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To Tip or Not to Tip My experiences of travelling tell me that tipping is a very 'USA' thing to do. For example in Australia tipping is almost unheard of (i suspect Europe is the ame as i never had problems with not tipping there), except where the service of the person is 'exceptional' or so good it 'wow's the customer, then the customer will think the server deserves the tip and will provide one according to their feeling. I think this is really ‘reward for extra good service’. However contrast this to the USA. A taxi driver even scolded me for not giving tip. She drove from point A to point B, and didn't help to unload the luggage, but expect a tip? The person receives a salary or the taxi fare as payment for driving from A to B, and now they want more? Perhaps there is something missing about this, maybe the taxi company keep all the fare and the driver must survive on tips alone? if so then i can understand, but i doubt this is the real case. I feel that the Americans are ‘infecting’ their tipping culture onto other countries where it is not normal to tip, and therefore in places like China that may receive many American visitors, the local service workers expect that all ’westerners’ are going to tip. But it is not the case. I personally hate the feeling that they serve you only because they expect a tip, or scowl at you when they don’t get one. They receive a salary for doing the job and the level of service should reflect their professionalism, not their greed. Shop assistants, bellhops, waiters, doctors, government officers etc all provide quite good service on salary in many countries, lets avoid the trap of tipping. |