Which Dibber was this?

[Mr Tom Morrow]

I struggle to remember what I ate for breakfast

However I'm fairly sure that when I was travelling here in the mid 1970's the tips were 8% to 10%.

But I could be mistaken so don't take this as gospel.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by °o°-Hannah-°o°

We’ve been travelling around the states for more than 15 years and it’s never been 10-12% for table service, always 18-20% for food service

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We first went in 2002 (and every year since) and it was definitely 10-15% then a year or so later 12-15% then 15-20% now in the last few years 18-20 or even 22%.
This is not on Disney but off site

[400ixl]

It's never been as low as 10% as the suggested amount in the 25 years I have been going to the US.

It was more 15-18 than 15-20 that it is now. But 10% would have always been seen a miserly by servers.

There was less knowledge of the expectation back then and many Brits assumed it was the same as the UK and tipped 10% so that could be where that has come from.

It would have to be very exceptional for us to tip more than 20%. Where it sits between 15-20% often is dictated by rounding or what change we have provided the service has been good. This is for full sit down, not buffets.

Have family and friends who rely on tips to make a living wage. Disney is very much an exception for making huge salaries, they really do only just make a decent wage from salary.and tips in most cases.

[DonnaD]

Originally Posted by w513mfs

This happened to us in Miami a few years ago.

We were a group of four we had a meal the service was ok not brilliant. The bill came at the end of the night can't remember what it was but it had at the bottom of the bill suggested tip of a random amount of 28 dollars. Now remember this was a suggested tip.


Any way none of us had ones or change so we left 25 dollars tip. The guy chased us down the street saying we had shorted him 3 dollars. And was the service not worth it. We all looked at each other and laughed partly as were feeling very uncomfortable and partly because of pure disbelief. In the end out of pure agonising pain to make it stop i offered him a 100 and asked for 97 dollars change.

He obliged which i must admit was a bit of a disappointment.

Since then i have taken the stance that i will only tip 10% (After tax with food) across the board no matter what That's taxi drivers everything. You have a problem its yours not mine.

To be honest its why i prefer restaurants such as yellow dog or jimmy hulas, Its kept simple.

I have read lots on this and can see it from both sides. But to be honest the culture of tipping is bad for the country and the the staff. A lot of the tips are not taxed or declared. It also helps to lower staff wages. It doe's not encourage better service especially if you are a person of colour. I would prefer to pay a little more for the food.

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We were in Miami as a group of 5 about 20 years ago. The vast majority of restaurants had a service charge added on for all parties rather than a suggested gratuity. My guess was it was due to the vast number of foreign vs US tourists. Are you sure your bill showed a suggested amount rather than an added service charge? It is the only place I have seen it in the US for smaller groups. I can't remember the percentages 100% but am pretty sure it was 15%.

[Nordboy]

We're out here now and I'm tipping around 10-15%. Why only 10-15?

Because I don't think I've received anything like great service, good maybe, but shouldn't good be the absolute minimum. I think anything less than that is unacceptable.

I just think it's got to the stage where 20% is the 'norm' and the expected amount of tip. If any server gets upset by my 10-15%, they'll receive all the reasons why.

If I ever get great service, I'll tip accordingly.

[YorkshireT]

If you look at tipping history articles, it started out as 5%. I went in 1991 and it was 15% tops, 10% wasn't unreasonable. 10% was the norm for ages. 15% was the norm for 20 years after that for good service. This 18% and 20% is relatively recent.
Employers love it as it absolves their responsibility to keep staff happy and helps with staff recruitment and retention- all at zero cost. The only cost is the long suffering customer.
I was shocked in NYC to see 25% suggested 2 years ago.
As long as people keep paying, the bar will be raised forever higher. I've been saying for a while the greed will permeate into WDW soon, and was not surprised to see the report that 22% is now appearing on some WDW bills as the 'suggested' amount.
If a recession hits we may finally see pushback.
There is no logic to the system, it is what it is. Personally if I get v good service in a standard place like Chilis in some backwater, I'll tip more as the servers do need the cash. WDW get 15% for good service.

[boltyboy]

So heres how I see it, if a waiter does a shift of 8 hours, and in that time serves say 20 tables and average a bill of $70 at 18% that's $12.60 x 20 = $252 in tips per shift or $1260 per week or $61740 if they work a 49 week year... Not too shabby that's on top of their basic wage.

[braby]

When I first started to go to the US it was 10%, since then I’ve noticed the amount go up and the service quality go down, having just got back from 10 days in Orlando, I can honestly say we only had good service twice and this was from a variety of restaurants, admittedly none of these were high end, one restaurant in particular we never actually saw our server, eventually someone from another section came over to take our order.
I will tip what I feel the service deserves up to 20%, if anyone wants to shout or chase me for more then I am more than capable of shouting back.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by bighal

Anyone who chased me to get me to increase their tip would result in myself going back and demanding my tip back and compensation from the employee/restaurant. I certainly would be taking it up with management at the time as well explaining why.

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Exactly this if I had the nerve. Tip is optional no matter what anyone says. It is a customer choice.
Disgraceful behaviour by the waitress. There are NO circumstances where this is OK.

It happened to us once where we were with another family and we mixed up and no one left a tip. The waiter rushed out after us and was quite rude. Needless to say he didn't get a penny after that.

Service in the US has dropped as expected tips have gone up. They treat us like mugs.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by duchy

What you earn is irrelevant though.
You've chosen to eat at a table service restaurant in a particular price bracket. No one forced you not to eat at a cheaper one or even QS where a tip isn't customary . It is just part of the cost of eating out in America and should be a part of deciding if a particular restaurant is "worth it" to you personally (we all place different values on "worth it" it's incredibly subjective)

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And likewise, tipping is a choice - whether to and how much. No one should be bullied into tipping.