Gratuity added with the final bill

[Hoc]

I normally tip about 20 percent, rounded up. A bit less if the service was bad, and a bit more if it was exceptional. But when a gratuity is automatically added to a bill, then that's it. No extra tip by me.

I also tip less (or not at all) in the U.K. and usually no more than 10 percent in Korean restaurants, because tips are not customary in the U.K., and the waiters/waitresses normally don't get the tips in Korean restaurants, as they are customarily taken and mostly kept by the owners, with a small percentage being doled back to the wait staff.

 

[Big Matt]

I worked my way through school waiting tables and the one thing that I will always remember is that you will never change people's tipping habits. You can influence the number up or down a little based on good service or bad, but if someone always tips 10%, that's what you'll get. Same with 15% or 20%.

I always just tried to treat everyone the same, give them the best service I could and not dwell on bad tips. At the end of my shift I would add it all up and it averaged about 18% for the most part.

 

[dioxide45]

In Canada minimum wage is close to $10 per hour. Thus our tendency to tip 10-15%.

That may be minimum wage, but I grew up in Canada and worked in the service industry (not a server). The wait staff there (Ontario at least) is not paid the same minimum wage as other jobs since it is assumed they will have tip income. I don't think there is as big of a difference in the wages as there are here in the US. Perhaps only a couple dollars an hour difference vs. closer to $4 or $5 and hour here.

 

[GadgetRick]

Tipping is supposed to be for their service. Not about so many other things which have been mentioned. If you give me averageish service, I'll tip 20%. If it's better, I'll tip more.

If I get HORRIBLE service...and I do mean HORRIBLE, you'll get something less. In my whole life, I've only NOT left a tip exactly one time. It was bad. I was so angry I had even spoken to a manager and things still didn't get better. I never went back to that place of course.

For me, I'm easy to keep happy. Be polite, be attentive, refill our drinks (non-alcoholic) without us having to beg for a refill (or fill our wine glasses when you see them getting low--this is a bonus), come back after serving us to see if we need anything (they never give enough butter for baked potatoes initially) and say THANK YOU!

I tip for many things not just food service. I'd rather over-tip than under-tip. Just the way I am.

 

[Zac495]

We are more inclined to tip a larger percentage at a cheaper restaurant. About wine, it requires no preparation and has a big mark-up. Seems as though the tip on that should be less, unless the wine steward spent a lot of time helping one select a wine. A great way to save money, if that is a problem, is NOT to stiff the waiter. Just don't order anything but water to drink. And no, you should not tip on the tax. If we double the amount of the tax, that is about the correct tip here. The bill should clearly show that the tip has been added also. The only time we left no tip was when our waiter was so hung over his service was terrible.

My husband has a big thing about not tipping 20% on the wine. If the bill has a 60 dollar wine bottle, he likes to figure 20 on the food, and then 10 on the wine (unless there's a wine steward, but then the wine is more than 60!)

I've never completely agreed. What do you guys think?

 

[laura1957]

I have given the exact amount of a gratuity included bill only once. And I mean to the penny. The service was horrible and I was out of town. No reason to speak to a manager as I wouldn't be returning under any circumstance.

I tend to tip a minimum of 20%, usually 25-30%, occasionally higher. If I have any problems with service, usually I tell the server. If they seem interested in what I have to say, they still get a good tip. If they shrug me off, here's 15%.

I think I've posted this before, but on a $20 breakfast order, I just can't bring myself to leave $4. My minimum is about $7.

I absolutely agree on breakfast !! It is not unusual for us to leave 100 % breakfast tip. It always seems (for us) that it is more work for the servers at breakfast, if they make sure my coffee cup stays full. I could not see me leaving a 20 % tip on the local diner's $2.22 breakfast special

 

[laura1957]

One of my favorite restaurants prints tip amounts below the bill for convience. It has 15%, 18% and 20% amounts. They don't add it in the bill automatically, but it saves the math-impaired from a headache.

Count me in the group that has to sneak a tip to the waitperson after FIL picks up the tab. I don't get upset with him though. He is old and feeble. He has lived a frugal life and just doesn't "get it" when it comes to tipping--or what people deserve to be paid in general for their services. He is very tight with his money (had to be). I think it causes him physical pain (at the very least mental pain) to part with what took him so long to save. He is a sweet man, however, and not demanding or mean to the waitstaff.

Some people are not being cheap - they truly do not understand. When my husbands family (his aunts and uncles) are visiting from Georgia they really have no idea what kind of tip they should leave. They are the sweetest, kindest people I have ever met - but one or two of the nephews/nieces all always pays the bill, the aunts/uncles always insist on leaving the tip since we don't let them pay for the meal. Whoever of the "younger" crown ( 45-55ish) did not pay for the meal that time always slips back up to the server to make up the difference in the tip.

