[hannahhaworth]

How does everyone feel about it?
I'm just wondering because I had an argument with my boyfriend last night as to whether or not to tip the delivery driver of our takeaway...

I generally give 20% of my bill in a restaurant unless the service/food has been bad, but will also give more if the service is good; I've done waitressing and found it aaawful.
I usually give food deivery people £1-£2 depending on what I've got, and sometimes tip taxi drivers..

What do you do?

[hannahhaworth]

Also it'd be good to hear opinions from those who work jobs where tipping is the norm; what do you expect/what's the biggest tip you've got etc.

[sarahthegemini]

I try to leave a tip if I'm in a restuarant (I say try, I mean if I'm paying by cash I will - but not if I'm paying by card) But I don't really feel it's necessary, I don't think I should pay extra for good service - I expect good service and there's nothing wrong with that. I only tip because it's kind of expected these days

[Mad Vlad]

I don't tip unless the service is excellent. I'm not looking forward to visiting the US and having to tip people for everything.

[plimsolls]

I wouldn't tip a delivery man, or anyone else, with one exception. 10% of the bill for a restaurant meal and that's it.

[Jingers]

Tips are usually included in the service charge...

[Elissabeth]

If I happen to have the change, I tip about 10% in a restaurant if everything was good.

I have never tipped delivery drivers or taxi's really as a student, but my parents usually always give the pizza guy £1-£2.

The thing about tipping, is that in loads of places the staff don't see it and it just goes straight to the owners/companies profits.

Or it is split evenly between all staff, which could be unfair because some would probably work a lot harder then others.

There is a fair tips charter thing- which I know places like Pizza Hut have signed- so you can be satisfied the tips are actually going to the staff- which is a good thing!

I have never really had a job where you are tipped- although when I was a party host in a soft play place sometimes the parents would tip you for a good party- the managment's policy was that you couldn't accept tips but it went on anyway and all the staff used to accept them.

[JollyGreenAtheist]

Sometimes I tip because I'm lazy.

The other night, I got a £12 cab home, and had £15 cash. I gave him a £3 tip, not because I was being generous, but because I couldn't be bothered to watch him fumble around for change in his plastic bag, then look at me awkwardly, expecting some kind of tip.

At restaurants where there isn't a service charge included, I tip 10-15%

[rockrunride]

In the UK, mainly 10-15% for restaurants, £1-1.50 for delivery drivers, and 10% for cabbies. Don't tend to tip at café/takeaway counters or hairdressers anymore.

In the US usually 15-20% for restaurants, the dollar equivalent of the above for delivery/taxi drivers, and $1 per drink in a bar.

Never really do it anywhere else. Used to sometimes in France when I couldn't be arsed to pick up the small change from a meal.

[ily_em]

20% seems a lot! I don't like tipping because I feel like they are being paid for their job in their wages anyway. If it only goes to the person you've tipped, then it's unfair on the people behind the scenes in the kitchens or wherever; their jobs aren't necessarily any easier. And if the tip is spread evenly around the staff, then what's the point in tipping for good service, since it doesn't go to the person you want it to? So tipping doesn't seem fair either way

[Tom26070]

I never tip, I pay for a good meal and good service should be expected.

EDIT: Why the neg? I'm not asking for outstanding, beyond the expectations service. Why do you tip in an already expensive world?

[TheHansa]

Have done but it should be for excellent service beyond what is expected.

[dothestrand]

If there's a bit of small change left after paying for a meal, I'll leave it. I round up taxi fares to the next pound, and the same with delivery things unless I've already paid for it online.

[SleepySheep]

(Original post by rockrunride)
In the UK, mainly 10-15% for restaurants, £1-1.50 for delivery drivers, and 10% for cabbies. Don't tend to tip at café/takeaway counters or hairdressers anymore.

In the US usually 15-20% for restaurants, the dollar equivalent of the above for delivery/taxi drivers, and $1 per drink in a bar.

Never really do it anywhere else. Used to sometimes in France when I couldn't be arsed to pick up the small change from a meal.

Whaaat, you're expected to tip in bars in the US?!

Makes me slightly happy that I will be too young to drink when I go to the US next year

[duharvalgt]

You sound quite generous, usually tips received are 5%-ish.

[Anna150]

I'll usually tell a taxi driver or delivery guy to keep the change if it's less than £2ish.

In pubs and resturants i'll only tip if they actually have waiting service and in most places i go to you have to go up to the bar to order so no tip! I went out with my family for a birthday and the bill was over £100, everyone paid on seperate cards and i paid last. I was so embarrassed that no one else had left a tip that i tipped them £10 and didn't tell anyone because my family would have just called me a mug. The service was really good though .

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by Jingers)
Tips are usually included in the service charge...

I refuse to pay these out of principle. I don't mind tipping, but I object to having the amount I am expected to tip calculated and presented on my bill.

[apolocreed]

(Original post by Mad Vlad)
I don't tip unless the service is excellent. I'm not looking forward to visiting the US and having to tip people for everything.

When I was in the US a while back with my family, we paid, left the restaurant and were in the car when a waiter cam out and asked us 'if we found the service unsatisfactory' as we didn't tip...I'm not sure but I think my mum went back in and gave them a tip

The thing is a lot of people really do make their livings of them

[strawberry]

in the US, wait staff are paid under the minimum wage (only about $4 an hour, compared to about $7+ per hour minimum wage). They make up for that difference in tips, so if you don't tip, they can actually struggle - especially since no tip implies bad service and the establishment would have to compensate the staff for the difference ... which could end up with them getting fired because their service must be bad to have no tips.

I usually tip the usual 15%, 10% if it sucked ... and only 20% or more for places I really like and am a regular at.

In a way, I like the tip system because they have to go above and beyond to get better tips, which ends up in me receiving good if not better service. Where I'm from (not the US), the wait staff treat you like they're doing you a favor - thus, they treat you like ****.

[ihearthomos]

I don't understand tipping. We tip people who are getting paid, at the very least, minimum wage for bringing us food and drinks. We tip taxi drivers for doing their job also. Yet we do not tip bus drivers. It would be seen as silly to tip a nurse after a stay in hospital, yet their job is arguably more important to our well being.

I disagree with the idea of tipping, we tip some people but not others. If a person is being paid to do a job they are being paid to do it well. A simple thank you should be enough. It should be down to management to reward and motivate staff, not the customer?

Perhaps I will see things differently when i am older and have more disposable income.