In The States if you don't tip you're a jerk. Plus not tipping at a restaurant your commonly go to is basically asking "Hey, reliable waiter/waitress. Take an extra hour preparing my food, and make sure to get all the chefs and other waiters/waitresses to spit/piss in my food------because I deserve it for being a jerk."
I was just surprised to hear tipping wasn't a second nature type thing in some Europe countries, and wanted to confirm/deny if that's true from people who live in Europe.
It varies depending on where you are. In many places, tipping is not common. Instead, servers are paid enough to live on and the service charge is included in the bill. You're also not husteld out of the restaurant at the end of the meal to make room for another seating. You can sit and relax and have a conversqtion. Generally, you have to ask for the check. When I lived in Italy, tipping was not common although you would sometimes round the bill up.
My friend from the UK NEVER tips when she is in Hungary visiting. She said it was a British thing plus many places already add a tip in the bill before hand.
I worked in the US in mostly service industry jobs and always tip even when I don't really think the service was that great, just a habit with me.
I was raised to think if you could not afford to tip then you had better just stay home.
I live in Hungary now and they are after tips, even the doctors and dentists except and expect tips.
We do tip our regular family doctor but do not always tip every doctor here because for one, they don't do more then write out a quick script or give a referal to another doc.
My husband tipped for surgery , a one hour procedure $300, only because he said he wanted to wake up afterwards.
I only tipped $200. cash for one hour knee surgery.
Usually we tip $10. to $25, to sometimes $50. for an office visit depending on what sort of doc we are seeing.
What bugs the heck outta me here in HU is many times if you pay for a service they will not give back your change unless you ask them to. They try hard to tip themselves.
Every country is differnt however.
My husband worked as a taxi driver in Las Vegas for a few years, most cheapo's did come from Europe and Canada.
Europe isn't country. Each country and it's culture are different.
I went for dinner in London last week and, although we enjoyed the meal, didn't leave a tip as the service wasn't good. They also tried to charge us for another tables drinks and for drinks at the bar we never ordered. So no tip.
In the uk, tipping a common practice in restaurants. Not all bills include a service charge. Around 10% is usual Check If the waiter gets the tip and not the owner. If the owner gets the tip I will object and not return no matter how good the meal/service was. This practice is very common in uk.
Most I know only tip on ocation. For good or special service. When we have our expat meeting we leave a tip. As they set that end of the meeting place aside for us, special table round and big set up and such. Most do not act like it is unless a reason for it that I know. So I think they sometimes tip for special service. But I am not in Europe been there a few times and did not see much tipping there.
Maybe if Americans had a higher minimum wage they wouldn't depend on tips so much. Your waiters and waitresses get paid next to nothing.
Waiters/waitresses in European countries receive a living wage, unlike their American counterparts, so do not rely on tips to survive. Europeans might leave small change on the table, some tip for exceptional service, but it is certainly not expected.
In Sweden you never tip. You do not tip your bus driver, shoe salesman or office help. Why would you? A waiter, bartender etc has a good paying job just like everyone else. Only in places like the US where service workers are exploited do they have to beg money as tips.
Depends on the country. Most countries have rules in place which means their waiting staff are paid an actual wage, so they're not dependent on tips to earn a living.
Service (the tip) is normally included in the bill in Europe, and the percentage is usually 10%. It is not normally included in the bill in the USA. A good waiter in the USA is usually tipped 15% to 20%, so has more motivation to do a good job than someone who is guaranteed 10%.
