[Wilfred Little]

(Original post by Riderz)
Yes - around 10% if I can do.

You can tell you lot are a bunch of tight ****ing students. When you grow up a bit you might understand why people give them tips.

If you're struggling to make ends meet why should one be guilt-tripped into tipping?

I could be unemployed while being served by someone who is fortunate enough to have a job. Should I then tip them so that people don't think I'm a tight ****? What if I can't afford to?

Abroad it's a different story but here I don't tip unless I the waiters/drivers/barmaids w/e really go out of their way to make my evening as pleasurable as possible.

[hannaaahlima]

i don't because i'm poor!

[M4LLY]

I do if they have provided me with good service

[IAmTheKing]

I'll generally tip when funds allow it. Say if a haircut (or whatever service) comes to £8, I'll usually give them a tenner. But if I'm particularly strapped for cash (and need the particular service) that £2 could usually be better spent elsewhere...

[itslaura7]

as a waitress myself i will always tip! even at a bar i'll always just round it up because i know how much of a difference it makes. i got tipped £20 once in a second job i have were i work in a club by a really drunk guy but i was so made up! ended up getting my sister a really good birthday present in the end

even just an extra £1 or something isn't much to you but a lot to a waitress/barworker or whatever don't see why some people have to be so stingey if im completely honest! although sure if you didn't receive good enough service fair enough.

[Narcissist]

I can't stand going to a restaurant with a group on people when half of them are scraping together cash to make up the bill after I've put in my share plus a reasonable tip, sometimes my tip that was intended to go towards the waiting staff will end up subsidising their meal. Then when everyone's leaving there will be just enough to cover the bill so I'll feel inclined to put a bit more in the pot.

[mimx]

Cue 20 people who think they're Mr. Pink.

Edit: Oh, someone actually posted the video. Well I definitely was not expecting that unpredictable turn of events.

[theonefrombrum]

I rarely if ever eat out in places where you probably would tip but if i did, it would really depend on the person and whether or not they made the meal better. If they just carried the plates, wrote down my order and that's it, then no i wouldn't pay their wages for them because i'd then feel that i should tip every single worker, whether they're a baker or a dustbin man just because they did what they have to do. If they were friendly and chatty etc, gave off a good impression and made me feel welcome then yeah i'd tip, i'm not a stingy person at all and to me a few quid is hardly something to cry about not having, but it could help them out a lot so i would.

[acceptingme]

I usually tip if I have money but I'm only talking one or two pounds but then if I'm out with a friend they'll tip the same. If the service is awful however I make a point not to tip.

[plimsolls]

I tip because it's expected, and i don't want to be seen as rude or a tight wad. That makes me a feeble minded douche.

The fact that waiting staff are on min wage and 'it's hard work' is irrelevant, lots of people are doing hard work for little reward, no body is coughing up extra for them.

[plimsolls]

(Original post by Narcissist)
I can't stand going to a restaurant with a group on people when half of them are scraping together cash to make up the bill after I've put in my share plus a reasonable tip, sometimes my tip that was intended to go towards the waiting staff will end up subsidising their meal. Then when everyone's leaving there will be just enough to cover the bill so I'll feel inclined to put a bit more in the pot.

Put the amount for your meal in to the pot, wait for everyone else to cough up their share, then add your tip afterwards.

[gateshipone]

Here in the UK I only tip for really good service. When I'm in the US I tip as standard due to the lack of minimum wage for certain jobs.

[TheCurlyHairedDude]

(Original post by Riderz)
Yes - around 10% if I can do.

You can tell you lot are a bunch of tight ****ing students. When you grow up a bit you might understand why people give them tips.

I work full-time, and am not a student. I regularly eat-out. And I won't tip. I's got nothing to do with being "tight" maybe for students yes, but for me. They get paid to do a job, nothing more nothing less.

[Michael Locke]

I've only done it a few times in the UK when the service was unbelievable. In North America and other places where the minimum wage laws for 'tipped' professions are total balls, always 10-15%

[IAmTheWumAndOnly]

(Original post by word2yamother)
I don't because I don't see the reason to when they're getting paid to serve me plus I work in a low paid job and no one tips me.

