Tips

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Tipping culture is ridiculous in America and it's creeping here.
I was at a brewery in Liverpool (you can all guess which one).

I literally picked 4 cans out of their fridge and put them on the counter. The guy handed me the card terminal with an expectant look.

On the screen, 5%, 10%, 15% or other.
I asked him how I proceed without tipping and he seemed very pissed off.


He hasn't poured me a pint. He didn't even acknowledge me when I walked in or converse with me when I was at the bar yet he's expecting me to tip him for scanning 4 barcodes on the can?!


More often or not you'll see a discretionary % added to your food bill at restaurants. I've no issues paying this if the service is good but I've also no issues asking it to be removed if it's not very good either.
 
New law in place with October that states business isn't skim the tips, they are purely for staff. Industry experts 90% of businesses to had a service charge to things like pouring a pint so they make up for their loses
 
How will they police this?
How would staff know how much in tips they have made in a shift?
 
Workers should receive all tips from customers under a new law which bans firms from withholding the payments - whether in cash or by card.

More than three million service workers in England, Scotland, and Wales should benefit from the law which comes into force on Tuesday.
If companies break the law and retain tips, staff will be able to bring claims to an employment tribunal.
It applies across industries, but is expected to benefit those working in restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs, hairdressers, or as taxi drivers the most.
Under the new law, all tips must be passed to employees by the end of the following month from when they were received.
Workers will still need to pay tax on their tips, as was the law previously.
Tom William works in property development, but he used to work for a chain restaurant which took 3% of the value all the food and drink that serving staff sold off their salary - regardless of whether or not customers had tipped.
"I'm delighted about the new law because it gives people on the lowest forms of income and shift work a level of protection," he says.

"There's such high turnover in these professions. What happened in my experience was that they said: 'If you don't hand over your 3%, then we won't employ you anymore.'"
Bryan Simpson, hospitality organiser for the union Unite, also welcomed the move.
"These are the lowest paid workers in the British economy and they are going to benefit massively from this,” he told the BBC's Today programme.
Nisha Katona, owner of Mowgli Street Foods, told the BBC the change was needed because "young people depend on the law to protect them" from employers who might avoid sharing tips with staff.
However, while she supported the legislation, she believed it would hit some companies that were unprepared.
"There are going to be some casualties because of this law," she said.

Tom Howes and Dory Czicza both work at Fish'o'licious, a fish and chip restaurant and takeaway in Great Yarmouth.
She is a waitress and gets tips, but he does not.
Dory, 28, said: "The tips that we get on card, we take it straight out of the till and put it in the pot as cash."
Tom added: "I'm the fryer and I don't get the tips. I get paid a little extra. The tips are for their service - it's not for the business."
Emma Webb from The Kitchen in Ilminster, Somerset, said the new rules would not change anything for her business.
"We have jars with everybody's name on them and at the end of the day all the tips get shared out between all of the staff," she said.
"If customers give a tip through the card machine I get my staff to print off the receipt so I take the tips out of the till and put them in the jar."

How will the law work in practice?

Tom Moyes, partner at Blacks Solicitors, says the aim of the law is "transparency and fairness" around how tips are handed out.
Staff can now request a breakdown of how tips are being distributed every three months.
However, Mr Moyes said the question of "fairness" is not clear cut.
"Is there an argument that more senior people should be entitled to a greater level of tip or is the reverse true? There isn't any guidance on that," he said.
Meanwhile, the law has not been introduced in Northern Ireland, which Unite said was "completely unacceptable".
The Northern Ireland executive is currently drafting a workers' rights bill based on responses to a three-month consultation which closed on Monday.
It told the BBC that "all responses to the consultation", including proposals to ensure tips are passed onto workers in full, will be taken into account as the bill progresses.

How much should you tip?

Opinions vary on how much customers should tip.
According to VisitLondon, the official tourist guide for the city, a 10-15% tip is customary when eating out in the capital or anywhere else in the UK.
It adds it is also typical to tip taxi drivers around 10% to 15% for black cabs and minicabs in London, but for taxis generally the expectation is that riders round up their payment to the nearest pound and allow the driver to keep that.
Tipping in bars and pubs is not expected.
However, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UK Hospitality, does not believe there are hard and fast rules on tipping in the UK.
"Rather it is left in the hands of the customer to tip what they feel is acceptable," she says.
"This is unlike other countries, like the US, where a tip is typically expected to be added by the customer, regardless of service standard."

BBC News
 
I don't like to tip usually unless there's been exceptional service. I've asked for service charges to be removed from a bill when the service hasn't been any good and you don't realise until getting the bill that they've added it on top.

Went to an all inclusive in Turkey recently and people were tipping at the bar to get served without having to queue, but this meant it got to the point where you weren't getting served unless you tipped and it basically felt like you had to bribe them to get a drink. The waiters on the tables really went above and beyond if you gave them a tip.
 
