4 ms·

This also made no sense to me when I visited the US. If you don't tip, people are going to be seriously mad at you. Living in Europe, you never tip. You just pa

This also made no sense to me when I visited the US. If you don't tip, people are going to be seriously mad at you. Living in Europe, you never tip. You just pay for your meal, and you call it a day.

svara 7y ago
Where in Europe are you talking about? Here in Germany, and everywhere I've traveled so far, tipping is expected. You just tip less than in the US. I guess you could not tip, but your server will be miffed and assume something was wrong with the food or service.
- kimi 7y ago
  In continental Europe there is no tipping. Yes, if you leave a tip they sure won't mind (and they maybe kind of expect it from tourists in tourist traps), but there is no obligation.
  - kaffeemitsahne 7y ago
    "no obligation" is not the same as "no tipping", and certainly not "you never tip", as GP claimed. FWIW I certainly feel the obligation to leave a small tip (few euros) when eating out, but that may just be my upbringing.
- hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
  In France basically there is no tipping. I tipped because I'm American and force of habit, but it certainly wasn't expected. I don't ever recall seeing a tip line when paying by credit card.
  - svara 7y ago
    Like the comment above pointed out, no obligation to tip doesn't mean it's not poor form not to. I'm German and I always tip unless the service was really bad. I'm not the only one. [0] Quick Googling confirms this is true in France as well (96% of customers usually tip according to that link) [1]. [0] https://www.welt.de/gesundheit/psychologie/article177457710/Wie-viel-Trinkgeld-geben-Deutsche-im-Restaurant.html https://www.welt.de/gesundheit/psychologie/article177457710/... [1] https://www.google.com/amp/s/france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/paris-ile-de-france/paris/pourboire-ce-qui-se-fait-ce-qui-ne-se-fait-pas-france-ailleurs-1314391.amp https://www.google.com/amp/s/france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr...
    - yodsanklai 7y ago
      > 96% of customers usually tip according to that link Interesting, I almost never tip in France. There's no tip line when you pay by card. You may tip if you want (people may leave a few euros...), but it's certainly not frowned upon not to tip. It probably depends on the context too. EDIT: your reference [1] says that 96% of French people tip, but only 3% on average (it used to be more but has been declining recently).
- nl 7y ago
  Are you American? If you are, you may not realise that the people serving you realise Americans are used to tipping and so act as if they expect it too. And yes, they'll like it if you do tip. No where I've been in Europe or the UK is tipping expected.
  - Symbiote 7y ago
    (The UK is in Europe.) 10% is expected in the UK, but it is often listed on the bill as "service charge" - then you can leave nothing. Rounding up the bill to the next nice number is expected in Germany. And I've been to 26 countries in Europe, so I know better than to generalise across the whole continent.
- gamesbrainiac 7y ago
  I've been to Germany on several occasions, and I've never tipped, and have never seen any of my German and/or European friends tip. Sometimes, you just round up to the nearest whole number, but that is it. Also, in countries that do a better job with pin+chip, you never have to even round up. You only do this in Germany, because you mostly pay for things in cash over there.
  - svara 7y ago
    When I pay by card in a restaurant in Germany I always leave one or two Euros in coins on the table. You can also ask your server to include it in the bill and put it on the card. It would seem quite rude to me not to leave an tip at all.
CM30 7y ago
Over here in the UK people certainly tip. Servers in restaurants are paid minimal wage or above, but it's still the expected practice to give a tip if the service is good (or in some restaurants, when the tip/service charge is added to the bill). We also often give tips to delivery drivers for takeaways and pizza places, as well as barbers/hairdressers.
yodsanklai 7y ago
> This also made no sense to me when I visited the US. This is not because we don't tip in (parts of) Europe that "it made no sense". These are just minor cultural differences. > You just pay for your meal, and you call it a day. In the US, you pay for your meal + tax + 15% tip and call it a day. It's really not that different once you realize that the price you're going to pay isn't the one that is advertised on the menu.
- glofish 7y ago
  >In the US, you pay for your meal + tax + 15% tip and call it a day. Yeah, I think this is what Europeans have such a hard time with - why should you pay more than what the sticker says. In US we accept that more readily, because the combined price: sticker + tax + tip is still smaller than what an official sticker price would be in say Europe, and you get more for the same price, you get the chance to reward someone.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

