I can't speak for the whole of Europe, but I know, from working as a waiter, most people in the UK don't tip. In fact, the only time people did tip was a "keep the change" kind of thing, or during weddings. Although a German guy once gave me 20 pounds for bringing his drink quickly 0_o Don't see the point in tipping anyway.
Not really, we tend to make more money. SolidSnake is right, national min wage pretty much stops any need for tipping. Although I'm sure plenty of people still do it, I never tip.
Varies from country to country and depends on the establishment too. You'd usually leave something if you were happy with the meal and service in a restaurant in England.
I think in general the tipping culture is a north american thing. I could be wrong though but most people here don't tip or do it when they are in a jolly mood.
[QUOTE="MushroomWig"][QUOTE="mrmusicman247"]Interesting..you're considered an ass over here if you don't tip. Well waiters get paid differently here. mrmusicman247
Where is here? America? Yes. As I understand, waiters are paid below minimum wage and the make up the difference in tips from customers. Which helps keep the cost of food down....maybe the food is more expensive in Europe.
[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"][QUOTE="mrmusicman247"][QUOTE="MushroomWig"] Where is here? America? Yes. As I understand, waiters are paid below minimum wage and the make up the difference in tips from customers. Which helps keep the cost of food down....maybe the food is more expensive in Europe.Not in my experience. But then, I've only spent a fortnight in Florida.
[QUOTE="jimmyjammer69"][QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"][QUOTE="mrmusicman247"] Yes. As I understand, waiters are paid below minimum wage and the make up the difference in tips from customers. Which helps keep the cost of food down....maybe the food is more expensive in Europe.Not in my experience. But then, I've only spent a fortnight in Florida.Tourist locale? They cost more....:P
[QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"][QUOTE="jimmyjammer69"][QUOTE="LJS9502_basic"] Which helps keep the cost of food down....maybe the food is more expensive in Europe.Not in my experience. But then, I've only spent a fortnight in Florida.Tourist locale? They cost more....:PI guess that could be it.
[QUOTE="MushroomWig"][QUOTE="mrmusicman247"]Interesting..you're considered an ass over here if you don't tip. Well waiters get paid differently here. mrmusicman247
Where is here? America? Yes. As I understand, waiters are paid below minimum wage and the make up the difference in tips from customers. $2.13 per hour, $3 if you're working some tip share jobs at nicer restaurants (meaning my paycheck every two weeks was about $50 while tips would be more like $500. Depends on the state though, $2.13 is the federal minimum wage for tipped jobs, while others require higher wages.
Usually not so much. In a nice restaurant sure, it's only polite. But we have higher minimum wage here and waiters/waitresses are paid just as well as any other service industry job, so tipping is more of an added bonus for an exceptional experience rather than a given.
[QUOTE="mrmusicman247"][QUOTE="jimmyjammer69"][QUOTE="mrmusicman247"] What city did you go to?The tourist circuit. Orlando, Miami etc. Places with the most expensive restaurants. Especially Miami. Even the chains? Wouldn't they have standardised pricing?
Places with the most expensive restaurants. Especially Miami. Even the chains? Wouldn't they have standardised pricing? The chains..probably not. I mean, if I find out that a Mcdonald's burger is more expensive down in Miami than here, 4 million dollar lawsuit here I come. However certain parts of Miami and Orlando don't have chains around so the tourists have to pay for the food that's there.
i've very rarely seen anyone tip from my experience(I've spent considerable time in Italy, France, UK, and Norway), and the few times were mostly in the UK, when it was "keep the change" because they don't really want to have those annoying 1-2 penny coins. i don't tip and i've spent 2/3 of my life in Europe. Its because of minimum wages, and no, food in most Countries isn't very expensive(in Italy its pretty cheap).
in ireland generally not. people have a minimum wage here so theres little emphasis put on tips...people get paid regardless. sometimes there is a cup or glass put out for tips....i usually drop in spare change when they do have that. as far as i know the recommended tip in the states is at least 10% of the meal price or something. theres nothing like that here.
[QUOTE="mrmusicman247"][QUOTE="jimmyjammer69"][QUOTE="mrmusicman247"] Places with the most expensive restaurants. Especially Miami. Even the chains? Wouldn't they have standardised pricing? The chains..probably not. I mean, if I find out that a Mcdonald's burger is more expensive down in Miami than here, 4 million dollar lawsuit here I come. However certain parts of Miami and Orlando don't have chains around so the tourists have to pay for the food that's there. Well, we went to TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut and Denny's and that kind of place. Eating out definitely wasn't cheap compared to Britain, but I suppose you have to factor in the average wage to make any meaningful comparison.
[QUOTE="mrmusicman247"][QUOTE="MushroomWig"] Where is here? America?LJS9502_basic
Yes. As I understand, waiters are paid below minimum wage and the make up the difference in tips from customers. Which helps keep the cost of food down....maybe the food is more expensive in Europe.
Yeah food is way more expensive pretty much everywhere. I've been to England, France, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland and the food was really expensive everywhere we went. I didn't really think of why it was so bad until now. I'm sure tipping isn't all of it, but it can certainly add up to a lot.
[QUOTE="mrmusicman247"][QUOTE="jimmyjammer69"][QUOTE="mrmusicman247"] Places with the most expensive restaurants. Especially Miami. Even the chains? Wouldn't they have standardised pricing? The chains..probably not. I mean, if I find out that a Mcdonald's burger is more expensive down in Miami than here, 4 million dollar lawsuit here I come. However certain parts of Miami and Orlando don't have chains around so the tourists have to pay for the food that's there. actually mc donalds pricing does vary by location, the food is standardized, the pricing is not.
Im english and i don't usually tip. Only because i understand that depending on the restaurant, the "service charge" thats added to your bill contains a tip for the waiter included automatically. Not understanding the american culture of tipping your waiters, i once left a restaurant w/o tipping only to hear the waitress complain to herself as i left. I felt incredibly guilty once i found out what id done wrong.
If the waiter does something specially good, like going out of their way to give a super good service or something, I might be tempted to give 50 cents or something. Otherwise, no. They have wages for a reason.
A few months ago I saw a TV show about emigrants, and one of the episodes was about New York. The emigrant was showing new york to the reports, explain stuff and he buys an hot dog on the street. As he was leaving, the vendor calls the guy and he then proceeds to give an extra dollar to the vendor. He then said "I almost forgot, these guys want tips for everything".
My reaction or something along the lines of: "WTF dude! Seriously?!"
It's not expected that you always tip here, only if you receive very good service in something like a restaurant. They put a 'service charge' on the bill usually, but even still it's sometimes good to tip for very good service. For local businesses and taxis it's common to just say 'keep the change' as a way of giving a tip; you wouldn't usually hand them money as a tip.
Interesting.. Never thought why I tipped. I just tip since its what I grew up with. Tip the barber, the waiter, the taxi, etc. When I was in Japan if you ate off base you don't tip since it was considered rude. If they worked on base japanese seemed to love it.
My family tips. In Italy, most places you pay for the table, the cutlery you use and the napkins (this is silly..) but instead you don't have to tip. I've also been to some places in Germany where they did the same, because people rarely tip. In Denmark, it's custom to tip, but you don't have to. You usually tip 15% or so of the total price of the meal.
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