No. They get a wage. Should I tip someone in Tesco for helping me with my packing? No, I dont think so. They get a wage so they should get paid that. If they get a tip then thats fortunate for them. If they dont then tough luck, times are hard.

[nonswimmer]

You should tip because wages are calculated with tips in mind.

Therefore you should assume you need to add 10% to a bill, but the benefit is that this gives you the marvelous opportunity (of a sort that you get in almost no other customer experience) to reward/penalize good/bad service.

Imagine being able to pay 10% less for your supermarket shop because you had to spend forever waiting for a till, and then the checkout operator made annoying personal remarks about your buying habits. That would be fab.

Tips, for this reason, are rather wonderful once you get over how strange it feels to have to add something to the written bill.

[diving_queen]

(Original post by Wilfred Little)
If you're struggling to make ends meet why should one be guilt-tripped into tipping?

I could be unemployed while being served by someone who is fortunate enough to have a job. Should I then tip them so that people don't think I'm a tight ****? What if I can't afford to?

Abroad it's a different story but here I don't tip unless I the waiters/drivers/barmaids w/e really go out of their way to make my evening as pleasurable as possible.

One thing I have to say to people who moan they are too poor to tip...If you are too poor to give the waiter/ress a couple of quid then how is it you can afford to eat out? Because you do realise the mark-up on that food is astronimical right?

Just food for thought....From an ex waitress. Who knows how damn difficult/tiring the job is...

And those saying 'oh its just another job. Why do they deserve tips?' Waitressing is not your casual 9-5, sitting on a chair all day type job. Its hard, 12 hour days sometimes, on your feet for at least 11 of those hours. 6 days a week, 7 if its holiday season. No extra pay. Have to work xmas eve, xmas day, boxing day, NYE, New years day, bank holidays. Have to put up with people thinking they have a personal slave for a few hours. Its a tough job, and incredibly unrewarding in my opinion. Yes Nurses for example work long hours on their feet but they get paid more...waitresses invariably get minimum wage. I was earning around 950 quid after tax a month doing 40-50 hour weeks. You simply cannot survive alone on that wage. Well..not easily.

[The Doggfather]

I'm Asian, so no, I don't tip. Unless the waitering is absolutely exceptional but this is rare. But when I'm in USA, it's wrong not to tip, so I tip 10% and no more.

[Wilfred Little]

(Original post by diving_queen)
One thing I have to say to people who moan they are too poor to tip...If you are too poor to give the waiter/ress a couple of quid then how is it you can afford to eat out? Because you do realise the mark-up on that food is astronimical right?

Just food for thought....From a waitress. Who knows how damn difficult/tiring the job is.

Definitely acknowledge how tiring the job must be, especially dealing with really bad customers.

But should people who can just about afford to eat out, not eat out because they can't afford to tip on top of that? Should a poor couple stay at home and eat in on Valentine's Day instead of making an evening of it at a restaurant?

I don't know, I just don't get it. It's not compulsory.

If I get particularly good service I will tip because I really do understand how tiring that job must be. I couldn't deal with the public like that. But we are all in tiring jobs, should a nurse be tipped?

[josh_v]

Im generally inclined to tip 10-12% if the service and food were both good.

After working in the catering industry myself, with over two years of that as a waiter, it becomes very easy to rely on tips. When you are able to make a certain amount of tax free cash every day, its very hard to not rely on that. Where i worked, we only really worked for the tips, as the tips were more than the wages, so everyone would bust their ass to try and get that tip. Although it is a little annoying/ disheartening when people dont leave anything, this certainly doesnt mean people should feel like they have to. A waiter in a average/nice restaurant is more than capable of taking over £100 on a busy night in tips, so if someone decides they dont want to tip, its not the end of the world.

But just as a side note, whilst they are paid to do their job, theres a lot of practices that go on that people dont really see. Work in the catering industry and thinking about taking a 10 minute break or 30 minute lunch break? forget it! It doesnt happen! Also, in some restaurants, at the end of the night, waiting staff are required to PAY the restaurant. If you havent made enough in tips to cover what you owe the restaurant, then youve just worked the night for less than minimum wage.