Do You Tip The Same As Before Inflation?

[Lee]

Some restaurants are adding an automatic gratuity to the bill and I suppose those that don't notice the extra fee will be tipping double.

I tend to still stay in the 20 % range.

And do you still tip for lousy service?

 

[Michael Z]

Inflation will probably be even harder on the server than myself having the money to eat out. So yes.

 

[hollydolly]

I actually do.. but I'm getting tired of getting inferior service these days.. so I'm going to stop tipping. It's not mandatory here as it is in the US.. here it's a gift for a particualrly good service, and I seem to be no longer getting that !

 

[Michael Z]

It's not mandatory here is it is in the US.. here it's a gift for a particularly good service, and I seem to be no longer getting that !

Tipping is optional in the US except for some restaurants that automatically include the tip in the price, which kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[charry]

You don’t need to tip in the UK
but anyone offering to do that little extra for me , eg gardener , car cleaner, window cleaner etc I will always tip them
my car cleaner , helped by checking on my oil and water level yesterday , so I gave him an extra tenner
it makes my life less worrying , and gives them a small bonus …

 

[hollydolly]

Tipping is optional in the US except for some restaurants that automatically include the tip in the price, which kind of defeats the purpose.

I thought most US restaurant waiter expected a tip on top of the Bill ?

 

[Lavinia]

I only tip when I'm happy with the service. It should be earned not taken for granted.

 

[Geezer Garage]

I generally tip 20% unless the service is horrible. Not going out as much as we once did. It's not that we can't afford it, It's more that I just have a hard time paying 40 to $50 for breakfast for two when I can generally make better at home, and can readily remember paying 10-$20 for the same meal not that long ago.

 

[againstthegrain]

I thought most US restaurant waiter expected a tip on top of the Bill ?

It's the norm, but technically not required unless stated on the menu. Usually it's to prevent a sub-standard tip for groups of 6 or more, typically requiring an18-20% tip.

 

[Lethe200]

I try not to judge things based on "what it cost in the past". Time waits for no man, the saying goes, and neither does inflation, LOL.

No, we don't tip the same as before the pandemic. We tip a lot more - because: we can afford it; we don't drink which reduces the bill and cuts into restaurant profits; and times are difficult for so many people.

Even with a high minimum wage, the simple truth is that there is NO major metropolitan city in the U.S. where earning only minimum wage would enable one to buy the average price of a starter home or even a condo. That stat was released before the pandemic, and home prices have not dropped substantially since then, especially at the low end of the market.

My mother was a waitress after she divorced my dad. No alimony (he went on disability) and she had to support 2 kids on a HS education with no real skills. I grew up poor, and it's a lot harder nowadays than it was back then.

My spouse (former waiter during schooldays) and I always tipped well, but in the last few years we have financially done well enough that we afford to be more generous. We have no kids, have planned carefully for extreme old age/disability, and our monthly discretionary income is more than sufficient to meet our needs.

We can't take it with us, after all (altho Spouse says he's going to try...with a wink)! So we can give more generously to charitable causes. Besides, dining out is probably our only costly hobby, so a good tip is the least we can do.

 

[Alligatorob]

I am usually a generous tipper, but get really irritated by the new checkout things that suggest tips when paying. Particularly if its a place where you pay before being served, tipping before being served makes little sense.

When I see a "service charge" or something of the like on the bill I will ask what it is, and who gets the money. Then I adjust my tip accordingly. I don't double tip.

I don't like the whole tipping system, but know many waitstaff depend on tips to live so I go along. Sure would be better if restaurants and the like paid a fair wage to their employees, then a tip could truly be a little extra for above average service. Me not leaving a tip however won't fix that, it just hurts the lowest paid people in the place...

 

[Magna-Carta]

I tend not to tip in the UK, but do occasionally if I’ve received good service. When I say service, I mean the sever, as I see this separate from the quality of the food.

On my visits to Japan, I don’t tip. If you ever get the opportunity to go there, don’t tip. They generally find it offensive, from what I’ve seen.

When I’m in the US I tip 20%. In a way, to me, it seems somewhat expected. Even to the point of a taxi driver counting the money I’ve given him, 3 times in front of me, as though he was are looking where the tip was.

