usually considered to be discretionary.
Next morning we came down for breakfast and saw that overnight signs had been put up saying "For the benefit of foreign visitors it is customary to tip staff 15% for services rendered".