Is tipping an expression of gratitude or a mandatory payment?

I see it as [b]T[/b]o [b]I[/b]nsure [b]P[/b]rompt [b]S[/b]ervice...as I have been to restaurants where Tips are included mandatory and the servers simply ignore you and good luck trying to ask for a manager because you'll be waiting an extra 30+ minutes simply to complain about the poor service.

It is getting out of hand though, when you go to drive through fast food place and they want you to leave a tip. I am not going to tip for someone simply doing their job.

Places like that are getting way out of hand.

I only tip when someone actually takes my order, brings my food and does that kind of work as that way I can ask questions.

If I order it myself, drive through or inside then sit down and then clean up my own table I see no point in tipping.

I used to be a server at a Fancy Mexican restaurant and I had no problem earning lots in tips. Many employee's though don't want to work they will talk to friends and avoid annoying customers then complain about getting screwed on the tip.

A very good point.

It's not done to tip most services people, only restaurant and hotel staff, taxi-drivers, one or two others perhaps; but these are usually on low pay or (the drivers) self-employed.

I have no compunction about dropping some coins in a jar on the counter, and I often do that.

Unfortunately the widespread use now of paying by bank-card or telephone, and a growing idea that no-one needs use cash even to buy a bar of chocolate, has led to businesses putting gratuity requests on their card-readers. Since the staff-member is holding that in front of you personally, it leads to tipping by guilt more than gratitude, and in set steps of 0 (no tip) or [i]so-many [/i]%.

It feels demanded and impersonal.

It's a social norm in the US. But it's the expectation of a tip that turns me off. Tips should be earned not simply given just because.

Tipping is a profoundly stupid process and I hate it. But in order to fix that, we need to pay restaurant staff (and elsewhere) a better salary and you're not doing that without some serious new laws. So until then, I tip very well.

For me it is the expression of gratitude.

Tipping should be a reward for good service, but in this day and age, employers are allowed to pay workers such as waiters below the minimum wage because tips are counted as income. Because of that, tips have become a mandatory payment, unless you're a tool.

I will give you an example, or rather a reverse example from an American view-

was coversing with a woman from a country that doesn't tip, she was at a bar having a drink or 3, getting Absolute shit service from a new bartender, she HAD to pay the 'included' price.

here in America we pay a lower price and leave a tip we think the deserve....in the case of this bartender, after a week or two, maybe a month he would get his shit together after receiving a fraction of the tips other wait staff receives, and improve his service....in other countries, he has no incentive to improve.

It's not obligatory but it is how to show dissatisfaction with the meal politely.

Restaurants operate on thin margins because they're very competitive so tips keep highly reliable and friendly staff around.

You only should pay out of gratitude for good service so as to insure proper service.

depends on where you live in the world.

is the US definitely mandatory due to poor wages
here in Australia, definely and expression of gratitude and is not that common

{@renkon] think if you receive good service and people have gone over and above too provide this i think a little gratuity is not unreasonable for this

It is an expression of gratitude, but in a way it could be mandatory.
How well you tip can determine how you are treated the next time you patronize that establishment.

It is supposed to be an expression of gratitude for good service. However, there are those who don't just [i]expect[/i] a tip for the lousy service they provide, but demand it.

It's part of an unconscious conspiracy on the part of the customers and employers (aided by the state) to keep waiter's wages down.

Social norm I gave on my trip to Holland where it's not even a thing and waitress said no I was super happy with her service

It's part of the inequality we all accept!

Tipping is a form of slavery.

In the U.S., you’re basically helping some restaurants pay their staff, because the "gratuity" is calculated into the bill, whether you intended to tip or not. There’s even a saying among some of my countrymen, "If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out."

Possibly why there are so many fast food "drive-thrus"; no tipping is required.

You tip if the waiter gave you an exceptional time and the food was reasonably inexpensive