Tips... Do u give them?

I do. Heres one for ya......if it looks like rain don't leave the house without an umbrella

I tip my barber, he's excellent, puts in great effort each time and his prices have stayed the same for the past 3 years.

666irishguy wrote: »

I never tip. Tipping is am Americanism that has been imported from Hollywood movies. As far as I am concerned we have the minimum wage here and that negates the primary purpose of tipping which is to boost the income of the low paid American service industry workers on the grounds of how good their service was. To expect to be paid more for doing your job because you were pleasant or arrived on time is a joke.

This seems a standard Irish belief about tipping.

Problem is when Irish people travel to countries where tipping is a cultural norm and we fail to abide, and it just makes us look cheap and stingy.

Here in Canada 15 - 20 percent is the norm in restaurants, bars, delivery etc. And a dollar tip for every drink you order at the bar. It's not considered "kind hearted" or "generous", it's just the done thing and a taboo to not do it.

Friend of mine works in an Irish bar over here, she's Irish herself but says that the Irish are hands down the worst tippers in the place, it's embarrassing. All her work mates hate serving them for that reason.

beks101 wrote: »

This seems a standard Irish belief about tipping.

Problem is when Irish people travel to countries where tipping is a cultural norm and we fail to abide, and it just makes us look cheap and stingy.

Here in Canada 15 - 20 percent is the norm in restaurants, bars, delivery etc. And a dollar tip for every drink you order at the bar. It's not considered "kind hearted" or "generous", it's just the done thing and a taboo to not do it.

Friend of mine works in an Irish bar over here, she's Irish herself but says that the Irish are hands down the worst tippers in the place, it's embarrassing. All her work mates hate serving them for that reason.

Well this is Ireland so standard Irish beliefs will be the norm and long may they continue in my opinion. To pay 15 to 20 percent on top of what you have already paid is ludicrous. It says more about the culture those people work in than the Irish patrons they serve. If those in charge expect the customer to top up meager wages while the owners benefit in terms of profit from the same customer, I'd prefer not to eat there or drink in their bar.

It's funny how tipping has it's own silly rules on who you tip. For example, do you tip when you buy a loaf of bread from the Canadian equivalent of Tesco? Do you tip when you do business with the clerk in the bank? Do you tip if you meet the Postman when he's delivering your mail? No, you tip for getting an artificial social interaction in a certain social setting. A few bland greetings, small talk, a forced smile and a bit of acting to imply they actually are glad you came in to drink beer or have them drop your food down to the table.

If I was in Canada and some Canadian pint puller get's offended that I don't make a ritual payment that I am not legally obliged to pay from my hard earned money, for them having common courtesy and fetching a bottle from a fridge five feet away then tough.

steirishrover wrote: »

I work as a delivery driver for a take away restauraunt and I'm amazed at the amount of people that don't tip.

If I ordered food to my door I wouldn't even think about going to the door without having a tip for the driver...

I also was talking to waitresses in the restaurant and they also said you wouldn't believe amount of times that people don't tip...

I have this regular delivery to a house & the girl gives 30cent all the time while ordering around €35 worth of food... I feel like saying keep it. So I ask the people of After Hours do you tip when your out or getting take aways?

I've never tipped a delivery person, no. There's a delivery charge. And I presume you're on minimum wage?

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

Rubbish analogy.

The excuses for sheer greed here are appalling.

Greed? Feck off.

errlloyd wrote: »

I work as a walking tour guide purely for tips. No wage at all, I can assure you, professions like that exist.

I always try to tip except maybe in the pub. Minimum of 10 percent usually. I guess I tip taxi drivers, barber, waiter, delivery guy and if I was travelling I guess I'd always tip any guide or group leader I had.

Edit: on hair dressers / barbers specifically, I'm particularly careful to tip my barber well. Like I go to the same guy every month, I want him to do a decent job.

That's insanity. You are doing a job that you yourself admit is essentially one that has an un-guaranteed wage, yet you are compelled to pay those who apart from maybe the taxi-man, with a guaranteed wage a minimum of 10 percent for doing jobs that by their nature, a level of decent service and courtesy will guarantee your repeat business and therefore continued income for them, regardless of whether you tipped or not.

666irishguy wrote: »

Well this is Ireland so standard Irish beliefs will be the norm and long may they continue in my opinion. To pay 15 to 20 percent on top of what you have already paid is ludicrous. It says more about the culture those people work in than the Irish patrons they serve. If those in charge expect the customer to top up meager wages while the owners benefit in terms of profit from the same customer, I'd prefer not to eat there or drink in their bar.

April O Neill wrote: »

But that's not really our fault though, is it? It's a cultural thing, and there are some countries where tipping doesn't happen at all! Ireland wouldn't be the worst on this score. 15-20% is kerazy, IMO. How on earth do people afford to do all this tipping? And IMO, tips should NOT be expected, they should be discretionary, and rather than be embarrassed, I'd question why they are expected. (staff not being paid enough by their employers)

Ah I know lads, but other countries' customs and traditions aren't going to change just because you don't agree with them, and while it's all good and well to have your own principles, the reality is that completely ignoring how things are done in a different environment to upkeep these principles can be isolating and breed misunderstanding at best, or foster a bad reputation for the Irish abroad at worst. I've seen it with my own eyes.

I don't exactly enjoy the fact that the price on the bill isn't actually the real amount I'll end up pulling out of my pocket in so many situations, but I made the choice to move to Canada and assimilate and a vital part of that is respecting how things work around here, following their social rules.

I will say that the service industry seems to come with its own set of standards and rules here, the likes of which can be hit or miss at home, in terms of the prompt, professional, polite (sometimes overly polite) service that you receive as a customer. Not that it justifies that 20%, but it goes a way to explain how tipping is a cultural thing over here - wait staff do tend to "work for their tips".