Hi, we are going to NS in two weeks time. I understand the custom of tipping is more widely used in North America so when do we tip and how much and when do we not?
Jason

15% in all bars and restaurants. Some people make it 15% of the original, pre-tax price, but that seems niggardly to me. Tip more if thrilled.

Cab drivers, porters, removal men, hairdressers also need tipping.

And if you don't enjoy the service then don't tip.

What they going to do ban you?

I don't do the % of the bill as the cost of a burger is way different than a steak. But the service provided is just the same.
Some one cooked it, someone delivered it, someone clean it away - I didn't give them grief and I don't pay for others behaviour.

I suppose tipping twenty bucks per plate regardless of the food cost works but it does seem rather generous.

well by 15% requirement $20 isn't going to cover the cost at some resturants once you add in drinks and deserts.
But I get your drift.

That could be because the nice taxman had already worked out what 15% of the original was.

I generally take the tax amount and round it up a couple of bux. Unless the service warranted more.

As said, if someone brings the food or drink to your table then 15% of the total bill is normal. 20% if the service is excellent. Hospitality workers can't pay their bills on minimum wage. If there is something wrong with the experience that isn't the server's fault you can express your displeasure by tipping 10%. To leave no, or a minimal, tip is extremely discourteous as well as mean unless the server really does not deserve it.

Two of my daughters are working this summer in restaurants and they depend on their tips. Unfortunately the Brits have a bad reputation for not tipping. Understandable because we don't expect to in the UK, but in Canada and North America generally the 15% - 20% tip is the norm.

One of my daughters says there is a regular customer who is British and never tips at all. The servers don't want to serve him and all hope he sits in someone else's section.

My rule is to double the GST amount on the bill as a rough guide to the minimum tip. Good service deserves more. However generous I am I suspect the reputation of mean Brits will live on.

Warmly,

Frank

$14.27 for advice given on the forum.

im a waitress and i just wanted to add that i understand not wanting to give money to poor service, but occasionally it will happen to me that there is something wrong with the food, and not the service, but yet they will leave no tip. i dont think people realize that alot of resturants have to tip out to the kitchen on every bill. my restuarant gives 3% of every bill to the kitchen which may not seem like much but this means when i dont get tipped i pay some money out of my pocket to the kitchen to make up for it, and it tends to add up on a day when the kitchen is especially slow.

Good point. That's true for my daughters too. One waitress had a table of 12 who kept her busy all night and didn't tip anything at all (not Brits this time) but the waitress ended up paying out of her other tips.
Warmly,

Frank

That seems fair enough. Not tipping or tipping miserably is not something one should risk if there's any chance of returning to the restaurant. Read Anthony Bourdain on the content of cream sauces delivered to bad customers.

Tipping isn't all about 'good service'... it's about customers paying for labour costs. I waited tables for about eight years while in high school and university and rarely did I get paid much more than minimum wage (though my tips were often four to five times my wage). And this is the norm.

If a restaurant owner were to suddenly have to pay waitstaff 30/hr (which was about what I made 15 years ago in tips + wage) that burger and fries is going to be a wee bit more expensive. Generally, eating out is relatively cheap in Canada because of competition and tipping from customers helping to keep labour costs down.

There is an element of the 'good service' bit though. I remembered regulars who tipped well and those who did not and responded accordingly. But the best tips were nice notes and little pressies people left... except the perv who left a key to his hotel room.

How much would you tip a mover?

Depends how far they went for you. Last lot of two men and a boy got $120 plus a flat of beer. They were very happy.