|
|
|
- Thread starter James
- Start date
James
Senior Member
Did you guys read that recent article in The Star about servers in Vermont who automatically tacked on a tip to the bill when they heard their customers' accents and deduced they were "non-American" and, as a result, might tip poorly?
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...t-by-special-tax-in-burlington-vt-restaurants
‘Cheap’ Quebec customers hit with special ‘tax’ in Burlington, Vt. restaurants
Published on Tuesday August 28, 2012
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Staff Reporter
Ken’s Pizza in Burlington, Vt., takes the unambiguous approach to prodding stingy Quebec customers to tip: “Tipping is not just something you do in a canoe,†the menu reads.
The perennial issue blew up again recently when two waterfront restaurants in the Vermont city owned up to adding an automatic surcharge to cover the tip they weren’t expecting “foreign†customers to leave.
“It is people from foreign countries. And since most of our foreign customers come from Quebec . . . †said Leunig Bistro owner Bob Conlon.
But Conlon, a 30-year veteran restaurateur in Burlington, disapproved mightily when a couple of fellow restaurateurs started letting servers automatically add on a tip when customers’ accents suggested they were non-Americans.
“Giving servers the option is discriminatory and bad business,†Conlon said.
Still, restaurant owners told the Star some of their Quebec customers, including regulars, are cheapskates.
“Just last evening, I had a group of eight walk out and not leave enough for the bill,†said one restaurant owner who wanted to remain anonymous. “The best thing people can do when they cross the border is read the rule book.â€
Splash at the Boathouse stopped allowing servers to add the surcharge after a controversy erupted in July. A customer who lives in the U.S, but is originally from France complained at getting an automatic 18 per cent gratuity after speaking French at the dinner table.
The gratuity was removed; she left a 15 per cent tip, Vermont’s Seven Days reported. Some servers are even calling it a “Queeb tax,†it said.
A server at Asiana Noodle Shop in Burlington said adding the tip onto the bill is “up to the servers. I don’t do it but other people will if it’s someone who didn’t leave a tip the last time they were here.â€
Conlon said he prefers gentle persuasion, tacking a line to the end of a bill that does the math for a 15, 20 and 25 per cent tip.
Ken’s Pizza’s menu spells out, “We recommend 18 per cent,†and despite the canoe reference does address the tip reminder to “Canadians and Europeans.â€
While tipping customs are similar between Canada and the United States, servers’ wages are not. Vermont allows a “service or tipped employee†to be paid $4.10 an hour, while the minimum wage rate for employees receiving tips in Quebec is $8.35 an hour.
As the Ken’s Pizza men explains it: “A majority of our staff are college students and depend on tips to help pay their way.â€
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...t-by-special-tax-in-burlington-vt-restaurants
‘Cheap’ Quebec customers hit with special ‘tax’ in Burlington, Vt. restaurants
Published on Tuesday August 28, 2012
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Staff Reporter
Ken’s Pizza in Burlington, Vt., takes the unambiguous approach to prodding stingy Quebec customers to tip: “Tipping is not just something you do in a canoe,†the menu reads.
The perennial issue blew up again recently when two waterfront restaurants in the Vermont city owned up to adding an automatic surcharge to cover the tip they weren’t expecting “foreign†customers to leave.
“It is people from foreign countries. And since most of our foreign customers come from Quebec . . . †said Leunig Bistro owner Bob Conlon.
But Conlon, a 30-year veteran restaurateur in Burlington, disapproved mightily when a couple of fellow restaurateurs started letting servers automatically add on a tip when customers’ accents suggested they were non-Americans.
“Giving servers the option is discriminatory and bad business,†Conlon said.
Still, restaurant owners told the Star some of their Quebec customers, including regulars, are cheapskates.
“Just last evening, I had a group of eight walk out and not leave enough for the bill,†said one restaurant owner who wanted to remain anonymous. “The best thing people can do when they cross the border is read the rule book.â€
Splash at the Boathouse stopped allowing servers to add the surcharge after a controversy erupted in July. A customer who lives in the U.S, but is originally from France complained at getting an automatic 18 per cent gratuity after speaking French at the dinner table.
The gratuity was removed; she left a 15 per cent tip, Vermont’s Seven Days reported. Some servers are even calling it a “Queeb tax,†it said.
A server at Asiana Noodle Shop in Burlington said adding the tip onto the bill is “up to the servers. I don’t do it but other people will if it’s someone who didn’t leave a tip the last time they were here.â€
Conlon said he prefers gentle persuasion, tacking a line to the end of a bill that does the math for a 15, 20 and 25 per cent tip.
