Why is tipping not part of irish culture ?

DoYouEvenLift

Electric Sheep wrote: »

Have you ever waited tables in a higher end place? If you did, did you get good tips?:P

I've never waited but if I could get an extra €1k/week doing it on the side I would lol. I knew a guy who bartended in California and usually went home with >$200/night, though. When there were big events on that number would at least double. On top of this he also got completely random stuff as tips, someone once bought a couple of bottles of grey goose and hardly touched them and handed them to him before leaving within minutes of arriving, he stuck them straight in his bag lol.

Electric Sheep

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

I've never waited but if I could get an extra €1k/week doing it on the side I would lol. QUOTE]

You could, if you were good at it. There is a lot more to being a good server than you think. A good server is well worth his pay.

Bob24

Electric Sheep wrote: »

A good server is well worth his pay.

If it is handed in cash, with no track record, and there are no taxes paid on it, I wouldn't call it a pay.

But otherwise sure if people are willing to pay them a certain amount, they deserve it.

Landoflemon

The first day I got to Chicago, I'd a lovely (expensive) big burger and as I wanted to be polite and do what I thought was the right thing, I asked the waiter what the regular tipping rate was. He told me very nicely that it was 25%. Just to avoid an awkward situation I gave him the 25%, but it didn't leave a good feeling knowing that he had pretty knowingly just taken advantage of my naivety.

Roosterreid

Tipping in Ireland is totally at the discretion of the 'buyer of the service"....... customer service is usually so poor in Ireland that is barely warrants the asking price, never mind the 'above and beyond' tip.

Electric Sheep

Landoflemon wrote: »

The first day I got to Chicago, I'd a lovely (expensive) big burger and as I wanted to be polite and do what I thought was the right thing, I asked the waiter what the regular tipping rate was. He told me very nicely that it was 25%. Just to avoid an awkward situation I gave him the 25%, but it didn't leave a good feeling knowing that he had pretty knowingly just taken advantage of my naivety.

20% is the standard at the moment. It used to be 15%, but over the past few years it has inched up to 20%. 25% is generous, but not in the realm of wildly overtipping.

Landoflemon

Electric Sheep wrote: »

20% is the standard at the moment. It used to be 15%, but over the past few years it has inched up to 20%. 25% is generous, but not in the realm of wildly overtipping.

That's fair enough, it was about 5 years ago and when I met friends afterwards they told me the regular rate was 15%, and then laughed at me, so maybe that's why it stung! Bearing in mind I was on my first day there as a cash strapped student :-D

mikemac1

Worked in hotels for years and kitchen porter and housekeeping are far more difficult jobs then waiting tables or serving drinks

No tips for these workers and I'm reading here about barmen making 200 dollars a night

Electric Sheep

mikemac1 wrote: »

Worked in hotels for years and kitchen porter and housekeeping are far more difficult jobs then waiting tables or serving drinks

No tips for these workers and I'm reading here about barmen making 200 dollars a night

No tips for housekeeping? I've never stayed at a hotel in any country without leaving a tip for housekeeping.

Bob24

Electric Sheep wrote: »

No tips for housekeeping? I've never stayed at a hotel in any country without leaving a tip for housekeeping.

It definitly is far less common (and the cheaper the hotel the less a tip would be expected).

If you don't bump into them while they are doing it, will you look for the person who cleaned your room to give them a tip?

kylith

I used to leave any coins for housekeeping staff when I was leaving. The Euro put paid to that in Europe though.

spix

Waiters should tip customers, because without customers they wouldn't have a job.

Trent Houseboat

Bob24 wrote: »

It definitly is far less common (and the cheaper the hotel the less a tip would be expected).

If you don't bump into them while they are doing it, will you look for the person who cleaned your room to give them a tip?

You leave it in the room where they are sure to find it. Usually put a note with it saying "Thank you" too.

AgileMyth

spix wrote: »

Waiters should tip customers, because without customers they wouldn't have a job.

That's the kind of attitude that makes customers assholes.

Bob24

Trent Houseboat wrote: »

You leave it in the room where they are sure to find it. Usually put a note with it saying "Thank you" too.

OK ... obviously I have never done that and it never came to my mind :-) (though I do tip at the restaurant)

Wondering how common it is ... I have shared hotel rooms with quite a few people over the years and never seen anyone doing that. Maybe I only know cheap people

Seriously?

I only tip at restaurants and if service is particularly poor I'll not tip at all.

rubadub

rubadub wrote: »

I don't think a waiter (presuming normal hours) should be getting $1000 a week, you make it sound like a good thing with no negatives.

Electric Sheep wrote: »

Why?

