Why is tipping not part of irish culture ?

djerk

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

You forced front of house staff to pool tips with kitchen staff? I hope you're lying.

Nobody forced anyone, it was agreed amongst the staff after debating the issue. It's more common than you would think.

It was 60% to the floor.. 20 kitchen/20 porters.

Fr D Maugire

djerk wrote: »

$1000 each in tips? if so.. that's almost double the wage of your average chef here, untaxed.

I was getting payed 11.50ph in a restaurant recently.. not great but better than the min wage. A new head chef took over and was adamant to have the tips split between the kitchen, kitchen porters and the floor staff (not incl himself obviously). Many waitresses fought this hell for leather, I totted up some numbers out of curiosity and found for a basic 40hr week they were earning more than me with the inclusion of their tips.. that didn't seem fair. It was a busy place so the tips were average and consistent. It ended up being split 40:60.

I was in Berlin last year, was customary to tip at least 5-10% there iirc.. however in bars i frequented as a group we generally got free drinks every couple of rounds and they even slashed a nice chunk off our tab once they got to know us!

more of this and less of the tipping i say : http://uk.businessinsider.com/a-restaurant-just-banned-tips-2015-1?r=US

In big cities, yeah $1000 would not be unusual, more so bartenders. I know there were plenty of weeks I pulled in close to that and I was in a not so big city. On St.Patricks Day we got $700 each for the day but that was working morning to night in on-off shifts. That was over 10 years ago when dollar was closer to Euro in value.

That is why it is hard to walk into a bartending job in the US. People don't really quit their job because money is good and there is usually a line of existing waiting staff all angling to get on the bar.

Bartending in the US is way better than here, I just got very lucky when I was there through knowing people.

Menas

Triboro wrote: »

New york !
You were there 2 years and never got a buyback in all those pubs??

Not knowingly! I was not a regular anywhere though....spread my trade around the place.

Uncle Ben

I can honestly say that 'fly' tipping for some is certainly part and parcel of their Irish culture.

Fr D Maugire

djerk wrote: »

Nobody forced anyone, it was agreed amongst the staff after debating the issue. It's more common than you would think.

It was 60% to the floor.. 20 kitchen/20 porters.

Does seem to be becoming the norm in Ireland though I think it's weird.

People waiting on customers have to do all the ass-kissing and then deal with the complaints and abuse if something is wrong, so to me they should be getting all the tips rather than people who don't deal with customers at all. Kitchen Porters:eek:.

Also I think a lot of people tip for the service from whoever looked after them so don't really realise it might go elsewhere which again is unfair if tips go to other people.

I know this is a huge source of debate in many places of work but that is my view and I no longer deal with people in my current job, having done plenty when I had to deal with plenty of crap.

Flem31

Fr D Maugire wrote: »

Does seem to be becoming the norm in Ireland though I think it's weird.

People waiting on customers have to do all the ass-kissing and then deal with the complaints and abuse if something is wrong, so to me they should be getting all the tips rather than people who don't deal with customers at all. Kitchen Porters:eek:.

Also I think a lot of people tip for the service from whoever looked after them so don't really realise it might go elsewhere which again is unfair if tips go to other people.

I know this is a huge source of debate in many places of work but that is my view and I no longer deal with people in my current job, having done plenty when I had to deal with plenty of crap.

I don't see anything wrong with sharing the tips out to all members off staff who contributed to the whole process. The front of house staff didn't cook the food and weren't in a few hours before the restaurant opened to get the food prepped.

Having seen it when Kitchen staff get annoyed with the non sharing of tips, the safest option is to make the whole process democratic.

In my experience Kitchen porters receive a very small portion of the overall split.

dar100

Banjo String wrote: »

Tipping can be an innuendo for riding.

As in "he's tipping your one these days".

It's tapping your one

Triboro

Or when you're kept busy...
Ah sher tippin away!

ancapailldorcha

I thought this was going to be about tipping cows.

oceanman

c_man wrote: »

I'd hate for this country to go down that route. Employers, pay your staff and don't expect your customers to do so.

+1 well said..

FunLover18

Did anyone else see the thread title and think the OP was talkong about cow tipping?

ardmacha

FunLover18 wrote: »

Did anyone else see the thread title and think the OP was talkong about cow tipping?

I never get tips for cows, but do sometimes for horses.

riffmongous

Flem31 wrote: »

I don't see anything wrong with sharing the tips out to all members off staff who contributed to the whole process. The front of house staff didn't cook the food and weren't in a few hours before the restaurant opened to get the food prepped.

Having seen it when Kitchen staff get annoyed with the non sharing of tips, the safest option is to make the whole process democratic.

In my experience Kitchen porters receive a very small portion of the overall split.

Where I used to work tips were shared but we front staff lost a load of tips because of the small food portions and high price, used to piss us off a lot that we had to share.

