Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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I started my working career in a variety of interesting jobs, beginning first with the Checkers in Sandton City where I was a cashier and later I worked in the fruit & veggie department. Subsequently I worked at Absa Bank in Rosebank, and also later as a waiter at Spur in Randburg – I should tell the story as to how I had to sue the branch, who settled with me on my terms, after the manageress tried to cheat me on my commission. Anyway, that is for another day, because what I am writing about today is what some people refer to as gratuities and we generally call it tips or tipping.
As somebody who worked in restaurants, I know how important tips are and I have always taken an attitude that, whether I am at a restaurant, or I am putting petrol in my car, I should tip. I generally give R10 when filling up my car with petrol, which I think is probably more generous than most people, but I strongly believe that if you are mean you will struggle to do well in life. I have often observed that people who are generally generous have their generosity flowing back to them. In other words, I honestly believe if you don’t tip, or are not generous, it will cost you in the end.
Having said that, it is interesting that in different cultures tipping is either frowned upon or accepted and the amounts vary considerably. For example, in South Africa, if you are pleased with the service you have received you would give somebody 10% and possibly a little bit more. If you gave somebody 10% in America it would either be a sign that you are living in poverty or that you are absolutely disgusted with the service. Most restaurants in the USA would provide on your bill, which they call a check, a calculation of what an 18% tip is, a 20% and a 22% tip. In other words, if you think the service is decent you are meant to give 20% and if you think it was really great then you should give 22%! I think there would be a lot more people in South Africa interested in being a waiter if that is the amount that people tipped!
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Tuesday 18-Jul-17
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Comments
Cornelie said:
on Tuesday 01-Aug-17 10:06 AM
I would say 10% is reasonable sometimes you really get bad service and you even feel bad then you tip that person anyway. I think you must tip someone because you really want to and not because you feel you need to.
Brenda Du Toit said:
on Tuesday 01-Aug-17 09:29 AM
I also agree with tipping does depend on the type of service you get. I think that 10% of the bill is fair but i always give more then the 10% of the bill.
Prishani said:
on Monday 31-Jul-17 05:29 PM
I have always believed that a tip is a reflection of the service received and the friendless of the person helping you. However many people take this for granted and don’t give tips at all. I think that a tip is always necessary, and even if you are unhappy with the service by all means don’t give a very generous tip. But a tip is always necessary. I think that 10% of the bill is fair if you have received a decent level of service
Ashleigh said:
on Thursday 27-Jul-17 08:46 AM
My tip is always based on the person offering me the service. If you going to give me bad service, don't expect me to appreciate you with a tip at all but if you going to provide good service, I always give more then the 10% of the bill.
Thabitha said:
on Tuesday 25-Jul-17 08:07 AM
I respect waiter's and waitress those people works under lots of pressure because if the sheaf is slow at the back people are look at the waiter or waitress not knowing they also replay on other people I will always tip them.
Tamaryn said:
on Monday 24-Jul-17 04:23 PM
I wholly agree with giving tips and making sure they are decent. I always think that 10% is a bit slim and give more than that. However if I am completely unsatisfied with the service that will show in the tip too. I wonder when SA will start seeing a 10% tip as the bare minimum?
Sinead said:
on Monday 24-Jul-17 03:10 PM
I do agree that a 10% tip is the bare minimum. If you received good service then you should give a bit more. I always try to give a bit more whether the service was just acceptable or exceptional. At the end of the day you are paying someone else's salary so to speak. I do feel that if the required tip amount was increased to 22% I wouldn't go out to eat as much.
Joyce said:
on Friday 21-Jul-17 04:54 PM
I think a reasonable tip depends on the heart of the tipping person, a nice heart person would give a 22% tip.
Liz said:
on Friday 21-Jul-17 04:48 PM
I agree that a 10% tip is reasonable at all times in South Africa, whether the service was good or bad, I think if the person has provided a good service then one can give more. A person should obviously alter this amount regarding where you are and what the norm is in that place.
