Tipping

[andy-hughes]

Have just returned from driving the present Mrs Hughes to London where she is working all week.

On arrival at the rather posh Kensington hotel that her company have arranged for her, we discovered that the hoitel is in two sections, so we parked the car on the car park, and the concierge trollyed her cases to the other section - around 30 seconds walk down the road. I wasn;t sure about tipping, so I asked - if you don;t ask, you never know. The man said it was not obligatory to give anything, but I gave him a pound.

The present Mrs Hughes was livid - she accused me of being a 'country mouse' and said I should have given a fiver!!!!

Now I am no-one's country bumpkin, but i found myself wondering what is acceptable in high-class London hotels? In the US it's easy - dollar a bag, in Europe, a couple of Euros gets a big smile - but what about our fair capital? Any advice for the future?

[karenmac60]

I hate the whole concept of tipping. I get paid a pittance but I'm not allowed to accept tips - why should I then be expected to tip folk on a higher income than me? And this 'service charge' that is automatically applied in some restaurants - once we had a works night out and the service charge amounted to 80 something quid???? That's just robbery imo - especially given that we were all low paid workers who had scrimped and scraped to have our one night out.

[looobylooo]

£80!!! flippin nora karen! .... did you all pay it, can i ask..?

[karenmac60]

One of our more -ahem, vocal shall we say- members went up and created merry hell. It was reduced, but not by anywhere near enough!

[looobylooo]

in a restaurant, like to tip what i want/can afford to tip, not what im asked to tip! grrrrrr....

[looobylooo]

oops, sorry, that was meant to say - *in a restaurant, 'i' like to tip...* ^^

[karenmac60]

I know - and sometimes there's a wee bit on the bottom of the bill that you have to tick if you don't want their 'service charge' applied to a card payment. I wonder how much they make off that rip off?

[looobylooo]

tsk ......

<<<< *rolls eyes*

[Dee Sa]

Chris which one are u on the video ? or were you the one with the camera ?
Dee

[Dee Sa]

Andy did you have to pay the congestion charge or did you get Mrs H there & get away before 7am ?

[Old_Geezer]

People should be paid a decent wage for the job they do, their employers should ban tip acceptance to avoid embarassment to their customers. No one tips thousands of other occupations.

Advice for the future, inform the present Mrs. Hughes that you have more sense than to throw money at those who are only doing their job, and avoid London hotels where they preseumably think they have a right to be given more than they agreed to work for, by getting customers to pay again and again.

[Khandro]

For trolleying a case for 30 seconds I'd hand over a £2 coin and say 'have a drink on me' - in London that would cover a half pint of lager, which would seem adequate.

[ChuckFickens]

£2 cover half a pint in london???

When was the last time you went out for a drink in london? £8 for a 330ml bottle of beer in the Café de Paris last time I went!

[Davethedog]

Chuck we don't all drink in the Cafe de Paris you know :-)

[ChuckFickens]

I won't be again at those prices!

[netibiza]

I live in spain and would never tip only 2€, £5 would be the least that i would tip.
Ii

[andy-hughes]

Thanks guys for your answers - i think maybe i should have made it £2, but I am not so flush that I can splash fivers about.

I tip in restaurants if the service is good - if they put 10% on, and the service is not up to standard, i will deduct it. they are not entitled to add it on, so they don;t argue.

joeluke and starbuckbone - I have referred to my wonderful wife as 'the present Mrs Hughes' for some time now - and it is intended ironically - we have been together for thirty-one years, and married for almost twenty-five, she is the first, last and only Mrs Hughes - it's just a bit of humour.

dee-sa - we were in South Kensington, which is now outside the Congestion Charge area.

Old-Geezer - my wife was on business, so the hotel was booked by her employers. They always use top hotels which put us in the position of being slightly unsure of the tipping criteria, hence the query.

Thanks again guys.

[netibiza]

I have to admit that I am over generous with tips because I don't know how much to tip!

[Khandro]

I think those on this thread saying they would hand over £10 for trolleying a bag for 30 seconds are showing off to us, it costs them nothing. I am much travelled and I stand by 2 quid, and it does buy a half pint of lager in an ordinary pub, which is where I would guess most hotel porters would go.