Tipping Tips For Out Of Town Tippers...

[Ries]

I think many people forget that the tip(Trinkgeld in German) means a little something to buy a drink, not to pay for a Ivy league education.

this really is not a universal truth- it varies a lot from place to place- in Australia, as you mentioned, people dont expect to tip much. Same in Japan- usually no tipping at all.
Then, some places, as you said, tipping is a small gesture.
However, in other countries, like the USA, for example, most waiters depend on tips for most of their living.
The legal wage for tipped waitpersons in the USA is $2.13 an hour- not anywhere near enough to live on, and about 1/4 to 1/5 of the minimum wage for laborers.
The people who are being paid two dollars an hour NEED tips to earn even a poverty wage.
So, in the USA, its different, and many times US visitors to other countries are accused of overtipping and "spoiling" the waiters, as a result.
But where I live, if you cant afford to tip, you cant afford to eat out- its that simple.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

I read this article when in the US and I couldn't remember all of their suggestions. 10% not fully satisfied, 15% satisfied, 20% very satisfied, 25% outstanding, 2 pennies side-by-side totally unsatisfied.
I just rounded up the bill, I couldn't bring myself to take my phone and do the math! Come on! Dealing money at the table is against etiquette!

And I did not like that they printed the suggested tips in the receipts, nor that some "smart" waiter even circle that line for you, adding a giant arrow pointing at the suggested tip!
I still remember the taxi driver in NYC bitching at me for paying by credit card without adding a tip. It was all on a touch screen and it was new to me, but given that he didn't even help me with my bags, he didn't deserved it. I told him so and he kept bitching in paki.

Personally, I don't mind their mentioning a "suggested" tip, but there are no "rules" here, only suggestions. On the taxi driver, however, please don't diminish yourself with ethnic slurs toward immigrants.

 

[Gringoboy]

Possibly the worst service I've ever had has been back in my home country, the UK.
But then, we Brits have a peculiar attitude towards customer service and generally employ non ethnics to do do our dirty work, like waiting on people and cleaning and such like.
And never mess with a chef, unless you value your well being...
Many years ago, we staid at a hotel in the Lake District as we were exhibiting products at a mountain rescue conference. The first morning, we came down to breakfast quite early and asked the very young waitress for our breakfast, but she said that chef wasn't ready, so I asked her to remind him that we were guests and off she went, to speak to him.
'They'll get their breakfast when I'm ready!!' he kept shouting.
We could actually smell the bacon and he was dammed if he was going to serve us until he was ready and the waitress went back to see him about five times, until I lost my patience and strode over, only to find that he'd cooked the grub sometime before and was enjoying a sly smoke, which ended up as a staring contest, High Noon style.
By this time, the waitress was in tears, the breakfast cold and the chef intransigent.
We sat it out until the bacon finally arrived and dined out on that for years to come.

 

[Kika]

As someone who previously worked at a fancy restaurant here in Buenos Aires, I am SO glad to see this topic has arisen.

Tip 10% people. For the love of god -- unless the service is appalling -- tip 10%. And don't tip in dollars (the owners will keep those), please tip in pesos.

Here's my experience as a server in Buenos Aires:

The restaurant I worked at had roughly 2-4 servers a night, but we split the tips equally amongst not just the servers, but also the cooks (6-7), those washing & polishing dishware (2), & the owners (3) -- so roughly 13-15 people.

My salary was 200 pesos a shift, which lasted 10-12 hours. That's about 16-20 pesos an hour. Most nights I came home with 100 pesos in tips. So in total, I was earning 25-30 pesos an hour.

We had a price-fixed menu & a table of 2 typically spent about 1500 pesos for dinner & drinks. The smaller the party (2-4 people) the better the tips -- at least 10%, occasionally 15-20% if they were from the States. The bigger the party (6+) the worse the tip -- 5% maybe. And these were people who would gush over how enjoyable their evening had been.

What came as a shock, were the tables that left NO tip whatsoever! They would actually cross out that portion of the receipt & not leave any cash. We even had a group who bought out the restaurant to host a private party for 45 or so bartenders (most from the States) who were celebrating some business event. They had a special menu, open bar, hors d'oeuvres, etc. My co-workers & I excitedly assumed that they would leave a generous tip -- they were all career bartenders, they know exactly what it's like after all, right? They left nothing -- NOTHING!

I came to the conclusion that those who left zero tip had wrongly assumed that our price fixed menu included the tip. What shocked me even more was that the owners made no attempt to apprise our patrons that this was not so. Their lack of concern for their employees was one of the reasons I ended up quitting. So some nights we'd have 30 diners & walk out with 100 pesos in tips. Other nights we'd have 10 guests and also walk out with 100 pesos. It was completely illogical.

Several patrons from the States would pull me aside & comment how lucky I was to be working in such a nice restaurant. "How did you manage to get a job here?!" they would say. And I'd have to bite my tongue & force a smile because I knew they presumed that I must be earning quite a decent living.

Oh how I craved to tell them the truth!

 

[Girino]

The restaurant I worked at had roughly 2-4 servers a night, but we split the tips equally amongst not just the servers, but also the cooks (6-7), those washing & polishing dishware (2), & the owners (3) -- so roughly 13-15 people.

You split the tip with the owners?! And you had three owners?!
Never heard of tipping the owners!

What shocked me even more was that the owners made no attempt to apprise our patrons that this was not so. Their lack of concern for their employees was one of the reasons I ended up quitting.

They should start to pay you a fair share, for instance, instead of letting the fate (or the clients) doing so.
One day you will have the privilege to serve for free because what you earn will be entirely up to you.
This sounds so an Italian way to do business. I just got an email from a recruiting firm saying they are conducting a research for a client which might lead to hiring. What other possibly it might lead to? Oh, let me guess: a temporary internship paid nothing that will give me precious insights and knowledge for my next job and one more line in my resume.

 

[Matt84]

One day you will have the privilege to serve for free because what you earn will be entirely up to you.

This is a great trend towards and all voluntary society. Cornelius Vanderbilt while building his fortune he improved the Ferry service in New York so much that the fare ended up being free (unlike the Staten Island Ferry which costs a bunch in taxes), being supported entirely by the passengers' spending inside the ferries' restaurants and bars.

 

[Girino]

This is a great trend towards and all voluntary society. Cornelius Vanderbilt while building his fortune he improved the Ferry service in New York so much that the fare ended up being free (unlike the Staten Island Ferry which costs a bunch in taxes), being supported entirely by the passengers' spending inside the ferries' restaurants and bars.

Great! So now we have a first and we know who to blame :angry:

 

[Sockhopper]

No tipping in France. Tax and service are included in the advertised cost of each menu item. Waiters are professionals for life, not for some summer job. They're paid a living wage. Customers can leave just their change from their bills if they wish. Nail salon technicians and spa services are also not tipped. The most one should leave at any hair salon regardless of its status is 2 euro altogether. It's normal to tip cabbies no more than 10%.

 

[Hybrid Ambassador]

Hmmm, the Frenchies do not tip table attendants but do tip Cabbies? Why is that?
I would feel more appretiative of the labour efforted to me by the Garçons at diverse Restaurants.

 

[wineguy999]

We even had a group who bought out the restaurant to host a private party for 45 or so bartenders (most from the States) who were celebrating some business event. They had a special menu, open bar, hors d'oeuvres, etc. My co-workers & I excitedly assumed that they would leave a generous tip -- they were all career bartenders, they know exactly what it's like after all, right? They left nothing -- NOTHING!

You already established that your employers were snakes, but any restaurateur who books a large private party without a service charge is an idiot.

Perhaps it ended up in the hands of the owners.