 

[joestein]

I have an interesting story about added gratuity.

This past Mother's Day, we went to the Battlefield Country Club for Brunch. We went in know that a 20% service charge would be added to the bill. The brunch was very nice, service was ok. This place is not a regular restaurant, it is a catering hall which does a few meals like this around the holidays.

We get the bill, which was around $280/290 before service charge for 5 adults and 4 children under 6. There is an $80 something service charge on the bill. The waitress tells us that the service charge is not a gratuity, but to pay for all the expenses incurred for the meal (she mentions a freezer truck parked out back and the piano player, etc.)

I am so aggravated by this, I go upto the table they have set up by the entrance to pay you bill and tell them that I have never heard of a service charge that was not for gratuity. The cashier/hostess says it in fact is a gratuity and can't belive what the waitress had said. She even goes as far as to tell me she is considering firing her on the spot. We pay the bill without any extra gratuity and as we are leaving she tells us that the hostess is lying not her.

Later that day, I realize she also gypped us on the service charge. 20% should have been in the upper 50s. She charged us around 28%. In addition, I wonder if this was just the waitress or if this was an effort from the people who are putting this meal together.

Regardless, it left a bad taste in our mouths, which is too bad because we really enjoyed ourselves there.

Joe

 

[ScoopKona]

My husband has a big thing about not tipping 20% on the wine. If the bill has a 60 dollar wine bottle, he likes to figure 20 on the food, and then 10 on the wine (unless there's a wine steward, but then the wine is more than 60!)

I've never completely agreed. What do you guys think?

From StarChefs.com:

There is some debate in the restaurant world about whether or not it is appropriate to tip on wine. The answer is yes. Since sommeliers are tipped out a percentage of the evening’s gratuities, it is quite right to recognize their services by including the cost of wine when calculating a tip. If your sommelier has been particularly helpful, you might want to tip that person directly. Taking the issue a step further, what is the tipping etiquette if you order an outrageously expensive bottle of wine? Is the sommelier deserving of 15-20% of that bottle when the amount of work required is no more or less than with an inexpensive bottle? Again, the answer is yes. If you’re a big spender splurging on pricey wines, then you should tip like a big spender.

I go as far to tip as if I ordered a middle-of-the-road bottle of wine, even if I don't drink that evening. (Assuming I'm dining at a restaurant where a bottle with dinner is de rigueur. If they have a sommelier, he's getting a percentage of EVERYONE'S tips, whether customers order a bottle or not.)

 

[nicklinneh]

Reply to ScoopLV.
Servers do not live in South Beach or SFO or Aspen. They live far away from the city where rents are affordable. I feel sorry, not for waiters (who do get tipped), but for hotel housekeepers, maintenance-people and groundskeepers (who do not); they have to live 100 miles away probably. --ken

 

[ScoopKona]

Reply to ScoopLV.
Servers do not live in South Beach or SFO or Aspen. They live far away from the city where rents are affordable. I feel sorry, not for waiters (who do get tipped), but for hotel housekeepers, maintenance-people and groundskeepers (who do not); they have to live 100 miles away probably. --ken

In my experience, that is incorrect. Servers usually live near the restaurant. Nobody commutes 100 miles to work a below minimum wage job. Instead, they stack up eight to an apartment and share the bills.

Don't believe me? Go to one of those expensive places, eat in 10 restaurants, and ask your servers. I'd be willing to wager 8 out of 10 live within 10 miles of the restaurant.

 

[esk444]

My husband has a big thing about not tipping 20% on the wine. If the bill has a 60 dollar wine bottle, he likes to figure 20 on the food, and then 10 on the wine (unless there's a wine steward, but then the wine is more than 60!)

I've never completely agreed. What do you guys think?

In my experience, diners almost always used the standard tip for wine. The only exception were a handful of curmudgeonly wine ethusiasts that frequently drank expense and rare wines. They usually tipped generously on the food and drank $200+ bottles of wine.

 

[IngridN]

Intersting thread. We always tip 20% or so and if it is included in the bill, do not tip additional. Overseas, we may depending on the guidance provided by the travel guides on tipping. This reminds me of a trip to Florence a number of years ago. Some of the restaurants added a 15% service charge while others did not, so we asked the server if this goes to the wait staff. He told us no so we gave him another 20%...he must have laughed all the way to the bank at these stupid Americans!

Ingrid

 

[kelela92]

I have a few question that follows the tipping questions.

If you go to the counter, order your food. But they bring it to you. Do you leave a tip and if so, how much?

