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Saturday 19 April 2008

Canoes...


I've written about this before but seeing as it was all over the news on Friday and customers couldn't wait to ask me about it I thought I should cover it again.....

The Unite Union are launching a campaign to stop restaurant bosses paying you with your own money.

From the BBC....

A campaign to stop restaurants abusing the tips paid to staff has been launched by the UK's largest union.

Lack of transparency means that service charges may be diverted into the firm's takings without the customer knowing, Unite has claimed.

Some firms keep part of the service charge paid, the BBC has learned.

Read the whole jobby here......

The comments from the BBC Forums had me reaching for the stabbing fork...
Do the waiters/waitresses declare their tips for income tax purposes? I doubt it, and I don't exactly begrudge them but all my income is taxed. Why should I (and you!) pick up the tax shortfall?

Perhaps I should ask my clients for a part payment by invoice and then expect them to pay me the rest of my bill as a "tip"?
asked Mike_gss from Aberdeen, Scotland.

and this made me spit.....
Yes tips should be added to pay. Employees are paid and trained to work, they should not be rewarded by the public for simply doing their job. It is the owner of the restaurant who should benefit from any extra cash it is them that have forked out for the money, the food, and the staff, and ultimately are responsible on how their staff work for them. It would be a sorry state of affair if for example you tipped a warden for being ultra quick in giving you a ticket would it not?
said J Allen from Newcastle, England.

More comments here.....

What the fuck is wrong with these people? Seriously? Thank fuckity the good people of Belfast don't think like that. All night long the guests at work remarked about how corrupt the current system is whereby companies use YOUR tips to pay YOUR wages. Not one said anything to the contrary. I should say my employers do not employ such shady practices, they keep their noses right out of out trough.

But I shouldn't be surprised, English people in particular are regarded as very poor tippers. Nice enough guests to serve, but very poor tippers. So their lack of sympathy for us waiters is no great shock.

Just to clarify for Mike from Aberdeen, tips are indeed taxable. And all the tips that go through on my wage slip are taxed. Never mind shaking down waiters for their hard earned tips why not go after the fat cats, non-domiciles, and the business leaders with crafty accountants? Shake them a little harder and you'll find the tax burden on us all will become a little easier.

Let me clarify again what to do when you want to leave a tip, ask the waiter where the service charge or tip on card goes. If he says anything other than in his pocket leave cash.......

I loved this comment though from a waiter in Orlando Florida

Having read through some of the comments I now understand this common joke amongst the waiters of Orlando.

"What's the difference between a Canoe and a Brit?"

"Canoes tip".

27 People trying to get Manuel's attention:

badgerdaddy said...

Personally, I just tip according to how good the service was. Most people I know do, as well - not how good the food was, but the service. Important distinction!

One thing the news has brought to our attention though, is that card tips are sucked up by the company, and cash tips are not. Good to know and then some! It's shitty world where tips can be used to bring pay up to the fucking legal minimum. Fuckers.

Manuel said...

badgerdaddy: first time round these parts? Welcome! I hope people are tipping for the service, and I hope they tip what we deserve, no matter what that means.

It's as unjust as it gets. There is a loophole that needs closed pronto......

Anonymous said...

I'm with you on that. A simple printed business card accompanying the bill saying "Cash tips go to the staff, card tips go to the owners" should help shafted waiters in the relevant establishments.
Of course I want my fee for that suggestion in used £20s, no names, no pack drill.

Manuel said...

bbb: check your front door in an hour.....under a rock in a brown envelope.....

Anonymous said...

In Canada, you are charged tax on 8% of your wages, if you are in a service industry. If you cannot make 8% in tips, you are so scrood.

Manuel said...

pooy: 8%? that's great!

savannah said...

the last thing a restaurant owner should be doing is stiffing his waitstaff! treat people fairly and it shows in their attitude and in the overall ambiance of your establishment. as to the spoilers going on about tipping...fuck'em, they should try waiting tables for a week or so..they'd sing a different tune!

the cheap bastids!

have a great weekend, sugar! xxox

Blondefabulous said...

`We always try to leave a cash tip. I wasn't aware that the establishment was snaking your card tips, I just figured you guys liked cash in pocket.

Old Knudsen said...

So a tip is for good service? so if no one tipped you'd be shite then? do you not get paid enough to live on? and do you not get paid to do yer job? Nurses do as much if not more running about and they don't get tips, some doctors call them glorified maids. A tip is like someting you have to do like valentine's day or you'd be a cunt, peer presure I think its called, what about the other jobs that do harder work for customers and go out of their way that no one ever thinks about tipping? if someone slips you something keep it to yerself I think wages should be enough to live on rather than to rely on tips, no wonder you sell badges.

Anonymous said...

My dearest Manuel.

I like what you're saying. However as a manager I'm kind of conflicted. Personally I would like to see all the tips go to the wonderful folks I work with...

