I note that the discussion has morphed from one of whether prices on store
shelves should include sales and other applicable taxes to one of tipping
etiquette. The latter is totally unrelated to the former and varies even within
Europe. In Denmark tipping is rare, for example, here in Spain you typically
round up a bit, but I think it is fair to say that the US convention of 15% is
nonexistent in any European country I am aware of.
Certainly from a tourist's point of view, the easiest country is Japan: no
tipping, anywhere, period. It has nothing to do with being stingy, just makes
life easier. Here in Spain I tip when getting a hair cut; frankly, I have no
idea if it is normally done but if I am committing a faux pas, my barber
happily forgives me :-)
Cheers,
Nathan
Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.nathanfoto.com
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog
YNWA
On Feb 20, 2011, at 3:36 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> And I would respond that the reason you are less likely to see good
> service is that the tip is already built into the price. :-)
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
>
> On 2/20/2011 8:10 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
>> This becomes a bit of an emotive subject in this country, Chuck,
>> where it seems that restaurants took the tips and used it to make up
>> the waiters' pay to the minimum wage.
>>
>> But I am with the other Europeans on this (;-)); I should prefer to
>> see the price that I will pay, then offer more for exceptional
>> service (which we are less likely to see here than in the USA or on
>> the Continent, I should add).
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> On 20 Feb 2011, at 12:31, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>>
>>> But the point is that you do not "have to" tip anything. While I
>>> usually do tip 20% I sometimes tip less or even not at all if I am
>>> very dissatisfied with the service. But, in the case that service
>>> was so bad that I tipped nothing, I would also likely have had a
>>> discussion with the management. I would also likely have had a
>>> discussion with the management if the food was not up to
>>> expectations. That will usually elicit an immediate fix or else
>>> some price reduction or even a free meal. That said, it is
>>> sometimes apparent that slow service is due to shortage of staff.
>>> Perhaps someone is out sick. I'll cut the staff plenty of slack if
>>> they're clearly trying.
>>
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>
>
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|