Mario - Tip??

So, Tips or No Tips?

Do you enjoy being served at restaurants but hate to pay an extra 15% as gratuities?

What about the people who work hard for you, don't they deserve something?

That's a very tough subject to touch upon these days, because of the large number of different practices all over the globe. In a lot of countries, tips are not a custom required while in others it is a very part of the social fabric, leaving the question whether we should get rid of this once and for all, or just go with the flow?

Bad, bad service! 

Let's start by drawing a basic resolution: No tips for bad service. A lot of people feel the pressure to tip even if the service wasn't good as expected.

So it is very fair to say that if the hospitality industry expects the minimum gratuity every time, the customers also should expect a good service every time.

A rushing waiter that wants to go home and yank the plate at you or the ever frowning taxi driver that doesn't exchange a word with you but expects tips every time. A key part to make this process work is the feedback a customer can give. No pressure, don't be afraid of retaliation, just speak your mind and maybe next time things will be different.

What about a 

good service?

You've got a nice dinner and a nicer waiter, that got everything you asked for, even that customized salad with no onions and dressing on the side. Flawless!

This might be an easy occasion to open up your wallet and give more than the usual 15% tip, but for every service like this, there are 10 that were OK or even mediocre. 

What should we do?

Well, just exercise your power as a customer, giving proper feedback and giving the right amount of gratuity you consider necessary. 

What else is left?

Well, there are also time when the things get ugly. For example, owners that get part of the tips or even get all of it for themselves, or disproportional distribution of tips between waiters and cooks or special places where everybody seems to expect tips, like hotels.

The world is not fair, and for each good practice like tipping services there are people profiting in some obscure ways. What  we can do is to be aware of any situation like this and be sure to do the right thing.