The truth about Canada...

When you go to a bar a waiter/waitress will take you to your seat. She will then take your order and expect a tip of approximately 10-15% when you pay for your drinks.

In England I went to the bar, bought my own drinks, and paid no tip...

Even if you go to the bar to order your own drinks, many bar tenders still expect a tip in Canada.

I think they are too close to USA...

Greedy people.

What's this tipping anyway? I never got it. Why give extra money to the waiters, they're allready getting paid for their jobs... And if they're that good I'll tip them, but I'll decide the amount and it sure as hell ain't gonna be 10-15%... That's robbery.

Ice

The minimum wage for people in the restaurant/bar industry is lower than the minimum wage for other professions because they rely on tips. That is wrong.

Yes it is.

So why not raise the wages? Why pay tips? It works fine in any European country, but the Americans (referring to the continent) just seem to have a problem with that. I think that we have a law somewhere that the price on the menu must be the full price, including "tips". If some restaurant would, even unofficialy, demand that the customers tip the waiters they'd be in trouble. Change the system I say...

Ice

Or nuke the whole continent...

After I have left.

U actually have to be quite careful in the UK, as often they'll sneak a 10% service charge into your bill - & u won't notice & pay an extra tip.

The America way has adv. & disadv. The tips can actually push the wages above the minimum wage at no extra cost to the company, esp. as ppl r expected to pay tips & have their tyres let down if they don't.

Mike

In France, you just leave "something" but nothing to see with 10 or 15%, some people just don't do it, but that's true, the waiter or waitress count a bit on this extra money, i know it in part because i sometimes helped a friend in a bar.
But when my parents in law are in France (they are english), i always have to tell them there's no obligation to leave money, just a coin or two, but they always want to leave something like 10% of the bill, when sometimes that's happened, the waitress was really really please !

I came into this thread, KRB, thinking you'd discovered our country's deep secret, and then I find out you're talking about tips! Gotta agree, we are a tip-crazy bunch!

Restaurants and bars are bad, but what about the hair salon! Some places you have to tip the person who shampoos you hair, the colourist and the stylist. And that's before you see the lady with the wax! It sure costs a lot of *extra* money to keep us Canadian gals looking pretty.

I'm sure its worth it

You usually don't give tips in Italy (that's why they make a whole lot of money in Venice and such places, as they're overloaded with foreigners who think it's polite to leave the waiters/resses some extra money...like they don't have awfully high prices already!). So my advice is to not gve tips, especially in Venice which is true robbery on its own without you needing to feed them!