One time in the US, I was in a restaurant with a friend – he had been deaf from birth. The woman server had some difficulty understanding my friend, and wrongly put it down a strong British accent. Later, the server negotiated with another server to serve our table. Who then served us for the rest of the evening. It was my last day in the US, and we were shortly to head off to the airport. My tip was to empty my pockets of US money, which was considerably, and leave it for the 2nd server. Who collected the tip from the table and waved it to our first server. So good for him, I thought.

 

[Murrmurr]

Yes I do, but we rarely go out to eat since our money doesn't go as far as it did a few years ago.

 

[IrisSenior]

I give more than before (up to 20%) but only if the service is good (which is most places we go to).

 

[Pappy]

If the service and food are real good, I’ve tipped more than the 20% standard. Usually 20% though.

 

[RuthieHart]

Some restaurants are adding an automatic gratuity to the bill and I suppose those that don't notice the extra fee will be tipping double.

I tend to still stay in the 20 % range.

And do you still tip for lousy service?

Just had breakfast last week and they added a “service charge” which alluded to a credit card fee but we didn’t pay with a credit card. Not to mention the starting price for pancakes was $14.00! The restaurants are a rip off. Also went to a restaurant last week and they didn’t list a price for their soda. That’s because some places are charging 4.00 per glass. No thanks! Time to stop eating out.

 

[Tommy]

In the US, the federal minimum hourly wage is $7.25 EXCEPT for wait staff. For wait staff, it's $2.13. Individual states can and do set higher minimum wages, but invariably those are still much lower for wait staff than they are for other hourly workers.

 

[Tommy]

I generally tip 20% in restaurants, plus or minus depending on the service, but I ALWAYS overtip for breakfast.

 

[hollydolly]

Just had breakfast last week and they added a “service charge” which alluded to a credit card fee but we didn’t pay with a credit card. Not to mention the starting price for pancakes was $14.00! The restaurants are a rip off. Also went to a restaurant last week and they didn’t list a price for their soda. That’s because some places are charging 4.00 per glass. No thanks! Time to stop eating out.

$14 for pancakes... ???

 

[hollydolly]

In the US, the federal minimum hourly wage is $7.25 EXCEPT for wait staff. For wait staff, it's $2.13. Individual states can and do set higher minimum wages, but invariably those are still much lower for wait staff than they are for other hourly workers.

it's not up to the public to pay the wages for an employer !!! Employers everywhere should be paying a minimum living wage.. as they do here...

 

[katlupe]

I never go out to eat unless my BF is taking me and he is paying. He always gives a generous tip. Especially if the server engages in conversation with him. He talks to everyone and jokes with them. Usually when we go back the server remembers us and treats us well.

 

[hollydolly]

In the US, the federal minimum hourly wage is $7.25 EXCEPT for wait staff. For wait staff, it's $2.13. Individual states can and do set higher minimum wages, but invariably those are still much lower for wait staff than they are for other hourly workers.

good lord.. in the same country ( US) ..the minimum wage ranges from $14.75 ph to as low $7.25...that's incredible and completely unjust surely...

https://www.paycom.com/resources/blog/minimum-wage-rate-by-state/

 

[Alligatorob]

I tend not to tip in the UK, but do occasionally if I’ve received good service.

Are your waitstaff better paid than ours? Do you know? I suspect they are.

In the US, the federal minimum hourly wage is $7.25 EXCEPT for wait staff. For wait staff, it's $2.13. Individual states can and do set higher minimum wages, but invariably those are still much lower for wait staff than they are for other hourly workers.

Big part of the problem, $7.25 ain't much... I believe waitstaff should be paid what they are worth, tips ignored.

 

[Alligatorob]

Just had breakfast last week and they added a “service charge” which alluded to a credit card fee but we didn’t pay with a credit card.

Did you ask what the "service charge" was for and who got the money? I always do.

Time to stop eating out.

Maybe so, and I do eat out less. But giving it up would be hard, too convenient particularly when traveling.

 

[Lee]

The problem with tipping as some see it is the fact that not all lower paid employees get to receive a tip. Take for instance a cashier in a non union grocery store, They are on their feet all day, they sometimes lift things that are heavy such as big bags of dog food, they put up now with customer complaints about the high cost of groceries and NO tip.

Likely other examples too.