Ken’s Pizza’s menu spells out, “We recommend 18 per cent,†and despite the canoe reference does address the tip reminder to “Canadians and Europeans.â€
While tipping customs are similar between Canada and the United States, servers’ wages are not. Vermont allows a “service or tipped employee†to be paid $4.10 an hour, while the minimum wage rate for employees receiving tips in Quebec is $8.35 an hour.
As the Ken’s Pizza men explains it: “A majority of our staff are college students and depend on tips to help pay their way.â€
James
Senior Member
Coincidentally, also in The Star today, it seems like the whole tipping etiquette debate is not about to be settled any time soon.
http://www.thestar.com/travel/article/1248066--travel-etiquette-has-tipping-got-out-of-hand
Travel Etiquette: Has tipping got out of hand?
Published on Tuesday August 28, 2012
Kitty Bean Yancey
USA Today
Has travel tipping gotten out of hand?
Consultant Keith Anderson of Atlanta thinks so. “I’m 51 years old and I grew up when it was pretty black and white who you tipped. It’s grayed tremendously in the last decade or so.â€
Nowadays, it seems everyone has his or her hand or tip jar out, travelers say, and tipping guidelines can be 50 shades—or more—of gray.
A July USA TODAY online travel survey drew 4,700 respondents, with 79% saying “too many people expect something extra.†Seventeen percent said “hard-working people deserve tips,†while 4% said they never or rarely tip.
“The rage you encounter over tipping is incredible,†says Steve Dublanica, a former waiter and author of Keep the Change: A Clueless Tipper’s Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity. What to give whom causes confusion, guilt and anger that is heightened by what he calls “tip creepâ€â€”the expanding number of workers seeking extra bucks for their services. He even saw a tip jar at a newsstand in a Pennsylvania mall.
Anderson, who also has worked in the service industry, is not averse to laying down 20% for a competent server or a couple of dollars daily for a hotel housekeeper. But now “I see people tipping stewards and stewardesses,†he says. “I don’t know if it’s unsophisticated fliers or what.†(Veteran flight attendant Sara Keagle, author of theflyingpinto.com blog, confirms that “passengers try to tip on occasion. Flight attendants are generally not allowed to accept gratuities, but if the passenger insists, then it is OK to accept†to avoid a scene or embarrassment.)
Retiree Phil Matthews of Goodyear, Ariz., is one of many USA TODAY survey respondents who say that in days past, “tipping was for service beyond minimal. The greater the effort, the greater the tip. Now, even terrible service expects a tip. It’s more people expecting tips, and people you used to tip expecting more.â€
Anyone who has drawn glares from an inattentive server for daring to leave 5% can relate, as can those who travel light and play tug-of-war with roll-aboards with bill-seeking bellmen. Consider some tipping trends:
•More U.S. restaurants include a service charge, even for small parties. The stated reason may be so that international visitors know something extra is the custom, but many customers “don’t see this inclusion in the menu’s fine print and actually tip another 15% to 20%,†says traveler Ken Perry, 67, of Columbia, Tenn. Ditto with that blank line for tips on hotel room service bills, which typically already include a gratuity and delivery charge. Whether to tip on a restaurant bill before or after tax is much debated. “I tip on the tax, but you don’t have to,†says Dublanica, who also has a blog called waiterrant.net. “But everyone would like you to.â€
•More cruise ships automatically put gratuities (sometimes $12 a person per day) on bills instead of relying on passengers to hand out tip envelopes. Cruisers such as George Matey, 67, of Arvada, Colo., and Tony Ellis, 55, of Pflugerville, Texas, are among those who dislike set tips. They don’t think that encourages better service, and “a mandatory tip is no longer really a tip, is it?†Matey says.
Ellis, a computer-support technician who in the past has driven limos and worked for tips, says they do drive customer service in his experience. And he doesn’t want someone “to tell me what I need to give,†especially if a waiter messes up an order or his luggage wasn’t handled properly.
•Staffers at all-inclusives might solicit tips, though such resorts sell themselves as “everything covered†getaways. TripAdvisor’s Negril, Jamaica forum has a heated discussion about tipping at Sandals resorts, which have a no-gratuity policy. Some found tips expected, others say tips were refused. Some travelers can’t help handing out extra, especially to those who live in poverty. Donna Mussotter, 58, of Royse City, Texas, saves $5 bills to reward low-paid workers, because “while I am by no means wealthy ... sharing my good fortune gives me pleasure.â€
•Drivers of some airport rental-car shuttles seek bills via theatrical patter and by racing to help passengers who don’t need aid. That drives Fort Worth sales manager Azor Phes crazy when “I just have a briefcase and a little bag†and the driver is looking at him “like a hungry dog.â€
Distributed by MCT Information Services
http://www.thestar.com/travel/article/1248066--travel-etiquette-has-tipping-got-out-of-hand
Travel Etiquette: Has tipping got out of hand?