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Friday 21-Jul-17 04:48 PM
IM agree with Helen. A 10% tip sems reasonable. To date bmy dad will work out 10% of the amount to be paid to the cent. I really believe that it depends on the service provided as well and how friendly the provider of the service is.
Nicky said:
on Friday 21-Jul-17 04:42 PM
I think that car guards should also be tipped and it would also depend on how long Ive parked; were they friendly etc and generally how much a tip should depends on the service provided.
Helen said:
on Thursday 20-Jul-17 08:35 AM
I think that all the times 10% of tip is reasonable, and like everyone is saying it is depends on the service waiter can provide. Remember myself when I studied in Odessa's university during the day, I used to run as the waitress in the night club, before manager will allow you to go on the floor, there is the test you have to pass and training was given how to provide the high level of service to all clients, there were cameras everywhere and if the waiter did something wrong, gets dismissed and go home. Following this training that time make me earn very good tip at the end of the night and leave my work happy and satisfied. Problem with places here in South Africa that people who willing to work as the waiters do not have any knowledge how to provide great service to a customer, I have got feeling that most of them are to tired to serve or very unhappy to be at their working places!
Bianca R said:
on Wednesday 19-Jul-17 10:21 AM
I also tip the attendants at least R10 when I fill up my car, a waiter or waitress also 10% and in some cases even more depending on how impressed I was with them and their service. I always try and remember that I was once a waitress and your tips are how you make money at the end of the day, most waiters/waitresses are actually raising children on that salary and I always try and give extra because of that.
brumilde said:
on Wednesday 19-Jul-17 10:15 AM
most places add the tip in now in the slip, we didnt notice the once, so the waiter got 20% tip... hence forth we now look at the slips, but i give 10% or i round it off. also depends on if it's payday or month end... how your bank accounts look at that time
Angelique P said:
on Wednesday 19-Jul-17 09:00 AM
I also think 10% or more is reasonable. I will always give something extra if that person really did something extra or for only being friendly to me. It's always so nice to be helped or served with a friendly face. It has a very big impact on the service you experience. I worked as a waitress when I was studying in Pretoria and it taught me a lot, it's really hard work for little money. I was always very happy when I got a table where there was a customer from overseas they always tipped very well.
Michelle said:
on Wednesday 19-Jul-17 08:19 AM
I believe in tipping someone when they deserve it like going the extra mile, doing something good that's not expected of them. But when you have a bad attitude or the service is awful, I will not give a tip at all. The amount I will tip depends how much money I have at that moment and obviously of the person serving me.
Sarah said:
on Wednesday 19-Jul-17 08:12 AM
A 10% tip is fine and if you are really happy with the service then you can give more. less than 10% is not good or less the service was really not up to your standard. It depends what country you are in
Melissa said:
on Wednesday 19-Jul-17 07:43 AM
A 10% tip or more is reasonable, waiters work long hours on their feet and it's not always easy to serve more than one table at a time. I normally give them more than 10% tip if I know they deserve it.
Daniella said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 04:59 PM
I have a lot of friends that were waiters. And that alone taught me a lot, I think at least everyone should at least once in their lives be on the other end and experience being a waiter. I think it changes the way you treat your waiters and definitely the way you tip. I personally always like giving a good tip which would be more than 10% solely based on their crazy hours and hard work. Everyone assumes that its the easiest Job and depending on the restaurant its not true.
Jadine Richards said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 11:49 AM
In South Africa, if you force somebody to give a tip, nobody would get tipped! South Africans are naturally hard working people and they believe that one should earn their accolades and not get tipped just because they are doing their job.
I am also positive that if our economic climate was not as tight as it currently is, people would be happy to tip higher amounts as again, as hard working as most South Africans are, they are also natural givers with the spirit of Ubuntu still flowing strongly in their veins.
Henrietta said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 10:45 AM
I also think there would be more interest in waitering if 22% was the case but then again not many will be able to afford go to out for dinner. We don't like to dine out much, most of the time we go out we end up asking them for take aways and eat the rest of our dinner at home. I also agree with tipping does depend on the type of service you get, I normally like to round my figure off and end up paying more than the 10% required. It goes both ways, just like you are doing you them a favour to support them, waiters can do the effort to be a good waiter, it is not just them doing the favour. This is a kind of job I won't be able to survive because people can be extremely rude, I really do take my hat off for waiters.