This also made no sense to me when I visited the US. If you don't tip, people are going to be seriously mad at you. Living in Europe, you never tip. You just pay for your meal, and you call it a day.

svara 7y ago

Where in Europe are you talking about? Here in Germany, and everywhere I've traveled so far, tipping is expected. You just tip less than in the US. I guess you could not tip, but your server will be miffed and assume something was wrong with the food or service.

kimi 7y ago
In continental Europe there is no tipping. Yes, if you leave a tip they sure won't mind (and they maybe kind of expect it from tourists in tourist traps), but there is no obligation.
- kaffeemitsahne 7y ago
  "no obligation" is not the same as "no tipping", and certainly not "you never tip", as GP claimed. FWIW I certainly feel the obligation to leave a small tip (few euros) when eating out, but that may just be my upbringing.
hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
In France basically there is no tipping. I tipped because I'm American and force of habit, but it certainly wasn't expected. I don't ever recall seeing a tip line when paying by credit card.
- svara 7y ago
  Like the comment above pointed out, no obligation to tip doesn't mean it's not poor form not to. I'm German and I always tip unless the service was really bad. I'm not the only one. [0] Quick Googling confirms this is true in France as well (96% of customers usually tip according to that link) [1]. [0] https://www.welt.de/gesundheit/psychologie/article177457710/Wie-viel-Trinkgeld-geben-Deutsche-im-Restaurant.html https://www.welt.de/gesundheit/psychologie/article177457710/... [1] https://www.google.com/amp/s/france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/paris-ile-de-france/paris/pourboire-ce-qui-se-fait-ce-qui-ne-se-fait-pas-france-ailleurs-1314391.amp https://www.google.com/amp/s/france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr...
  - yodsanklai 7y ago
    > 96% of customers usually tip according to that link Interesting, I almost never tip in France. There's no tip line when you pay by card. You may tip if you want (people may leave a few euros...), but it's certainly not frowned upon not to tip. It probably depends on the context too. EDIT: your reference [1] says that 96% of French people tip, but only 3% on average (it used to be more but has been declining recently).
nl 7y ago
Are you American? If you are, you may not realise that the people serving you realise Americans are used to tipping and so act as if they expect it too. And yes, they'll like it if you do tip. No where I've been in Europe or the UK is tipping expected.
- Symbiote 7y ago
  (The UK is in Europe.) 10% is expected in the UK, but it is often listed on the bill as "service charge" - then you can leave nothing. Rounding up the bill to the next nice number is expected in Germany. And I've been to 26 countries in Europe, so I know better than to generalise across the whole continent.
gamesbrainiac 7y ago
I've been to Germany on several occasions, and I've never tipped, and have never seen any of my German and/or European friends tip. Sometimes, you just round up to the nearest whole number, but that is it. Also, in countries that do a better job with pin+chip, you never have to even round up. You only do this in Germany, because you mostly pay for things in cash over there.
- svara 7y ago
  When I pay by card in a restaurant in Germany I always leave one or two Euros in coins on the table. You can also ask your server to include it in the bill and put it on the card. It would seem quite rude to me not to leave an tip at all.

CM30 7y ago

Over here in the UK people certainly tip. Servers in restaurants are paid minimal wage or above, but it's still the expected practice to give a tip if the service is good (or in some restaurants, when the tip/service charge is added to the bill). We also often give tips to delivery drivers for takeaways and pizza places, as well as barbers/hairdressers.

yodsanklai 7y ago

> This also made no sense to me when I visited the US. This is not because we don't tip in (parts of) Europe that "it made no sense". These are just minor cultural differences. > You just pay for your meal, and you call it a day. In the US, you pay for your meal + tax + 15% tip and call it a day. It's really not that different once you realize that the price you're going to pay isn't the one that is advertised on the menu.

glofish 7y ago
>In the US, you pay for your meal + tax + 15% tip and call it a day. Yeah, I think this is what Europeans have such a hard time with - why should you pay more than what the sticker says. In US we accept that more readily, because the combined price: sticker + tax + tip is still smaller than what an official sticker price would be in say Europe, and you get more for the same price, you get the chance to reward someone.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]