Why do you think they should get $1000 a week, if you managed a restaruant with no tipping allowed would you offer that much to staff? which no doubt would be covered by increased costs to customers.

I think it is an unfair "wage" for the work being done, and the money does not come from nowhere, someone is paying over the odds. There are restaurants in the US that have banned tipping, I expect their waiters are on far less than $1000 a week, and I am guessing this waiter saying he got $1000 a week was getting more than if he really was in a $1000 a week fully taxed regular job (and yes I know there can be tax on tipping in the US, I just imagine it was quoting a take home figure).

If I heard of checkout staff getting tips and raking in $1000 a week I would have the same issue, just ban this dodgy tradition which makes tax evasion really easy, and ends up with punters paying more than they really should for the value of such work/service being done for them.

BetterThanThou

As far as tipping is concerned, I rarely do it unless it's exceptional service. If it's exceptional service, 2 euro is what I'd give. If I get particularly crappy service, I'll leave a very small tip of 1 or 2 cent. Don't see a reason to give tips to people who are on a minimum of 8.65 an hour for work that's really not that hard. When I do tip it's not even about the money, it's more a way to tell them what I thought of their service, whether I thought it was good or crappy. Average service I can't be bothered to tip on, occasionally I'll tell them to keep the change if I can't be bothered with it.

creolebelle

Triboro wrote: »

Most American bars give a free drink after every 2-3 drinks so it kinda balances out with the tipping.

Whaat? I'm american and I've never had a bartender give me free drinks. Maybe it's because i will only have one drink. I have had my tab paid for by other ppl.

Electric Sheep

creolebelle wrote: »

Whaat? I'm american and I've never had a bartender give me free drinks. Maybe it's because i will only have one drink. I have had my tab paid for by other ppl.

It's a New York thing, I've honestly never seen it anywhere else in the US. They call it the Buy Back.

Electric Sheep

Roosterreid wrote: »

Tipping in Ireland is totally at the discretion of the 'buyer of the service"....... customer service is usually so poor in Ireland that is barely warrants the asking price, never mind the 'above and beyond' tip.

True. I'd rather tip for good service than be served by someone who thinks "Are ya alight" is how you greet a diner and ask to take their order.:P

creolebelle

Electric Sheep wrote: »

It's a New York thing, I've honestly never seen it anywhere else in the US. They call it the Buy Back.

LOL
I am also a New Yorker. I never heard of that term before but it makes sense

Paddy Samurai

Because we pay more than enough already without paying tips.
Angry face followed by "Grrrrr.......... Rip off b@sterds !.


Ps:I can carry my own damn case and open any door without assistance.

Electric Sheep

creolebelle wrote: »

LOL
I am also a New Yorker. I never heard of that term before but it makes sense

It goes along with that other NY thing of leaving money on the counter and the barman takes the price of each round out of it. If you did that in Dublin it would be stolen before you finished the first drink.

Arbiter of Good Taste

spix wrote: »

Waiters should tip customers, because without customers they wouldn't have a job.

Does that apply to everyone, or just service staff? Should I be giving my boss a kick back for giving me my job?

theboy1

I once had sex with a waitress who served me. Guess you could say I gave her the tip.

riclad

I Can,t see tipping catching on here,
a pint is 4-5 euro,
whereas you can buy a can in a off licence for 90cent.

imagine theres 20 people in a pub,
a bar
man has to remember how many drinks ,each person had,2,or 3?
is it time for them to get their free drink.?
does the free drink go on record for tax returns ,vat ie
is the price of the free drink calculated at zero euro
,on the electronic cash register?

i would prefer to give zero, then give a tip of less than a euro,
2cent is an insult.
does the person want another drink.?

it sounds very complicated to me ?

is nt the whole point of tipping ,
if service is bad,
you get no tip.

dont think the tax office would like to see ,
i,m not paying tax on every 3rd drink,
cos i give them free,
to customers ,
cos i,m from new york city .

YFlyer

Demonique wrote: »

Also in the states waiters' tax is calculated on the amount of food they sell and the state they're in assumes they're making 15% tips on everything they sell

That's a scummy law.

syklops

MadsL wrote: »

It's a worldwide thing actually, there are many cultures where tipping is part of the culture. In the Czech Republic for instance you are expected to round up the tab in a bar to approx the nearest note. "Keep the change" basically. It's also a nice gesture to buy the barman "a drink" when getting a round in the UK.

In Ireland the smallest note is the five euro, in the Czech republic the smallest note is the 50 czk which is 2 Euros.

As a result of everything being so flipping expensive here, due in part to our high minimum wage, tipping becomes less of a priority.

I tipped a waitess 50czk in the Czech Republic a few years ago and she started to cry because it was the biggest tip she'd ever gotten.