Tipping isn't mandatory in the USA, mandatory means compulsory and of course no one can force you to tip but it is expected and if you don't tip don't expect to get good service if you use the same establishment again.
As has been explained in previous posts staff in restaurants and bars in the USA get extremely poor salaries and the only way that many of them can make a living is by relying on tips. It is your decision whether to tip or not and if I am regarded as being tight for not tipping then so be it as I will not leave a tip for mediocre service, though in the USA 99% of the time the service you receive will be excellent so deciding on whether to leave a tip or not will not be a problem.
I'm not quite sure what a previous poster meant by receiving a letter from the manager of a hotel, was the letter a thank you for leaving a tip or to tell the guest that a tip had to be left? After over 40 years of travelling to the USA I have yet to receive such a letter.
The original post was about tipping in the USA, many countries have different systems, for instance here in Germany tips are not expected as most restaurants include a service charge and the only tip you would leave would be to round the bill up by a few cents, though across the border in Switzerland I have heard stories of staff actually telling the customers that the tip they have left was not enough. !!!

LOL Judith, have seen that in Florida too with waiting staff wanting to know what was wrong with the service and following customer out of the restaurant. It seems very odd to a Brit as it's not the behaviour we would expect from serving staff, we just expect them to poke up with it, but they take it so seriously over there. But then it probably means they can afford to eat themselves.

Doe

I have read on Trip Advisor that Brits have a bad reputation for tipping in Florida. It would be a bit embarrassing to be followed out of a restaurant by a staff member with their hand held out for more money.
I guess that's why forums like this are good at least people can do a bit of research before going away to find out what's acceptable instead of always expecting things to be the same as at home.

Judith

Hi Judith

I would be mortified, but it's not a problem for me as I was brought up by parents who taught me that you tip in certain areas for service. I worked for 4 years as a waitress myself 35 years ago so i know what it means to go the extra mile and make sure people get decent service, not forget the drinks orders, make sure they have the right cutlery, clean table, napkins etc Oh and when we did silver service (whatever happened to that ? sign of a bygone era) always serve from the correct side.

My DH is an overtipper lol. I think it is because he had nothing all his childhood, well sort of less than nothing, so I guess he thinks, there but for the grace of .......

Doe

Doe

After nearly forty years of living in Germany my OH still hadn't got the hang of tipping here, he always tipped 10% in the UK and thinks he should here and even after I have pointed out the service charge on the bill he is still inclined to overtip.
Silver service!! I had forgotten all about that, I would imagine it still exists in the old luxury hotels such as the Savoy in London..

Judith

"If you can afford to eat out, get black cabs and go to the hairdresser you can afford to tip, but people use any old excuse to cling to their cash."

Since I mentioned eating out, taxis (not black cabs - don't have them where I live) and hairdresser in my post I might assume that this comment may be directed at me? It's a fairly big assumption to make to say that doing these things means you can afford to tip (don't see the logic there), but in any case it's not actually about being able to afford it, and it doesn't make you tight just because you don't tip.

In my case I choose not to tip in some situations where others might - it doesn't mean I am less of a person than someone who does, and its is not about being tight. I am not using any old excuse to cling to my cash (much and all as I prefer it to be in my pocket rather than say, my hairdresser, who has already been paid handsomely!)

It really is useful to be able to be objective when there are different points of view - sniping really demeans a person's ability to convince others!

No it wasn't directed at you.

It was just a general comment and not directed at anyone as the original poster asked for a debate and a discussion on the issue of tipping.

That is just my opinion and I said each to their own.

For me if I could afford to go out 12 times a year and not tip or 10 times a year and tip then I would do the later.

I mentioned the three services that I did because these are the main areas for tipping in the UK nothing to do with your post.

I am sorry you took it personally it wasn't meant that way but my opinion is as valid as anybodys and opinions on matters such as these are normally subjective and not objective.

The only person who mentioned demeaning was you. and presumably you did it to try and make me feel bad about having a strong opinion on this. So much for free speech.

Suppose Tootsie's thread will be closed now

Judith wrote:

Doe

After nearly forty years of living in Germany my OH still hadn't got the hang of tipping here, he always tipped 10% in the UK and thinks he should here and even after I have pointed out the service charge on the bill he is still inclined to overtip.
Silver service!! I had forgotten all about that, I would imagine it still exists in the old luxury hotels such as the Savoy in London..

Judith

I used to do weddings. posh ones. It's all finger buffets these days I suppose . Apologies Mods I am well

Sales tax varies by state in the US and is added to anything bought in shops and to restaurant bills. In New York it is 8.875% so the easiest way to work out the expected tip is to double the tax on the bill.

luci

well, I'm a hairdresser and don't think I have a right to be tipped, though the lovely taxman assumes I make around £150 a year on tips . However, I do make my lovely clients know how gratefull I am if they do want to give me a little exra and would like to think that they do this because I have given them a smashing haircut, good conversation, solved a few problems for them, let them get stuff off their chests and so on, I like to think it makes them feel good that they have donated to my mexico fund !!!!
cheers all,
juby

Well if I were your client Juby, I would tip you as well as I like having my hair done, its one of the only times I ever get anyone focusing 100% on just me. The thing I always have the dilema with is how do you work out the split of the tip between the young person who normally washes your hair and the stylist who does the cut etc. I'm either gropping about for all different sorts of coins and loose change or wondering if to give the hairdresser a note and ask her to give the washer so much from it. The etiquette of tipping eh, so compliated.