Published on Tuesday August 28, 2012
Kitty Bean Yancey
USA Today
Has travel tipping gotten out of hand?
Consultant Keith Anderson of Atlanta thinks so. “I’m 51 years old and I grew up when it was pretty black and white who you tipped. It’s grayed tremendously in the last decade or so.â€
Nowadays, it seems everyone has his or her hand or tip jar out, travelers say, and tipping guidelines can be 50 shades—or more—of gray.
A July USA TODAY online travel survey drew 4,700 respondents, with 79% saying “too many people expect something extra.†Seventeen percent said “hard-working people deserve tips,†while 4% said they never or rarely tip.
“The rage you encounter over tipping is incredible,†says Steve Dublanica, a former waiter and author of Keep the Change: A Clueless Tipper’s Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity. What to give whom causes confusion, guilt and anger that is heightened by what he calls “tip creepâ€â€”the expanding number of workers seeking extra bucks for their services. He even saw a tip jar at a newsstand in a Pennsylvania mall.
Anderson, who also has worked in the service industry, is not averse to laying down 20% for a competent server or a couple of dollars daily for a hotel housekeeper. But now “I see people tipping stewards and stewardesses,†he says. “I don’t know if it’s unsophisticated fliers or what.†(Veteran flight attendant Sara Keagle, author of theflyingpinto.com blog, confirms that “passengers try to tip on occasion. Flight attendants are generally not allowed to accept gratuities, but if the passenger insists, then it is OK to accept†to avoid a scene or embarrassment.)
Retiree Phil Matthews of Goodyear, Ariz., is one of many USA TODAY survey respondents who say that in days past, “tipping was for service beyond minimal. The greater the effort, the greater the tip. Now, even terrible service expects a tip. It’s more people expecting tips, and people you used to tip expecting more.â€
Anyone who has drawn glares from an inattentive server for daring to leave 5% can relate, as can those who travel light and play tug-of-war with roll-aboards with bill-seeking bellmen. Consider some tipping trends:
•More U.S. restaurants include a service charge, even for small parties. The stated reason may be so that international visitors know something extra is the custom, but many customers “don’t see this inclusion in the menu’s fine print and actually tip another 15% to 20%,†says traveler Ken Perry, 67, of Columbia, Tenn. Ditto with that blank line for tips on hotel room service bills, which typically already include a gratuity and delivery charge. Whether to tip on a restaurant bill before or after tax is much debated. “I tip on the tax, but you don’t have to,†says Dublanica, who also has a blog called waiterrant.net. “But everyone would like you to.â€
•More cruise ships automatically put gratuities (sometimes $12 a person per day) on bills instead of relying on passengers to hand out tip envelopes. Cruisers such as George Matey, 67, of Arvada, Colo., and Tony Ellis, 55, of Pflugerville, Texas, are among those who dislike set tips. They don’t think that encourages better service, and “a mandatory tip is no longer really a tip, is it?†Matey says.
Ellis, a computer-support technician who in the past has driven limos and worked for tips, says they do drive customer service in his experience. And he doesn’t want someone “to tell me what I need to give,†especially if a waiter messes up an order or his luggage wasn’t handled properly.
•Staffers at all-inclusives might solicit tips, though such resorts sell themselves as “everything covered†getaways. TripAdvisor’s Negril, Jamaica forum has a heated discussion about tipping at Sandals resorts, which have a no-gratuity policy. Some found tips expected, others say tips were refused. Some travelers can’t help handing out extra, especially to those who live in poverty. Donna Mussotter, 58, of Royse City, Texas, saves $5 bills to reward low-paid workers, because “while I am by no means wealthy ... sharing my good fortune gives me pleasure.â€
•Drivers of some airport rental-car shuttles seek bills via theatrical patter and by racing to help passengers who don’t need aid. That drives Fort Worth sales manager Azor Phes crazy when “I just have a briefcase and a little bag†and the driver is looking at him “like a hungry dog.â€
Distributed by MCT Information Services
TheKingEast
Senior Member
Not surprising. I have had bartenders build their tip into a price on me....because I guess I looked like I wouldn't tip. Little did they know I'm a great tipper.
G
gabe
Guest
I was at pub a few weeks back and a table of 5 came in, as soon as the bartender found out they were tourists from England, he said to me "watch they wont tip" They racked up a $155 bill and sure enough left 0 tip, even though the group raved about how good the food was and thank the staff. The bartender said to me "it happens all the time" Wouldn't these foreigners take the time to know how tipping works in other countries? I'm sure most of them probably do know but they are just plain ignorant. If i'm travelling to a foreign country, i would make sure i knew the proper tipping etiquette a head of time.
