Does anyone still tip waiters/waitresses?

[Ivysaur]

So it can't even be seen as simply a kind gesture? :v

Again, tips in Europe mostly consist of coins (usually small change, but we do have €/£1 and €/£2 coins in case it was really good), but anything over €/£5 (which essentally is half the price of an entire single dinner) is only either for very rich people who don't care about their money or for very special events (mass dinners with 20 people, birthdays, weddings).

As other people said, our mindset is something like "most workers don't get tips at their jobs, so why would wait staff be that special"?

 

[Kanzler]

It seems then that waiter wages in NA are actually based around the institution of tipping.

 

[Endru]

Where I come from, there is no tipping. What's appropriate to give in other countries? Is tipping compulsory even where there is a tipping culture?

 

[Overlord Drakow]

Always go for the tip. You want dem shiny pogeymanz, you gotta tip

 

[Sopheria]

I tip them, because that's how you ensure good service. But what doesn't make sense to me is giving tips as a percentage of how much your food cost. I mean, you're paying them for their service, not for the cost of your food. If a waiter is polite, respectful, and gives good service, and my food cost $10, I'm going to give him the same size tip as if my food cost $200.

 

[Sheep]

It appalls me how minimum wage for wait staff here is so small; customers are basically being used to pay the employers' workers for them when they most definitely can do such themselves. It's greedy and disgusting. I understand it's not our fault that these employees are paid so little but finding a new job is certainly not very easy for a lot of people while others may just have no choice. I'll continue to tip for as long as I'll be in America.

@Endru It's usually based on percent (at least here). The usual rate to tip is 10-20% the cost of your food, usually around 15%. A lot of people tip 10% for poor service, 15% for adequate service, and 20% for great service.

 

[Shining Raichu]

I'm in Australia where it's neither required nor expected to tip waitors/tresses, so I've never made it a habit. There is sometimes a little tip jar at the front desk that you can chuck a few coins in if you really want to, but more often than not it doesn't happen. Though I did have this really awesome waitress last time I went out to dinner and made sure to give the guy at the front desk $5 to give to her. I hope it got there.

 

[«Chuckles»]

I'm in Australia where it's neither required nor expected to tip waitors/tresses, so I've never made it a habit. There is sometimes a little tip jar at the front desk that you can chuck a few coins in if you really want to, but more often than not it doesn't happen. Though I did have this really awesome waitress last time I went out to dinner and made sure to give the guy at the front desk $5 to give to her. I hope it got there.

Same here but Waiters/Waitress' get paid a wage not 2.30 $, though they work differently then over sea's because in Australia that 5 dollar tip you got isn't yours it gets spread out evenly amongst the other workers. But waiters and what not get paid decently so they wouldn't need to depend on a tip.

 

[Shining Raichu]

So my amazing waitress got like 50c lmao. Awesome.

 

[Sir Codin]

I'm American, of course I tip.

 

[Knor]

Yep, I tip. It seems like one of those things that just kinda should happen.

 

[Algo Fonix]

If I can't afford to tip, I can't afford to go out and eat.

I've done the waiter gig before, so I have a lot more respect for them now. Technically, yeah, you're paid 2.30 (or whatever, depending on if your state has a higher tipped wage) and you're supposed to make the rest in tips. However, if you fall short of the state minimum, your employer has to make it up to you on your hourly pay when you get a paycheck.

I mean, yeah, it's a cultural thing for a lot of people. I get that, but reserve the right to judge people who never tip even after being educated on the subject.

 

[voltianqueen]

My mom has been a waitress for 20+ years. She's worked in comedy clubs and casual sit-downs before, and these days she's in high-end casuals and fine dining. So, being the child of a long-time waitress, I can say that you should always tip your server. When you do not leave a tip or leave a too-low tip (when receiving good service), it's not just annoying, but insulting. When you tip, it's good to tip higher for better service, and lower for not-so-good service, but horrible to not tip at all. You never know what the heck your server could be dealing with that day. Also, my mother says that if you are traveling to another country, research the tipping customs there!

Basically, tipping is courteous and good, and if you tip badly or not at all, then you end up being the "stupid people" my mom complains about when she comes home from work! :P She says that bad tippers or people who don't believe in tipping should work in the restaurant business for a while.

(we live in the US btw so all I said just applies here)

 

[Quinn]

Yes normally 40% of the total cost of my food.

 

[Melody]

I tip what I can, when I can.

Despite being in the USA, I definitely do not consider tipping to be a tradition I want to propagate. So I tip a bit if I'm eating out or riding a taxi, but not much more. I don't tip if I don't get decent service. Simple as that. Sometimes I can't afford a tip, which sucks but usually I don't somewhere that tips would be expected if that's the case.

 

[Nick]

I went to a diner last night and the waitress I had was so unbelievably nice. I decided before I got my food that I was going to leave her a fairly large tip. Just because she was nice, and because it's the holidays and it just felt great to just think about doing because it would make her day. So I did. I left her a $30.00 tip. Doing so made me feel soooo good. Not only because it was incredibly generous, but leaving one that large (when I usually leave like $4 or $5 bucks) made me feel rich! I woke up this morning with those feeling radiating in my internal being, so I woke up happy.