Tipping Culture

[Mikawa Ossan]

Do people give tips where you live?
Do you like the idea of giving tips?
What is your opinion on tips and tipping culture in general?

I got this idea from the thread about professions who don't get enough respect. Although I generally agree with the points made therein, there is one thing I most certainly disagee with:

I HATE TIPPING!!!!!

Not because I'm cheap. For different reasons entirely, which I'll get into later.

But please share your opinions as well!

[strongvoicesforward]

Hi Mikawa,

I am in Japan, so as a general rule there is no tipping here.

Personaly, I like tipping. I think it promotes trust between patron and server. It also gives an incentive to staff to go the extra mile in pleasing customers without having a manager looking over their shoulder to make sure they do it. I also like the fact that it is representative of a subjective evaluation of the service at a personal level.

However, I have a soft heart for wait people so very seldom do I judge harshly and try to make all my tips as generous as possible.

As for porters at airports and hotel porters, I feel the tipping culture there is one based on pressure. I always feel strange when they quickly step into the room and start pointing out room fixtures with their palms up.

[Mars Man]

Hi guys !! Now, I can understand, I think, both of your postitions there.

Me? I'm torn between the two. If tipping could be maintained at that level of 'being from the heart', and accepted as 'being from the heart' in a modest and humble attitude, as strongvoicesforward has pointed out, then I am all for it. And even so, I am torn, and maybe that's because I had seen (and had helped calm down) a few fights over tables and table assignments due to perhaps a selfishness or greediness which had somehow worked its way into the hearts of some otherwise very mild people--was it the money??

Again, I kind of feel left out here in Japan, as we know, because I cannot show any special thanks in that way. So I help by making sure the table's clean (even when with the family), stack the dishes and put all the silverware on them in a way that nothing falls off, and so on.

So...I am both for tipping and have my doubts about it. I would like to hear more from you, Mikawa Ossan, on your point of view. And likewise, strongvoicesforward, if you have any other input.

[strongvoicesforward]

So I help by making sure the table's clean (even when with the family), stack the dishes and put all the silverware on them in a way that nothing falls off, and so on.

lol. I am obsessive about doing that now. It is strange, because when I lived in America being average joe shmoe American, when I went to eat at restaurants I had never once concerned myself with making the dishes stacked and orderly to make it easier for the waitresses. But, after being in Japan and not being able to show any appreciation in the form of tipping, I, too, felt the next best thing is to just make the waitress' job as easy as possible.

And now, when I go back to the States on vacation and eat out with my family, I find myself doing it there, too, eventhough I can tip.

[Maciamo]

I also hate tipping because I have grown in a culture where there is no tipping like in Japan. I am also used to tax-included prices (like most Europeans), so I am used to think that the price I see is exactly the price I have to pay, so I feel cheated when someone asks for an additional service charge, table charge or tip. I got quite angry once in Spain because they charged us for the water and bread which we hadn't asked or touched. Apparently it is standard to do that in some more expensive restaurants in Spain. I would have been more understanding if they had written "table charge" on the bill, but they wrote water and bread... (so they ended up with their bread in the face).

[Mikawa Ossan]

Where to start?

I used to find nothing wrong with tipping, as I grew up with it around me. When I got a little older, I started to wonder why it was so mandatory if it was supposed to be the customer's way of showing appreciation for good service. I'm trying to think of some of the absurd situations I used to find, but it's been a while, and I don't think about this very often. (Sorry!)

I much prefer that the restaurant should pay it's employees a decent wage than having the customers subsidize the lower costs of the meal. I would much rather have a service charge applied by the restaurant to the cost of the bill than be compelled to decide what I thought about the service, select a rate to tip at, and calculate the amount I should tip.

It's almost like I have two bills. One for the food, and one for the service.

If that's the case, I would rather either a) serve myself, or b) go someplace where it comes as a package deal.

When you go to a restaurant, you expect to be served. That is part of what going to a restaurant means. When you order a pizza (it's slowly starting to come back) over the phone to a place that delivers, you expect it to be delivered. That is the service you requested.

Why then, should you have to pay a separate bill for the service that is inherent in your order?!?!

I will say it again. I would much rather pay a higher bill and have the cost for service included in that bill, even if it is itemized separately than pay a second bill separately.

[Maciamo]

I completely agree with you Mikawa Ossan. In fact, I always assume that restaurants are more expensive than takeaways (e.g. bento) or that you tend to get discounts on takeaways (esp. in Chinese restaurants here) because service is included in the restaurant price.

