[DoctorOetker]

Here in Belgium tipping is not really conventional, except in higher echelons of society. Some people do give tips sometimes. Usually its preagreed to pool all the tips into one pot for the shift and then divided amongst the employees. (a girl from the middle east working in the kitchen of a bar here in Belgium told me thats how they do it)

[CaptainZapp]

> Usually its preagreed to pool all the tips into one pot for the shift and then divided amongst the employees

That, probably, is restaurant specific. Some places pool the tips and the kitchen staff is also part of the pot in other places the server gets to keep the tips.

The American model of tipping (like 20% essentially mandatory) really annoys me. I say that as a person who usually tips quite generously, but it's really not my business as a paying patron to be responsible for the staff salaries.

Raise the damn prices already and let a tip really be a tip.

[piva00]

What I really dislike about the American model of tipping is exactly that: it's basically mandatory. If you don't tip (or tip below the "socially acceptable" for a good service) you are the asshole. Not only that, it's deceiving, I had to always do mental arithmetic to figure out how much things really cost in the end, or be side-eyed by service people when I didn't know better.

And I'm not even including the perverse incentives of constant bajulation of the customer, the fake happiness and cheery attitude ground me quite a bit after the third or fourth restaurant...

I don't need that, I need a menu, someone who can see when I want to order, bring my food and drinks and let me be and enjoy my meal. The constant pestering by waiters if I wanted something else, if I was ready for this or that, it just made me feel like part of some machine to extract as much revenue as possible in the least time.

I ate in quite a few places in the US, from street food vendors to high-end restaurants and I have to say I barely enjoyed most of the experiences, it's just too much.

[joeseppy]

I don't tip more than a few dollars unless the server did something well or was especially nice. Seems like many servers these days just expect the 20% bonus just for taking an order and carrying food around, regardless of attitude