Do you tip?

I've always tipped waiters 10 to 15%. Taxi drivers a couple of quid extra, hairdresser as long as it's not their own business. Occasionally others if I think they've gone above and beyond.
America is ridiculous. They want tipping for something that might take them seconds and you didn't ask for in the first place.
It's often a difficult line to follow and there are occasions where I tip reluctantly where it is the norm but waiting staff..always ...unless they've been crap.
My other half is a waitress. A bloody good one. She brought her daughter up on a very low wage in an area where the hotel/restaurant business is th overwhelming source of jobs. She worked split shifts, was treated like crap by one hotel she worked at. The tips made a difference.
Very few people do that job because they're paid well or have good working conditions. If you can't tip them a few quid it's a poor show.

 

Had a meal out yesterday. Amazing service and food was delicious The bill came, no mention of a tip/service charge at all. Made a pleasant surprise amd of course I left a tip.

 

I go along with his. 15% is ridiculous!

 

What's all this uk doesn't normally tip. It might be the case now.
But id say lots in the not too distant past. Tipped cafe/restaurant staff. Taxi drivers. On a good service basis. Most I know still do.
and definitely at Xmas. Posties. Binmen and Milkman.
We once had a meal in london though, (many since) and it was the first time I'd come across a service charge. On the bill. Because the meal was on a dine out type deal. 50% off. I'd say it was an average price of up north. But the service charge was based on full price. Mrs was not amused and told em to remove it and we'd give what we would do normally.

 

Fully agree. A service charge built into the bill is ridiculous and I'm highly suspicious of whether it actually goes to the staff.

 

I'd tip in a restaurant if the service has been good. More out of habit really, it's something I've always done, as my parents did when I was growing up. Never more than a fiver though.

I sort of leave one when I go for a haircut too. It's £9 for a haircut where I go, and cash only, so I usually say call it a tenner.

 

I never carry cash these days and unless the machine offers a tip option I find the whole tipping thing really awkward. I sometimes will ask if they can add a tip to it if its been v good but still I find it awkward.

 

These days In the UK, we tend to tip if the staff have been friendly , and have generally made the experience pleasant rather than routinely and never if the place tries to force it on us.

 

It's been made law that it as to go to the staff so hopefully it does.

 

Always leave a quid on the table when leaving for the waiter/waitress especially if it's a young en doing like a Saturday job... Tip the bin washer lad at Crimbo.
Don't get taxis.. don't drink so no need.

 

Can I add that you're not just leaving a tip for your waiter/waitress. There's a load of people in the kitchen working for crap wages too.
If you can afford to eat out at three or four times the price it would cost to cook at home you can afford to add 10% for a tip.

 

I always tip 10%, as I said above, but I hate it when people post things like this. It’s up to individual people how they want to spend their money. It’s up to a business to pay their staff properly, it’s not up to the customer to subsidise their employees’ wages; our custom alone should do that.

 

In america lol. To make sure of a decent tip. On 3/4 occasions they'd bring extra deserts as there would be 8 of us. I'd mention we'd only ordered 6 say. But they'd rock up with 8 and say "you can have them I'm not taking em back tut kitchen"

 

Tip everywhere and everyone in the UK. Restaurants, delivery drivers, taxi's, my barber etc. Unless service has been poor which is very rare.

The US is insane, I work in the travel sector and there are properties that charge $3k plus per night, then of course you add on the 15% tax, then they slap on 20% service when you book, no option not to pay. When you speak to property owners about it their logic is that some guests, especially Europeans, weren't tipping staff enough, so they had to standardise!

Hotel service is also terrible in the US compared to pretty much anywhere else, so tipping large amounts grates.

 

Always tip around 10% at meals unless the food / service has been terrible.

I think if you go to places like Florida you have to accept that tipping is part of the culture even if like me you find it a bit over the top at times.

 

It should JD but it doesn't. Hotels, restaurants etc are notorious for paying really low wages and enforcing horrible shift patterns. I could point you to the biggest, best rated hotel in the Dingle Peninsula owned by a family that are super rich. Their treatment of staff is appalling. That's the reality.

 

If I was a waiter and someone left a single pound I'd assume they were trying to make some sort of point about poor service.

 

I asked the young girl at the Harvester at Glasshoughton if they shared their tips and she said they kept their own but had to give kitchen staff a percentage which imo is fair enough.