Why are tips for waiting staff so poor - Page 3

Hi John,

My point is that our friends are SPANISH and even though the husband spent 20 years teaching in Northern Europe, now that he's returned to Spain, he behaves as a local again.

Kind regards,

Kim

Yes, showing respect is not stealing just because it is a different custom. 

Andy1208. I can confirm that a bar which I frequented in the Playa Flamenca area did use tips left for staff to balance discrepancies in the till at the end of the night. When I learned of this I never left a "tip" but asked if the staff would like a drink on me and had them ring it through the till to be consumed afterwards.

Kimmy11 Can I respectfully enquire, if you leave a tip for "good food . . . " which restaurants you visit where you expect to pay for bad food if you tip when it is good? I believe we expect a certain level of service along with the quality of food provided. However we are expected to pay a tip to receive "normal" service to supplement the wages of waiting staff and increase the profits of restaurant owners. This seems to be emulating a practise begun in the USA. May I say that, speaking to American friends, they expect, and do, tip between 20% and 25% when socialising in bars and restaurants at home and abroad.

Even though as several have stated above it's not expected, I always tip even if it's just a single beer. And I'm tipping just a little extra in my local bars and restaurants at the present. I make sure that it gets to the waiter or waitress, and I know it's appreciated. The staff in the bars and restaurants locally here and pretty much everywhere have had a very rough time of it and I'm sure they appreciate every penny (cent). And it makes me feel good about myself giving a little back. I tend to find I get better service on return visits too but that's not the main reason for doing it.

Steve

Hi Care4,

There are many restaurants in this region that I regard as very average: the ones where people recommend them on the basis of being "only €10 for menu del dia and that includes a drink" - and then you have to ask them what the food was like!  When I've followed these recommendations, the food hasn't been "bad", but it's never been better than what I would cook at home - so I don't care how cheap it is, I'd rather not bother.  But if I've had great food and the service has been 'off', I would still tip as recognition for the kitchen.

I've been to the USA many times and tipping is a way of life there.  The first time we went, we rounded up a food bill one evening and it was a little less than 20% - the waiter wasn't offended, but he was really concerned that he hadn't looked after us as well as he should.  We left feeling really guilty ☺️

Personally, I don't think there should be casual workers having to rely on tips for a living wage, but the hospitality industry in the UK is notoriously badly paid and unsociable hours.  The point my Spanish friend was making to us is that isn't the case in Spain.  The sorts of restaurants they take us to are owned and run by Spanish people and their staff are on contracts, earning a decent wage.  He believes these staff are "insulted" to receive a tip for a job they are paid well to do.  Perhaps that is the case inland, but I doubt that's the case on the Costas - or in Hondon apparently 🤨

Kind regards,

Kim

Hi Kimmy, I found your post interesting but I have never "tipped for the food". I expect to pay the appropriate price for good food. The concept of tipping has historically been linked to the overall quality of service, so if I receive poor service I would rarely tip even if the food had been good. Some chefs are just better than others because cooking is an art, whereas service isn't really an art, it's a process that can be customer focused or not.

However, and I digress, I had a lengthy argument with German friends who tried to convince me cooking was a science. (Patisserie maybe...) I told them that cooking was an art with an element of science but they argued it was a science with an element of art. Told you I was digressing! 😁

Back on topic, a service charge added to a restaurant bill in the UK is not a "legally applied" charge and if you disagree with it you can ask the restaurant to remove it.

A lot of restaurants started this in the 70's, the charge called a "cover charge", (le couvert) which I think derived from the French tradition of "paying" for the privilege of a napkin, cutlery, and sometimes bread and butter! This "cover charge" evolved into a service charge.

Another late ramble......I went to a restaurant in Altea a couple of years ago, we wanted a quick meal before joining friends at a bar for a drink. The manager (guy in charge) met us as we entered and we asked for a table for 2. He asked if we would like to eat downstairs or on the roof terrace. We opted for the roof terrace, had really poor service and the bill had a charge on it of €4 for the terrace table. I was very happy to stamp my feet and make a big noise about it until it was removed. I made it pretty loud so that his customers got the idea we were not prepared to be ripped off but it took that stage act to get it removed. No tip there...

Steve

Hi Steve,

As I said in my previous post, I'm happy to tip the people who prepare and cook the food, even if the waiter's having a bad night.  

Several years ago, I read a fascinating article by a restaurateur about the difference between a tip and a service charge, and how many.people believe they're the same thing.  If I can find it, I'll add a link.

Hasta la pasta!  (I had to get a food reference in there somewhere! 😉)

Night night

😴😴😴

Hello, I agree if you have received great service and enjoyed the meal then a tip should always be paid. Having worked in a customer service environment it's not at all an easy job. Long hours for little pay 

Ali63: This is just an observation, but is it not the case that upmarket restaurants have much higher charges than run of the mill ones? Is it also not the case that their staff (all of them) are paid higher wages and that this reflects the quality of service that customers expect of them. Owners of these restaurants would soon find their tables empty if they did not provide the service expected of them for the prices charged. However run of the mill restaurants pay lower wages and provide (in the majority of cases) untrained staff and expect their customers to top up their wages with tips if they provide a level of service which should be expected as a matter of course. I once had a conversation with an Irish bar tender who informed me that when he started it was a trade and he trained for three years. For the first year he was not allowed to talk to customers and had to defer to a trained bartender as part of his training. Now anyone and everyone can be a bartender, good or bad.