Do you tip? Who do you tip and how much?

[rich p]

In restaurants I tip well for good service. OK for OK. and Nothing for nothing. Also depends on if I'm going back. obvious? The one I get confused on is waxing. A wax is a wax and it's expensive at that. I am usually going back, but you can't really go wrong. Amy ideas? (same with hairdressers)

Is that the waxer's name?

If they do a bad job I'd tear her off a strip

 

[bauldbairn]

I tip 10 -20% in restaurants. 10% if service OK - 20% if the service is good, although if service / meal was poor I wouldn't hesitate to leave nothing(very,very unusual).

Let barstaff keep the change when I buy a round. eg; £22 bill, £25 paid - £3 tip

Let taxi drivers keep the change on a taxi journey. eg; £8 bill, £10 paid - £2 tip.

Shave my own head so don't need to tip a hairdresser.

I also tip the mechanic who services my car if the bills reasonable.(£10)

Recently found out that a local Indian restaurant I have visited for years - never passes on any of the tips left at the till to staff! Unbelievable!

In Holland my friend and I tried to tip staff for what was the best meal I'd had in years. We were working over there and had spent a good few hours in the staffs company - drinking(getting drunk). We felt we had taken up a full table for the night and tried to compensate them with a good tip(it was a small Italian family restaurant). They would have none of it said they'd enjoyed our company / and there was a service charge in the bill etc. It took some negotiating as they were adamant they wanted nothing extra - talk about culture clashes.

An ex-girlfriend who worked in New York every summer while at Uni - and was familiar with the US tipping culture. Once tried to reward poor service - obnoxious / unattentive waitressing / and poor food with a poor tip. The staff would have none of it and changed the gratuity on the bill and forced her(and friend) to sign for it. Followed by a tirade of abuse about British people!!!!!!!!! Only in America, eh!

 

[Speck]

This is what you call a tip

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...bramovich-denies-spending-29000-on-lunch.html

 

[gavintc]

I generally leave 10% of a restaurant bill in cash and will tip barbers and taxis. But I agree that the N American experience is fraught with difficulties. But, IME there was generally more aggression/arguments with the staff and management in NY and Washington than in other places I have visited over there.

We were in Italy last week on a long weekend break. The hotel staff were outstanding and in particular one of the ladies on the front desk. When I was checking out, I decided to give her a tip. She would not accept it and was most insistent that it was simply her job to provide a service.

 

[thomas]

I rarely tip. It'd only be in a restaurant and it would just be the left over money from the bill.

I'm a student though, so that few quid is a beer or dinner at home!

 

[661-Pete]

Restaurants: yes I'll tip if the service charge isn't already added, and usually cash (as has been said above, if you add it to the card payment who knows where the money goes?)

The one that really bugs me is the strictly American custom (now unhappily exported to other countries ) you get in hotels: someone has to be employed to carry your bag to your room, even though it's only a small bag and you're perfectly capable of carrying it yourself. We arrived late in the evening at a hotel in Mexico, straight off the flight: there was the inevitable 'porter' to take up our bags, and of course he loitered in the room: I hadn't had a chance to split any local currency: the smallest denomination I had was 50 pesos (then about US$7) which in those days was far too much for a tip. Should I have asked for change ? I'm afraid I chickened out and gave him the lot. He must have thought Xmas had come early (actually, it was Xmas)!

 

[User482]

I no longer tip taxi drivers - the fares in Bristol are so ridiculous that I think they earn enough already. I tip in restaurants - usually 15% if service was good, and make sure to leave it in cash so the staff get it in their pocket.

 

[Twenty Inch]

I tip my barber. It's not as if he has a knife to my throat, or anything...

 

[bauldbairn]

In Italy the hotel staff were outstanding and in particular one of the ladies on the front desk. When I was checking out, I decided to give her a tip. She would not accept it and was most insistent that it was simply her job to provide a service.

Found the same in Bavaria(Bad Neustadt, Schoenau) said it was their job - and the amazing thing was they were also incredibly happy doing it. Don't know what the comparison is in wages - to our hotel / restaurant staff though.

 

[BrumJim]

I don't tip the person who cuts my hair, but I do buy her flowers at least once a year. Oh, and cook for her most nights.

OK, I have a No.2 cut, and my wife does it.

I used to have a policy of tipping the minimum 10% for poor service, and the full 10% for good service, until I realised the fallacy of this approach.

I rarely give nothing, but tipped over 15% for exceptional service in a restaurant in Cardiff. There wasn't enough room between the tables for the waiting staff, and they wanted us in and out within 1.5 hours for the next people on the table. Despite this, we never felt rushed or left alone, and they noticed things like the wine not having arrived yet before we did.

 

[simonali]

I tip in restaurants only unless I'm in the States where you have to do it everywhere. I once gave the exact money in a place in SF for crap service and walked out without any hassle. I emailed the company when we got back home in order to complain about how poor it was, but they insisted I could only discuss over the phone with them, so I never bothered following it up.

I always carry my own bag to my room, too!

 

[Fnaar]

I'm always willing to give a tip...
e.g. always wear knee-pads when skateboarding. Don't smoke in bed, etc etc.

 

[swee'pea99]

If I get good service I always give a tip ... usually scribbled on a napkin ...

Robbie Coltrane as Cracker, getting out of a cab: 'I expect you'll be wanting a tip...don't leave your geraniums out over the winter.'

A lot of 'I tip if the service is good' on this thread...I generally tip unless the service is bad. I have been known to deduct the 'service included' from the bill when paying, explaining when challenged that if service is included then you need to include some xxxxing service.

 

[swee'pea99]

Oh, and speaking of the States, a friend was once in a supermarket queue and the till-girl wished his frail, elderly mother: 'Have a nice day.' 'Sorry dear?' she asked. 'Are you DEAF? I said have a nice day.'

 

[chap]

Those yanks, they'd charge to discuss the bloody weather.