If you go to the counter, order your food. Pick up your food. But they do come by ask if you need anything else, and clean up while you're still sitting there, do you leave a tip and if so, how much?

Lastly. If you go to a Carl's Jr. (fast food joint), where you order your food, they bring it to you, then clear your table (as you may still be sitting there), do you give them a tip (I probably wouldn't leave it there as anyone can sit down and take it) and if so, how much?


As for my own stories, I know people who work at restaurants and can make a grip of money. I also know people who don't make much at all, but bust their butts doing all they can. For myself, I try to be the "bank" so I can figure tipping. Thankfully, within groups, we tend to just split it evenly. I typically double the tax (which used to be about 18%, but is now about 20% can we say ouch to the tax). I am like my friend, I scale how well they did, by how well they keep my water glass filled. It shows me how many times they either come back to the table, or are looking at the table. What I dislike is when I have about 5 people serving me and no one really did much but their job. One person sat us. Another took our drink order. Another brought the drinks. Another took the order. Another delivered the order. Another cleared the table. Oh the person who took the order, returns to see if we want dessert. No? Another person brings the check. Seriously, what is up with that? I cant see how any of them make any money on tips, when they have to split it....6+ ways. Because I know waiters/waitresses, I try to tip well. At least 20% and if they did great, as much as I can afford or feel like giving. As with many of you, if the meal ends up at $20, I feel bad leaving $3-4 bucks. So I try to leave more, depending on how broke I am.

 

[Tia]

.... They were very nice people and told her she might have been the best waitress they had ever had and that they will be sure to ask for her agian when they return. The bill came to approximately $120.00, and when they left, only $1.00 was left on the table as the tip. This is the reason an automatic gratuity is included for large parties.
....

Have not read to the end but I wonder if someone at another table maybe took the tip? My parents saw this happen to their tip once , they reported it of course and management handled it. They never left cash again on the table instead personally handed the tip to the wait person.

 

[mo1950]

My husband and I have only left zero for a tip once in our lives, about 20 years ago.

We went to a very nice seafood restaurant at an off hour - 2:00 p.m. or so. There was only one other table occupied at the time - a man, wife, and two children.

We were waited on 20 minutes after being seated and both ordered appetizers of snow crab legs from a giggling, jiggling very silly waitress. After the waitress left, we overheard the other table talking about having been there an hour and still not having their entree. And we thought, oh boy!

Oh boy was right. After 45 minutes of not seeing the waitress but hearing her in the kitchen loudly screaming and laughing continuously, she finally appeared with our snow crab appetizers and the entrees for the other table. She threw our plates on the table and quickly ran back into the kitchen without speaking to us, and proceeded to scream and laugh again. We found out the appetizers were not edible because they were still very much frozen.

We waited another hour and still did not see our waitress. My husband walked back to the kitchen door (where there was a great deal of noise and probably a party going on) and yelled if he could talk to someone. No answer. Another 15 minutes went by - nothing.

We were a lot younger then and now that I look back on it, were so silly to stay there that long. If something like that happened to us today, we would probably actually walk into the kitchen and ask what was going on. But, anyway, we did not know what to do, and we were very angry, so we just got up and walked out. I often wonder if the waitress ever even knew we left. Or maybe the police are still looking for us. lol.

Other than the occasion above, if we are unhappy, we still leave 10%. Most always leave 20%. Unless it is a very small ticket, then we will leave a much larger percentage.

 

[ScoopKona]

Have not read to the end but I wonder if someone at another table maybe took the tip? My parents saw this happen to their tip once , they reported it of course and management handled it. They never left cash again on the table instead personally handed the tip to the wait person.

Maybe, but doubtful. From servers I have talked to, roughly 1-in-20 Americans don't tip at all (or tip two cents on a $99.98 check), and roughly 1-in-10 Canadians and 1-in-5 Europeans. I was living in a tourist town at the time, and I knew a lot of servers and bartenders. The stories they would tell about their customers.... pitiful, really. I'm sure plenty of exaggeration occurred. And I'm sure more than a few of them deserved a lousy tip. But the sheer volume of horror stories about miserly customers astounded me.

That's just my observation from living in a tourist town for a couple decades. If this thread hangs on for some time, it would be interesting to have people from all over ask their server next time they go out, "Approximately what percentage of your customers don't tip or leave an insulting tip?"

 

[Kozman]

Talking about some not tipping adequately. In my younger days I'd often meet a buddy for dinner. Almost every time I'd leave an adequate tip on the table and he'd lay down a miserly tip and combine our monies in the middle of the table thus making him look more generous and me less generous!

