Restaurant tipping in Australia & Canada

[Mick Rich 78]

A quick question for all you Aussies and Canucks!

 

I'm just about to teach some Japanese students on a Study Abroad Program and want to double-check my understanding of the tipping systems in Australia and Canada, namely about 10% and 15% respectively. Is that about right, as a rough and ready guide?

 

Cheers!

[pie-eater 207]

Tell them that in the UK it is 0 yen, just be polite and thank them for doing their job - and ask for a discount for scowly faces.

 

[Mick Rich 78]

Sadly they're not going back to the motherland!

[Chriselle 158]

Ya..that's about it...10 to 15 percent. Teach them about how to leave a tip when using the credit card.....how to fill in the bill.

[big-will 7]

Are tips expected and do most people give them (and stick to the "rules")?

 

Personally I would encourage them not to go over the top with it, I have seen Japanese tourists back home go silly - and when it is totally not deserved as well.

[Chriselle 158]

In Canada...yes...and they are %99 of the time ...well earned. Most of the time it's %15 I pay.

[Thundercat 60]

I agree with Chris about Canada. The restaurants that I tend to go to almost always have really good service so I don't mind leaving a 15% tip.

[Go Native 70]

In Australia there is no standard tipping practice. Some won't tip at all whilst some will tip if they're impressed with the service but there will be no standard percentage amount to it. About the only place you'll find any tipping is in restaurants.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

In Australia there is no standard tipping practice. Some won't tip at all whilst some will tip if they're impressed with the service but there will be no standard percentage amount to it. About the only place you'll find any tipping is in restaurants.

^this

Wages in Aus are not structured to anticipate tips.

Staff work for thier wages - tips in restaurants, while not expected are given by some people for exceptional service.

[big-will 7]

So people working don't expect them then?

 

We've been over this before, but I just find it pretty strange that people give tips in restaurants.

What about in shops, if the attendant has been so helpful.

Or in a train station, if the guy in the box has really helped.

They're just doing their job, right.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Brownie point for Japan for not having any extremely silly "tip" culture.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

No big-will tips are not expected in Australia.

 

Having said that the bigger restaurants and international destinations (and ski fields) seemed to have slowly adopted printed credit card billing that prompts for a tip - it might be that the tech comes from the US where tipping is de rigour but it is certainly showing up more and more.

Lots of cafes and bars have jars or bowls for tips, usually your lose change, and when skiing I will often dump coins from the transaction in there to save them rattling around in my jacket.

 

Where tipping exists in Oz it is more of a 'keep the change' gesture.

Dining in a group and the bill comes, divided it might be something like $43.55 each...the odd person figures their meal was slightly cheaper and chucks in $40, one or two count thier contribution to the cent, and the majority just chuck in 50 bucks and call it a good time had by all. So the excess to the bill would end up in the restaurant tip jar and be divided among staff from there. Some do it on the night, some save it and give out as Christmas Bonuses, and some use the tips to pay for staff drinks every now and again...

[pie-eater 207]

Having said that the bigger restaurants and international destinations (and ski fields) seemed to have slowly adopted printed credit card billing that prompts for a tip

 

Those things drive me absolutely mental when I see them, the cheeky shamefull bastards.

No shame here in giving them no pie-eater-credits.

 

If I put a minus number in for "less than excellent service", would I get a discount I wonder.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Having said that the bigger restaurants and international destinations (and ski fields) seemed to have slowly adopted printed credit card billing that prompts for a tip

 

Those things drive me absolutely mental when I see them, the cheeky shamefull bastards.

No shame here in giving them no pie-eater-credits.

 

If I put a minus number in for "less than excellent service", would I get a discount I wonder.

Only ones I have seen have looked like the following:

 

Steak $30.00

Beer. $ 6.00

 

Amt due: 36.00

 

Tip: _________

 

Total:________

 

In those cases I usually just write $36.00 (or whatever the number is into the total)..unless I was already motivated to tip due to exceptional service.

[Go Native 70]

So people working don't expect them then?

 

We've been over this before, but I just find it pretty strange that people give tips in restaurants.

What about in shops, if the attendant has been so helpful.

Or in a train station, if the guy in the box has really helped.

They're just doing their job, right.

 

The thing is though BW you don't tip if they've just done their job. But if you've gone out and the service was above and beyond what was expected and made your night a memorable experience rather than just having a meal in a restaurant then you might throw something their way. In Australia it's completely up to you though. Tips are not expected.

