i like group bills. i normally juss throw my card in and watch how ppl figure it out. who tries to make it equitable? who overpays? who underpays? i get insight on the character/thought process of the ppl i eat with for 20 bucks topps.
Many restaurants here add a tip automatically to the bill if you have more than a few diners (usually 6, but I’ve seen it for 5 and 4) and some restaurants are adding tips automatically because foreign travelers often leave no tip (assuming that it’s included) or some low amount. I noticed that when restaurants automatically give themselves a tip, it used to be 15%, but then was 18.5% and now is often 20%.
Often times it is more convenient this way, but every once in a while the service messes up on one of those tips included deals and you find people refusing to pay it or the amount.
Then there are the restuarants that add the tip automatically no matter what the size of the party, and then - if you pay with a card - add a line at the bottom saying TIP. If you are not careful, you can easily end up leaving a 35 or 40% tip, which can be pretty frustrating if the service was only ho-hum. I tend to catch those times because my mental math is usually good enough to tell that something isn’t right, but sometimes we’re in a rush or someone else is doing the calculation, it can slip by.
I don’t mind if the tip gets added automatically, but I like it when the bill has it shown prominently so that one is not likely to think on has to tip on top of the tip.
In Brazil, they add 10% to the bill automatically and you are allowed to refuse to pay it. I think I’ve only seen someone refuse to pay it once and it involved quite a scene.
Here in New York, I think I’ve seen someone try to negotiate down a tip that was automatically added only once, and it also caused quite a scene in a restaurant.
I was out with a group of 8 people at a restaurant where the bill came to about 250, with a 20% tip added automatically. The service was incredibly slow and somewhat rude as well. When it came time to divide up the bill, the cards and cash combo came up $1 short (so a $40 instead of a $41 tip). We weren’t trying to stiff him out of a rightful 20%, it was just we’d made a small mistake with the math, and the waiter angrily came up and demanded his extra $1. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t begrudge a waiter a tip, but it was already 19.5% and he wasn’t particularly good or nice or attentive. I considered causing a scene because of how his manner annoyed the crap out of me, but someone else eventually handed him a dollar to shut up and we left.
I calc 15% in my head and then round up to the nearest 00 or .50. With groups, we usually just write the amounts to each card on the receipt (including the tax portion for each) and then tip separately on each. I hate restaurants that are like “we can only take 2 cards”…not a lot of ppl carry cash nowadays. Unless it’s a tiny establishment I’m pretty sure they can afford to swipe as many cards as we want.
The mandatory tip idea makes no sense to me. Include it in the price.
More and more places in the UK are adding a service charge and a lot of people don’t notice and end up double tipping. Standard here is still 10% though because, you know, minimum wage and all.
Most restaurants in Australia won’t split bills and more and more aren’t taking bookings either. Melbourne is really bad for that and it pisses me off. I wonder if there is a correlation between accepting bookings and sales of posh wine/champagne as nobody celebrating any sort of occasion is going to chance it without a booking.
Here in the states, it used to be that restaurants wouldn’t split a bill on more than one credit card (though you usually could put a portion on one credit card and pay the rest in cash).
These days, splitting bills on credit or debit cards is almost universally acceptable, at least in major cities. I suspect the proliferation of debit cards created enough pressure that restaurants realized that they would lose enough sales by prohibiting it.
I had a bad tip experience once with a split bill. My GF and I had a meal and we calculated that the total would be about $80 including tip. So I told the waiter to put $40 on her card and the rest on mine. The idea was that I’d top off mine with the tip and each card would total $40, and she wouldn’t have to worry about any of the math.
Well, two months later, we saw the credit card bill, and what they had done was take the tip I put on my card, and written it in on hers, effectively doubling their tip to about 36%. Moreover, my card looked like I had given a 50% tip, and her card looked like it had given a 30% tip. Worse, I remember we repeatedly had to call the guys over to get any attention. The food was awesome (German restaurant), especially the dessert, but the service was positively French.
When I’m not writing a tip on a credit card because it is included, or left in cash, or someone else’s ticket is covering it, I always write the reason on the line “CASH” or “INCLDUED” or something. My GF didn’t, and so they took the opportunity to double the amount.
I won’t be trying to make the math easy again like that, or at least I’ll tell people to write something in the blank tip line if I do.
That’s exactly why I draw a line through the TIP line, or make sure to write 0 there. if you sign and leave BOTH the tip and grand total line blank, get ready to be scammed.
Yeah, need to fill in that total or you’ll get scammed.
Yes. I’d heard about it happening, but that’s the first time I’d ever seen it happen.
I still don’t put 0 on the line though; I always write a word that indicates why it’s zero. Most of the time I wrote CASH, so that someone looking at it knows that there was a tip, it’s just not on the card. I have sometimes thought of putting “YOU SUCK” in that space, but never actually did it.
You are aware that this site is filled with finance geeks that think NPV is the coolest word ever created.
Double tipping reminds me of one weird experience in Seoul. It was my last day in the city and I still had a decent allowance remaining, so I left a generous 30% tip - the waiter turned around and gave me the extra cash, saying he gets a share from the service charge on my bill so there’s no need to pay extra. And I was like whaaaaat! Didn’t see that coming!
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that there were only state officials and UN staff at that hotel - but still, weird!
I can’t even imagine negotiating with a restaurant manager to strike the tip off my bill - kinda cringeworthy. I’ll be happy to fight with my broker for a few bps the next day but at a restaurant, naah! Kinda defeats the point of eating out. Maybe it’s coz I generally eat in and eat out only on special occasions, but still. That said, the food has to be impeccable, if they mess with my meals - then the gloves are off 
One of the big issues between finance and non finance people seems to be tipping on tax. Do you guys tip on the subtotal or the aftertax amount? Reasons?
i tip on the subtotal after tax. 20% plus i round up to the next dollar. if it ends with an 8 or 9 i just round up to the next 10th
I always tip on the pretax amount. To me it makes no sense to tip on tax, not that tipping based on the menu price makes much sense anyway. Also pretax totals are often even dollar numbers which makes the math easier.
Pretax dollars because I don’t see the reason why I should tip on a sales tax.
Tipping on pretax dollars is also more convenient as the sales tax in my neck of the woods is 15%, so I just match the tax total.
pretax subtotal. why do they deserve a tip on the added tax? that’s just beyond stupid.
I agree, yet occasionally I dine with non business types and it makes things interesting when it’s a group bill. I have also read on forums where waiters “hate” customers who tip on the subtotal but don’t understand why tipping on tax is unreasonable. Guess what they did their undergrad in…
lol yall cheepos go back and then calculate taxes. cmon BSD wanna bees
edit: only when splitting a bill obviously
When i go out, i always split even. I hate arguing over bills, and eho cares if one order slightly more exepnsive meal and drink