The worst kind of restaurants, and I never return to them are the ones that add 15% to your bill. That is a highway robbery. (if that wasnt bad enough, we didnt even know and we tip them another 10% or so)
I assume you're talking about Canada. I don't think I've ever had that unfortunate experience. I've seen signs in many restaurants that the "service charge" is automatically added to large parties (often 8 or more).
I've seen notices on restaurant bills in Florida, among other places, reminding "our foreign guests" that tips are not included.
I also see recommended % tips calculated automatically, i.e. 12%= XX, 15%= XX, 20%= XX right at the bottom of the bill.
On one of our earliest post-retirement trips to France, I asked the waiter at a restaurant in or across from our CDG-are hotel (maybe an Ibis IIRC) to confirm that service was "compris." He assured me it wasn't and I left a nice tip, only to be told later by other Frenchmen that I'd been played for a tourist sucker.
Another good reason to read FT and this specific thread.
I assume you're talking about Canada. I don't think I've ever had that unfortunate experience. I've seen signs in many restaurants that the "service charge" is automatically added to large parties (often 8 or more).
Cheers,
Fredd
Yep, Canada. I was in a Indian buffett place once, and YES, it was a group of about 14 people. And they charged us 15% automatically. But if you think about it, what the heck did they really do to deserve that 15%?? There was no service really. It was a freaking buffett - self serve. The only thing they "served" us was water and the bill.. Never went back there.
Yep, Canada. I was in a Indian buffett place once, and YES, it was a group of about 14 people. And they charged us 15% automatically. But if you think about it, what the heck did they really do to deserve that 15%?? There was no service really. It was a freaking buffett - self serve. The only thing they "served" us was water and the bill.. Never went back there.
I wouldn't go back either. Even in North America, I think most people tip lightly for a buffet, if at all. At a breakfast buffet we might leave a couple of dollars for a friendly server who promptly brings us juice and coffee and is around for refills but the thought of tipping 15% would never cross my mind.
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Surely Europe should be "tip 10% IF they give good service. There is no obligation to tip and most waiters, taxi drivers etc won't expect it"
Last trip to Paris I gave taxi driver my Amex, he took the amount and didn't give me a chance to offer a tip....but then the fare was €75.
I'm resident in the UK and never tip taxi drivers and rarely tip restaurants.
You need to bear in mind that in the UK the minimum wage is 5 times that of minimum wage in the US so UK servers don't live off of their tips like US servers do.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martinbrown2k
You need to bear in mind that in the UK the minimum wage is 5 times that of minimum wage in the US so UK servers don't live off of their tips like US servers do.
The minimum wage in the UK is $32.75/hour (about 20 GBP at today's exchange rate)?! Sheesh. I should move there...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jackal
To be fair to your point, minimum wage is less for servers in many states, since some states allow for the tips to be used to make up the difference.
I've heard that said by many people but everytime I hear it I still find it just terrible that they allow that. It's can be a hard job so they deserve a decent wage (I say hard, it's not Alaskan Fishermen or firefighting, but looking after us miserable lot is hard enough )
My Ex-wife used to be a waitress at a large hotel in South East England. I can remember her coming home some days in a very happy mood because "We've got American's in this week, I should get some tips".
It's can be a hard job so they deserve a decent wage.
The more North Americans tip, the lower the wage. For example, when Americans tipped 10%, the wage was higher (in constant $$); now that tipping has gone so out of hand, Wolfgang Puck has started lobbying to exclude servers from getting any wage at all (you can Google this).
As hard at might seem, the reality is that if you care about servers' wages you should tip the minimum (which is 0 in countries where most of the world's population lives)
Its not just the US that servers are paid less than the minimum wage...
...same goes here in the GWN.
As a bartender I was paid $1.25/hr. less than minimum and expected to make up the rest in tips.
Look when in rome...do as the romans.
So instead of .....ing about the inequalities of the system, exploitation of the workers etc. just do as the local customs indicate.
Standard in Canada is 10% for buffet, 10% for bar bill, or a dollar for every drink or two, and 15% for restaurant meals. Anything more is for exceptional service. I could always insure bigger tips by large pours on the premium liquors (only amateurs drink cheap booze as it almost always comes out of the gun and is measured exactly).
I too liked American tourists/visitors cuz sometimes they would tip 20% even at the bar, but I had no expectation other than the standard.
This is how some people make their livelyhoods not a place for you to voice your displeasure over what you consider an unfair system.
So the next time you sit down at a restaurant in your hometown outside of North America please notice how much more expensive it is than when you travel here. Please also notice that one order is usually enuf to feed two people, and guess how they keep those restaurant prices down?
So just do a little research, tip the norm and enjoy that fact that even though you probably added 15% to your bill you probably received superior service and got allot more food for your $. Seems like a good deal to me.
Even if everbody thinks we do not tip enough in foreign countries
in restaurants, it might go up to 20% if everything was really great but on the other hand, I would not add more than 20 Euros t a restaurant bill
In France, on the other hand in a restaurant, just 50 cent are OK if your bill is not below 50 € but it depends then again on the location and if you're with locals. They always expect the foreigns to tip more
Canada
I DISLIKED so much this attitude of adding the tip on the bill. I have never been treated like this in the U.S.
Seems to me to be specific for Quebec. At the westcoast, this never happened to us. Maybe because we did not talk in french?
please remember that when tipping internationally, always use local currency, unless in russia where us currency is widely desired and usd.
I would say that information about Russia is about a decade old. Russian Rubles are the preferred tipping currency in Russia as it has been a stable currency for a long time now. Giving small tips in USD or any other currency in Russia will not be frowned upon but certainly is not preferable.
China
W/W: 3% in major cities
P: $1 to $2
TD: None
What's with this 3%? As a Chinese, I would say no tipping is required. However, if you go to high-class hotels or places that mostly cater to foreigners, 10% tips might be preferred.
in china, it's starting to catch on in beijing/shanghai. out of about 10 taxi drivers that i've tipped, only one found it insulting and the rest were all rather appreciative. Since I'm chinese-american, the Taxi Drivers in china can't really tell that i'm actually a foreigner until I tip them at the end. The drivers there have hauled enough americans to know that it's an american thing and have learned to appreciate it.
In some cases, like if the final fare was 36 yuan and all i had were two twenties, I'd just tell the driver to keep the change as I didn't want to bother carrying around 4 single yuan bills.
if you go to places catering mostly to westerners, I'd say tips are expected and it would be seen as very rude to not.
Canada
I DISLIKED so much this attitude of adding the tip on the bill. I have never been treated like this in the U.S.
Seems to me to be specific for Quebec. At the westcoast, this never happened to us. Maybe because we did not talk in french?
Not true. It can happen anywhere in Canada. It's happen to me in an Indian restaurant in the suburb of Toronto. This automatic 15% nonsense seems to happen only if your group is like 10+ people or something. What really pissed me off was the fact that it was a buffett. Give me a break. Service? what service?
Also, I don't think tips should be automatic. It should be earned. We cannot spoil the waiters and waitresses into thinking that they can give ...... service and automatically get the 15%. No one made them chose to wait. If they don't like the job, do something else. Also I don't expect them to be super nice and kiss my butt, but just do your job with a smile and do it naturally and without and attitude. Having a bad day? Take a day off. No one wants to go to a restaurant and deal with waiters with attitude.
