It was draught Sam Adams, which tasted pretty good.

That's some small consolation. :) I'd hate to think you underwent this over a Coors Light. ;)

Sorry, if you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip.
It's part of this country's dining/restaurant culture, learn to live with it or don't eat out.

Don't want to tip, go to McDonald's.

This reminds me of a local spa that I went to once -- upon coming out of my treatment and pulling out my credit card to pay, the receptionist loudly asked, "So would you like a 20% or 25% tip added to your bill"...to which I responded, "I'll add the tip myself, thanks." I was mortified that they would try to publically shame their customers into tipping bigger and I never went back (even though the spa treatment was pretty good).

Maybe you missed the initial point of this thread. Finding a way out of the tipping minefield.

There's another option.

It's called my right not to tip. Otherwise known as one's prerogative.

And then there are the places in NYC that automatically add a tip and still have a line available for you to add your own. My (tipsy) husband started writing on the line at a club we visited last year until I reviewed the check to find they had already added a hefty mandatory tip for serving wine in plastic glasses. I can't remember the name of this crappy establishment, but I definitely make sure to check the receipts of bars and clubs in NYC since they seem eager to take advantage of their drunk patrons.

I've seen that nasty little trick elsewhere, including Europe. It's worth checking. Mrs. Fredd has also saved me once or twice. ;)

You miss the point, I was going to leave a tip, but it was the imposition of a COMPULSORY tip of over 26% I was unhappy about. After all a tip is an optional payment at the CUSTOMERS discretion.

Your attitude is overly aggressive, all I was doing was politely expressing a valid opinion.

In a world, especially the world of travel, where "unbundling" of services has become so prevalent (you want to check luggage, that'll be $25; on some airlines, you limit yourself to carryon luggage, that'll be $25; at some banks, you want to deal with a teller, that'll be $2; and the MGM Grand unsuccessfully attempting to charge a $20 premium for nonsmoking rooms), it appears that tipping may have been the originally unbundled cost.

I agree that it would be better if restaurants paid a decent living wage to their servers rather than a wage lower than minimum and relying on tips to make up (or more than make up) for the difference, but I suspect that it's very unlikely that this will occur in the United States. I seem to remember hearing that Thomas Keller of Per Se/French Laundry fame had attempted this approach. I never heard if he was able to sustain this, but even if he has, I've not heard of other restaurants rushing out to join him. And, of course, his prices are much higher than at all but a few restaurants in the US.

I know perfectly well that eating out is more expensive in Australia as a result of our waitstaff making a living wage. I never even commented on the cost of meals or the merits of tipping one way or the other except to dispute this idea that service is bad in Australia due to lack of tipping.

Do I think tipping is worth the cheaper price of meals? Not really, I find it to be a messy and ambiguous, pseudo-compulsory "option" that sets up an awkward master and servant dynamic between diner and server. As I mentioned in this previous post, as someone who lived most of their life without the "Is everything OK? 17 times per meal" I find it a negative - people who are used to it will not.

Tipping
 

My thoughts:

I never do not leave a tip. If service was lousy I will leave a dollar, or less tip. I want to make sure the server understands that I did not forget to tip, I tipped what there service was worth.

I guess, based on this thread, that its wrong of me but.....

However, being born and raised outside the US, i tip 10% only on extremely good service. I am born in Asia and raised in Europe. In fact, this thread really makes me regret moving to the US in the first place. But come on, the globe is bigger the the US..It is a matter of raising above what the US thinks, wants and means..

Tipping is only when deserved. Just like when someone asks you "how are you you doing" is for when you REALLY mean it. The diversity of this country leaves this kind of pointlessness to only when you mean it. Otherwise its pointless to ask, just ask any banker that is told to ask this, and when you respond with anything but " fine thank you, and how are you" they look at you like you are an alien..

Try visit any Asian country, and then I do not mean a Asian dinner in the US. They do not ask you UNLESS they actually mean it. Not some fake standard wannabe customer issued statement like here.

If I were a server and worked my hardest to provide you with excellent service and then only received a 10% tip from you here in the U.S., I would feel extremely insulted.

Part of moving to another culture is adapting to that culture's norm. Your actions not only show an arrogance to the local culture but also have the potential to cause financial harm to an individual who did nothing wrong.

A fair comment, and I tip as appropriate when in the US (even though I detest the US-style tipping culture).

I'm wondering how many US people do the reverse...i.e. refrain from tipping in other cultures in many of the ~200 countries that are not the US, where tipping may be an inappropriate or even offensive practice. I suspect many just can't help themselves and tip regardless.

The "sticky" thread, Foreign Tipping Guide by Country & Region, has had nearly 260,000 views, indicating that FTers want to learn what is appropriate.