However, one of my tills was down tonight.

MD

Anonymous said...

Of course staff shouldn't have to rely on tips, they should be paid a living wage, but given that they usually aren't I always tip generously (unless the service was atrocious). And I always give it to the waitstaff, never ever add it to the bill.

As for the guys complaining, I wonder how much money they mop up in dodgy expenses claims??

Manuel said...

savannah: couldn't have put it better......

blondie: always.......

old k: one by one....

yes
yes
NO
yes, they get paid more, lots more.
hey, there are no rules against tipping the guy in McD's or Tescos's etc. You wanna tip them go right ahead.
If my boss paid me £20 an hour then hell yes I knock back the tips but he doesn't so I wont.......

michael d: eh you cant do that...that's totally illegal. If your till is down you need to analyse, investigate, and action as accordingly. Taking the money off the staff is cheap way out......

nick: expenses? I've seen them at it at work, asking for had written bills so that they booze isn't shown etc......ha! Well said nick.

Anonymous said...

The credit card scam is nothing new to me.
I always scrub the service charge off any bill I've paid by card and made sure the cold hard cash went straight into the hand of whoever served me.
That's only if the service was good of course.

Megan McGurk said...

I've heard that same joke here a few times with Canadians in place of Brits.
I also try to tip in cash whenever possible.

Jenny said...

It's not only restaurants; my biz partner's daughter works in a hair salon... tips that are put on the credit card don't go to her... tips that are cash, do.

After your last post about this, I try to only tip with cash.

Everywhere.

travelling, but not in love said...

I read this story on the beeb website and thought of you instantly. I knew it would find it's way here sooner or later - and quite rightly so too.

Us English folk have always had a reputation for being bad tippers, and quite rightly so. I think it's down to embarrassment at not knowing what 'the right thing to do' is and therefore doing nothing. In a 'well, we'll never be back' kind of way.

I see my friends do this and it makes me mad - if the service has been good, leave a tip for chrissakes!

The Mistress said...

There is a county in the U.S. called Tippecanoe.

Old Knudsen said...

there are no rules against tipping the guy in McD's or Tescos's etc. You wanna tip them go right ahead.

But no one does and no one writes posts on how outraged they were at not getting tipped, I've had jobs were you work and maybe if lucky get a tip at Christmas, its a bonus not a right and M'D's don't allow their staff to take tips, it destroys moral they say as the guy at the back cooking wouldn't get anything.

fatmammycat said...

We always leave a cash tip for the waitstaff, not the suggested gratuity on the card. I knew plenty of folk back in college who survived on their tips and plenty of huckster owners who'd try didddle them out of it.
The only other person I tip is my hairdresser. She's good, efficient, non chatty and she actually spends time the times pre-cut listening to me as I set out what I want. People like her are worth their weight in gold. Again I make sure it's cash and straight into her hand.

The Tall Red Head said...

Well, when working as a barmaid at a pub, we had to put any tips we got into a "communal" jar and at the end of the night it got divided between us all. Which was shit as some of the bar staff were friggen useless and would have been lucky to make $5 in tips. I made $195 in tips one night,(I worked in Kalgoorlie, WA which is a mining town in the middle of the desert) and I got $120 that night cos we had to split the tips up. We soon put an end to that caper.

Manuel said...

dave: good fella.....

medbh: I had a table of Canadians last week.......tipped like rock stars, there was cash everywhere........

boxer: cheers.....

tbnil: It's not all English people obviously but more than any other nationality. It should be said that Northerners tip well, except people from Leeds, obviously....

mj: hehehehehehe

old k: yeah but waiters get paid less than anyone else working in a restaurant. And that's fine with me as long as we get the tips we deserve. The tip culture is here to stay......

fmc: has to be in cash....quality

ttrh: the waiters split our tips too, but it works for us as we all trust each other and if you aren't making money we get you shifted.......out

Sadhbh said...

Manuel i work in dublin and while the loophole doesnt apply, the restaruant takes the full price of mistaken food it cant sell and the balance if the till as down and 10% of any credit card tips.... Do they do any of those things to you??

Manuel said...

sadhbh: no, no they don't.....they wouldn't get away with it........I'd say what your employers are doing is very very illegal.....seriously.....

Sadhbh said...

Probably, but im only doing it part-time and im only little (20) so they'd hardly take me seriously!! and if i did complain they'd just say deal with it or leave... Feel sorry for the full timers though, that sort of thing hits them much harder!!!

Sadhbh said...

Actually once i screwed up a credit card payment, our machine was broken and i had to do it manually and they said they'd take that out of my tips, so i kept picking them up everyday told them i woudlnt let them take it and had decided to quit if they took it but in the end they found the guy and got the 75 euro.

Manuel said...

sadhbh: restaurant managers are like dogs.....they can sense weakness and fear.....bare your teeth and stand up to them....if you actually bare your teeth that will probably scare the bejesus out of them................

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