[big-will 7]

Surely their job includes bringing taking an order and bringing out plates of food in a friendly manner.

 

Do you give the train station dude a tip when he goes out of his way to help you with info.

 

I just don't get it.

[Go Native 70]

Big-will maybe you've just never been to a restaurant where the service was well beyond what you'd normally expect. Where it turned the experience into something far more than just simply having a meal. I have on a number of occassions and I've tipped in excess of 20% at times to show my appreciation. The job of waiting on a table can go beyond just taking an order and bringing out plates of food in a friendly manner you know?

[Slippery Jim 65]

In the U.S., servers in restaurants are taxed on what their tips ``should'' amount to; if you don't tip, they're losing money.

Obviously, the system is fark'd and not your fault, but not their fault either. Please tip if you dine in the U.S.

(Disclosure: my mother worked as a waitress for some years, service would have to be totally obnoxious before I didn't leave a decent tip.)

[big-will 7]

Big-will maybe you've just never been to a restaurant where the service was well beyond what you'd normally expect.

 

I have been to many top quality restaurants, Go Native.

Probably far too many for my own liking actually, possibly more than your good self. (Lots work related).

Where the service is simply 'amazing'. Michelin star places and all the posh stuff.

Oh yes. I have been there.

 

But if a restaurant is expensive, then such a top level of service is surely included in those astronomical prices.

Service in these places is amazing.

We should expect such.

 

The job of waiting on a table can go beyond just taking an order and bringing out plates of food in a friendly manner you know?

Yes, I know.

And so should the people doing it, as it is their job.

[pie-eater 207]

I sometimes think the tip thing is an ego trip for some people, often people who are trying to big themselves up.

 

Ohhh, I like to tip tons. Look how much I left, aren't I rich and a big man of the world.

 

No, you're just silly and a bit of a nob.

[Go Native 70]

I usually just go out to nice restaurants with my wife and only tip if the service goes beyond my expectations. I don't need to stroke my ego in front of my wife I can tell you! She's the one who usually takes care of paying and tipping anyway.

In Australia because we don't have a tipping culture to tip is just a simple gesture to acknowledge the person/people who've helped make your meal a great experience. Generally nothing more or nothing less.

Maybe some people who have obscenely rich parents just read a whole lot more into tipping that has more to do with their own hangups about wealth than anything else.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

There are those Pie-Eater, but much worse are the ones that bundle up the cash thrown in by those leaving a modest tip, take it to the cashier and pay the exact amount, and pocket the change. Poor form IMHO.

I'd rather be understated but generous; than be Scrooge McDuck.

 

Not that I think tipping in non tipping countries should be routinely done. I don't.

Howeve in the US, or other countries the prices are so much cheaper reflecting the fact that list prices mean price PLUS tip dependent on service, in Rome (or New York) do as the Romans do...

[pie-eater 207]

Maybe some people who have obscenely rich parents just read a whole lot more into tipping that has more to do with their own hangups about wealth than anything else.

 

Nah, I don't reckon.

 

I can't see why such people would have hangups 'about wealth'. And what would that have to do with tipping? You'd think that if they had some kind of hang up, they'd be tippin' royally all over the place. I suppose they might well be anyway!

 

 

As for myself, like big-will, I expect good service everywhere, especially after living here in Japan.

If I find myself dining in an expensive place, I expect excellent top notch service.

Anything less than that is them not providing their part of the deal.

 

Perhaps I have particularly high standards, or certainly higher than people who don't expect such things.

[JA2340 16]

Simple, in Aus, don't tip at all!

As MB said, wages are structured so that there is no expectation of a tip.

If you feel that some exceptional service has been rendered, tell the person who did it for you AND - then tell their supervisor! That way they get the kudos and the supervisor knows who to look to for the next advancement.

 

Tips are anathema! if wages are structured that tips are expected, what's the point? Whether the service is good, ordinary or excellent, they expect a tip.

 

Yeah, I know, I'm a tightarse. But I work in an industry where there's no payment made direct to (or through) me, and zero tip expectation. Why should some snotty nosed waiter get extra over and above their wages just because they are in an industry where they handle people "on-on-one" and handle payments? I usually subtract the "gratuity" when it is automatically added to the bill.

[Go Native 70]

but much worse are the ones that bundle up the cash thrown in by those leaving a modest tip, take it to the cashier and pay the exact amount, and pocket the change. Poor form IMHO.

 

Can't say I've ever come across anyone who's done that!