By Irene Fantopoulos
From the film Reservoir Dogs to ordinary folk like you and me, whether to tip and how much is the question that plagues North Americans. Sure there is the issue of how much do we/should we tip hairstylists, manicurists, cabbies and the mail man, but they aren’t part of this discussion.
I don’t necessarily mind tipping for excellent or fairly good service. But what I do mind is when restaurateurs prescribe that I must tip or be a social pariah. Why do wait staff appear to have just escaped from the pages of a Dickensian scene – hungry and needy.
Of course, I’ll get in trouble with servers, patrons and restaurateurs alike, but hey, like them, I’m entitled to my opinion.
Having travelled extensively to Europe and elsewhere outside North America, many restaurants include tip and taxes in their prices. I enjoy going to these restaurants and knowing that when I select from the menu, the price quoted is what I pay at the end. Genius? Perhaps. Maybe it’s simply great customer service. Maybe it’s because they pay their staff well. Sometimes you leave the change; sometimes you leave 5%, maybe 10% because of exceptional service. In Europe tips are not expected, although they are appreciated.
I was recently in Ireland, and I asked what customary tipping is. I discovered that tipping is not the norm in Ireland. “Buy a bloke a drink,” a fellow patron said “to demonstrate your appreciation.” Brilliant! Some might say, ‘what if the food and service are horrible?” Why should the tip be automatic? How many of us North Americans really complain when the food or the service is poor? Few. We just don’t want to upset anyone lest they spit in our food. So we tip in spite of poor quality and poor service.
In the end, a good steak is a good steak wether it’s $20 or $50. Shouldn’t the tip be about the quality, not the price?
What about the automatic inclusion of a tip when there are more than six or eight patrons at a table? If you use a debit machine, you’re also tipping on the taxes if you choose the percentage option.
Tipping has nothing to do with being cheap. Tipping has everything to do with the restaurant owners who expect their patrons to supplement their servers’ income. My suggestion is: pay your servers well, like the Europeans, and reflect that cost in the price of your food items. Owners might respond by saying, “Then my prices will be too high and no one will come”. Perhaps they’re in the wrong business if revenues don’t exceed costs.
Sure there are some people who walk off without tipping and that’s just not right. But somehow North American servers need to realize that technically it’s their bosses stiffing them.
I don’t necessarily mind tipping for excellent or fairly good service. But what I do mind is when restaurateurs prescribe that I must tip or be a social pariah. Why do wait staff appear to have just escaped from the pages of a Dickensian scene – hungry and needy.
Of course, I’ll get in trouble with servers, patrons and restaurateurs alike, but hey, like them, I’m entitled to my opinion.
Having travelled extensively to Europe and elsewhere outside North America, many restaurants include tip and taxes in their prices. I enjoy going to these restaurants and knowing that when I select from the menu, the price quoted is what I pay at the end. Genius? Perhaps. Maybe it’s simply great customer service. Maybe it’s because they pay their staff well. Sometimes you leave the change; sometimes you leave 5%, maybe 10% because of exceptional service. In Europe tips are not expected, although they are appreciated.
I was recently in Ireland, and I asked what customary tipping is. I discovered that tipping is not the norm in Ireland. “Buy a bloke a drink,” a fellow patron said “to demonstrate your appreciation.” Brilliant! Some might say, ‘what if the food and service are horrible?” Why should the tip be automatic? How many of us North Americans really complain when the food or the service is poor? Few. We just don’t want to upset anyone lest they spit in our food. So we tip in spite of poor quality and poor service.
In the end, a good steak is a good steak wether it’s $20 or $50. Shouldn’t the tip be about the quality, not the price?
What about the automatic inclusion of a tip when there are more than six or eight patrons at a table? If you use a debit machine, you’re also tipping on the taxes if you choose the percentage option.
Sure there are some people who walk off without tipping and that’s just not right. But somehow North American servers need to realize that technically it’s their bosses stiffing them.
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