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Tipping

So do you tip?

  • No on principle.

    Votes: 11 37.9%

  • I'm not against it on principle, but will only tip if the service is exceptional

    Votes: 4 13.8%

  • If she's hot

    Votes: 5 17.2%

  • Pretty much always (unless the service is terrible)

    Votes: 1 3.4%

  • If the service is good.

    Votes: 8 27.6%
  • Total voters
    29

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SHAKESPEARE said:
I tip in the US. I would never tip here.
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This. Except if you get particularly attentive service from a waiter or waitress here.

BALKAN said:
Will never tip in my life.
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If you go to the US you more or less have to. You'll generally receive very ordinary service if you don't. Plus, the waiters and waitresses there are paid such exceptionally bad money by our standards that you feel almost guilty if you don't.

When I was in Vietnam in January last year, at a bar in Sapa the other half and I decided to leave a tip for a waiter who had been particularly good in his service, and we'd also had quite an extensive conversation with him about his life.

We gave him a tip of around 500,000 dong- at the time, about 25 Australian dollars. To say he was a little pleasantly astonished is an understatment. Given that the average wage in Vietnam per year amounts to only around $2000 in our money (averages out about $39 per week), it was a fair amount for him. That felt good.
 
Good service in a restaurant is worth a tip.
 
I think some people get confused trying to compare tipping culture in Australia and applying it to North America.

I think tipping in Australia is just a nice way of showing the wait staff/restaurant that they're doing a great job, and sometimes it's just easier than dealing with petty change (especially if you're out as a group). I don't tip as much here percentage wise as I would in North America and don't really head to that many nice restaurants anyway. No hospitality staff in Australia should expect a tip ever (I HATE when bartenders leave my change in a little bowl in Australia after charging a small fortune for a beer). Regardless, tips in Australia aren't really going to make a difference to an individual waiter/waitress' wage. Which brings me to tipping in North America….

I always tipped in the US and Canada. The difference is that these people's wages are purely determined on the tips that they get (a concept lost on some of my fellow Australian travellers unfortunately). The tips aren't a nice little top up as they are in Australia, they are these people's wage. If you take tipping out of the equation for waiters up there then they would be on less than a snot-nosed 15 year old kid working his first Macca's job down here. It's the way their hospitality industry works and honestly I think waiters and waitresses have a right to get pissed at customers that don't tip (unless their service was shit of course). If you don't like or "believe" in tipping (it was always funny trying to hear people get philosophical about this) then don't travel the countries or just cook for yourself every night.

I ended up meeting a waiter from Montreal at one point (ended up going to his restaurant for lunch one day as well). It was interesting hearing his take on it and the politics that go on in some restaurants. Basically, the pressure was on him every day/night to provide exceptional service otherwise his boss sends him to wait tables in the dead parts of the restaurant or doesn't send customers to his tables altogether. He loves working holidays because he knows that means big money for him. On the other side of the coin though he occasionally comes home from 8, 9, 10 hour shifts with $50 and that's it. I ended up seeing him wait a party of kids probably no older than 12, even they all tipped (no parent supervision) without question.

TL:DR - Do whatever you want in Australia, always tip in North America unless you're a dick.
 
I used to be quite a big tipper, then i started to know a few people in the hospitality industry and spoke to them about tipping.

Basically all the tips would get pooled, and x% would go to the kitchen and then 1-x% divided amongst all the floor employees depending on how many hours they'd worked that week.

If the tip isn't going directly into the pocket of the person you're giving it to, I'm pretty hesitant to tip. Otherwise you're just subsidising what are already fairly decent wages rather than rewarding quality service.
 
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Only for good service in a restaurant. If i'm paying with a note, and the total is close enough to the cost of the note that it's not a huge difference, I tell them to keep it for themselves.
 
Igloo said:
Only for good service in a restaurant. If i'm paying with a note, and the total is close enough to the cost of the note that it's not a huge difference, I tell them to keep it for themselves.
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This too. I don't particularly like having much shrapnel in my wallet. If my bill has come to, say, $29.70 and I have $30 in cash to give them, I'll inevitably just tip the 30 cents.
 

