In Australia, one doesn't tip for personal service if it's not a franchised company and the proprietor has no employees. It's considered good etiquette to give 10% of whatever the bill is in the average place, but only if you're satisfied with the service; no one complains if you leave no tip because wages, 'though modest, are sufficient to live on. Most small places have a tips jar, and the total is divided evenly between the staff at the end of the day. In five-star places 15% is correct. Rounding to the nearest dollar is acceptable.
This post was edited by inky at October 24, 2019 7:41 PM MDT
In Australia, the person who serves knows if the service they give is up to standard. They can't not know; the training is very thorough.
Therefore, if someone doesn't tip it's because the service really was bad and deserved no tip. Examples would include having to wait far too long given the number of customers and the order of who arrived when, rude speech (rare), spilling food or drink, an insect floating in the soup, a hotel room not thoroughly cleaned, etc.
As I understand it, only 10% of Australians complain to the proprietor when service is unsatisfactory. Instead, they don't tip, don't go back to that business again, and they tell their friends about the bad experience. Market research has shown that a restaurant can go out of business in under a year just from word of mouth.
There would be some people (rare) who never tip. And there'd be some who sometimes don't tip because their short of extra cash. But on the whole the tip is a thank you for good service. And it is always good manners to say thank you when one is appreciative. The thank you is sincerely meant - not an expected formality or ritual.
I hear that Americans expect tips much more and depend on them for a livelihood because the wages are so low - that tips are considered mandatory. And I hear that Americans complain much more freely and are far more litigious. But that's only hearsay. I don't know. Judging by Randy's question, it seems I've got the wrong impression and there are some types of places in the US where tipping is not expected. I hope to learn more about it by following this discussion.
This post was edited by inky at October 24, 2019 8:04 PM MDT
Don't know about such generalities. I almost always leave a good tip even if the service has not been the greatest. Generally the service is good, but I just think it is polite to leave a tip. Nor would I normally complain unless of course I was brought something I had not ordered, but that happens not very often. Way I think of it is everyone else has a right to live their lives without my complaining so why would I want to ruin their good time? I think often we greatly inflate how much our opinion matters to others in general.
Psychological research shows most older people care much less what others think of them while younger people care a great deal - so it's widely considered to be a factor indicating relative emotional maturity.
I'm sharing what I know to be factual about Australian customs and ways - not a personal opinion.
I can only guess about America based on American films and Americans I've met here and overseas. When young, I lived with an American for two and a half years. He was originally from Cleveland, Ohio. His family were Howard advertising. He studied communications and humanities at Columbia and Stanford, and after his family emigrated here, he worked as an editor for a broadsheet called the Sydney Morning Herald. Many of my impressions of America come from him. They could be particular to his experiences, and they could be woefully out of date.
One of my closest friends at teachers college was an American from New Jersey, a 'valley girl', though atypical. Her father was a dentist, her family descended from Jewish refugees from Russian pogroms of 400 years ago. She studied politics, science and history of science at UCLA. What she said about America closely agreed with what my ex used to say - yet they were some 12 years apart and from very different backgrounds.
I'm not clear about what you mean when you say it's polite to leave a tip. Does it mean that you must tip or else you are being intolerably rude? If so, I would interpret that as mandatory according to custom.
This post was edited by inky at October 25, 2019 9:29 AM MDT
Don't bug me right now, Jaimie, PLEASE! I'm busy withdrawing all of my money from the bank and closing all of my accounts. (By the way, what's life savings divided by two?)
Because they already charge enormously high fees: a distance fee for the mileage to and from the job, a consultation fee for a quote, and then the materials and labour, plus GST (or the equivalent in local taxes).
inky 