Mathilda said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 09:14 AM
I feel you always have to give a tip when you are at a restaurant, I mean even if it is a standard 10%
I have worked as a waitress once and it was only for collecting donations for our Netball team to go on a tour and it was horrible it was then when I realised the rude people you get and the people who waiter for a living has to deal with that on a daily
Also I always fill up my car at Shell in Heidelberg and the staff there is so friendly and will always go the extra mile to insure you have save travels, I always give them a tip
Nikita said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:59 AM
I will always give what I can to those who are at least making an effort to earn a living. If I have to wake up everyday to make sure I have food on my table then so should everyone else. Yesterday I saw a guy at the robot doing a juggling act and he was rather talented. You can see he has put hours into practicing. That is something I can appreciate and something I will reward. Somebody who stands at the robot with his arm tucked into the back of his pants pretending to have had it amputated or something drives me insane. Nobody should support people like that. Our clients who have genuinely lost limbs still get up everyday and try to make the best of life and contribute where they can. They are brave souls.
Liesl said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:57 AM
My tip will largely depend on the service I received. If I was served well I will always try and give a good tip but will generally always try and tip something regardless unless the service was appalling. Whoever washes my hair at the salon I will normally tip as well as I don't think they pay extremely well and every little bit always helps you towards the miles ahead.
Clare said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:49 AM
I for one always tip my waiter based on his or her attitude and his or her efficiency, if you are going to be a slow sloppy waiter that doesn't actually look like you like your Job well I tip you with a very poor payment. I have to say that the waiters at my favorite restaurant always get nice tips from me because there services is always so nice and so quick.
Nina said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:48 AM
I believe in at least tipping the 10% even if you were not too happy with the service and obviously if you were very happy, you should tip a bit extra. I think the service really needs to be very very bad before you do not tip at all.
Jadine E said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:40 AM
I cant say I have experienced bad service at a restaurant, for me I tip as what my heart and hand allows which is a bit more then 10%....
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:37 AM
I too believe what you give out, you get back. 3 places that I generally tip is obviously at resturants, then at the garage and when I am at the salon getting a wax done etc. I think all 3 jobs must be difficult and not pay that well. My tip may not make a dent but I'm sure it makes people feel they are doing a great job. I feel that sometimes going the extra mile by asking to see the manager and complimenting the specific staff member makes more of an impact than any amount of money. Especially if financial circumstances at the time doesn't allow. We are so quick to complain but seldom have the time to send a complimentary email or speak to the manager about the good. Just something to remember. 22% would be a bit steep for me and I don't think I would eat out as often if it were compulsory.
Zanell said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:31 AM
I always give a 10 percent tip, obviously if my bill is small I would give more and if I feel the waiter was really good. I won't always give a car guard a tip unless he was there when I parked and helped me out of the parking, it somehow makes you feel better if you know they worked for it.
Alexis said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:26 AM
Karma is one thing I believe in...do good and same will come back to you...I always tip quite generously but it also all depends on the service given.
Lucretia said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 08:21 AM
I have never given a standard tip. I give what I think the service is worth - if your service is good, you will receive a tip from me that shows my appreciation thereof. I was at Spur, Mall of the South a while ago, the lady that served our table was appalling, she came across as hating her job and that she was doing us a favour for being there. We tipped her about 5% only and on the actual slip i wrote, "tip low - service shocking". The problem with people in South Africa is, they forget that your being there is paying there salary and, if more people held back on the "general" tip, the better our service should become..................at least we hope so.
Jessica Apfel said:
on Tuesday 18-Jul-17 07:46 AM
I too have worked as a waitress and its not easy to depend merely on your tips. Its not the shoes that a man wears but they way he tips! I also strive to be as generous as possible but often my own financial circumstances simply dont allow more than 10%. If we were obliged to tip up to 22%, I think fewer people would opt for a meal out!
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