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Sometimes might chuck a bit of change in a tip jar at a regular coffee place or something but on general principle no. In countries like the US tipping actually has to get factored into their tax return. It is considered part of the employment package.

In Australia we have minimum standards that have to be met and this is factored into the cost of the service. Really don't like the tipping culture in general as it allows employers to exploit their workers. (But you get tips, tips cover the shortfall etc). It is up to employers to pay fair wages not the discretion of customers who have already paid. Those who work for themselves should factor in their margins when they set the price.
 
The only person I tip is the lady who cuts my hair. I once said " Keep the change " when I gave her $20 for a $16 haircut. The next time I went in, I got the most amazing head massage I have ever had. So now she always gets to " Keep the change ". So unless a Waiter, Taxi Driver ( unless I get good conversation ) or anyone else I am paying to provide me with a service, is will to rub my head for 5 minutes, they get nothing.
 
Freofalcon said:
The only person I tip is the lady who cuts my hair. I once said " Keep the change " when I gave her $20 for a $16 haircut. The next time I went in, I got the most amazing head massage I have ever had. So now she always gets to " Keep the change ". So unless a Waiter, Taxi Driver ( unless I get good conversation ) or anyone else I am paying to provide me with a service, is will to rub my head for 5 minutes, they get nothing.
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Does she ever get the razor out when she's giving you a head massage.
I'd be getting a bit nervous if she did that
 
Don't like the idea of tipping, rather that employees just got paid better wages.

However if I were overseas in a country where tipping is customary I'd do it, I'm not there to make political statements. Some workers get really antsy when they don't get tipped. In one case, a bellhop wouldn't leave our hotel room until he was tipped.
 
Also on reading the article I just don't understand the last sentence in this paragraph :
Now in Australia, the strongest reason for resenting the ritual that irked Carlyle may be that we already pay enough for served food and drink. Entrepreneur Troy Hazard says that, here, taking his wife and two children out for a meal costs $150: triple what he pays in the US. Clearly, the case for a Japanese-style, low-pressure system where you just pay the bill is persuasive.
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He refers to the cost of a meal in the USA and Australia, pointing out that the USA is far cheaper, but then rabbits on about a Japanese system that I struggle to understand the relevance of , or what point its trying to make
 

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I always tip when I've had a nice meal which was good value and the service was excellent... ha, who am I kidding - I live in Perth.:D

I hate tipping, always have. It annoyed me in the US because of the constant need to carry small notes and the constant 'well that was $14, but that really means I need to pay $14 plus 20% which is $16.80, so I could just pay $17 if I have the exact amount but I only have a 20 so I'll need to tell the waitress how much tip I want to give and hope she's not offended oh but I haven't even included tax yet either blah blah blah'. $14 = $14 is much, much simpler.

The fact that hospitality workers over there get paid less than minimum wage irks me too. What's the point of having a minimum wage if you can pay less than it? It's basically a guilt trip for the customer to pay their salary rather than supplementary income for being good (or hot if you're a girl) at what you do which it should be.

Anyway, over here our wages are a LOT higher so the need for tipping isn't there. It tends to lead to lesser service standards (or less 'hi sir, can I help you sir?' fakeness depending on your POV), but that's an aside. I figure if you're charging me $20 for a bowl of pasta that is about $2 worth of ingredients then the $18 margin is there to cover your costs and give you a profit margin sufficient to keep the business going.
 
Keyser Soze said:
Does she ever get the razor out when she's giving you a head massage.
I'd be getting a bit nervous if she did that
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No, but I always get a bit boob rubbing on the back of my head. :thumbsu:
 
JUBJUB said:
but don't you tip at the end,so how would you get ordinary service ?
You'll get the stink eye as you leave
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Depends on how whether you're running a tab or paying as you go, I guess- say if you're sitting around at a bar having a few.

Even if it doesn't actually affect the quality of service, you will still inevitably wind up feeling very stingy.
 
The last time I went to the states (2009) it seemed far more common for restaurants to have an automatic gratuity (~15%) than I encountered the first time I went there (2003)

Whatever your beliefs on tipping are, I found the service in the US and Canada to be significanty better than I'm used to over here
 

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