The Tipping Point

HOW MUCH should one tip for services in a restaurant and elsewhere? It’s a dilemma we all face at times. It’s not easy to get it right. Tipping practices vary from country to country. In our country, the norm is 10 per cent in upscale establishments, unless the bill includes a service charge.

In New York, the waiter is likely to follow you out on the street and demand a fair tip if you leave him anything less than 20 per cent. He can be quite abusive. There is a reason for the server’s anger. In the US, most owners consider the tips earned by the staff as part of the wages. They are often paid less than the legal minimum wage The government, for its part, applies tax on tips earned. Life can be tough on that kind of earning. The waiter is probably a struggling actor waiting for his career to take off.

The US is the highest tipping country in the world. When I lived in New York some decades back, a tip of 18 per cent was quite acceptable. No longer. These days leaving a tip of 25 per cent is common in upscale restaurants. Taxi drivers also expect a minimum of 20 per cent. Even in self-serving places, like Starbucks, where you queue up for coffee or a sandwich, you will find a tip jar to put your change. Do not pretend you have not seen the jar. In hotels, you are supposed to leave a $5 tip for the cleaners for each night’s stay.

In some European countries, you are expected to tip the attendant in public toilets. In the UK, the authority of etiquette and manners is the two-hundred-year-old Debrett’s. It advises that wherever you are told that “service not included”, it means exactly that. You tip 10 to 15 per cent. It is not customary to tip at informal drinking places such as in pubs. In London, one does not tip for “takeaway”, when the guy brings to your door the ubiquitous chicken tikka masala. In the US, where they call the delivery “takeout”, you are always expected to tip.

Tipping is not common in Australia and New Zealand, but the staff will always appreciate it. Ten to 15 per cent is considered generous. Be warned that service in these two countries can be very laid back. The staff is well paid, educated and your equal in every way. Don’t shout for service or snap your fingers at them. You are no longer in India.

The French bistros add a 15 per cent service charge on your bill by law, known as service compris. That way waiters got paid a living wage and tipping is unnecessary, though people leave behind loose coins. In the case of credit cards, it is not uncommon for customers to round up the bill to the nearest euro. However, if you are heading to Paris this summer for the Olympics, be prepared for a surprise. There are reports that cafés around the Olympic Village are expecting tourists to tip up to 10 to 20 on top of the 15 per cent already added. It has already created an outcry among the Parisians.

A seasoned traveller, before he boards the plane, will look up on the internet for the tipping practices of the country he is visiting. Often, tipping begins the moment you land; you are obliged to tip the porter who takes your luggage to the taxi, and then the taxi driver who deposits you at your hotel. It is always best to buy some currency notes of your destination from your local foreign exchange dealer before you depart. The exchange rates at ATM machines at airports are invariably extortionist.

Germany and several Scandinavian countries are now almost cashless economies. You pay for everything by credit card, however small the amount. You add to the card up to 20 per cent in bars and restaurants as tip. In Spain, you might find a 10 per cent service charge on your restaurant bill, servicio incluido, but if it is not, 10 per cent tip is considered generous, preferably in cash. Those working in hospitality and service jobs are well paid in Spain and there is little pressure on tourists to shell out more.

In Italy, tipping is modest. You round up the bill and leave a few euros if a service charge is not already included. In addition to tips, it is a practice for restaurants to charge coperia, a charge for using the table in restaurants. It is two or three euros and covers table settings, linen, cutlery, and other overhead costs.

You don’t tip in Japan. It is as simple as that. If you attempt to tip, you are likely to be turned down. Japan contradicts the culture where people feel that a generous tip will get you better service. In Japan, service is always polite and impeccable at all levels despite the lack of a tipping culture.

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Now, we come to India. There was a time when matters were simple. Any tip you left in a restaurant went to the waiter who served you. It was part of his income. Sometimes he was not even paid wages, he depended on the tips for his livelihood. You invariably left cash. These days, in better restaurants, the tips are often shared with others on the staff, the cooks in the kitchen, the dishwashers, and even the doorman.

My problem with tipping in our country is that I am not quite sure the money will end up with the person for whom it is intended. Unscrupulous restaurant owners are known to pocket the tip left on credit cards instead of passing it to the staff.

At one time, tipping here was restricted to upscale establishments. These days, people leave something for the staff even in highway dhabas. Some even tip the person in the toilets of five-star hotels, the guy who, unnecessarily, opens the tap for you and hands you the paper napkin. His whole exercise is to extract `10 from your pocket. And why not? He is probably the lowest paid on the hotel’s payroll.

There is a scam some restaurants have got into in recent years. They will add a service charge of anywhere between five to 10 per cent on the bill. That is fine but then they also leave a space for “tip” if you are paying by credit card. The restaurant is hoping that an unwary customer, perhaps after a couple of drinks too many, will not notice the added service charge in small print. He ends up paying gratuity twice if one adds together the tip and the service charge. If service charge is included in the bill, there should not be space to add tips.

I have no problem with a reasonable service charge added to the tab as long as it is transparent and all of it is meant for the staff. It protects the restaurant employees from stingy customers. However, the customer should be entitled to deduct it if the service has been appalling, the waiter is picking his nose, or a fly is swimming in your soup.

In the UK, the law stipulates that all tips, in cash or on a credit card, go only to the staff. Similarly, New York’s labour laws provide that an employer cannot accept “any part of gratuities, received by an employee, or retain any part of a gratuity or of any charge purported to be gratuity for an employee”.

A few years back, the Indian government met with representatives of restaurants to sort out the issues related to service charges that were being added to bills. It proposed that the charge should be discretionary, and customers were entitled to have it deleted from the bill. It issued guidelines to that effect. Most restaurants ignored the guidelines.

If a restaurant is adding a service charge to the bill, it should put up a sign to that effect at the entrance as well as mention it prominently on the menu. If the customer still leaves a tip, his attention should be drawn to the added service charge. That would be fair practice.

Pay attention to your bill, especially if you are paying by credit card. Check what you are being charged for. You will be surprised at the number of restaurants that add things you have not ordered. They will put an unordered bottle of premium mineral water on your table, for instance, and try to charge you for it. That enticing selection of bread in the basket may not be with the compliments of the house.

Bon appétit!

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