Author |
Message |
Dfennessey
Member
07-25-2004
| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 - 10:40 am
I know this may not relate to tipping in a restaurant but I just came back from a cruise and they charge you $10.00 a day per person for tipping. well we only at in the restaurants twice and got TERRIBLE SERVICE but we got GREAT service from the room stewards, so we marched ourselves to customer relations and had all of our tips go to them, because we felt we got the best service from them. One waiter told my friend to go to the bar and get her own drink and another one I had to ask 5 times and yes you read it right 5 times for a drink. Another friend did not like what she ordered after one bite and asked for something else and the waiter rolled his eyes and sighed.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 - 11:41 am
I applaud you guys for going down to customer relations and rearranging the tipping percentage and complimenting your steward. Seriously, those stewards are GREAT! Our cruise steward realized that I liked to nap after lunch, so he'd make the bed in the morning, we'd come back from breakfast and it'd be made. Then after we came back from lunch, he'd have removed the bedspread and turned it down for us! He was really nice, and got to know what we liked very quickly.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 - 11:47 am
I always tip on the final bill as well. I just wanted to know if I am being generous. 
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Dfennessey
Member
07-25-2004
| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 - 11:51 am
in a resaurant at home I give 20% we do 3 times the sales tax which is 5% here in Boston so it makes it easy and out stewards on the boat every time we walked by him he would give us a high five and either ask us how we slept or how our day was depending on the time of the day.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 - 5:57 pm
Happy, it had nothing to do with whether they had the servers or not. Had they been upfront with us, we could've decided whether we wanted to stay or go. But being told only a half hour, deciding to stay, and then investing already a half hour and then constantly being told it'll be only a few more minutes. They needed to be honest, tell us they'd just gotten a fairly large party seated and it would be longer than a half hour. And then UPDATE US! AND STOP SEATING OTHER PEOPLE WHO COME IN. AND STOP IGNORING US!!! I absolutely don't mind the wait IF I'm told what the wait is and I'm updated if it's gonna be longer, and if there is actually some sort of service while I'm waiting. An empty bar and no one asks for drink orders? Gimme a break.
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Pamy
Member
01-02-2002
| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 - 6:08 pm
it reminds me of a classic Seinfeld ep Seinfeld 4! LOL
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Aurora23
Member
03-22-2008
| Wednesday, June 04, 2008 - 8:45 pm
thank you, eeyore. i appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. now, i will have to do the math to see how much i have been tipping on the bill before tax as i have always tipped after the tax was added!
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Schoolmarm
Member
02-18-2001
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 7:23 am
Just remember that when you go to Europe, you simple just leave 1 Euro or round up to the nearest Euro or 5 Euros. The wait staff is PAID for their work, and tips are small. In Germany, you pay at the table and you tell the server how much change you want back. Whenever I give more than a Euro, they about fall over in gratitude. The same holds true with Taxis. I shared a cab with someone from NYC in Europe once and the cabbie tried to give most of the tip back as it was WAY too much. Frankly, I like how they do things in Europe. PAY the waitstaff a decent wage, already....nowadays I feel like I am personally paying the wages of the waitstaff and kitchen crew with the "expected" tip. It has become ridiculous.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 7:26 am
I much prefer how tipping is handled in Europe. Most often, you really don't even need to think about it, just leave the change and a Euro or two. Whenever European friends visit, they are always flummoxed at trying to figure out the tip (double the tax here = 15% so that one's easy. I remember when a standard tip was 15%. When did 20% become expected?
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 7:42 am
ITA w/ Schoolmarm and Costa. I haven't contributed to this topic as I have VERY strong, feelings about it, and don't want to make any more enemies. LOL. I respect and am fond of so many of you... But I have been following this discussion, and am learning a lot about the issue from BOTH sides (customer/waitstaff).
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 9:21 am
I thought the rule of thumb is triple the tax...
