Originally Posted by
PhillyPhlyer40
Little OT, but let me chime in here....
South Beach and Miami are notorious for this. They add 18% on ALL bills. I HATE this!
I always tip 22-28%. BUT...when they add 18% for me and a work associate 2 things happen:
1-I feel wierd filling in only 10% or so on the EXTRA tip line!
2-The dragons who audit expense reports get wierd..asking WHY I tip so much. They are LAZY and dont figure out the % if its all in one, but with the extra they sometimes catch me..and question me.
So...for me...the server makes out LESS then when they DONT add 18%
i lived there for a few years, but it was 2-3 months before i noticed this.
there are a lot of euros and south americans that might have different tipping customs, so i kind of understand why.
that being said - no one ever said anything to me like "sir, you might not have noticed that the tip was included..." i can't imagine a scenario where i would tip 20% on top of 18%, and they surely knew it was an error.
buyer beware i guess.
i too have always tipped on the total , but i agree that tipping on tax seems excessive.
fwiw - i am usually a 20% tipper, but 15% if the service is bad. the problem i have with tipping (and this may be covered between page 2 and the last page) is that the server doesn't know what the tip represents. the server may assume i'm cheap when i think he sucks. i may think i am being generous and want to recognize good service, but the server may think it was just a rounded amount. it is very ambiguous and doesn't necessarily send the message that the patron thinks is being sent.
saying something negative to the server could be taken very hostile - especially if i plan on returning to the restaurant again.
say something to the manager, and they may think you are trying to get a freebie out of them.