If I got the change.. I will tip. If I don't have the change, I simply let the worker know that I don't have change on me.. Then try to double up the next time I see them. I don't mind tipping.. I just don't have time always break down change to do so.. but I eventually get around to it, and make an effort.

+1 !!!!

Unfortunately, in America, people are conditioned to tip from early on in their lives. Most of the service workers, especially those employed by the food service and hotel industries are just one step above slavery.

Some people should watch "In Debt We Trust" and similar documentaries. It is all explained there.

--J

Indeed, especially when you will be expected to tip for services where it really makes no sense at all because the service itself is what you're paying for: hair dressers, masseuses, etc (as opposed to services with an associated product like waiters, bartenders, etc).

One of the extremely annoying side-effects of the US tipping culture in restaurants and similar, is that it is apparently considered very bad form and/or will result in "retaliation" to flag down a waiter or waitress who isn't "yours", or to go up to the bar to order drinks when you are also receiving table service - doubly so if you are with a group and used to the tradition of "rounds".

Personally, since moving to the US, I have found the tipping culture to add a significant amount of stress to any situation where I might be expected to tip - but that is to some degree because I didn't grow up in such a stratified culture and hence don't just "know" how much to tip in given circumstances.

In many cases tipping IS bribery. For example, you tip the bartender so the next drink you buy will be served promptly (and generously, if it's liquor).

I have frequently been told by my US friends that if I return to an establishment where I've tipped badly - and especially if I am served by the same staff - to expect poor service. In that context, a tip is absolutely a bribe - one to ensure good service on return visits. Indeed, you even acknowledge this point yourself.

Or maybe the "American Way" is illogical and the majority of the planet agrees.

Why ? Should good service not be the standard, rather than something unexpected, worthy of special notice ?

Anyway, the "underlying notion" fundamentally has little to do with good service, it's pure economics - waitstaff get paid less than minimum wage and the assumption is that a significant proportion of their income will be made up from tipping (most importantly, the Government assumes this when it taxes them). The idea it's a tradition to reward "good service" is exposed as specious simply by considering all the other service-based jobs where tips are not given. Do you tip your accountant, your lawyer, or your dentist ?

+1.

While I agree with QueenOfCoach and others that one should follow the cultures of the country that they are visiting, we don't have to like every aspect of it. When a restaurant has multiple waitstaff running around, it provides a much better experience for the customer if a request can be made to whichever staff member is the nearest at the time. Why should the customer have to be distracted from the enjoyment of their meal to constantly look around trying to attract the attention of one person in particular? Likewise, a customer should have the right to buy drinks from the bar if they so choose. It may be faster, or they may simply see it as a way to separate expenditure on food and drink (for business lunches sometimes alcohol needs to be invoiced separately). I'm sure any difference in the tips resulting from this behaviour could be sorted out by adjusting the amount that the bartender is tipped by the waiter.

Not true. The UK Inland Revenue calculates and taxes employees on an assessment of tips received. That assessment can even exceed tips actually received. If so, tough. The employee is still taxed accordingly. The Revenue has different scales by industry.

Not true. In the UK whilst working as a student, I waitressed. I was taxed according to the rate of tips received by waiters at that location, as assessed by the Inland Revenue. Depending on the day, I might not actually make those tips. e.g. if I had a lot of German or Japanese customers, who don't tip. Australians were also largely notorious for not tipping, even when they knew the employer in the UK expects wages to be made up to liveable to tipping. So I'm the one that's done it and is now on flyertalk. Trust me it's true.

I thought of that, but cash left on the desk stays on the desk until checkout. I've even folded it into the cards I sometimes see from the housekeeper introducing herself or from the hotel saying maid service is twice a week. It usually remains untouched.

Not me. I know when, where and how much to tip, then come prepared.

It's just like moving to a new place and learning where the roads go. Eventually, it will be second nature.

As has been said many times in this thread. There are places where tipping is expected and customary, but places where tipping is not expected and customary.

It's not a difficult concept. Try very hard to figure it out.

Sure, I don't particularly like the tipping culture. However, that's the way it is and no amount of hot air on a message board will change it. I recognize that in some (not all) places, tipping is a substantial part of the the employee's income. Thus, I leave a decent tip.

And... I REALLY RESENT people from other countries coming here and saying we should do it their way. That is an idiotic thing to say. When I go to their country, I do it their way. Do I enjoy bagging my own groceries in Europe? No, not particularly. But I do it without whining about how I don't have to bag groceries back in the US.

Like the Japanese system? Stay in Japan. Like the Australian system? Stay in Australia.

Decades ago, I worked in housekeeping at a hotel. I remember this quite well from training: never, never, never take any money left in the room (or anything else, of course!). It did not matter where the money was or how much it was ("not even a quarter!"). Never, never assume it was a tip. Even if it was labeled "tip", or "for housekeeping". Only after the guest had checked out could you assume it was a tip. At any rate, tips were not common at all.

When I visited a friend who moved to Amsterdam, and we went out for our first meal, she explained that anything we wanted, we had to order the first time the waiter appeared at the table...because we wouldn't see him again for the rest of the meal.

She also told the story of a business trip to the U.S. with a colleague who hadn't been to North America before. He felt like a VIP with all the attentive wait staff in the restaurants.

That said, I carry my own bags, and avoid valet parking like the plague.

But the UK does pay minimum wage to all staff (thus a liveable wage as deemed by the government) and tips are on top of that amount - the employer cannot 'make up' your wages from tips, it is illegal.