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 9:42 am
What if the state doesn't have tax? Some states don't.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 9:51 am
Er, Escapee hon? LOL, but I said when folks visit *here* and to double the tax *here.* <smooches cuz you know I luv you> I know I hadda stop and think when I was in Oregon a couple of months ago, and there was no sales tax!!!! 
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Dahli
Member
11-27-2000
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 10:01 am
I don't know why restaurants aren't required to pay a decent wage. Especially high end spots that charge obscene markups on food and drink and then expect us to pay their staff too?? I also much prefer how it's done elsewhere.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 10:07 am
I'm sure that depends what your tax is. I would imagine its different from state to state? I have to agree with Costa and Marm. It WOULD be nice to go onto the European system, but it is just so drastically different here, that it will just never happen. When the whole paradigm in North America is to protect the small business owner at all costs. Not to mention that serving and hospitality jobs are so closely related to lower class workers in the eyes of so many. So to turn around and tell the small business owners that servers and kitchen staff need to be paid QUINTUPLE the wages, is never going to happen. Most restaurants are a break-even business as it is, and if you now quintuple labor costs, you'd put people right out of business. Especially considering the power of the Euro, which still allows restaurants to function at lower operation and food costs, therefore not changing the price of a meal too much from meal prices out here.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 10:29 am
Don't forget too, that food tax differs from other tax. (At least here.) Tax percentage also varies from county to county, though at least in fast food, the (cheaper) food tax is replaced with the other tax. I forget why... something about the garbage it produces??
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 10:37 am
Well Costa, the tax HERE would give them 15.5% Not to mention, when traveling, I don't know what the tax is in the locality I'm in so I wouldn't know if I was undertipping or not.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 10:56 am
I just take the total of the bill, take 10% and double it.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 10:56 am
I don't see that there's fundamentally any difference between operation and food costs at European restaurants and those at US restaurants. The Euro/dollar conversion doesn't make much difference because most of the food is bought within the same country/continent. The dishes are more expensive and they use that to pay higher wages to make up for the smaller tips. I love it though, much more emphasis on enjoying your experience and less on social pressure.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 11:33 am
Grooch you're my kinda gal!!!
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 11:33 am
I am not understanding why it is so difficult to figure out 15 or 20 percent of a check. I mean, it's obvious the standard in the US is to tip 15-20 percent, maybe more depending, but that standard is 15-20 percent. SO, move the decimal TO THE LEFT and then double that or move the decimal TO THE LEFT and pay that plus half again as much (or move it to the right and make a server's day, right Eeyore?).
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Schoolmarm
Member
02-18-2001
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 11:33 am
And these traditions have been in place BEFORE the Euro existed (Franc, Lira, Mark, whatever). It has only been in the last 4-5 years that the Euro was stronger than the dollar, so this argument doesn't make sense. Yes, the food is a bit more expensive, but in the end, I think less expensive because you don't have to add 15-20% for the tip. Ahhhh, just a few weeks and I'll be in Germany and Italy for a month!
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 11:59 am
Bwah ha ha! Yes Escapee! Decimal to the right would absolutely make my day. Yesterday I had only two tables (grrr). One left me 60 on 200, and the other left me 60 on 400. I had to tip out 32 of it though. :-/ I genuinely think there is a psychological barrier that people have, that acts like a ceiling to what they believe they should tip. Like, I still gave AMAZING service to the 400 table (who were 4 lawyers talking shop all night and stayed for FIVE hours), but even though I gave service worthy of 30% (as we saw with the 200 table), nobody can rationalize 120 dollars. Know what I mean? Sorry....just grumbling.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 12:03 pm
Our tax rate is 8%, so anyone I know just doubles the tax to find a basic 15% (o.k. 16%, but who's calculating?) tip. Simple enough to add to it for very good service once you have the basic amount down.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Friday, June 06, 2008 - 12:15 pm
I'm calculating Huk'd!
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