After ten years working in hospitality, you would have thought that I would be able to detect from 20 steps who tips and who doesn’t.
And yet last week, after having gone to clear the table of someone who had seemed rude and arrogant (sure signs of a tightwad), I was shocked to find £500 in cash under the empty glass from which I had taken . He had drunk two shots of expensive vodka.
His bill, including the service charge, was about a tenth of what he had left.
That, of course, is a major advantage for a waitress like me and, thanks to the recent change in the law, I can keep it all. In fact, if he hadn’t been dead, he would have had a drink to celebrate the private members’ bill introduced by former Conservative MP Dean Russell, which finally entered the statute book last week.
Bosses are now required by law to give staff all the tips they have earned, under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.
From now on, greedy bosses are required by law to give 100 percent of tips to staff who have earned them.
I get paid £13.50 an hour and work around 50 hours a week, between auditions and acting work, so you can see what a difference that wad of money from my vodka-drinking benefactor will make.
The initial signs were not promising: deep in conversation on the phone, he called me at the bar of the luxury hotel where I work, silently pointed out the drink he wanted and used his fingers to indicate two drinks. Then he used his free hand to push me away, just as one would get rid of an annoying fly.
This seemingly rude man didn’t say a word to me, but used that surprisingly large tip to thank me for giving him what he wanted: a strong drink, no fuss.
Yes, it could be interpreted as just another type of power play, but I don’t care. There are many other customers who hurt us and then go out of their way to remove the service charge as a final act of humiliation.
Like the guy who was part of a group of ten who walked in recently, around closing time, without a reservation. I soon regretted giving them a table: they were loud and unpleasant, making us wait ages to take their order, which in turn made us all late.
As I passed the table, one of them grabbed my arm. He put his credit card in my hand and said, “Go to the store and buy me some cigarettes.”
He seemed furious when I apologized, but I can’t. When the bill arrived, he grabbed it and loudly demanded that the 12.5 per cent service charge, which amounted to about £50, or just five pounds each, be removed. The smug look on his face showed how powerful that made him feel.
You’d be surprised how brazen some cheapskates are. I made a big fuss with a middle-aged couple after they told me they were on their first date. They had a lovely evening and I really hoped they would see each other again.
But then the woman showed her true colors: her date left £20 on the table for me, having already paid the service charge on her card, but she passed it to him when he went into the bathroom on his way out. In fact, he ran out the door, grabbed the note, and put it in his pocket!
I had never waited so much for a woman to be dumped as I did then.
However, there is one brand of customer that always tips: Americans. Even if things go wrong, it’s so culturally ingrained in them that I’ve never met anyone who left without tipping.
At the other end of the scale, you’ll be surprised how often the woman decked out in designer labels will ask for the service charge to be removed from her lunch bill.
People will try all kinds of tactics to avoid paying a tip. I’ve lost count of how many times someone has asked for the service charge to be removed from their bill because they prefer to pay in cash, but then they realize – what a surprise! – they don’t have any on them.
There is one type of customer who always tips: Americans, something that is culturally embedded in them, writes Sophia Jenson.
Some make a big show of digging through the pockets of their bags or coats before giving up with a shrug.
Others, who seem friendly and happy with their service and food, will put on a show of mock indignation when they see the service charge. They don’t seem to realize how embarrassing that aspect is.
We understand how expensive life is these days, but if you ordered the most expensive dishes, drank the bar, and kept us running all night, we can’t help but feel like you owe us a tip.
Unfortunately, that guy rarely feels the same way.
- The author’s name has been changed.