The Tipping Point

if the waiting staff just did what they were paid to do then that wouldnt be good service, it would be adequate. Good service is going out of their way to make your meal more enjoyable, the extra effort and thats worth tipping. Maybe you have been unfortunate to choose restaurants with lower standards (the ones that do two for a tenner are not restaurants), because in good restaurants it is very noticable. If the person at tesco smiled once in a while, or ran to the aisle if i forgot something, or carried the bags to the car then i would quite happily let them keep the change!

Ouch! All im saying is no one tips me for doing my job so why should i tip them for doing theirs?... If I went into Tesco and the check out person gave me speedy service with a smile would i tip them.... I mean they have an equally s**** and low paying job... i wouldn't give them an extra fiver for doing the job. . .did any one tip me for fighting insurgents in Baghdad?... NO!

I tip when its deserved, and sometimes even when its not!! Generally i tip at least 10%. Its a tough job but i believe tips are a way of showing what you thought of the service, so if it was good and came with a smile, then tip. If service was poor, then don't. Service is often something people in this country struggle with, so if they learn that if they do it better they get better tips, then that can only be a good thing!

Chris, I don’t think anyone’s questioning the bill / price of the restaurants. i think if you go to a £100 + restaurant the service should be amazing regardless and doesn’t warrant a tip.. The blog is about tips! Not about worrying about the bill.. some people tip some people don’t... like I said previously no one tips me for doing my job.. so why should I tip them for doing theirs? and its not only a tenner! It’s a tenner of my hard earned cash! so why should a couple of waiters/waitress get my money for doing a job they get paid to do anyway... I mean we pay enough in tax for their education, now we should fund their beer money? COME ON!! It’s like people are surprised when they get good service so they tip.. when you go to a restaurant you expect good service/food so why should you pay more when you receive it? Or maybe it’s just another way for pretentious snobs living off money they've probably not even earnt to "flash the cash" Bigger the tip, the more well off you must be... Makes me sick!

The restaurant really would like to charge you more and include a service charge in the price of the food or drink. But then the argument would be some restaurants are too expensive. We build our costs in to the menu and dont add a service charge. Customers know what they are going to pay and tip very well if they have had a nice experience. Its about knowing your market and what they are prepared to spend. There seems to be quite a few people who eat out with no intention of relaxing or enjoying themseves moaning about £10 tip to waiting on staff... £10!! Who cares it probably costs more than that in fuel to drive to tesco. Choose a good restaurant, a good bottle, tip the staff and enjoy your evening. Or stay in, the food is cheaper, seats are comfy and you dont have to tip the wife!

12.5% is an included tip - it you work for a restaurant that keeps this money then that's your choice. As for the US, I don't tip for a different reason. If it says $25 for a dish that's not takeaway prices so service is already included. If the restaurant wanted more for paying their staff the should put it on the menu. If the staff don't like it get a proper job where you don't have to beg for change.

I would normally leave 10%, but 2 weeks ago didn't leave one for 1st time in ages, at Ego's in Heswall (see review). We had waited and waited while those who came in after us got served, and after pointing this out politely, nothing improved, Shame as our waitress was friendly. This is exceptional though.

I like to leave about a 10% tip in cash, however, I know that some men seem very reluctant to do so. I have, over the years trained my husband to hand over the cash and he does, as do nearly all our friends. If the service has been truly dreadful, then, it is fair not to leave a tip, or just a very small amount of loose change, equally, if it has been exceptionally good then leaving more (about 12-15%) is always a good idea. I do find tipping overseas a bit of a minefield, however. Although I use the roughly the same guidelines I always wonder if we are leaving enough or too much! I have great respect for the work waiting on staff do in restaurants and I think it is good to show appreciation, if the staff were paid more wages, then I probably would think again. Having said that, I also tip hairdressers and I think they are paid far too much money really, these days, so, I suppose I am just programmed to be generous! What is it they say about a fool and his money?

