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One thing I have never got my head around as a European is that tipping with the Americam interpretation is self defeating its original purpose. When I tip (ou

One thing I have never got my head around as a European is that tipping with the Americam interpretation is self defeating its original purpose. When I tip (outside the US) its done so as a genuine expression of gratitude for good service. It's my way of encouraging and rewarding good service. If its done under compulsion than its no longer a tip, it's a charge and good service is relegated as less meaningful.

pmoriarty 6y ago
"When I tip (outside the US) its done so as a genuine expression of gratitude for good service. It's my way of encouraging and rewarding good service. If its done under compulsion than its no longer a tip, it's a charge and good service is relegated as less meaningful." That's interesting. When in Europe I've found it pretty common to see a "tip" section in the bill, where the tip is already added on to the bill by the management and counted in to total you have to pay. That's rare in the US, where at most one sees a "suggested amount", and usually tipping is completely optional.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- damnencryption 6y ago
  What's the point of separating it? Why not just increase the price of the food and service charges to compensate for the salaries? It feels like some kind of psychological hack where they want price of food to appear cheap on paper till the moment you pay.
  - pmoriarty 6y ago
    The point is you don't have to pay an optional tip if you are dissatisfied. But you do have to pay the full total of your meal regardless of how you felt. That's why making "tips" mandatory is the scam. It's not a tip if it's mandatory.
  - ryanbrunner 6y ago
    Most restaurants that do try to eliminate tips end up having an explicit service charge, rather than trying to bake it into the price of food, simply because otherwise all your food is suddenly 15-20% more expensive than the competition.
- cmdshiftf4 6y ago
  >When in Europe I've found it pretty common to see a "tip" section in the bill I can't recall having ever seen this despite having travelled, and indeed continuing to travel, Europe extensively. A denoted service charge is not uncommon, but I would be interested to see where exactly you believe the above to be commonly experienced.
  - pmoriarty 6y ago
    "I would be interested to see where exactly you believe the above to be commonly experienced." In the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Czech, I've found it to be pretty common. It could have been other countries as well, as I traveled relatively widely, mostly in Northern and Eastern Europe myself. But unfortunately I didn't keep a log of exactly where this happened. Just noticed it happened a lot, and was more the rule rather than the exception.
    - jb1991 6y ago
      It is quite uncommon in the Netherlands. I see it on maybe 3% of all restaurant bills.
      - pmoriarty 6y ago
        Well, maybe they've changed. I admit it's been more than a decade since I visited, so I wouldn't be that surprised if they started doing things more like Americans over time, as part of the McDonaldization of Europe.
ingvul 6y ago
I think tipping in Germany is quite established as well, not as a genuine expression of gratitude but because not doing it "looks bad".

pmoriarty 6y ago

"When I tip (outside the US) its done so as a genuine expression of gratitude for good service. It's my way of encouraging and rewarding good service. If its done under compulsion than its no longer a tip, it's a charge and good service is relegated as less meaningful." That's interesting. When in Europe I've found it pretty common to see a "tip" section in the bill, where the tip is already added on to the bill by the management and counted in to total you have to pay. That's rare in the US, where at most one sees a "suggested amount", and usually tipping is completely optional.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
damnencryption 6y ago
What's the point of separating it? Why not just increase the price of the food and service charges to compensate for the salaries? It feels like some kind of psychological hack where they want price of food to appear cheap on paper till the moment you pay.
- pmoriarty 6y ago
  The point is you don't have to pay an optional tip if you are dissatisfied. But you do have to pay the full total of your meal regardless of how you felt. That's why making "tips" mandatory is the scam. It's not a tip if it's mandatory.
- ryanbrunner 6y ago
  Most restaurants that do try to eliminate tips end up having an explicit service charge, rather than trying to bake it into the price of food, simply because otherwise all your food is suddenly 15-20% more expensive than the competition.
cmdshiftf4 6y ago
>When in Europe I've found it pretty common to see a "tip" section in the bill I can't recall having ever seen this despite having travelled, and indeed continuing to travel, Europe extensively. A denoted service charge is not uncommon, but I would be interested to see where exactly you believe the above to be commonly experienced.
- pmoriarty 6y ago
  "I would be interested to see where exactly you believe the above to be commonly experienced." In the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Czech, I've found it to be pretty common. It could have been other countries as well, as I traveled relatively widely, mostly in Northern and Eastern Europe myself. But unfortunately I didn't keep a log of exactly where this happened. Just noticed it happened a lot, and was more the rule rather than the exception.
  - jb1991 6y ago
    It is quite uncommon in the Netherlands. I see it on maybe 3% of all restaurant bills.
    - pmoriarty 6y ago
      Well, maybe they've changed. I admit it's been more than a decade since I visited, so I wouldn't be that surprised if they started doing things more like Americans over time, as part of the McDonaldization of Europe.

ingvul 6y ago

I think tipping in Germany is quite established as well, not as a genuine expression of gratitude but because not doing it "looks bad".