Didn't realise the Inland Revenue in this country taxed hairdressers tips.

Aw, thanks doe, in our salon we do everything ourselves, like shampooing, cutting, colouring, blowdring, sweeping up and making the tea's/coffees, for our clients, so the tip goes to just you.
I think tipping is an appreciation of a service given really, sometimes we get bottles of wine, flowers, chocolates as an appreciative gesture and it does warm your heart when people do this for you.

I understand the situation in the US and so would tip accordingly - but not if I got bad service.

As for in the UK - I no longer tip at the hairdresser (although I rounded it up last time just cos I felt like it) as since the min wage came in in the UK juniors and hair washers in salons do not get paid less than anyone else, which they used to back in the day.

I tip at restaurants I suppose out of habit. But I got a good 'tip' off trip advisor - tot up the wine/drinks total before blindly handing over 10% tip - the mark up on drinks is huge in most restaurants so base your tip on the food costs - especially if you've had quite a boozy meal. One of my fave italian restaurants where I live doesn't do any wine less than £14 per bottle. Not even the house wine. Sorry, but they aint getting a tip if I'm paying that for the wine.

My hairdresser has boxes by the till, each with the assistants' names on them, so you can simply slip the tip into the appropriate box. I too hate the assumption that one should automatically give a tip to all and sundry who have given even a modicum of service and I also hate the imposition of a 'service charge'. The bill should be simply for what has been provided, leaving one to give a tip if the person concerned has actually earned it. I usually round taxi fares up to the nearest £1. In Tunisia I round up to the nearest dinar for drinks etc or just give an extra dinar for meals and leave 10 or 20 dinar for the chamber maid at the end of the holiday if she has been friendly and pleasant, as they always have been so far.

I do tip Hairdressers , taxi's and the girl who does my nails and always leave 10% in a restaurant but TBH half the time I dont really know why anymore .

I can understand if it's for a young girl/lad that is probably on peanuts washing your hair etc but quite often these people are working for themselves anyway and already charging the going rate for doing their job . i.e taxi drivers and many hairdressers .
I'm sure waitresses do quite nicely now just in what they are paid now we have miminum wage . I would of thought they have to be 18 anyway when carrying Alcohol so should be on a half decent wage anyway . The under 18's are probably those that need the tips to make up their money as I dont believe there is any mimimum for those .

lyn

In Italy this year I noticed that restaurants had a cover charge (usually 1 to 1.5 euros per person) I assume that was to cover the rental on the plates and cutlery If I have enjoyed the meal I would tip around 10%. In the USA the expected tip is 20% for waiters/resses however on my last trip I was the leader of a party of 19. In restaurants they automatically add on the tip for groups over a certain size (8 usually) and so the tip was already added in. As I wasn't actually spending my own money I wasn't that bothered and it was easy just to put the whole bill on my plastic. In one place we ate the service wasn't that good (although to be fair they probably hadn't had 19 people at once arrive there) and so I rounded the bill up which when I sat down to look at it afterwards was about 12% One one bill they actually recorded that the tip was 18% On the rare occassion we actually sat at a bar I gave a $1 tip per round of drinks. On a guided bus tour I tipped the guide $40 and the driver the same on a river cruise I tipped the guide $40 as well. As I was the only person tipping I reckoned that $2 per person for the group was a fair tip. We were picked up by a bus at the airport and taken into downtown Chicago, we had the same bus booked for the return journey. I tipped the driver $20 each way but he did load and unload all the bags.

I started my working life as a hairdresser and was very pleased to receive tips, with my early days in mind I have always tipped and I used to regardless. However with so many restuarants and services completely overpriced my views have altered and so many hotels in Spain where I holiday mostly have gone to self service and the dining room staff just clearing tables which has to be done, Staff serve you wine with a 200% markup and we tip them for uncorking it, I may be a miserable old sod but have converted to self catering with which we are able to holiday for four weeks at a time instead of two in a hotel. I will tip but only to pleasant people who look after me and mine with a smile.

I'm going to back up an earlier poster and say that i think the comment saying that people were tight who did not tip wasn't the smartest, even if that's not how the poster meant it to be ... i guess after years of snidey drunken comments aimed purely on my nationality from people who were miserable sods themselves has made me sensitive about people being tarred with the same brush!

I will personally tip in certain situations, but never feel obliged to, nor should i (or anyone) This whole 'expect a tip' is stupid, you'd be better just giving people a decent bloody wage. I know the argument is for good service, but nothing is guaranteed and these poor people could work their ass off for nothing!!

Best example of tipping i ever saw was on an episode of Seinfeld, where one of the characters put the tip on the table beforehand as the 'potential' tip, and then withdrew notes for any service errors!

lynwestie wrote:

I'm sure waitresses do quite nicely now just in what they are paid now we have miminum wage . I would of thought they have to be 18 anyway when carrying Alcohol so should be on a half decent wage anyway . The under 18's are probably those that need the tips to make up their money as I dont believe there is any mimimum for those

there is a minimum for 16 & 17 year olds , it is £3.57. For those under 16 (compulsory school leaving age) there is no guaranteed rate. also 18 to 21 have to recieve a minimum of £4.83 per hour although many probably receive the minimum wage which is £5.80 which has to be paid at 22 years of age. You don't have to be 18 to sell or serve alcohol as long as it is approved by someone who is 18 or over and is a "responsible person" .

i think if an 18 year old waitress provides exceptional service they are worth a tip as a sign of gratitude.