Originally Posted By Tiggirl Ursula, we do the same. Knowing what park CM's make, we always figure they could use a little extra cash if the service is good. ) ~Beth
Originally Posted By avromark <<Are you telling me your tax rate is 15%? Where are you?>> It's down to 14% now (Of course if the Liberals were still in power it would probably go up to 20%). I'm not in USA.
Originally Posted By LuLu >>In 2005 we got dinged an automatic 20% tip for every meal when we used the discount.<< Is that 20% on the after-discount price? I'd resent being required to tip 20% on the full price. It's OK if you can have the tip removed for bad service, but what a hassle. Our tipping system doesn't seem to work for the servers OR the clients :-(
Originally Posted By Ursula ^ I believe it was on the after-discount amount. It really didn't make the discount worth our whiles to have it just added in regardless of service. I overtip as it is on everything. (The WDW dining discount is not like it is here at DL. You can only get it at set meal times at certain restaurants, and mostly, it is not available for times when we dine, like after 7:30 pm!)
Originally Posted By Elderp Recently I have been doing my tips in cash just because I hate waiting for the restaurant to redo my bill and having to wait for to come though on my online statement. I had a week before my El Torito bill reflected the tip I gave.
Originally Posted By KCCHIEF I always do my tips in cash....I was told the servers like that and don't have to claim it for tax purposes..
Originally Posted By danyoung Legally they are still supposed to log the cash tips, but of course there's no way to account for it if the server just keeps his mouth shut.
Originally Posted By tiki tiki tiki tiki As a customer I´m thrilled not to live in the states anymore, since I left 15 years ago tips have gone up dramatically. When I visit and go out to eat I have to prepare myself mentally about the absurd amount of cash I have to fork up! But as a person who has to make a living in this line of work, I really wish I were back home. I always work my butt off, assurring everyone is happy and well attended and I almost never get a tip. Of course I´m used to it and I really enjoy just seeing happy faces and receiving many thanks, but a tip is always nice. I just think that the percentage over there is just a bit excessive. Maybe I´ve been away too long!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I agree tiki tiki tiki tiki. Here in the UK, tips tend to be given for excellent service and is about 10 - 15%, much better. But then again, the service is not as good in the UK as the US.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>>Tax rates vary depending where you are. Geography lesson over.< Are you telling me your tax rate is 15%? Where are you? <<< Our sales tax is 17.5%!!! Bummer.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo One thing I will say, is the US has better service than Europe in the main because of Tips. To me that makes it worth it!
Originally Posted By Maihama << I wish we would go to the European way of tipping, where the servers are paid a living wage, and you only tip if you get exceptional service. It isn't required or "expected." >> Does it mean waiters in the States don't have any wages at all? How do you tip them, about 20% of the cost of meal before tax?
Originally Posted By tiki tiki tiki tiki Exactly dave, if Europe thought like the U.S. tipwise it would be so much easier to find excellent service where we´re at. And if we were to switch places, the U.S. would be the ones with not so great service. It´s all about the tips and the great big difference between what one makes, in the same line of work, but in a different place. A close friend of mine in L.A. gets paid just about what I get paid out here but she gets double in the end thanks to her tips. GRRR.
Originally Posted By LuLu >>And if we were to switch places, the U.S. would be the ones with not so great service.<< Interesting perspective. We were told several times in France that service is included in the bill. IF you choose to tip, 5 - 10% would be considered generous. In general, I had no problems with service in France. About the same overall as here. Maihama, in the US it is generally accepted to tip 15% of the meal costs before tax, for "good" service. Less for poor service, more for excellent service.
Originally Posted By debtee <One thing I will say, is the US has better service than Europe in the main because of Tips. To me that makes it worth it!> I have to agree with this. I think Americans would be quite disappointed with service on a visit to Australia, as service really is non-exsistant in some places because the waiters/servers know they are not going to receive any tips and will still get paid well. It's one area we notice while travelling in the USA, your service at restaurants beats ours hands down!
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 <<<as service really is non-exsistant in some places because the waiters/servers know they are not going to receive any tips and will still get paid well.>>> Looking at it that way, tipping seems like a good thing.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Does it mean waiters in the States don't have any wages at all?>> Almost. Wait staff in the are exempt from regular minimum wage. IIRC the minimum wage for them is $2.13/hr, which means that the bulk of their income is funded by tips.
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle >>Looking at it that way, tipping seems like a good thing.<< I think it'd be good to have a nice balance (I don't just mean in the US, but in Australia and Europe as well). $2 an hour with the rest made up of tips just seems way too low to me. On the other hand, if a server knows they'll be getting $18 an hour regardless of what people think of their service, is there really incentive to give excellent service? It seems like a better solution would be to have a wage of, say, $10 an hour, and for tips to be given for excellent service, rather than either expected regardless, or not expected at all. That way the waiter still works hard to get the extra possible tip, but can survive on their wage alone if they get customers who aren't the greatest tippers.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP LibertyBelle, lots of people in lots of jobs give excellent service with out being tipped. I think company culture and training and employee selection has more to do with excellent service than the amout of money handed over at the end.
