Tipping in restaurants - what's your criteria?

I never got tips for doing my job.

Bad service - complain and get a reduction.
Good service - it’s what I expect so no tip.
Above and beyond - definitely a tip.

Can’t remember the last time I ate in a proper restaurant, unless you count the hospital canteen, in which case definitely no tip (was tempted to say “a smile wouldn’t go amiss” but thought better if it ).

My change always goes in the charity box.

Tbe tips are usually shared by all the staff so it doesnt just depend on either the waiter or the person preparing the meal.

It seems sad to me that diners expect food to be served immediately (too many fast food outlets). Usually if it takes 20 minutes to get the starter it is because it is being prepared fresh, not bought in and microwaved.

20 minutes is a good time to catch up on chat- embrace it.

As for tipping, if the service is good - tip; if not - don’t.

I have a huge problem with tipping but it only comes about when I'm on an enjoyable social occasion and I'm not prepared to tarnish that by making it an issue.

Tipping is a real bee in my bonnet
I don’t tip and no I m not a skinflint at all I’d rather give that 10% to a deserving cause , like you say gillybob into the charity box
I don’t believe in tipping this has come up so many times before and no one has ever told me why tip one service and not another. why tip at all it’s an antiquated way of saying ‘ Im the boss giving to the poor little worker‘ horrid in my opinion
Do you tip the girl serving you in the corner shop, no but why not?
Why do you tip at all
1 To show appreciation? ...Ok so why not tip the bus driver
2 Because everyone else does it and I ll look mean if I don’t !
3 Because I want to bribe them to treat me better next time!
4 Because I want to be seen as generous !
5 Because they’re on low wages and need the tip, so ok tip the road sweeper tip the factory worker on zero hours tip the care home night staff
6 Because it’s tradition and I ve no idea why?
I bet most people fit into category 2 and 6

I agree with your friend, I only tip if the service is good. I don’t think you should feel pressured into tipping just because it’s expected.You wouldn’t tip the taxi driver if he dropped you off short of your journey or the hairdresser if she/ he gave you a winky fringe. So I’m with your friend on this one.

Wonky

I don't tip. It's old fashioned. Everyone should be paid properly these days for the job they do. Some people say 'well the waiters/waitresses aren't paid very much'. Well they should be paid a proper wage like everyone else. Why should the restaurant owners get away with paying the waitresses a pittance because they assume people will give tips. It's not the 1920s.

Oh Bluebelle completely agree. I’d be very in favour of paying for a meal a ‘correct’ price, knowing that all the staff along its preparation line has got a decent wage. That would then eliminate the discussions re to tip or not to tip. Wouldn’t life be easier? Start a referendum???

Sorry Dilly I agree 20 mins is not too bad for a group if everything else is on time. However I do think restaurants etc take advantage of the Christmas party season and pack in as many people as they can without having sufficient resources to cope. So many other groups work equally as hard so I'm not sympathetic. I agree with Ellie BlueBelle and
annygee. This system is unfair to all.

I agree Bluebelle, I don't usually tip even if in a large group. I have been known to ask how the service charge is shared. I really see no reason for tipping, I would like to tip the wonderful carers that look after my daughter but they are not allowed to take money. So why waiters and hairdressers.

Don't know how things are now but when we lived in NZ they were proud of the fact that they didn't want tipping. Came as a big surprise to me. I believe Australia was the same. My daughter worked in pubs/restaurants as a student and worked her socks off, always went the extra mile because thats her nature (especially for the pensioners) very proud of her.

Think if you want to have freshly prepared food you need to be prepared to wait for it. If I go out to eat with a group we pre-order a few days before hand, that way the restaurant knows what is required & have the chance to be on the ball. Normally tip for happy polite service.

I don't tip at all. They are paid to do a job, as I got paid . to do my job. Nobody ever tipped me for doing my job

I would not tip if the service was poor, or the quality of the food was poorer than I had expected.

Surely most tips are put into a "pot" and shared out amongst all the staff, these days.

I would expect to be told when ordering that I would have to wait 20 minutes for a dish, so I could order something else instead. Any kitchen working a la carte has everything ready so a starter can just be assembled on the plate and that most certainly does not take twenty minutes! been there, done that for years,

I always leave tips - my sons all worked in pubs and restaurants (and did paper rounds) when they were at school/ Uni and depended on the tips to make up their wages. It can be a very demanding and thankless environment to work in. Having said that, I don't leave a tip for my hairdresser as it is her own business, but I always say thank you, and sometimes take a gift.

I would like to ditch a tip altogether if waiting staff address a mixed party of over 65s like us as 'you guys'.

But I don't. As long as service is pleasant and not over-slow, with no major cock-ups, 10% is usual.

One occasion where we should perhaps have ditched it, was when we were entertaining 3 friends who we rarely see, in a fairly expensive London restaurant.

The waiter didn't just give dh the bill - he read out the total loudly enough for everyone to hear!
Talk about a breach of etiquette!

Dh phoned the management the next day. They were extremely apologetic and assured him that the waiter's training would be attended to PDQ.

Our daughter lives in the US and it is obligatory there to tip - good service or not, although the service does tend to be good. However, also added to the tip is sales tax, which can also have a state tax + tip so the bill can hike up considerably. They will almost ask why a tip is not left if you don't leave one , which I always do as I don't want to be chased down the street by irate waiting staff! I do agree though that if service is not good then you shouldn't tip.

I always tip coach drivers after a safe journey, my hairdresser too, i give her a Christmas card with money as well. When out for meals i always tip the staff because as many say on here it is usually young students and they always need money

I'm another one who doesn't agree with tipping - why are we expected to tip for some jobs but not others? It's an outmoded tradition which should be ditched in this day and age.

My husband is a very generous tipper. Recently, we stayed overnight at a Travel Lodge and he left the chambermaid a fiver. He said that he wouldn't want to do her job. He's the same in restaurants. We are not wealthy, hence the Travel Lodge. I am much tighter! 10% but if the service or meal are poor I will leave nothing.

I earn minimum wage in childcare, very often miss breaks and have to listen to complaining parents on a daily basis. No one tips me several times a day for my effort; I am just doing my job just as other service staff do, so I only tip in exceptional circumstances. I think the idea is ridiculous that it is the done thing in some jobs and not others.

I used to tip in the UK, but I no longer do. In the US, waiters are just paid a retainer by the restaurant, the bill is for the food, the tip is paying the waiter and that is fair. In the UK and other countries, waiters are paid a wage. I stopped after having a conversation with my then, Spanish teacher. Somehow the subject came up and she told me that when she first came to the UK, she worked as a waiter. She said that tipping isn’t a thing in Spain, and that when she was tipped here, she felt offended, as if she was being patronised. She pointed out that she was earning a good wage and that it wasn’t necessary. That where they are paid £10 per hour, that is £1770 per month, and that many restaurants pay their staff more. She added that since hubby and I are living on pensions, it was crazy to tip. After that conversation, I have never tipped in a restaurant in the UK. That said, I still cringe when I leave without doing so!

Re the US, I do recall a porter who helped us with luggage (we had 2 small children too) being extremely rude when we failed to tip him.
The trouble was, we'd only just arrived and had no notes under $20, and this was decades ago. IIRC dh did explain and apologise, but he was still very rude.

On any future trips we made sure we had some smaller denomination notes available.