Ever been to a restaurant where you don't write in the credit card tips?
Aug 4, 2014, 7:59 pm
#31
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I had a mid-day meal at Chili's yesterday. I paid with the little device on the table and it had a tip of 20% figured in (it showed the dollar amount of the tip as well), but there was an easily manipulated bar on the screen to bring it up or down. It did figure the tip on the pre-tax amount, which is proper. I can't say I found anything to object to.
They're pretty nice.
Aug 4, 2014, 9:09 pm
#32
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While the pre-selected tip options of 15, 18, 20, 25% are handy, I am usually able to do the mental math for a tip in my hand without much hassle so these do not really apply nor do they 'assist' me.
The default option to 25% is insulting but I don't have time to play 20 questions with the restaurant.
I would ask to see a manager if I am obligated to hit a pre-selected amount like the OP mentioned instead of having the choice to input my own amount.
The default option to 25% is insulting but I don't have time to play 20 questions with the restaurant.
I would ask to see a manager if I am obligated to hit a pre-selected amount like the OP mentioned instead of having the choice to input my own amount.
Aug 4, 2014, 11:03 pm
#33
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For tipping on London /UK
I usually tip bellboy when they bring bags to room £1 per big bag. Maybe a fiver if staying at the Savoy. Nobody else. In restaurants, 10% rounded so if bill is £85, I'd leave £9. The British tend to tip on total with tax included ( as all prices include 20% tax). If service was bad, no tip. Either add to card machine as mentioned here in figures or leave cash. No tipping in bar / pub ( I never really got that one. For opening a bottle of beer? Really?) Taxis - just round to nearest whole pound. Apart from that, I don't think I give anyone else a tip and nobody else expects it.
The British find tipping a bit embarrassing really.
I usually tip bellboy when they bring bags to room £1 per big bag. Maybe a fiver if staying at the Savoy. Nobody else. In restaurants, 10% rounded so if bill is £85, I'd leave £9. The British tend to tip on total with tax included ( as all prices include 20% tax). If service was bad, no tip. Either add to card machine as mentioned here in figures or leave cash. No tipping in bar / pub ( I never really got that one. For opening a bottle of beer? Really?) Taxis - just round to nearest whole pound. Apart from that, I don't think I give anyone else a tip and nobody else expects it.
The British find tipping a bit embarrassing really.
Aug 5, 2014, 2:51 am
#34
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Yes, France. The tip is included. And there is no place on the slip to add more. You have to put cash if you want to.
Aug 5, 2014, 5:45 am
#35
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If service charge is already added, then I wouldn't add anything else. What's annoying is that the service charge is usually on top of the gross price so you're paying 12.5% on top of 20% tax. This is equivalent to about 15% ( just under) on the net price. This and the food is more expensive and wait staff paid much better than the US.
Last edited by architect1337; Aug 5, 2014 at 5:58 am
Aug 5, 2014, 7:06 am
#36
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Aug 5, 2014, 8:17 am
#37
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Advantages:
No waiting for the server to ring you up.
Your credit card never leaves your hand.
No math for those who are challenged in that way.
A printed receipt with tip included.
I'm the opposite of annoyed with these things. I'm downright delighted. I just don't necessarily like the restaurants where they're deployed. Hopefully the technology comes down in price to where they start to appear in the smaller local places I like.
Aug 5, 2014, 9:15 am
#39
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from yelp: "The credit card machine is awkward with the waitress looking at you while you tip... She was being short and kinda moody, Lame. Dropped to two stars, it was lingering between two and three, that sent it over the edge.. "
"On another note, I definitely did not appreciate her looking directly over our shoulders when we were paying, making it extremely awkward (especially since the only tips their portable credit-card machines offer you to leave is 18 or 20 percent, so the circumstances required us to select "other amount").
Aug 6, 2014, 7:38 am
#40
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Very very few add an automatic gratuity IME - perhaps it is more common in the more touristy places in London? I think several of my friends would laugh at them if they tried it (I am thinking pub food type places, rather than fine dining tho!)
Aug 6, 2014, 9:18 am
#41
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Please let me know where I can avoid it although I'm finding it quite useful myself. Was a bit shocked to leave London and realise it is not added...
Aug 6, 2014, 11:02 am
#42
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Where we eat is not so much the point. The majority of UK restaurants don't add any service charge. International/touristy/business places in London, by and large, do, but this is a small minority.
Aug 6, 2014, 9:14 pm
#43
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Aug 9, 2014, 7:09 pm
#44
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I'd prefer they swipe the card at the table. Never had a problem but it seems incredibly dumb to let someone wander off with your card for a few minutes. As long as the preset options are reasonable - for example, 15/18/20/25 and calculated on pre-tax amounts... not like the cabs I've been in where the defaults are 25/30/40 and you have to hunt for a small button to give 18% to a guy that, based on my typical cab experience, deserves somewhere south of 3.
Aug 26, 2014, 6:39 am
#45
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In nearly every state in the USA, taxes are added to restaurant bills. If the tipping options are based on %s, it should only be on the base check--I don't tip on taxes.