Also as a barman, people who tipped would tend to get served before people who I knew wouldn't when things got busy.

FrStone

wnolan1992 wrote: »

When I order food and they say "That'll be 40 minutes." but then food arrives in 20, I'll give a few quid extra as a thanks for the good service. I wouldn't tip if the food was just on time though, they're being paid to do a job.

I used work as a delivery driver before, generally doing a 7 hour shift you got a flat rate of €50 and then €1 per delivery. Customers weren't charged for delivery. Basically the job only paid because of the the tips. About 80% of people tipped. I know others would add a euro or two onto the price if they knew the person wasn't going to tip. Those who didn't get tipped often would get their food delivered after others rather than as soon as possible.

I don't agree with the US style at all. I'll tip in the restaurant if the service has been good. The binmen and the postman always get a tip at Christmas or a bottle of Whiskey, before the drink driving the postman would come in to each house for a drop of Whiskey on his last round before Christmas.

If my car has to be owed or something like that, I'll tip the driver.

naughtysmurf

20+ years ago, waitresses I worked with in a restaurant in Cape Cod would pull in $75 - $100 per shift if on the 4pm to 10pm dinner shift, less if doing the breakfast / lunch time, they would have to tip out 10 or 15% (cant recall) to the bus boys / girls at the end of the shift so I think $1000 in tips a week in 2015 is doable in a busy place that gets them in, feeds them & gets them out, needn't be too fancy or expensive either

More often now also, especially in more tourist areas like NYC & Orlando, your bill will come with the suggested tip worked out for you showing a $ value for 15 / 18 & 20%, think this was to assist all the europeans who had to get their phones out to calculate it lol

You tip on the pre tax amount on the bill too not the bill total,

Hollister11

FrStone wrote: »

I used work as a delivery driver before, generally doing a 7 hour shift you got a flat rate of €50 and then €1 per delivery. Customers weren't charged for delivery. Basically the job only paid because of the the tips. About 80% of people tipped. I know others would add a euro or two onto the price if they knew the person wasn't going to tip. Those who didn't get tipped often would get their food delivered after others rather than as soon as possible.

I don't agree with the US style at all. I'll tip in the restaurant if the service has been good. The binmen and the postman always get a tip at Christmas or a bottle of Whiskey, before the drink driving the postman would come in to each house for a drop of Whiskey on his last round before Christmas.

If my car has to be owed or something like that, I'll tip the driver.

So you would deliver someone's food cold ?
I don't tip delivery services as we pay a €2 delivery charge. But if my food was delivered cold I wouldn't order from there again.

Spook_ie

Hollister11 wrote: »

Why do we not have a culture of tipping in Ireland ?
In places like the states your expected to tip for everything like services in restaurants, cafes, hotels ect.

My uncle was in New York recently and didn't leave a tip. So the manager followed him out and aggressively demanded to know why he didn't tip.

I have a cousin who is a waiter in the states and earns $1000+ per week because of all the extra money he makes in tips.

So why don't we tip like the states.

My tip, this thread is way too soon after the last tipping thread and should be binned

c_man

naughtysmurf wrote: »

You tip on the pre tax amount on the bill too not the bill total,

Who decides these things?! There's so many conventions, expected societal norms of when and how much relating to it... I'm too old to learn it all at this stage, I'll never be able to integrate in the US :pac:

feargale

Hollister11 wrote: »

So why don't we tip like the states.

Because here employers pay their staff's wages, and don't rely on the blackmail of customers to pay what they themselves morally owe. The tipping culture in the USA is a cynical, abusive exploitation of both the customer and the employee who in most cases is on a below subsistence wage.

ALiasEX

Good service = I am likely to use the service again.
Bad service = I am not likely to use the service again.

No tips.

FrStone

Hollister11 wrote: »

So you would deliver someone's food cold ?
I don't tip delivery services as we pay a €2 delivery charge. But if my food was delivered cold I wouldn't order from there again.

Well basically I'd be in no rush to deliver to you if you were renowned as someone who doesn't tip. If it comes cold, I wouldn't be too concerned. If it was ordered at a quiet time, you wouldn't notice it as it would come hot. If it was busy I'd push you back out a bit.

I don't own the fast food place, I only deliver so I'd prefer not to deliver to those who don't tip. I gave it up in the end as it was more hassle than it was worth (even for a job while in college).

Zaph

FrStone wrote: »

Well basically I'd be in no rush to deliver to you if you were renowned as someone who doesn't tip. If it comes cold, I wouldn't be too concerned. If it was ordered at a quiet time, you wouldn't notice it as it would come hot. If it was busy I'd push you back out a bit.

I don't own the fast food place, I only deliver so I'd prefer not to deliver to those who don't tip. I gave it up in the end as it was more hassle than it was worth (even for a job while in college).