Why should how much I pay for a meal affect my tip? I detest having tips added to my bill, insisting it is prepared without them. Having friends all over North America, I tip between 10 and 20%, but don't expect it if you don't do your job professionally. In the US and Canada I tip 10% when the service is routine, but that is a different world. There are Scandinavian countries where giving small amounts of money instead of spoken thanks is insulting and to be frank, that's how it should be here.

Not exactly taxing'? Eh? What a load of bobbins. Waiting tables is hard work. Like the article said, interpersonal and multi-tasking skills are key, as is the ability to be physically fit enough to spend your shift running around like a blue a***ed fly trying to keep on top of orders. As a rule I try and tip 10%, unless I've been disappointed with the service I've received, when I'll leave nothing. I think I may have made a social faux-pas, though, reading the comments above, as I thought the 12.5% service charge was the tip and I didn't leave anything else at a couple of restaurants on a recent visit to London. Oops...

Where good service is given I have no problem in leaving a tip (except if it has already been added to the bill) but it is a two way street, give the good service and you will get the tip. But to expect a tip regardless, forget it. No tip = bad service so I reserve the right to not tip if this is the case.

Hi all, and hello from St Annes As a restaurant owner myself ... I find this a wonderful topic and discussion ... and I have recently had experience with the legislation for tipping that I would like to share We have been running our restaurant for 10 years and our staff are paid above the minimum wage... and since we opened myself and my wife set up a policy that any tips received would be evenly distributed between all the staff .... we did not include ourselves as we felt it unfair for the owners to take tips given by our customers ..... we even gave staff the full value of tips left by customers on credit cards even though we had 3% of that value deducted by the credit card company Then in 2006 we had a routine tax investigation by the HM revenue and customs .... one of the points that were raised was TIPS They told us that tips were treated as additional income and therefore were subject to national insurance and income tax .... and that it was our responsibility to deduct this from the amount received from customers I had always seen tips as a gift from customers who appreciate good service ( and a smile ) We were finally given a tax demand backdated for the previous six years for the estimated tax to be paid on tips ( approx £4500 demanded ) I was gutted The outcome was we had to pay ... plus we now have to deduct the NI and PAYE from any tips received ( and this has to be calculated per individual because of each persons tax allowance ) Also ( as we found out ) any restaurant that distributed tips without making the NI and PAYE deductions are breaking the Law We don’t demand the customer pays tips ... in-fact we say on our bill that its down to the customers discretion if they want to give a tip, and I am certainly against service charges ... if i eat out at a restaurant and i get good service and a smile I certainly leave a tip For me when I tip .. its way of showing appreciation also I like to think that this person on my next visit will remember me and make sure i get exceptional service again all the best .... KD

I'm afraid I have to agree with donald and peter, waiting really isn't that hard in the scheme of things, I did a bit of it myself and whilst it was tiring on a busy night it wasn't especially hard, and no where near as hard as my current job for which I do not receive tips. You get paid a low wage because invariably you are doing a low responsability job (and before you say you make or break and evening and thus affect the restaurants profitability directly, so does any customer facing employee and most of those don't receive tips) forcing 12.5% is ridiculous, most of my meals reach 100 pound plus, do I want to leave a ten pound plus tip every time, no, I worked for that money I am paying for the food (which we all know has a huge markup to cover overheads, including wages) so yes I am very anti tipping and quite rightly so I believe, if u think u should get paid more, change job, if u don't care cos you love the job, then money shouldn't matter.

My view on it is if the restaurant adds a 12.5% service charge then that is a tip for the chef and the people behind the scenes that you dont see when you are in the actual restaurant & that should be paid, its then up to you if you want to tip your waiter/ waitress on how they have been & if they have made your night more enjoyable.

Obviously never worked in a restaurant Donald? Try doing a busy Saturday night service and tell us it wasnt hard! Because restaurants have to be careful what they charge our penny pinching, under appreciating nation they cannot afford to pay staff much more than the minimum, therefore if you think the workers made your evening an enjoyable one you should tip them. Either cash or direct, usually credit card tips get kept by the establishment.

No one tips me for doing my job why should I tip them for doing theirs?