please dont say that i dont tip,i do .But my point is if its expected to tip 18% and your handed a bill for the tip of 18%,to me thats insulting me in thinking that i have to tip that amount.If handed a bill for the tip to me seams like begging for it JMHO please dont flame me for it.
Paulh
Not flaming you Paul, but I think there is still some confusion about
recommended gratuities and bills for
included gratuities.
If a server presents you with a check for your dinner, and a little card or printout showing tip calculations for various percentages, that is just a not-very-subtle "courtesy" reminder of our crazy American custom of tipping.
If you want to be offended by that, go ahead. If you want to tip 15-20% anyway, go ahead. If you don't feel the service deserves 15%, go ahead and leave as much or as little as you feel is warranted. As Bicker said above, that's a
discretionary matter...so use your discretion.
On the other hand, if you are presented with a check which
includes an 18% gratuity (because you used DDE, or the check is for non-DDP items, or because your party has six or more people) that is a
completely different story.
Nobody is trying to shake you down for a tip in that case. That gratuity is
automatically included per the restaurant's policies and it is
part of the price of the dinner. Whether a customer thinks the practice is right, wrong, or indifferent is irrelevent -- it's part of the price of the meal. The menu advises you of that fact before you order, all the DDE literature tells you that, the DDP brochure tells you an 18% tip
will be added -- there are no surprises.
The difference between this tip and the one above is you
OWE this tip. If you don't think it's justified because of bad service, you need to take that up with a manager, because you OWE an included tip unless the restaurant takes it off the check.