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I had to Google it and I live just across the river from it. One of their beers is called Dockers Umbrella after the old railway that used to run above the waterfront. My problem with it is that it's a Helles Lager. What the bl00dy hell has an old railway got to do with a German lager? I can't see me paying them a visit any time soon regardless of what they may or may not expect as a tip

Cheers Tom
 
I don't like to tip usually unless there's been exceptional service. I've asked for service charges to be removed from a bill when the service hasn't been any good and you don't realise until getting the bill that they've added it on top.

Went to an all inclusive in Turkey recently and people were tipping at the bar to get served without having to queue, but this meant it got to the point where you weren't getting served unless you tipped and it basically felt like you had to bribe them to get a drink. The waiters on the tables really went above and beyond if you gave them a tip.
the problem with this is that the expected level of tipping starts to escalate and you don't get the 'better service' unless you tip enough.

Cant have it both ways...cant claim you need the tips because you get paid poorly, then when minimum wage/living wage comes in still expect the tips. Being a waiter or waitress is not a job that is capable of supporting someone and pay rent/mortgage and all the costs of living...it's a job kids do to earn a bit of pocket money. I'd garner no sympathy if I were trying to support my family with a paper round knocking on doors asking for tips to fund my mortgage and family...i'd be told to get a proper job.

Might be different in a Michelin starred restaurant or something where the waiters and waitresses are trained in wine and food pairings for example and provide you advice on wines and knowledge on wines, or make a Caesar Salad dressing or a crepe suzette by your table or something...then fair enough its a bigger and more skilled job than a basic fetcher of food and drink and justifies a higher wage, but then that should be reflected in the price of the food rather than tips.
 
I'd garner no sympathy if I were trying to support my family with a paper round knocking on doors asking for tips to fund my mortgage and family...i'd be told to get a proper job.
Just playing devil's advocate here but what about the people who are unable to get "a proper job" yet still need to support a family? Sometimes circumstances conspire against people and put them in unfortunate circumstances

Cheers Tom
 
I said earlier that i tip if i get good service i know serving staff are on minimum wage or more so tips do not count towards their wages but when you get a server who greets you with a smile and who looks like they want to serve you rather than doing the bare minimum to keep the job i think they deserve a tip.
 
I had to Google it and I live just across the river from it. One of their beers is called Dockers Umbrella after the old railway that used to run above the waterfront. My problem with it is that it's a Helles Lager. What the bl00dy hell has an old railway got to do with a German lager? I can't see me paying them a visit any time soon regardless of what they may or may not expect as a tip

Cheers Tom
Tbh, they are a very good brewery and the beers I've had have been superb.

They have probably made a Helles due to Oktoberfest and haven't thought of a German sounding name.
I'm not sure any of their names have any meaning really.

It might be an automatic thing on the card reader but I've only been shown it once (on my last visit). Maybe the other people had already pressed the decline button before handing it to me (I've never drank in, just got cans to take away).
 
Tbh, they are a very good brewery and the beers I've had have been superb.

They have probably made a Helles due to Oktoberfest and haven't thought of a German sounding name.
I'm not sure any of their names have any meaning really.

It might be an automatic thing on the card reader but I've only been shown it once (on my last visit). Maybe the other people had already pressed the decline button before handing it to me (I've never drank in, just got cans to take away).

I've also been very impressed with their beer over the years. Might be worth saying to them that you find it off-putting.
 
I've also been very impressed with their beer over the years. Might be worth saying to them that you find it off-putting.
I may be in the minority about this but as soon as I see cartoon style/weird colourful designs on a can of beer it's an immediate no from me. I get that they may be doing it to attract the eye and stand out but when every other "craft/artisan" brewery's wares look the same they no longer have that. I also wouldn't mind betting that a lot of their beers are those hazy fruit juice concoctions or are upwards of 6% alcohol. I have no interest in those beers so am less inclined to bother looking to see if they actually brew any normal beers. I genuinely hope there are plenty of people who like their brews and I hope they thrive as a business but I can't see me being a customer of theirs

Cheers Tom
 
I may be in the minority about this but as soon as I see cartoon style/weird colourful designs on a can of beer it's an immediate no from me. I get that they may be doing it to attract the eye and stand out but when every other "craft/artisan" brewery's wares look the same they no longer have that. I also wouldn't mind betting that a lot of their beers are those hazy fruit juice concoctions or are upwards of 6% alcohol. I have no interest in those beers so am less inclined to bother looking to see if they actually brew any normal beers. I genuinely hope there are plenty of people who like their brews and I hope they thrive as a business but I can't see me being a customer of theirs

Cheers Tom

To each, their own, but there is a reason why so many breweries are brewing Hazy IPAs. Thankfully we're seeing more lager styles coming to the fore now too. I too would like to see more variety of styles, but demand dictates.
 

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