Do you tip in a restaurant ?

Shelflife

Shelflife wrote: »

Buts its not the system, In a good restaurant they will have good staff because they pay them well, In any business the staff should be as you describe and in the clothes shop example i mentioned they too are on minimum wage, yet you dont tip them ???

So a person who doesnt tip is a freeloader??

And seriously your last line sounds like a threat.

I don't think good restaurants pay their staff well, or at least not the regular waiting staff - they work there because the tips are good because the food is expensive.

My wife worked in what was (back then) one of the best restaurants in town and the pay was a joke - this was before minimum wage.

Last line was not meant as a threat, but like anything else if they know you and like you they're going to go the extra mile. I'm not suggesting anyone is going to piss in your soup if you don't tip.

CianRyan

Shelflife wrote: »

Buts its not the system, In a good restaurant they will have good staff because they pay them well, In any business the staff should be as you describe and in the clothes shop example i mentioned they too are on minimum wage, yet you dont tip them ???

So a person who doesnt tip is a freeloader??

And seriously your last line sounds like a threat.

Everyone gets minimum wage unless they're a manager or assistant manager.
And don't forget, it's generally shift work with late nights, no overtime and feck all hours a week.

Cheeky_gal

Never understood why people "tip" in Ireland. Catering staff make a fortune in tips (I worked as a waitress for 3+ years).
During the Celtic Tiger I received tips of up to €50, went home some nights with over €100-€150 in tips.

As amazing as that was, it got very competitive among staff which in turn made the workplace a horrible atmosphere at times.

If you're been paid per hour there's absolutely no need for customers to feel the need to tip. I don't tip. It's a job.

Shelflife

Fair enough Orinico, Im not saying for one minute that the job is easy or that anyone could do it, but i do get annoyed when im out and im expected to tip 10-15 % of the meal because others at the table believe that this is what is done.

Paying a 10% tip on a bottle of wine that they are already making 300% of a mark up just gets my goat.

I will tip if the service is well above standard, I will reward you with my repeat custom if the restaurant is good.

CianRyan

Cheeky_gal wrote: »

Never understood why people "tip" in Ireland. Catering staff make a fortune in tips (I worked as a waitress for 3+ years).
During the Celtic Tiger I received tips of up to €50.

As amazing as that was, it got very competitive among staff which in turn made the workplace a horrible atmosphere at times.

If you're been paid per hour there's absolutely no need for customers to feel the need to tip. I don't tip. It's a job.

It's far from that these days, I use to be lucky with €15-€30 on a good night, generally you only get about €5-€10.
We just threw all the tips in a jar and split them depending on the hours worked that night. Get's rid of the hostility.

Cheeky_gal

CianRyan wrote: »

It's far from that these days, I use to be lucky with €15-€30 on a good night, generally you only get about €5-€10.
We just threw all the tips in a jar and split them depending on the hours worked that night. Get's rid of the hostility.

How do you know the other staff are being honest in coughing up their tips? It was a major problem in the place where I worked. It would be better to cut out tips altogether.

Aside from that, it really angers me when you actually do tip the staff and the look of disappointment in receiving a fiver for say a €30 bill is sickening! Greed

CianRyan

Cheeky_gal wrote: »

How do you know the other staff are being honest in coughing up their tips? It was a major problem in the place where I worked. It would be better to cut out tips altogether.

Aside from that, it really angers me when you actually do tip the staff and the look of disappointment in receiving a fiver for say a €30 bill is sickening! Greed

Very small place so you'd see them slip the tip no problem. Trustworthy bunch anyway.

I don't I've seen a tip that big on a bill that size. :eek:
10% or less is was the usual where I was.

MrVoracious

I can't understand what makes waiting on table more worthy of a tip than other jobs where people may work just as hard for the same little pay only without tips. Not that I don't think they deserve a tip but why shouldn't it be considered normal to tip someone who works in a bookstore, clothes shop or any other place where the shop keeper helps the customer with their queries

Lia_lia

CianRyan wrote: »

Everyone gets minimum wage unless they're a manager or assistant manager.
And don't forget, it's generally shift work with late nights, no overtime and feck all hours a week.

I work as a waitress/bartender in a hotel and get paid more than min wage Everyone does. One of the few hotels in town that pay well, but they make us work really hard! And mad hours.

Anyway, I always tip. Unless the service is awful. In the summer when I am working full time and don't have college I live on my tips and save my wages for college...so I know how much tips help!

Katgurl

Yes I always tip in a restaurant unless the service was unforgivably awful. Maybe I should discriminate more but i think it's exhausting work being on your feet all day serving people out drinking and socialising with a smile on your face. The main attraction for these jobs is the tips. Rightly or wrongly I don't think holding back the few quid is going to majorly enhance my lifestyle. Plus when deciding to eat in a restaurant I factor in the cost of a tip, if I can't afford it I don't go.

Agricola

Not really. The standard of service is generally average or much worse and the food, even in greasy spoons, is usually over priced - with a hefty service charge already factored in. Tipping isnt in our culture anyway so I don't worry about it. On the odd occasion I get great service, I will tip though.