 

[rapmarks]

In May, the Copper Oaks restaurant at the casino offered a special to residents of the community, $20 off each meal. We went with a group of 22 people. After the discount our bill was $8 and they added a tip of 20% which came to $9. Would you believe one of the women was upset about it and said she wouldn't come with a group again so she didn't have to pay that tip. (I had a filet and my husband had salmon for that $8) To top it off, there was no tax charged on the bill.

But speaking of tips, there are many fund raiser golf outings here in Wisconsin. At one, a woman went around with a "hat" collecting because she said the servers didn't get a tip. she collected about $250. I asked my daughter about it because she used to be the food and bev manager. She said they got 18% of the total bill plus their hourly wage which was about $16 because they had worked there so long (20 years with automatic raises each year). So they made quite a bit of money that night.

 

[ScoopKona]

In May, the Copper Oaks restaurant at the casino offered a special to residents of the community, $20 off each meal. We went with a group of 22 people. After the discount our bill was $8 and they added a tip of 20% which came to $9. Would you believe one of the women was upset about it and said she wouldn't come with a group again so she didn't have to pay that tip.

It is customary to tip on the total amount before discounts are applied. Six dollars would be the appropriate tip on a $28 check. (Also, 20% of $8 is $1.60, not $1.)

 

[rapmarks]

I am not sure of your figures - the bill was $8 the tip was about $9.60 for a total of 17.60. One lady was mad that she had to pay a 20% tip, instead of looking at the fact that the dinner cost almost nothing. I am not sure what you mean by $1 or $1.60, but the bill would have been $48, not $28, 20 off each meal.

 

["Roger"]

... roughly 1-in-20 Americans don't tip at all (or tip two cents on a $99.98 check), ...and 1-in-5 Europeans...

This may because many Europeans are used to having a service charge added to their bill. The staff is paid something closer to a living wage without the expectation of income from tips. Tipping, when done, is usually for very exceptional service (and usually more like 10% max).

Having said that, I am always at a loss in a pub when I order a meal at the bar and the meal is brought to the table. Supposedly, in this situation, a tip is not expected, but often I get almost as much service as if the waiter or waitress served me from the time I sat down. I leave a tip, but wonder if the Brits are irritated in that they don't want a trend started where this becomes the expected.

 

[ScoopKona]

I am not sure of your figures - the bill was $8 the tip was about $9.60 for a total of 17.60. One lady was mad that she had to pay a 20% tip, instead of looking at the fact that the dinner cost almost nothing. I am not sure what you mean by $1 or $1.60, but the bill would have been $48, not $28, 20 off each meal.

My mistake, I thought the bill was $28 per person, with a $20 discount, leaving a per person bill of $8, and then everybody tipped $1 each on their $8 check. That's how I read it, at least. But I am often mistaken...

Did you mean that the total for 22 people was $8? If so, wow. That's quite a loss leader on the part of the restaurant.

 

[dioxide45]

In May, the Copper Oaks restaurant at the casino offered a special to residents of the community, $20 off each meal. We went with a group of 22 people. After the discount our bill was $8 and they added a tip of 20% which came to $9. Would you believe one of the women was upset about it and said she wouldn't come with a group again so she didn't have to pay that tip. (I had a filet and my husband had salmon for that $8) To top it off, there was no tax charged on the bill.

But speaking of tips, there are many fund raiser golf outings here in Wisconsin. At one, a woman went around with a "hat" collecting because she said the servers didn't get a tip. she collected about $250. I asked my daughter about it because she used to be the food and bev manager. She said they got 18% of the total bill plus their hourly wage which was about $16 because they had worked there so long (20 years with automatic raises each year). So they made quite a bit of money that night.

It is customary to tip on the total amount before discounts are applied. Six dollars would be the appropriate tip on a $28 check. (Also, 20% of $8 is $1.60, not $1.)

I am not sure of your figures - the bill was $8 the tip was about $9.60 for a total of 17.60. One lady was mad that she had to pay a 20% tip, instead of looking at the fact that the dinner cost almost nothing. I am not sure what you mean by $1 or $1.60, but the bill would have been $48, not $28, 20 off each meal.

My mistake, I thought the bill was $28 per person, with a $20 discount, leaving a per person bill of $8, and then everybody tipped $1 each on their $8 check. That's how I read it, at least. But I am often mistaken...

Did you mean that the total for 22 people was $8? If so, wow. That's quite a loss leader on the part of the restaurant.

I am still confused. I read it the same way that ScoopLV did, I think.....

 

["Roger"]

I believe that rapmarks and her husband (the two of them) had meals that together would have cost $48 (average of $24 a person). Since they had $20 coupons off of each meal, their bill was $8. The restaurant added a 20% gratuity based upon the $48 meal total. That meant that the gratuity was $9.60. So, the total bill (including the gratuity) for the two of them was $17.60.