I know in the USA and other places it is commonplace to tip and somewhat automatic. But where I live tips are based more on performance and its down to consumer as to whether or not they want to leave a tip. I personally base tips on a few factors; Whether I experienced good customer service, the ambience, whether I would return again, whether I enjoyed the product be it food, alcohol or something else. The more bases covered the higher the tip, do you have your own system for tipping or do you just tip automatically? I personally don't see why a should be automatic when you are already being paid to do the job.
Since I try to save money by eating at the cheap places I rarely tip. With the tip money I could have eaten better food at a better place, so I see no point. Plus, who tips me when I work and try to serve my customers to the best of my ability? No one! I think tipping is a way used by employers to pay low wages since they delegate some of the money they should have payed to the customers.
I find this American Culture of compulsory tipping absurd. I tip certain individuals at certain occasions, and the rate is not consistent. I will usually round my tip to the nearest pound so my tipping rate could be anywhere from 5% to 20%, usually towards the lower end though. I think that tipping should be voluntary from a social standard point of view, and variable. Do tourists get away with not tipping in America?
I hate the feeling of having to tip. I think it should be based on service. I think it's really terrible restaurants get away with paying there waiters and waitresses not even half of what the legal minimum wage is and then those poor people have to hope they have a good night with tips. I ignore the so called customary pay 15% tip, I tip based on performance. I think the restaurant should pay them minimum wage and let those that go above and beyond to provide good service enjoy there tips.
I will leave a tip if the service is good and also if it's somewhere I come back to often. That said, I live in Portugal, here the waiters are well paid, at least above the minimum wage, unlike what was said above regarding the US.
I pay tips in restaurants and taxis only because it's a habit here, but if the service poor I don't give a tip, no way, what's the sense in leaving a gratification for the service if the service was lousy? Having this said, I don't know why some services receive tips and others don't, it's nonsense.
I do. Where I live a 10% tip is already automatically included in the price you are paying, and you can ask to get that removed in case you don’t want to pay. But I find that unless the service is absolutely dreadful and cannot justify not paying the tip when I had a good service and treatment from the establishment. Plus I think 10% is a reasonable amount to pay, so I usually don’t mind.
I tip in the same manner my father used to tip. If the service was reasonable, I tip $2. That sounds abysmally low, but last time I checked their job was to bring me food, and refresh my drinks, not fix my car. I used to work in a restaurant and a dollar or two for a tip made me happy, people who think they have to pay 15% or more for the 'service' are part of the problem. Without this weird idea that a tip should be compulsory, the restaurants would have to pay their workers more on their own. Yes, food prices might go up, but so what? If I'm going out to eat it is an event, not an everyday thing. The places most people would eat daily for lunch or what have you don't usually have lots of tipping happening anyway. I find it strange. At subway the sandwich artist has to physically cut my bread, put on each ingredient that I ask, stick it in the toaster, add more stuff at my request.. and they get no tip... but someone in a 'real restaurant' brings me some water and I am supposed to pay them 15% commission on my meal? Pfft.
I only give tips when I feel I was given a good service. Often I find waitresses rude and moody, which tends to spoil my appetite a bit. I know we all have to work, and sometimes in jobs that don't appeal to us, but how much brighter is a day when you are surrounded by polite and smiling people. A little bit of respect goes a long way and it all comes back to one in a full circle.
I don't like the pressure of having to give tips. Having something mandatory like that defeats the purpose. I'd rather just pay for the meal but Americans are used to tipping so if I was at a restaurant I'd probably give a tip to avoid any problems.
Really enjoyed your post made me giggle I make you right, though tipping shouldn't be compulsory. Speaking as an ex sandwich artist and supervisor at Subway, I have to agree again. A lot of effort goes into making the perfect sub and often goes without appreciation, also permanently scarred from the toaster. On the flip side I did receive really positive feedback and a few tips, one which was quite substantial from a regular. Who was really grateful I missed my last train home to make his sub.
Over here in my country, you are not obliged to give tips, so I only tip my hairdresser, the rest, I don't give a tip, lol. I think in 3rd world countries, giving tips to service crew people or blue collar workers is unheard of, even if some of them also earn below the minimum wage.
In Greece, there is no obligatory tipping. But it is considered polite to leave something for the waiter in a cafeteria or a restaurant. The amount of money that you should leave it is up to one's choice. I usually leave something around 1-2 euros in a restaurant.