Of course when you're out foden, its a different story. Not tipping in some countries is almost the same as giving the waiter the finger. Also if you're somewhere where the staff earn around a euro an hour and the food is plentiful and cheap then a tip is definitely in order, unless you're a complete cold hearted bastard altogether!

lertsnim

I tip nobody. Waiters/waitresses don't get paid a pittance here like they do in the states.

retalivity

Yes I do, and i ****ing hate it.

Living in canada its the norm, and to not be seen tipping would be like having a cancerous boil on your face. 10% minimum or theyll be over to ask what was wrong.
Bars are worse. You got a bottle from the fridge, took the cap off and gave it to me...so i should give you another 1.50 on top of the 6 it already cost? **** off

Dangerous Man

leonidas83 wrote: »

Thinly veiled thanks whore;)

Thinly veiled attempt to get more people to vote for having thinly veiled added to the idiotic list of infractions.

THINLY VEILED.

Dangerous Man

retalivity wrote: »

Yes I do, and i ****ing hate it.

Living in canada its the norm, and to not be seen tipping would be like having a cancerous boil on your face. 10% minimum or theyll be over to ask what was wrong.
Bars are worse. You got a bottle from the fridge, took the cap off and gave it to me...so i should give you another 1.50 on top of the 6 it already cost? **** off

Yeah - the bar thing is the worst but in fairness - bar wages are absolutely terrible. They rely on the tips.

delricyo

I do tip in restaurants. 10% usually. But if the service is crap, I leave nothing.
Most of the time I leave the tip - ive rarely experienced bad enough service to warrant the 0% tip

Im aware about the service charge possibly going to the owner and not the staff. But thats not the customers problem. Customer should not be expected to cough up extra money because of the owners activites.

Worked with a fella before who couldnt believe that I dont tip barstaff
Im not talking about the floor staff who offer to get your drinks. He was talking about the people behind the bar ! I thought he was joking at first. I walk up to the bar and order the drink(s), and I am supposed to leave a tip ??
Not a chance

Back on topic. Yes, its true that we have tried to adopt the American way of tipping. In the states, you are expected to tip bar staff even if you are sitting at the bar. In the US: You dont tip in McDonalds. You dont tip in the cinema. Yet, these people are probably on their feet as much as waiting staff. Apparently McD's and cinema staff are on proper minimum wage there ?

Spread

If all is OK ....... 12% in Ireland/Europe ......... 20% out here. But the waitresses' hourly wage out here is only about $2.50 ph. In bars you tip $1 per drink and get a free round every now and then But eating out is also cheaper here.

IzzyWizzy

Seaneh wrote: »

For me depends on a few things.
If there is a service charge, they can **** off right away.

Id service is ****, I leave what I basically consider an insult, like, on a bill of €35 I might leave an euro. I once just wrote on a reciept, your tip for today, smile when greeting people, show an interest in being a good server, don't just throw food at people, don't sigh when asked questions and don't act like a **** to people you rely on for tips.

That's really mean, IMO. Waiters/waitresses are human beings. Sure, some are just rude, but there are plenty of reasons someone could just be having a really bad day. When I worked in America, one of the waitresses came in having just been diagnosed with cancer (needed the money), obviously wasn't herself that day and some assh*ole customer had a go at her because she wasn't smiling enough. Treating people like people and not like performing circus animals always helps. I probably wouldn't tip either if the waitress was rude, but I wouldn't leave a nasty note either. I don't really expect minimum wage staff who are on their feet all day to beam at me when I walk in.

mikemac1

Potential-Monke wrote: »

But, i will look at the menu beforehand and see if there is an automatic service charge (where i worked it was put on to tables of 8 or more).

What is the story behind that?

Right, I book my Christmas party, I'm bring we'll say 14 people to your place, gonna spend a few hundred euro and management stick on a service charge??

In most any other business if you are a good customer you get a discount.

Give a restaurant a good nights taking and they'll hit you for even more

rico27

If the service was good and I am greatly satisfied and there is no service charge on my receipt, I tip. When it comes to the supermarket, I give tip to the person who will be helping me carry my things from the supermarket to the parking lot.

ThatGuy93

I feel the need to set a few things straight as many here are comparing bar and restaurant staff to sales assistants. I work in a bar at the weekends on both a Friday and Saturday night as lounge staff. I'm 19 and currently in college. Some people here have talked about minimum wage, and how as staff are on minimum wage they do not tip them. I am only on €7.45 an hour and work from 8pm until at least 2.30am. We dont get a break like sales assistants do during their shift. We dont get minimum wage like sales assistants (many are actually paid above the €9.00 mark). We dont get time and a half for working unsocial hours or bank holidays like sales assistants. I dont mind this but I cant stand when somebody is so stingy that they wont even tip lounge staff as little as 10 cent if they have received a good service.

wandatowell

I don't tip for good service, I tip for excellent service.

Big Nasty

I posted this before but not in this particular thread I think:

I tip in restaurants and any place I get food served to a table. I only eat in such places once a month max. However I never tip in my local pub (sitting at the bar) where I would frequent normally twice a week and get very good service. Same goes for my local convenience store (Centra) where I am greeted by name and get well looked after and visit almost daily.

As opposed to tipping people who look after me well and have done for years I tip a waiter / waitress I am less likely to see ever again. Why? I'm not sure.