There is a company in Brussels that delivers food from about 40 famous restaurants. You pay the restaurant price, but the delivery is included (instead of service). That makes sense.

[Mikawa Ossan]

In fact, I always assume that restaurants are more expensive than takeaways (e.g. bento) or that you tend to get discounts on takeaways (esp. in Chinese restaurants here) because service is included in the restaurant price.

Yes!

It's such a weird concept that a business doesn't pay its own hired employees directly.

There is a company in Brussels that delivers food from about 40 famous restaurants. You pay the restaurant price, but the delivery is included (instead of service). That makes sense.

Yes, I agree completely!

Let's put the shoe on the other foot.

I used to work at a hotel here in Japan, as some of you already know. The thing I most dreaded was a customer trying to tip me. I tried so hard NOT to accept tips! Of course you can't refuse the customer outright, but it sure made me feel uncomfortable to accept them.

Why?

I was getting paid by my company, and although it wasn't a great salary, it was specifically for the services I rendered. I didn't feel it ethically right to collect twice for the same services.

[Mars Man]

Some good points made there, for sure !! MM

[Ma Cherie]

I'm okay with tipping just as long as it remains in a restaurant. I don't see why other places like coffee shops need tips. Even though you don't have to tip, there's no need for a tipping jar. Also, the last time I went to the hair salon I had to tip the person who washed my hair.

But in restaurants, I'm okay with tipping. Especially if the waiter/waitress is very nice, has told me all about the specials, etc.

[No-name]

I tip. I almost always tip at least 15%, sometimes more if I get good service. I have worked in kitchens and waited tables. Waiting tables is a difficult job with tipping being the only perq. As far as what they are being paid, it is usually minimum wage, but they are taxed based upon an assumed level of tipping-- so if you don't tip, it actually takes money away...especially if they have to tip out the bar, the busboys and dish room, the cooks and the host or hostess.

If there is a problem with the food or service, I usually don't take it out on the waiter... I complain to the management.

[Minty]

I also hate tipping because I have grown in a culture where there is no tipping like in Japan. I am also used to tax-included prices (like most Europeans), so I am used to think that the price I see is exactly the price I have to pay, so I feel cheated when someone asks for an additional service charge, table charge or tip. I got quite angry once in Spain because they charged us for the water and bread which we hadn't asked or touched. Apparently it is standard to do that in some more expensive restaurants in Spain. I would have been more understanding if they had written "table charge" on the bill, but they wrote water and bread... (so they ended up with their bread in the face).

Same here I never lived in a country that require tipping. There is once I went to the states with my mother, we went on a tour inside of America organised by Chinese over there. One of the tour guides was interested to introduce me to his son, I didn't want to give him my phone number and address because I wasn't interested, and not to mention at that time I was younger and wasn't looking, especially in a long distance relationship far, far away in the U.S. But that American Chinese tour guide didn�ft leave me alone, which was rather annoying. He treated me with no respect throughout the tour because I wasn�ft interested in his offer and at the end of the tour I still had to tip him for his bad service? Unbelievable!!!

My husband didn�ft like the service when he went travelling to North Africa. This was because people put out their hand after they forced you to let them help you with your luggage.

In Thailand on the other hand a country he likes to go travel, people don't do that, we tip as we please. We don't like being forced to do something.

Taiwan unfortunately has not been as modernize as I thought because in the county area, where I took him to see an aboriginal dance, after seeing the dance we were forced to tip the dance girls too. My husband is shocked by this "third world country" behaviour as Taiwan�fs GDP is compatible to Greece and Spain.

You would notice I criticise Taiwan a lot and yet I am half Taiwanese but this is the way I am, I do self criticisms and in-group criticism. I think only by doing this people will understand and improve, I do it in real life too. I also criticise Malaysia but for some reason not much in this forum because the things we talk about rarely link to my experiences as an ethnic minority in Malaysia before I become an Australian.

[Mitsuo]

I like to tip.

I think that tipping a waiter or waitress is like rewarding them on a job well-done. Of course I don't tip as much if they're rude and don't do a good job.

My sister works at a really prestigious Chinese Restaurant called P.F. Changs.
She only makes $2.00 an hour. But ranges around $50-200+ in tips (in a day). $200+ on a busy day. So tips are everything here where I am anyway.

I like to tip 20%. But 10% if I'm not satisfied.

[Templar]

Tips should be included in the price. If the service was extraordinary, then you can leave a couple of extra dollars.