Topic: tipping

[grawrc]

I went out for dinner with my kids the other night and left a tip for the waiter. (It's our local Italian restaurant and they always treat us like royalty.) Anyway it left me wondering about tipping? Who do you tip (if anyone)? Hairdressers, taxi drivers, plumbers? And if you do tip, is it a random amount or a percentage?

Personally I find the whole concept a bit old-fashioned and slightly demeaning for the person being tipped. Kind of treating them like servants? What do you all think?

[ACE]

It's about time they started tipping gardeners.

[InfraDig]

I would like to see us have the New Zealand approach to tipping. There they take umbrage if you tip.

[emmy1978]

I do tip waiting staff but only if they are excellent, as I was an excellent waitress and bloody appreciated my tips. If you feel the person deserves it it's because they've worked their butts off to make sure you have a lovely night out instead of being a clumsy, sullen oaf with all the charm of a slug which is all the minimum wage covers.
I don't tip hairdressers as my last cut cost me £30 and I was only there for 45 mins. Pretty good hourly rate already there i think.
I didn't tip my postie this year as he's so nice and friendly and quite a bit older than us and I did feel like giving him a fiver was a bit demeaning so i gave him a choc orange and a bottle of wine. The last one was only young so I put a fiver in a card and he seemed pretty chuffed. I give the bin-men beer as there's loads of them-they seemed pretty chuffed with that.
I also tipped the lad who laid our carpets as he was only young and did such a great, tidy job, cleared up and put all the furniture back.
I add on a quid in a taxi if they are nice and jolly and I say "One for yourself" to great bar staff too.  ;D

[Mr Smith]

Try not to tip in the States and see the service you get, YUCkkkkkkkkkkk, :)

[detailista]

My take on tipping is that it should be a recognition of service given over and above the mere function of the role and I'll tip when I know the person is on a low-ish wage.  

Hairdresser - £3-£5
Taxi - I round up, usually £1-£2
Waiters - depends on the cost of meal and the service provided, usually 10-20%
but I won't tip if the service was lacking and I try to check that the tip is going to the waiter not the restaurant.

I tipped a locksmith a tenner on christmas eve - he came out on christmas eve within half an hour and only charged £40 (and didn't charge for replacing the entire barrel!)  

I never found it demeaning to be tipped when I waitressed - my wages were so low (before the days of minimum wage) that I couldn't have coped on just my wages, it encouraged me to give every person the best service I could- not because I expected a tip but because it created a culture of excellent service (even for repeat customers who we knew didn't tip!)  

[emmy1978]

I do think tipping encourages good service. It depends very much on the restaurant. I remember my first tip, I was so pleased, I knew I'd done good.  ;D As Detailista says though-it's got to go to the waiter not the restaurant.

I was chambermaiding at a hotel (5*) when I was 16. Staying in one of my rooms was the most charming elderly couple. He, the image of an old colonel from an Agatha Christie, she a delight of lavender talc and pearls. I had a little chat on their first morning with the Colonel-I promised to keep them well stocked with the nice bedside biccies and he pressed 10p into my hand. I was a bit surprised but had a  ::) moment and carried on. He did this every morning for 5 days and on the 5th day his wife came rushing up to me and said "My husband hasn't been tipping you has he?" I was again a bit taken aback but said yes, he had. she looked mortified and said "My dear-you must have thought him mad" and gave me £20. Apparently he hadn't known the value of money for quite some years and was therefore not allowed to have any.  ;D ;D ;D

[coznbob]

Speaking as a waitress, Yes you should tip ;D

Seriously though, if you have have good service why wouldn't you? It really isn't demeaning, most waiters/waitresses rely on their tips to bulk up their wages. Maybe it does seem a little outdated, but to me is necessary.

When, very rarely, we do go out, I almost always leave a tip. OH and I sometimes bicker about this, but even if the food wasn't as expected etc. it is usually not the waiting staffs fault, if they are attentive then they get a tip. Even during busy times when you can't always get the waiting staffs attention immediately, its not their fault so they still get a tip. But maybe because I work as a waitress I am more aware of the aching feet, burnt hands on ridicuously hot plates and wrist aches  ::) But if the restaurant gets the money, then the jury is out on that one.

Also will tip taxis, hairdressers etc, because to me it is rude not to, but that is only my opinion.

[lewic]

I usually tip in restaurants, but not if the service is lousy.

Someone I used to know got locked in a restaurant when they tried to leave after deducting the service charge from their bill. Unfortunately for the owner this person was a barrister and called the police on their mobile (back in the days when they were the size of house bricks and hardly anyone had them). The police turned up and the owners were fined for false imprisonment.

[Hyacinth]

In the US, in the region I visit, 15% in restaurants is the norm & I've never had a prob with that - there again, I've never had bad service.

Here I use taxis, eat out, drink in bars, etc. a lot, and always tip good service tho there's no percentage calculated - I round up and add a bit :) My wonderful postie gets a Christmas/Easter tip and the binmen used to when the same men did the same route :-\ Bad service gets no reward (like a taxi driver who reckoned he was paid to drive but not to help with luggage etc. Fairy nuff, and I'm sure he didn't complain when I paid him only the amount on the clock - and waited for me change....or did he? ;D)

Take on board that gardeners' customers don't usually tip - tho some do. The others? OK by me - I charge them 50p an hr extra  ;D ;D ;D

[Sparkly]

I am a bit unsure on tipping myself. Waiting staff, for example, may be on minimum wage but so are alot of other workers who don't get tips. I don't like the idea that a company is taking a decent wack of money from you, but paying the staff poor wages. It is the company's responsibility to pay fair wages not the customers responsibility. Saying this, I do still usually tip if I think the service is good. Similar for my hairdresser. It is far from cheap. It costs £60 for highlights and a cut and takes less than an hour with low overheads too. But, saying this I know the girl that does it is probably taking home a low wage so I give something to say thank you to her.

I don't like it, but I still do it. Maybe it is habit or that I feel the social pressure to do it. Maybe it is because I feel for the person who is getting a low wage.

[Ninnyscrops.]

Not a lot of people know this but...........you can ask for the "service charge" to be removed from the bill, if you pay by debit or credit card, and give it to the waiter! Some restaurants say by adding it to the bill, it allows them to pay the waiting staff more............but imho the restaurant gets a good chunk of it too.

Ninny

[Paulines7]

I disagree with tipping postmen or binmen.  They are only doing their job and get paid a reasonable wage for doing it. 

I tip my hairdresser because her fees are so low and I always double what she asks for.  My haircut last week cost £2.50 so I gave her £5.  She did a good job too and when I had it done I had several people say how lovely my hair looked.  She works for herself and I go to her home so that is why it is a lot cheaper than a salon.  I used to pay over £15 to have a cut before I moved here ten years ago.

I always tip waiters and waitresses as their wages are very low. 

[emmy1978]

I tip my postie as he is so nice. On my daughter's birthday this year he rang the bell and handed her all her cards and her parcel and wished her happy birthday. I tip the bin men so they take any extra stuff I want to get rid of!  ;D