Hatunen wrote:
On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:18:27 -0800, mrtravel
wrote:

Qanset wrote:

The wife and I are planning at trip to USA/Canada in the near future.
Is it true that the Yanks are really hung up on tipping, and that
FORGETTING to tip someone is courting disaster???

Like most tourists we will be traveling on a limited budget,this means
that anybody expecting free money from us will be advised to look
elsewhere.

A colleague of mine who honeymooned in Hawaii was told by a tour bus
operator, that he EXPECTED gratuities for his efforts, because his job
was poorly paid. What more can I say.???

I'm going to cop a lot of flak on this subject, but never mind I have
and open mind on accepting advice on World Travel.

Are you telling us you haven't been able to find the answer to your
question prior to coming to this newsgroup.

Yes, thats corect.

The truth is that prices for things such as dining are substantially
cheaper in the US than Europe, for example.

Two reasons are, of course, that

(1) the wages for the wait staff are a very minor part of the
amount charged for a meal, and

(2) there is no included VAT in the charge.

The first item is taken care of by the customer by means of the
tip. Having once worked for tips, I tend to be a bit generous and
tip close to 20% of the listed charge, but 15% is considered a
sort of standard.

Tipping has the advantage that you have a way to exprss your
displeasure with the service by leaving a smaller tip. But do not
leave no tip at all, since it merely makes you appear forgetful.
If extremely displeased leave a five or ten cent piece on the
table; THAT will send a message.

I'm ambivalent about leaving smaller tips for food that
displeased me; it's not the waiter's fault.

The second item is covered by our sneaky sales taxes, an
additional tax on the meal of up to 10% added at the end of the
reckoning, depending on the political jurisdiction (a few states,
but only a few, have no sales tax).

Whatever the advantages or disadvantages of payig wait staff
better and the VAT, they at least make life simpler: in Europe
the cost on the menu will be the final cost.

Given that, and the recent
escalation of the dollar's decline, you should just consider it part of
the payment. For bad service, I generally leave a few cents, since I
don't want them to think I forgot about tipping. To many people, leaving
no tip means you simply forgot about it.

Oops. Sorry.

19 years ago, I had a waitress
call my room at the LAX Marriott and ask if I had forgotten her tip.
I told her the service was very bad. I then called hotel management and
they gave me credit for the cost of the meal.

On the other hand, don't feel pressured to do something you are not
comfortable doing, especially if you have no plans to patronize the
business in the future.

In other words, ignore the local customs.

Always good travel advice, eh?

Not really, I try to be flexible when observing local customs, but I
will not be bullied into tipping, which I have seen happen.