We are pratically the only country in the world that tipping is almost considered mandatory in restaurants/bars. Heck if you go into a Starbucks the barista has a tip jar out. A friend of my from England told me that tipping is almost unheard of over there. He told me is what they do is "round off" the bill meaning is their tab comes to $48.13 they willl leave $50.00. In terms of the United States I am all for tipping for good service but it seems like emoloyees expect 15-20 percent tip no matter how good their service is.

And prompt everytime as well.

Sanosuke!

This is misleading - Australia doesn't have a "refills" culture and it's nothing to do with the quality of service. Unless you're drinking tap water or your own wine each drink is a new purchase - unless things have changed dramatically since I moved to the US in 2007.

I too dispute this idea that Australia has "worse service" than the US due to the lack of a tipping culture. The service is just "different" and how we like it. Waiters know not to hover over customers because we find this annoying. It drives me crazy in the US how before I've even had half a dozen bites of my food the waiter has already been back twice to ask me how everything is or if they can get me anything else and so forth. I respect that Americans want this sort of service, but people from other countries DO find it overbearing and my experience is not "one or two places", it's just about every restaurant I have been to, eating out at least once a week since I got here.

In Australia if you want help from your waiter you're expected to make subtle signals, make eye contact etc if you want something, want a new drink and so forth. They aren't keeping their distance because they "don't need to try hard because there is no tipping", they are doing so because culturally Australians prefer to be left alone rather than fawned over in a dining situation.

It's just "culturally different service" not "bad service". Tipping or lack thereof has nothing to do with it whatsoever.

I've had bad service in Australia and great service in Australia. Bad service in the USA and great service in the USA. It's all about people, not the threat of no tip.

You are going to be charged for the service no matter what system is involved and I prefer to acknowledge good service with something extra (no matter what system is involved). If you're thrifty and egocentric - don't tip. It's the only way to beat the system. Be sure to switch up your venues though. wj

Really? The difference there is that you can give immediate feedback in the US to your server in the form of no tip. In Australia, they don't give a crap.

Incidentally, wait staff in Australia are paid a LOT more per hour. In the busiest times of the day, they're often paid 3x or what you would get per hour in the United States. I hate to break it to you, but that shows up on your check. Just because you can't conceptualize that doesn't mean that it isn't real.

Just got back from NYC, where it seems places now automatically add the percentage they want as a compulsory tip, in one case over 26%.

I find that to be totally unacceptable.

I would agree. What kinds of places?

One was a very nice Italian in Little Italy, they added c15%, which I probably would of added anyway.

the annoying one was over 26% at a sports bar on 9th Ave on a $18 plus tax bill for a simple burger and a beer.

I fail to see how anyone can justify a compulsory 'tip' of over 26% for such a simple combination.

If I am given exceptional service I will give a tip, of an amount I feel appropriate, however it is for me to decide if and how much I leave as a tip.

A compulsory tip is contradictory for sure. Did you question it?

Are you U.S. based? Some establishments add a sort of service compris for non-US residents who are unfamiliar with U.S. tipping customs.

I agree.

One cannot even begin to compare the service industry in Japan with that in the US or Europe.
In Japan, people take pride in a job well done for the sake of actually DOING it, not for compensation.

That mentality is not a common element in the workforce elsewhere.

When was the last time anyone came (literally) running over to help you in a shop?

All agreed!

In fact, in Japan, it doesn't matter how good the service was - you don't tip! It's actually treated as an insult (i.e. why are you bribing / paying me more to do my job?). Profuse thanks is all you can offer if you so desire.

I treat tipping in the US as a cultural norm. Just as if you went to a Muslim country it is your responsibility to respect their norms in dressing conservatively and not showing signs of affection in public.

I'm a little bit over all the arguments of, "It's not my fault that your employer pays you peanuts; why should I be responsible for the shortfall?" Whilst in theory those people are right, they are also missing an entirely separate point.

At the same time, however, I'd rather have staff that provide good service because they know it's a good thing to do, not that they'll get an extra 10-15% out of me if they don't do it. It's a subtle but important distinction for me, but unfortunately I think the US tipping culture coupled with a possible assumed naivety of foreigners breeds an attitude of the latter type.

The funny part to all of this is if the tipping culture was not there but all prices rose by 15-20% with a note to all patrons that their waiter would receive that 15-20% as a "commission" (i.e. same as a tip, just different words), then would everyone be more or less "happier" and we wouldn't have all these arguments? If you really like the service, offer your extra 10-15% as you see fit. Of course, if the service was less than satisfactory, you'd need to request the manager to remove the "commission" (if other avenues of resolution also went sour).

Fredd,

I'm from England and was in NYC on holiday last week.

A compulsory tip of 26% for a drink and a simple meal seems very excessive to me. i did ask how they justified such a large 'compulsory' tip and the reaction wasn't very pleasant. I won't be going back to that bar again the next time I visit NYC.

I had a similar meal from the pub next to work today and there was no need to tip or expectation that a tip was required.

Agreed. It was a ripoff and it's disgraceful for that to happen to anybody, let alone a visitor. IMO it's harder to question such things when you're from "out of town." I'd complain much more vociferously in NYC than I would in the very unlikely event it occurred in London.

They have you where they want you.

THe shame is it was actually a pretty decent sports bar, the food was good and I would of rounded up the bill to a convenient whole number.

The whole episode just left a bad taste and spoiled what had been an enjoyable meal, although $7.00 for a glass of beer did seem very high!

I guss we just have cultural differences when it comes to tipping.

$7 might not be that far out of line in a nice joint in NYC, unless you're talking about an American light beer.

For a stand-alone glass of beer I'd have added $1. If the service is good I'll usually tip up to 20% somewhere between the basic price and the price plus tax. We haven't been in NYC in a few years and I can't recall the exact taxes so I don't know if your 26% is fairly close to my 20% on the total. In any case, a 15% tip on the basic bill of $18, i.e. $3, is most acceptable and the compulsory tip is what's completely unacceptable.