DTowner
Active Member
My friends from England when they first moved here were shocked at tipping and didn't have a clue as to how much or when. "Do we tip at McDonald's?" was a good one. Lol. Even now they still have to ask how much it is. On the flipside, when I visit England, I usually have to remind myself NOT to leave a tip when ordering drinks at a bar. My friends there usually stop me from doing so. Mind you, I've seen tiping more and more in England (at least in London).
Southcore
Active Member
I got berated by a server for tipping 14% of the pre tax amount in Montreal this past weekend, even though I waited 40 mins for my appetizer to come out. The food was quite good, which is why I left a tip, but service was shaky and thus it was factored into what I left - I usually tip 15 post tax, unless it is a few of the spots around town where I am 'known' and get comped something, in which case I tip 18-20%.
So I certainly got a chuckle reading that Post article yesterday. What was hilarious was the server (who was clearly hired for her looks - I'll leave the name of the restaurant out, but needless to say it's wheelhouse of something in Charles Khabouth's stable) told me as I left my change that 'it is standard to tip 15% in Quebec', which is why I can't give them any slack when they are traveling abroad, they should know better, especially if the food and service are on point.
So I certainly got a chuckle reading that Post article yesterday. What was hilarious was the server (who was clearly hired for her looks - I'll leave the name of the restaurant out, but needless to say it's wheelhouse of something in Charles Khabouth's stable) told me as I left my change that 'it is standard to tip 15% in Quebec', which is why I can't give them any slack when they are traveling abroad, they should know better, especially if the food and service are on point.
Last edited:
TheKingEast
Senior Member
I notice in Montreal they do that stuff a lot. I remember ordering $130 worth of pizza and giving the pizza guy $20. This guy lost his mind. Told him to get lost.
Southcore
Active Member
Yeah it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth, no pun intended. I ended up speaking to the manager, who was appalled that a) she would say that and b) agreed it is up to the person as to what they would like to leave, especially if there is an issue with food/service. He also explained that they were short staffed in the kitchen and apologized for the delay, and as such was not surprised that this was reflected in the tip.
I told him if people skimping out on tips is becoming an issue, just add a standard 15% gratuity on the bill. I explained to him that restos in TO automatically add 18% on parties of 5-8 or more, which seemed foreign to him - I guess they don't really do that there?
So anyway he apologized and offered free dinner the next day but we were leaving, so we did a few shots at the bar (which made me somewhat forget about what happened, at least temporarily). He also gave me his number and Facebook contact and said to look him if I'm in town again.
I told him if people skimping out on tips is becoming an issue, just add a standard 15% gratuity on the bill. I explained to him that restos in TO automatically add 18% on parties of 5-8 or more, which seemed foreign to him - I guess they don't really do that there?
So anyway he apologized and offered free dinner the next day but we were leaving, so we did a few shots at the bar (which made me somewhat forget about what happened, at least temporarily). He also gave me his number and Facebook contact and said to look him if I'm in town again.
TheKingEast
Senior Member
what i dont understand is the tip easnt even bad. Maybe 15% isnt thr standard. It bothers me that i can get shit service for probably looking "foreign" and still be expected to leave a 20% tip.
James
Senior Member
^ I think that's one of the biggest problems, in my opinion. We've come to the point, it seems, where tipping is no longer optional. It is, in fact, almost expected without thought as to why a gratuity is offered in the first place.
DTowner
Active Member
I usually tip 18-20%. But, I have NO problem not leaving a tip if the service was horrendous. Not my problem if that's how they pay their rent. Work for it. We all do. If we don't perform and meet certain levels at work – no end-of-year bonus or pay raise. That simple.
Roy G Biv
Senior Member
I don't understand why the standard amount of 15% has risen.... if there is inflation, it will be reflected in the food/beverage amount....
RC8
Senior Member
I tipped my server 13% at Gusto (and he hadn't done a good job at all, I would have left less but I was paying for my friend's birthday) and he looked at me and said "that's not 15%, but I'll let it go this time". Not impressed.
Many servers have become stupidly aggressive regarding tipping. Even if they have done nothing to earn a tip.
Many servers have become stupidly aggressive regarding tipping. Even if they have done nothing to earn a tip.
G
gabe
Guest
stupidly aggressive is right!!! When i was a server during my school years, i was told by the restaurant owners NOT to question customers tips. If i did? My ass would be out the door. That idiot should be happy with 13%!
I recently spent 3 weeks travelling through the states and i was really impressed with the level of service i received!! I ate at everything from Denny's, Applebee's to 5 star restaurants in Washington DC. Not once did i encounter a rude or aggressive server.