In Finland, there is practically no tipping culture. Small tips irregularly in fine restaurants, bars, night clubs is pretty much all I have seen. I am glad for this! IMO it's just silly when there is a fixed, or practically fixed rate of tipping. If you expect 10% tip for normal service, you should just incorporate that into food price. On the other hand, I find even worse a system where the customer is expected to always tip but vary the amount according to the quality of the service. I don't like the idea of having to flatten people and experiences to a percentage. That would bother me every time I patronized a "tip" business. Now, if I want to give feedback, I will give it verbally or in writing. Others can ask me for feedback if they are interested. They are also free to notice the feedback implicit in whether I come back or not.
Exceptional service is different, of course. If I asked for an address from a cafe waiter, and he looked it up in a phone book, that would be exceptional. It's not in his job description to look things up in phonebooks and he is not getting paid for it unless I tip.
I don't tend to tip anywhere. Never been taught any protocol for it. As far as I know, people don't tend to expect it here... except some places like Pizza Express which spell out "Service NOT included" on the bill... which strikes me as very rude but there you go.
The way I see it is: they get paid - that's why they have a job. Granted, waiting tables is not likely to be much more than minimum wage, but if you want more money then you get a better job! There's a reason that it tends to be students taking jobs like these.
The only time I would ever consider tipping is if the worker went above the call of duty to provide a service to me that they really didn't owe me. Like the time I had a taxi driver run a red light when I was late for a hospital appointment.
I find the expected tips thing is like the way that US prices don't include tax - you find out the real price later. In the UK, the law states that the price you see is the price you pay. If I see an item in a shop for £10 I will part with a £10 note at the checkout - not £10 plus tax or whatever. Same in a restaurant - if I look in a menu at whatever hideously overpriced food they're serving today, I'm sure as heck not about to inflate the price even more for them!
(Disclaimer - I'm a student, so when I go to restaurants they tend not to be the hideously posh variety. Such places may have different etiquette - but as I can't afford to eat at them anyway then the issue doesn't come up )
I guess you're right, but when you're used to drinking 1 - 1.6?/$ high-quality beer, it's difficult to tip on a 4$ Heineken, especially when you'r a) not used to it b) a student.
Four dollars is too much for a beer. You need to find a better bar or go during happy hour especially if you are on a student budget. I understand its tough when you're low on dough. We all have choices to make.
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The way I see it is: they get paid - that's why they have a job. Granted, waiting tables is not likely to be much more than minimum wage, but if you want more money then you get a better job! There's a reason that it tends to be students taking jobs like these.
Not sure how it is in the UK but in the US certain jobs like waiting tables are exempt from our already miniscule minimum wage laws. It's not uncommon for a waiter to make $3 an hour here which isn't even half of what a person needs just to be at the poverty level. The system is set up so that those people are basically dependent on those tips to earn a real wage for better or worse. They have the job, but the job is to serve you and if you like it then you pay them, otherwise they don't get paid much.
That's my my main point, tipping in general isn't really a big deal to me either way in comparison to a flat fee or inclusive system, I'd be fine with any system. But I just like to point out that based on my past experiences in various jobs, I'm not sure a lot of Europeans or Asians for that matter, including many who support the concept of a living/minimum wage realize that when you don't tip people in certain professions when visiting the US that those people are losing their real source of income which is not their tiny hourly wage but rather money from tips.
Student jobs typically pay between 7? and 9? per hour here, and they are taxed ridiculously low in comparison with a rugular job (10% vs 45%), so that's a pretty good deal. I believe minimum wage is also around 7? (should check that one), but that is fully taxed so it's still pretty low. We do have a real problem of people refusing to make minimum wage because the difference with the 'existence fee' everybody is entitled to here isn't big enough.
For all the Europeans et al, when in Rome, do as the Romans please. I've seen so many Europeans not tip when they really should be when in the US. That's considered just as rude here as all of that annoying stuff those loud American tourists do when they visit your country.
Yeah, we typically tip 15-20% _when_ we go out to eat (which isn't very often anymore).
And on the occasions when I go out and grab a latte, I generally tip a dollar, even if all I'm getting is one drink. I don't know what the percentage works out to, but in the grand scheme of things, $1 just isn't that much to me so I have no problems tipping it.
Which is what brings me to my point: not long ago I was in line for a latte behind a couple of Germans (obviously on vacation because I live in Alaska) and they tipped a whole quarter when they got their coffee--in fact, had to change a dollar to do it. That killed me, but after reading the other posts in this thread, it makes more sense.
