Tipping in restaurants - what's your criteria?

We live in Luxembourg.
We tip one euro per head for good service.
At a very expensive resteraunt we would tip five euros for good service.
I have to say the service everywhere is normally very good.
Waiting tables is a career option here and reasonably well paid.

I always pay bill by card and tip by cash

Tipping of any service provider is not expected in New Zealand.

When going with a group, we will either request separate tabs right from the start so the staff know who to bill, or we will often pay the whole tab if we haven't seen a group for quite a while and like to treat.

There's nothing worse than either arguing or being embarrassed over nit-picking the bill or the tip. We have certain acquaintances who we know to be fussy over tipping, and go over the bill like an accountant at year-end.
We tend to have them over for dinner rather than meet them at a restaurant.

Canadians have now started to go more to the American method of tipping; now if there are groups over 6 the restaurant will automatically add an 18% tip.
When they hand you the credit or debit card terminal, the automatic choices are 15%, 18% or 20%.

We will almost always add 15%, unless the service is particularly bad, then we will reduce it or on very rare occasion, not leave a tip at all.

Remember also, the time to table in your case is usually caused by the kitchen, not the wait staff. And 20 minutes is perfectly reasonable amount of time IMO.

I’d be unhappy if my food came to quickly as it would mean it must have been microwaved!

Or they've over booked the table and want to shoo you out for the next sitting with no chatting/digesting time!

Today 12:37 Stella14

Excellent post, Stella.

I’d be unhappy if my food came to quickly as it would mean it must have been microwaved!

Tipping does not form part of the staffs basic wage here like it does abroad so it isnt necessary.

Group bookings and larger tables usually have a service charge added to the bill so I wouldnt tip above that unless the service was great.

For a smaller table of 2-4 people I usually tip 10-15% if the bill was more than £50 the service was okay. I wouldnt tip for a quick cheap lunch

Re a 20 min wait, I HATE dining with people who expect fast food service at non fast foot restraunts! The time between courses is the time to chat, order another bottle of wine etc. Not to whinge that your food wasnt instant.

It’s very different on cruises. Because most of the staff are from poor countries like the Philippines and Africa and the ships are registered in Malta, they can get away without paying any kind if minimum wage. British and American staff are pay a much higher rate than the rest. There is than a (lower)archy according to which country the workers come from. Many work 12 or 14 hour days 7 days a week, with just one day off every few weeks. They are paid obscenely low wages and rely on tips to make their work worthwhile. If you only tip those you feel are worth it, you miss those paid the least, but whose work is crucial for the enjoyment of your cruise, the cleaners, kitchen staff, laundry staff etc.

The money you take from them by removing your tips will not lead to the cruise companies paying better wages because they can get away with not doing so. Therefore, although we don’t tip in restaurants here or in the rest of Europe, we would never remove our tips on a cruise. We simply consider them part of the cost.

And whilst the tipping system stays in place hospitality staff will continue to be poorly paid
Shropshirelass

We always give a small tip. Tipping is very often how staff make up their wages, and if the service is good and with a smile, why not? If the service was poor overall then we would not tip. I do get annoyed when there is provision for making a gratuity payment at the point of card payment!

No tipping here in Australia. On cruises I ask for the service charge to be removed from my account and then leave tips to who I think deserves it.

Sorry you are suffering such irritability menopausalbitch , I'm so glad I'm over those symptoms.
Yes I do ask for the service charge to be removed, its not done so much here in rural France.

Kim19 I did on one occasion ask for the 10% service charge to be removed from the bill. It did say it was optional, so I opted.

Yes, I too hate those machines that present you with the option of tipping or not tipping, but I do take great delight in loudly asking where the button is for 'no'.

I try not to tip wherever possible.

10% if a service charge hasn't been added to the bill and always leave in cash rather than add it to a card payment as not all restaurants pass it on to the staff

I am happy to tip, and will tip generously if the service has been good etc, however I am not comfortable with being presented with the card machine that gives me a choice of tapping either Yes or No to have the tip added on. It’s embarrassing and I couldn’t bring myself to actually tap No even if the service was bad.

Well, she is menopausal (I assume).

We always tip in cash direct to the waiter/ess, to ensure that the tips do not get 'lost' in the employers accounts.

I would rather see the old-fashioned tronc. the success of ameal is not just the waiter but all those behind the scenes cooking preparing and clearing up and they should get an equal share of the tips.

Menopauselbitch, there's absolutely no need whatsoever to be so rude!

We’ve just come in from Sunday lunch and tipped 10% the service was good mind.

Just who the fuck do you think you are. You obviously have never eaten in good places.

Soda pop
I suggest you stay in then

Your waiter has no control over the chef of the kitchen. If he/she was good then why not tip her for something out of their control. Sounds like an arsehole to me.

Question, please, to those of you who say you don't tip. Do you actually ask for the service charge to be removed from the bill once it has been presented?

On several occasions on cruises, I've simply gone to accounts/purser and asked them to remove the tip element from my final account. Done without fuss or recrimination.