Poor tipping practices across racial divide

thats totally insane.

That's why we don't tip.

Full time and part time wages are a little less - as they have access to sick leave and guaranteed shifts, whuch casuals don't.

Also we have extremely low unemployment at the moment - filling jobs is almost impossible. Every 2nd store at my local mall has a "staff wanted" sign in the window, and factories are screaming for apprentices and labourers.

shit. i oughtta look at moving there. too bad im an american and as such ********ed for going overseas.

that and i just moved to denver and its the most incredible place.

but that aside, seriously... that salary is insane. bartenders can come close/exceed that, but the VAST majority of the waitstaff in this country, nowhere near it...

Admittedly these jobs were Sydney CBD - other cities and regional/country areas would be less (but then so is the cost of living).

I note too that some of the waitstaff/bar jobs specifically state "no travellers", so you're buggered anyway

Not just waitresses. Servers are expected to "tip" bartenders, bussers, and runners. Usually a percentage of the server's tips for the night.

That's nothing compared to what strippers have to pay out. Even if they don't make a single cent, they pay the house, DJ, bartender, waitresses, house mother, bouncer and the makeup artist. Of course, once they start making money, they're rolling in cash, so it's really an all-or-nothing job.

so it is my "duty" to make up for other people? no thanks.

I don't want to read the whole thread, but as someone who waited tables and bartended for 5 years, the fact that you can get away with being taxed on a relatively small portion of your income more than makes up for the table per night that stiffed you.

at quite a few places I ate at in Australia you either paid when you placed an order, or paid afterwards at a cash register. Tips tended to be change (possibly because some Australian coins are stupidly huge and weigh you down in no time).


Thw worst tip I left (when I did leave a tip) was exactly 1c (euro) at Salzburg airport, mainly because the waiter asked my what kind of salad I'd like and I said I wasn't bothered, because I'm not a salad guy and regard it as no more than decoration on the plate - only to find my order how consisted of a large bowl of salad as well as the main meal. Why the hell would I want a whole large bowl of salad as well as the main meal I'd ordered, which already had a salad side order?

I don't know if this was touched on or not in this thread. (I briefly read some posts) but, I think there should be a mandatory tip from a**holes who come in with the whole fraking family and the kids are running amok. These so-called parents who let their kids run all over the place. That was my biggest pet peeve when I was a waitress.

Case in point:

This family came in for dinner one night. There were 4 adults and 5 kids. I put on my happy face despite the fact that 4 of the kids were already running around with no discipline from the parents. This happened the entire time they were there as well as picking up forks and napkins and half of their food from the floor. All with a smile. As they were leaving, the one gentlemen left a 20.00 bill on the table. Ok, 20.00, not bad. The wife of the man who left the tip came back and said they had mistakenly left that and handed me a dollar. WTF! (Her husband came back the next day and left 50.00 in an envelope addressed to me along with his phone number)God, was I tempted to call and ask for his wife. That was the last time I ever worked as a waitress. Never again

You saw his family. How is it you think he shouldn't be looking to upgrade?

Generally at a cafe/family restaurant type place you pay when you order at the counter or at the register as you leave. Restaurants on the hand bring you the bill to the table. At bars there is no such thing as running a tab - unless you hand your credit card over the bar to be held.

On waitstaff etc I checked and found that minimum wage here is about AUD13.20 (USD10.80) an hour.

Uh, no, it's not your "duty." It's a way to not be a dick. It's not your duty to not be a dick. You have no obligation. Go ahead and be a dick. Non-dickish people like me will continue to make up for it (even though, indeed, it's not our duty to do so).

Well then it's a good thing I wasn't trying to define that.

Am I correct in thinking that overtipping is bad tipping etiquette then? I mean in the way the husband went about it in your example.

So if what you said doesn't define not being a dick, then not overtipping to make up for other people still comes under 'not being a dick'? Gotcha.

To be honest tipping is not something that I feel has to be done. Don't get me wrong I'm not cheap on the matter but a tip has to be earned to some extent. If the waiter/waitress is just not arsed and being an ass I will not tip them, what have they done to make me want to part with my money? If however they are completely snowed under and the service is poor I will tip since that is not their fault, hectic hours in the service sector are absolute nightmares to work during. If the service is fair I will tip 10-15%, if it is good the usually 15-20%, and when it is fantastic I am sure to leave 25%+ if I have it on me.

I get kind of caught up over tips tbh, because being 20 it is easy to get overlooked by waiters/waitresses who essentially see you as a no-go in terms of tips. Worse again is being a European in the States, there was one particular nightmare incident in TGI's when I went over to visit my cousin a while back (and this is 100% true). She moved over a few years ago but has never shed her accent and nor has her husband, so we may as well have been three tourists walking in. The place was half-empty and the waitress we got was an absolute disaster - first of all our drinks didn't come for upwards of 15 minutes, and our starters took about 45 (and had obviously been reheated). As if that wasn't bad enough, literally no more than 5 minutes after we had finally gotten our starters the main course was piled up on top of us, trying to squeeze everything onto the one table. Any time we were looking for refills we were better off just going up to the bar - the cow flat-out blanked us on three separate occasions. After we eventually (after 15-20 minutes) caught her for our desert order she - no word of a lie - kind of frumped like a child as naggingly asked "are you sure you really a want desert?". We made the order and got it good-as thrown at us. The message was clear as day: we weren't welcome because it was assumed we wouldn't be tipping. By this stage we were in an argument about whether to tip just to beat the stereotype or to not leave her a penny out of principle of the horrendous service. Of course once the bill came with a hand-written reminder to the tune of 'in the U.S.A. we do not include a service charge but it is seen as good courtesy to tip' our minds were made up. After all of the shit service/treatment she had given us, she was now - requesting - a tip. We went straight to the manager on the issue, absolutely outraged... and got a free meal and a boatload of vouchers or somesuch from it. I reckon she got a bit of a tongue-lashing.

I would have easily accepted the 20.00 tip had the wife not insulted me by taking it back and leaving 1.00. The 50.00 tip I'm sure was not meant to appease me but a cowardly mans attempt to see what else he could get besides a refill on coffee. Tip me for cleaning up after your kids, Tip me for keeping your drinks filled, Tip me for not being a constant shadow at your table but within earshot if you need something. Tip me with an outrageous amount if that is your desire-just keep your phone number. I don't want it, I don't need it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the man was willing to tip me decently, the wife was just being a bit*h. Depends on the person. Ultimately, it was not worth it in the end.

I had a similar experience in one place last summer, at a table of myself, two English, a Slovenian, and an American. That said, it only stands out because most of my other experiences with American waitstaff were positive.

So my Flemish accent might get me crappy service?

but you told me I should tip more to make up for people who get drinks that actualyl require effort to make and leave a small tip.

if a bottle of beer costs $2.50 should I leave a $1 tip? that is 40%

Absolutely. We spent most of our evenings at The Rocks. Dinner at the Quay was one of convenience. I was doing some night photography of the bridge and Luna Park and we just got hungry and "settled" for something around the Quay.

I don't know, I had lunch a couple of times at the pizza place on the south side the charmingly landscaped and aesthetically sensitive Circular quay station - very nice pizzas and cheap enough too.