What's the right tip?

Once got a £50 tip for hosting a kid’s birthday party really well at the bowling alley. Only time I’ve ever had a £50 note.

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The service charge can’t be mandatory, as the business has to treat the money it receives from tips and discretionary service charges differently for tax purposes (e.g. VAT and National Insurance).

Also ‘whenever an American comes into the bar’

In Japan tipping is regarded as an insult to the person serving you.

I don’t really get things that you’d tip for very often, if I do I’ll make sure I can tip. Don’t really base it on anything other than people should get a liveable wage for their job and in certain scenarios the employer won’t do it and it’s expected the customer will make it up, so I try to. In theory would tip less if somebody was a right dick, but they’d have to be obnoxious or out of order in some way, won’t do it if somebody’s clearing having a miserable day or overworked.

Don’t think anybody else in Lancaster tips takeaway deliverers, always just got a standard “thanks” in Manchester, here they’re dead animated about it.

Depends

I don’t disagree, but I think some people do and would tip as an indicator of how well off they are and it wouldn’t really take much for others to fall into line with that as a practice, be it out of politeness or shame.

Obviously pay staff accordingly so they aren’t reliant on tips, but I think the act of tipping for many people is primarily quite self serving.

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I was just giving my opinion on what you said, sorry if it came across differently.

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Think people here don’t tip their hairdresser though

I just remembered when I went to America and got tipping all wrong (i.e. they tip much higher over there), and no doubt insulted many people

Did anyone here do a paper round and get Christmas tips?

I used to get around 40 quid a year from that I think, which was loads.

My round was split between the estate and the big posh houses - guess which side of the road was ridiculously more generous??

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Was told the other day “we have to tip at least 20% otherwise the chef will chase you down the street with a knife”

I used to when I paid cash, but now he only takes card, and puts the amount in without an option for tips.

Although, on the flipside, I’ve got such a small amount of hair, being charged for a full haircut is like giving him a tip

You know when it’s a pot that’s shared across the entire restaurant staff?

Is that bad or good?

Everything requires a buck at least

Grabbing a coffee? Buck!
Cocktails at the bar? Couple of bucks PER DRINK.

It’s weird in the US (east coast only experience as that’s where i’ve always been) it kinda works both ways. I’m chatty with staff and never ever rude to them and they kept giving me free stuff or taking stuff off the bill. Seems a much more give and take scenario.

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Just as a rule, I’m always generously tipping someone who is in charge of my appearance or my bowels (food/drink)

Let’s not forget that most prices in shops aren’t what you pay either.

I wonder if all this makes Americans great at mental arithmetic?

The so-called tronc system.

It’s better than all the tips going to the front of house staff, but it doesn’t solve the underlying problems outlined earlier. Plus it’s up up to the business what proportion of the service charges paid by customers is made available to the tronc system., i.e. the business can keep some of the money.

Yeah that’s fair enough, sorry again, I can see how it comes across and that wasn’t my intention at all.

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