Why should someone be expected to tip if they're being hit with a delivery charge as well? One place near me charges €3.50 per delivery, which is taking the p*ss and I'm certainly not going to want to add a tip on top of that. If there's no delivery charge then obviously I'll tip, but I can't think of anywhere near me that doesn't have a delivery charge now.

Hollister11

FrStone wrote: »

Well basically I'd be in no rush to deliver to you if you were renowned as someone who doesn't tip. If it comes cold, I wouldn't be too concerned. If it was ordered at a quiet time, you wouldn't notice it as it would come hot. If it was busy I'd push you back out a bit.

I don't own the fast food place, I only deliver so I'd prefer not to deliver to those who don't tip. I gave it up in the end as it was more hassle than it was worth (even for a job while in college).

But as an employee of the fast food restaurant, you should be concerned about the businesses reputation. If people stop ordering from the restraunt because of slow deliveries and cold food, the business will be less profitable and you will be out of a job.
I tip if my bill would be say €29.70 i would give 30 just to make life easier, but if my bill was €26 i wouldn't be inclined to give a tip as i just payed €24 for food /= €2 delivery charge. Should i be expected to pay another 1/2 euro ?

BetterThanThou

Usually for me, if it's average service, I'll tell them to keep the change if there is any(or say, the change is €12, I'll just tell them to give me a 10. Good service would be a 2 or 3 euro tip whether it was change or not. Excellent service would be the same, but every now and then, if I frequent a place and always get great service, I'll throw them a large tip, I tipped a bartender 50 euro on a 5 euro pint a few weeks ago, though, it was in my favourite bar that has decent prices for the location and incredible service. Though, if service is bad, I'll make a point not to tell them to keep the change even if it's convenient to me, I once waited for a few minutes while a delivery driver who took about triple the time he was supposed to found 20 cent in his car.

Flem31

FrStone wrote: »

Well basically I'd be in no rush to deliver to you if you were renowned as someone who doesn't tip. If it comes cold, I wouldn't be too concerned. If it was ordered at a quiet time, you wouldn't notice it as it would come hot. If it was busy I'd push you back out a bit.

I don't own the fast food place, I only deliver so I'd prefer not to deliver to those who don't tip. I gave it up in the end as it was more hassle than it was worth (even for a job while in college).

Don't know why we need middlemen who only deliver the food hot if bribed.
I go to the outlet itself and collect....saves this hassle re delivery charge plus extra delivery charge if I want it edible

FrStone

Zaph wrote: »

Why should someone be expected to tip if they're being hit with a delivery charge as well? One place near me charges €3.50 per delivery, which is taking the p*ss and I'm certainly not going to want to add a tip on top of that. If there's no delivery charge then obviously I'll tip, but I can't think of anywhere near me that doesn't have a delivery charge now.

Well where I used work there is no delivery charge (once your order is over a tenner). Anywhere around me too delivery is free within 3 miles, maybe it's a rural thing to have free delivery.

Hollister11 wrote: »

But as an employee of the fast food restaurant, you should be concerned about the businesses reputation. If people stop ordering from the restraunt because of slow deliveries and cold food, the business will be less profitable and you will be out of a job.

Ara it's not as straight cut as that. 80% tip so I try my best for them. If you don't tip, I probably break even on my delivery to you (factor in petrol and wear and tear), therefore I don't want you as a customer so I'd prefer you go elsewhere. Also delivery drivers will never be out of a job, the jobs are ten a penny. They are constantly being advertised because no one wants to take them.

I used have one customer who wass about 5 miles away up a very rural boreen that was quite difficult to find if you didn't know where it was exactly. However that person would always tip very generously so I would fly out to them to make sure they got their food as quick as possible.

PLL

As my boyfriend is a chef, you can't imagine how infuriating the waiting staff who expect a tip are. How badly trained and how poor the service they give compared to their UK/US counterparts. Meanwhile my boyfriend gets nothing for working 12 hour shifts preparing and cooking this food. But the waiting staff carrying it from the kitchen to the table is the real torture :rolleyes:

Not very often is being a waiter/waitress a career choice. It is either an entry level job to make a bit of money or something students do. However there are a few that take it very seriously and do it very well, and they work with the chefs not against them and make the whole service a pleasure. They are noticeable straightaway and we give them a huge tip because we know they aren't just in it for the money.

joes girls

I always tip, if I get good service, if I don't then I dont!

riffmongous

Hollister11 wrote: »

So you would deliver someone's food cold ?
I don't tip delivery services as we pay a €2 delivery charge. But if my food was delivered cold I wouldn't order from there again.

Assuming its busy who are you going to make sure gets the hottest food, the guy who will tip you or the guy who wont? I don't think it's a case of holding the food to ransom

PizzamanIRL

I always give a tip.

Just the tip.