Tipping is very much still at the customer's discretion. A reward for good service. So, nobody else gets tipped unless they are doing something special to deserve it, like manual labor or an extra errand, or giving me some sort of special treatment. That's why it's annoying how this culture is held hostage by guilt when it comes to tipping. The pay should be worked out with their employers or the state not the patrons.
Comments
Exceptional service is different, of course. If I asked for an address from a cafe waiter, and he looked it up in a phone book, that would be exceptional. It's not in his job description to look things up in phonebooks and he is not getting paid for it unless I tip.
Originally posted by Zarathustra
Its official: UK = 51st State.
Whole lotta tipping going on here in London.
I don't tend to tip anywhere. Never been taught any protocol for it. As far as I know, people don't tend to expect it here... except some places like Pizza Express which spell out "Service NOT included" on the bill... which strikes me as very rude but there you go.
The way I see it is: they get paid - that's why they have a job. Granted, waiting tables is not likely to be much more than minimum wage, but if you want more money then you get a better job! There's a reason that it tends to be students taking jobs like these.
The only time I would ever consider tipping is if the worker went above the call of duty to provide a service to me that they really didn't owe me. Like the time I had a taxi driver run a red light when I was late for a hospital appointment.
I find the expected tips thing is like the way that US prices don't include tax - you find out the real price later. In the UK, the law states that the price you see is the price you pay. If I see an item in a shop for £10 I will part with a £10 note at the checkout - not £10 plus tax or whatever. Same in a restaurant - if I look in a menu at whatever hideously overpriced food they're serving today, I'm sure as heck not about to inflate the price even more for them!
(Disclaimer - I'm a student, so when I go to restaurants they tend not to be the hideously posh variety. Such places may have different etiquette - but as I can't afford to eat at them anyway then the issue doesn't come up
Amorya
Did anyone else get a "Reservoir Dogs" flashback?
I guess you're right, but when you're used to drinking 1 - 1.6?/$ high-quality beer, it's difficult to tip on a 4$ Heineken, especially when you'r a) not used to it b) a student.
Four dollars is too much for a beer. You need to find a better bar or go during happy hour especially if you are on a student budget. I understand its tough when you're low on dough. We all have choices to make.
The way I see it is: they get paid - that's why they have a job. Granted, waiting tables is not likely to be much more than minimum wage, but if you want more money then you get a better job! There's a reason that it tends to be students taking jobs like these.
Not sure how it is in the UK but in the US certain jobs like waiting tables are exempt from our already miniscule minimum wage laws. It's not uncommon for a waiter to make $3 an hour here which isn't even half of what a person needs just to be at the poverty level. The system is set up so that those people are basically dependent on those tips to earn a real wage for better or worse. They have the job, but the job is to serve you and if you like it then you pay them, otherwise they don't get paid much.
That's my my main point, tipping in general isn't really a big deal to me either way in comparison to a flat fee or inclusive system, I'd be fine with any system. But I just like to point out that based on my past experiences in various jobs, I'm not sure a lot of Europeans or Asians for that matter, including many who support the concept of a living/minimum wage realize that when you don't tip people in certain professions when visiting the US that those people are losing their real source of income which is not their tiny hourly wage but rather money from tips.
-Telecom Call Center requiring some technical knowledge. High School minimum.
-Cleaning (at school, institution and the like). Requiring the ability to stand upright
-Storehouse assistant. No prior training required.
Originally posted by ColanderOfDeath
...
For all the Europeans et al, when in Rome, do as the Romans please. I've seen so many Europeans not tip when they really should be when in the US. That's considered just as rude here as all of that annoying stuff those loud American tourists do when they visit your country.
Yeah, we typically tip 15-20% _when_ we go out to eat (which isn't very often anymore).
And on the occasions when I go out and grab a latte, I generally tip a dollar, even if all I'm getting is one drink. I don't know what the percentage works out to, but in the grand scheme of things, $1 just isn't that much to me so I have no problems tipping it.
Which is what brings me to my point: not long ago I was in line for a latte behind a couple of Germans (obviously on vacation because I live in Alaska) and they tipped a whole quarter when they got their coffee--in fact, had to change a dollar to do it. That killed me, but after reading the other posts in this thread, it makes more sense.
Tipping is very much still at the customer's discretion. A reward for good service. So, nobody else gets tipped unless they are doing something special to deserve it, like manual labor or an extra errand, or giving me some sort of special treatment. That's why it's annoying how this culture is held hostage by guilt when it comes to tipping. The pay should be worked out with their employers or the state not the patrons.
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