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I live in Denmark. Here tipping is almost not even heard of. Maybe our food just costs a little bit more, I don't know - because it doesn't say "+ 10% tipping f

I live in Denmark. Here tipping is almost not even heard of. Maybe our food just costs a little bit more, I don't know - because it doesn't say "+ 10% tipping fee" or something anywhere. Here you just pay the prices noted next to the food and drinks that you order. And the kicker, the service is always good. Because if the server isn't nice, they'll probably get fired. Because guess what, serving food and being polite about it is their job. That is what they're getting payed for. So demanding extra money to do their job with a smile just seems too weird for me.

LoneWolf 13y ago
I live in Portugal and tipping is pretty rare too, we pay for the advertised prices and there are no fees, it is confusing to me that tipping is a standard, if they feel they need more money raise the prices don't add extra on some sort of "hidden" fee.
- diaz 13y ago
  Here in Portugal, it is not asked to give money, but I wouldn't say it's rare. Usually if the server is good, helpful and gives a good service, people give some tipping but because THEY WANT and feel good about it. Obviously it's nothing like that crazy system (to me it is, at least) on the other side of the atlantic, where people have a fee to pay just for that. That and prices without tax included... Really strange, to me it is false advertising. I worked in a normal restaurant some years ago, and the system is something like this: * servers receive tips, everybody puts them in a central place. * at the end of the day they are divided amongst all working people. * in good days, everbody would receive between 15€ to 25€. Obviously this can change from place to place, specially the part about sharing with everyone.
  - LoneWolf 13y ago
    My previous post was written without much time or thinking, forgot to mention that I do tip sometimes if I feel like the service is exceptionally good (unfortunately many times it is not, maybe its the places I go) but as you said, I do it because I want not because there is that crazy system. "Really strange, to me it is false advertising." couldnt describe it any better
300bps 13y ago
So demanding extra money to do their job with a smile just seems too weird for me. It's funny how famous Americans are for disrespecting other cultures while Europeans feel free to call anything American that differs from their own cultures "weird" or worse. There's plenty of things about Denmark that I find "weird" but I was raised not to insult other people's culture so I won't call them out.
- gohrt 13y ago
  Waiting tables is the extremely faint end of a spectrum that reaches to prostitution at the far end. Why pay someone to bring you food, if you aren't ill? Because you want to be made to feel good. More feelgoods, more money.
  - Nursie 13y ago
    >> Why pay someone to bring you food, if you aren't ill? Because you want to be made to feel good. More feelgoods, more money. I'm not paying someone to bring me food, that's not the part of the experience I'm there for. I'm there for someone to cook me food. That the wait staff are there at all is a convenience, but they're sure as hell not the main attraction.
- NegativeK 13y ago
  Perhaps I'm disrespecting my own American culture, but it _is_ weird. Which industries expect tips and which don't feels arbitrary and ridiculous. Cabs, food service (sort of? Lots of fast food places leave a line item for tips, but I don't think it's expected,) bell hops. People in the fashion industry like tattoo artists and hair dressers expect tips, but I've never heard of people in retail wanting tips. Food delivery wants to be tipped (especially given that they have to cover their own vehicle costs,) but not package delivery. I know that I'm not the only American that considers tipping to be arbitrary and backward. The only American I've heard who defended it didn't understand that we wanted to replace his tipping wages with fair wages
ValentineC 13y ago
Not entirely related, but I wasn't pleased with the surcharge that came from paying with a credit card (especially when I visited with a mindset that I could pay electronically for most things). Not sure if Denmark still has it, though.

LoneWolf 13y ago

I live in Portugal and tipping is pretty rare too, we pay for the advertised prices and there are no fees, it is confusing to me that tipping is a standard, if they feel they need more money raise the prices don't add extra on some sort of "hidden" fee.

diaz 13y ago
Here in Portugal, it is not asked to give money, but I wouldn't say it's rare. Usually if the server is good, helpful and gives a good service, people give some tipping but because THEY WANT and feel good about it. Obviously it's nothing like that crazy system (to me it is, at least) on the other side of the atlantic, where people have a fee to pay just for that. That and prices without tax included... Really strange, to me it is false advertising. I worked in a normal restaurant some years ago, and the system is something like this: * servers receive tips, everybody puts them in a central place. * at the end of the day they are divided amongst all working people. * in good days, everbody would receive between 15€ to 25€. Obviously this can change from place to place, specially the part about sharing with everyone.
- LoneWolf 13y ago
  My previous post was written without much time or thinking, forgot to mention that I do tip sometimes if I feel like the service is exceptionally good (unfortunately many times it is not, maybe its the places I go) but as you said, I do it because I want not because there is that crazy system. "Really strange, to me it is false advertising." couldnt describe it any better

300bps 13y ago

So demanding extra money to do their job with a smile just seems too weird for me. It's funny how famous Americans are for disrespecting other cultures while Europeans feel free to call anything American that differs from their own cultures "weird" or worse. There's plenty of things about Denmark that I find "weird" but I was raised not to insult other people's culture so I won't call them out.

gohrt 13y ago
Waiting tables is the extremely faint end of a spectrum that reaches to prostitution at the far end. Why pay someone to bring you food, if you aren't ill? Because you want to be made to feel good. More feelgoods, more money.
- Nursie 13y ago
  >> Why pay someone to bring you food, if you aren't ill? Because you want to be made to feel good. More feelgoods, more money. I'm not paying someone to bring me food, that's not the part of the experience I'm there for. I'm there for someone to cook me food. That the wait staff are there at all is a convenience, but they're sure as hell not the main attraction.
NegativeK 13y ago
Perhaps I'm disrespecting my own American culture, but it _is_ weird. Which industries expect tips and which don't feels arbitrary and ridiculous. Cabs, food service (sort of? Lots of fast food places leave a line item for tips, but I don't think it's expected,) bell hops. People in the fashion industry like tattoo artists and hair dressers expect tips, but I've never heard of people in retail wanting tips. Food delivery wants to be tipped (especially given that they have to cover their own vehicle costs,) but not package delivery. I know that I'm not the only American that considers tipping to be arbitrary and backward. The only American I've heard who defended it didn't understand that we wanted to replace his tipping wages with fair wages

ValentineC 13y ago

Not entirely related, but I wasn't pleased with the surcharge that came from paying with a credit card (especially when I visited with a mindset that I could pay electronically for most things). Not sure if Denmark still has it, though.