Tipping

[luddite]

I frequent a local country pub regularly for a meal and a drink and wonder if a ten percent tip is the norm.

What do you guys think?

[Stooo]

It's cruel to cows.

[PinkSmurf]

Waitresses and waiters do rely on tips to boost their wages so yes, please tip if you can afford it. However I worked in a restaurant in Portscatho in Cornwall in my early 20s and the owner kept our tips so I told customers she did this. One guy said I'd ruined his meal, the tosser. He complained that tipping was part of the enjoyment for him. Anyway the boss found out I'd been refusing tips and threatened to sack me. I left in the end. She used to be a stripper and should have known better than to rob my tips. She would have relied on tips to supplement her income when she worked in clubs as a dancer. Anyway I worked in other places including bars, hotels and nightclubs and the tips were definitely appreciated.

[Trapper John]

I thought this was going to be a thread about fly tipping, so I not got much to contribute - but yes, personally I think 10% is sufficient to leave and I do - thing is many places don't think it is enough.

Just for the record on fly tipping - I would never tip a fly who has just walked over my dinner with dog shit all over his feet.

[luddite]

This is now a moot point as the pub in question has now installed a sound system and they play muzak to their guests.

"I won't be back "said in my best Arnie impersonation.

[Frank39]

I've seen these tipping debates on other fora, it doesn't take long before you get posts from people like me, who check the form out on TripAdvisor, or researches the area/country I'm heading for and acts accordingly, to avoid being seen as cheap or ignorant, and then you'll get posts like, "I'm a plasterer, no one tips me, why should I tip someone else?"
In addition, when someone points out that waiters/waitresses often work for minimum wage, so tips supplement their low wages, the answer comes back, "They should get another job then."
I know that in the majority of good London restaurants an optional 12.5% tip will be added to the bill, this suits me, I don't have to work out a sum in my head, and if for any reason the service was not what I expected, I have no qualms in telling the wait staff to knock the 12.5% off, and tell them why.
In the U.S., a minimum of 18% is the norm, going up to 20% or more, but the service there is normally way above and beyond, all false and insincere, but if you've been around the block, you know that, but the server will move heaven and earth to keep you happy, because a) they hope for a good tip, and b) they want you to come back.
In a restaurant in Little Rock, Ark., my wife couldn't find a wine on the wine list that was dry enough to suit her, so she was ready to order a bottle of Perrier.
The waiter asked her to name one or two wines that she preferred, then went to a liquor store and brought a couple of bottles back for her, now that's service.
He got a shade more than a 20% tip at the end.

[Guest]

I round it up for taxi drivers, give the hairdresser a fiver and add 15% to the food only part of restaurant bills.

[luddite]

I round it up for taxi drivers, give the hairdresser a fiver and add 15% to the food only part of restaurant bills.

Wow!

Would you like me to give you a haircut and a fry up then drive you home?

[Vicky]

I round it up for taxi drivers, give the hairdresser a fiver and add 15% to the food only part of restaurant bills.

Wow!

Would you like me to give you a haircut and a fry up then drive you home?

How about!!

I cut his hair, while you make his grub and afterwards, you can drive him home?

50/50 split between us.

[Frank39]

I round it up for taxi drivers, give the hairdresser a fiver and add 15% to the food only part of restaurant bills.

Wow!

Would you like me to give you a haircut and a fry up then drive you home?

How about!!

I cut his hair, while you make his grub and afterwards you can drive him home?

50/50 split between us.

Easy there pardners, in the event luddite lives in London, I, as a retired London black cab driver, am better equipped to get him home, AND I wouldn't need a Sat-Nav.
Even TJ who apparently drives around London at night (for work, not as a kerb crawler), could claim a piece of this action.

[Vicky]

Mind yer own Frank!!

Me and Luds are going into business together.

[Frank39]

I round it up for taxi drivers, give the hairdresser a fiver and add 15% to the food only part of restaurant bills.

Wow!

Would you like me to give you a haircut and a fry up then drive you home?

How about!!

I cut his hair, while you make his grub and afterwards you can drive him home?

50/50 split between us.

Easy there pardners, in the event luddite lives in London, I, as a retired London black cab driver, am better equipped to get him home, AND I wouldn't need a Sat-Nav.
Even TJ who apparently drives around London at night (for work, not as a kerb crawler), could claim a piece of this action.

Apologies, I should have said, "If guest lives in London, not luddite, who apparently has no qualms about nicking a hard working taxi drivers job, with no hire and reward insurance no doubt."

[BigAndy9]

Don't tip.

[luddite]

I round it up for taxi drivers, give the hairdresser a fiver and add 15% to the food only part of restaurant bills.

Wow!

Would you like me to give you a haircut and a fry up then drive you home?

How about!!

I cut his hair, while you make his grub and afterwards you can drive him home?

50/50 split between us.

Easy there pardners, in the event luddite lives in London, I, as a retired London black cab driver, am better equipped to get him home, AND I wouldn't need a Sat-Nav.
Even TJ who apparently drives around London at night (for work, not as a kerb crawler), could claim a piece of this action.

The likelyhood of me ever living in London - Istan is the square root of zero.

I'd sooner eat razor blades.

[Frank39]

Don't tip.

Really? Who'd have thunk it?