I have just re turned from the USA and i would like to ask Americans a question?

Question

why in every restaurant is it customary to pay a 10% to 15% service charge /gratuity / tip.and to have it automatically added to your bill.I am from england and beleive it or not i am not greedy and i very ofton tip for good service , but i like to be given the option of tipping or not and how much to tip .every restaurant i visited in the usa gave excellant service and deserved a tip apart from one where the service was pretty awfull yet i found myself paying in excess of $25 for the privledge. how do other people feel about this ?

Answer 1

Not all restaurants add the gratuity to the bill. I don't think it is right to do that. I am a waitress and I try to make my customers meal as enjoyable as possible. And I get good tips for doing it.

Answer 2

They don't pay the waitstaff very much in wages.  The tip is supposed to be their primary way of earnings.  It has gotten out of hand though.  It's expected that you tip a minimum of 15% and sometimes the service isn't even worth it.  The concept is good - if the waitperson depends solely on tips to make their income, you'd think that would inspire them to give great service.  Sadly, that's not always the case.

Answer 3

Most Restaurants only add the gratuity to the bill if the party is 6 or more people and it say that on the menu or somewhere it has to posted by law that is a gratuity is to be charged. But not all restaurants charge you

Answer 4

well it should be a matter of choice,but unfortunately a lot of people from other country's think the tip is already included and they don't tip. Also people are cheap and if they think they will never have to deal with you again they will not leave a tip, as a former restaurant and hotel employee we work for next to nothing and we really depend on our tips.

Answer 5

First off, I was a waitress here in the USA for about 3 years.  Here is my experience -

Most restaurants charge 18% gratuity to their bill when the party is 6 or more (at some places it is 8 or more). The server is REQUIRED to TELL YOU that they have added gratuity (it is a big deal because most waiters/waitresses try to get more money by NOT telling their customers it's already been added). If you disagree with the 18% then you can always dispute it with a manager.  It is basically there because parties of 6 or more take up more of the servers time and tables and SOME PEOPLE don't tip correctly when they dine.  It is a great risk to the servers income if they don't.  Say the bill was $350.00 and 18% of that is $63.00.  If that table took up 3 hours minimum of their time, that is reasonable considering how many drinks, meals and check ups they had to deliver.  They could have had 10 tables in that time frame that were say $45.00 a bill with a 15% tip, making them $67.50.  It breaks about even.  Also, here servers don't get all of their tip money.  They have to pay the hostess and bartenders and sometimes a food runner, so they don't get all that money.  Plus, servers only make about $2.16 an hour in their paycheck (that's the highest i've been paid).

I don't think the 18% gratuity is always right, but it is there for a purpose.  It's there so that the server doesn't get jipped out of their time and effort they spent accomadating a large party.

Answer 6

It is not customary to have a gratuity added to your bill at every restaurant. Typically only country clubs add gratuity to every check, and other restaurants add it for parties of 6 or more (as stated above). I would not patronize a restaurant that does this for every table. If you ever feel that a gratuity has been unfairly added (ex, if the service was not worthy of such gratuity), it is ok to ask to speak to the manager and request to have the gratuity removed.

To elaborate on other answers to your question, servers rely on tips for their income because once their credit card tips exceed minimum wage, excess money is deducted from their paycheck. Therefore, it is not unusual for a server to get a paycheck for $0. Also, an acceptable tip is now 18%. If 15% is left, a server will think you are unaware or just cheap, and if 10% is left a server will think they did something wrong. It is perfectly acceptable to leave a small tip or no tip if the service was bad, but please ask to speak to the manager so that they can be made aware of the problem and attempt to fix it.  :)

Answer 7

It must depend on the part of the country or maybe the type of restaurant (hotel restaurant for example) where they would add the tip automatically. Generally the tip is added only for large parties. That is because serving a party of 8 or more is exponentially more work.

I agree that tipping is unfortunately the lion's share of a waiterperson's income, but it has been that way for more than 50 years. Not infrequently the problem is in the kitchen but the server is the one looking bad.

If I feel the service has been really sup-par, especially if the tip was tacked on, I will speak to the manager.

Answer 8

You're right...it's a horrible trend that should not be accepted.

I live in NY and the wait staff earns the majority of their wages from tips. It's the way it has always been done in the U.S., I like the system because it motivates the servers to give good service for fear of a bad tip... When I was in London where tipping is not customary, I experienced some of the worst service I've ever had.. (not always, but more often than not).

The problem is, if we accept an automatic fee for service, then we risk bad service. You do not have to pay this even if it is on the receipt. If you feel the tip is too high, you can cross it off and put your own amount in and total the bill. I refuse to be told how much I'm supposed to tip and if everyone complains when they see this we can stop a trend before it starts.

The only time this is acceptable is when you have a large group. Many times people come in with groups of 6 to 10 people. The waiter works very hard and then when the bill comes people put in their share of their meal and don't put in a good tip if any at all. (People seem to get cheap at group meals..and the guy figuring the check doesn't want to subsidize everyone's meal) so the waiter gets ripped off. They add the tip to these bills to protect the server.

We are already having tip jars put in our face at Starbucks and now even McDonalds...let's not let this get started. Complain to the manager....P.S. 15% is considered standard 20% is considered good for extra special service..to demand 20% is an insult.

Answer 9

You must have had a large party everytime you eat.   Mandatory tips are usually only required for large parties, depending on the restaurant 6-10 people or more.  And it would not be 10-15%, it is usually 15-20% which is the standard gratuity in the US.  Restaurants usually require them for large groups, because large groups usually tip a smaller percentage than smaller tables, usually require more work, and are usually hated by servers.

Answer 10

How would i know, i dont even understand the Quetion!!!!

Answer 11

I agree it can be befuddling but it is based on how our servers are paid.  I know in Europe and Oz servers earn a living wage so tips are truly rewards for doing a good job.  In theory it is still the same here but the expectation is greater.  If you go to a place regularly you definitely don't want to skimp.

Answer 12

I've only had that happen when I ate with a party of 6 or more. Yeah, it sucks. But many people are poor tippers, so I guess why they do that. My girlfriend used to pay a 2 dollar tip no matter how much the bill was but I had to break outta that habit. Bu, I know what ya mean.

Answer 13

It is customary to pay between 15-20% of the bill as a tip to the waitstaff.  Waiters are paid a VERY minimal salary (a couple of bucks an hour,) with the understanding that they will make the majority of their pay in tips.  15% is the baseline, it can run more depending on the quality of the service and while you can pay less for poor service, the 15% is usually the minimum.  

The 15-20% added to the bill is normally only added to a table of 6 or more.  This is actually not a bad idea, as it makes it easier than trying to calculate the proper tip among the diners and gives the waiters a minimal payback for a more difficult table to serve.  If you have a gratuity added for a smaller table you should say something to management.  I think it's VERY tacky to automatically add the tip for less than 6 people.  It's presumptuous and says that management doesn't trust their patrons to tip...you can almost assume you're going to get lousy service if they automatically tack on the tip.

If you get lousy service and have a large party, talk to management.  They may shave down the gratuity or at least you'll be informing them that the service sucked.