[pmoriarty]

It's even worse in Europe, where a "mandatory tip" is already included in your bill by the time you get it. The service in Europe tends to be of a much lower quality than in the US as well.

In general, the US is a consumer paradise compared to Europe. In the US, it's better to be a consumer than an employee. In Europe it's the opposite.

[ma2rten]

It's even worse in Europe, where a "mandatory tip" is already included in your bill by the time you get it.

There is no "mandatory tip" in Europe. It's actually very simple: you pay for a service, the business pays it's employees. How much the employees get payed is not your concern as a customer. You can tip if you received excellent service, but that is totally optional as it should be.

In general, the US is a consumer paradise compared to Europe.

That is not true. US is business friendly. Europe is consumer and employee friendly. Just some examples: VAT is included in the price, all electronics include 2 year warranty, if you pay CRV you can return the bottle at the shop, shops must except returns, ...

[dantheman]

Europe is not consumer friendly at all.

Service is terrible, many places only accept cash, more accept debit cards, most don't accept credit cards.

Store hours are terrible.

[59nadir]

Sweden runs almost exclusively on plastic and technology, so much so that even a lot of older people don't even get physical bills anymore.

To say "Europe is..." about anything is a pretty broad statement. Your one or two trips to a couple of european countries probably doesn't qualify you to make this statement.

It's true about some countries in Europe. Bulgaria, for example, generally has bad service and you're lucky if you can use card to pay for everything you buy during a day. This is not representative of even a majority of Europe, though.

[elbear]

Where in Europe have you been? The diversity between countries is big and even in the same country you encounter differences.

[dalore]

Perhaps in the country. Europe is a big place. Places I go in Paris, Stockholm, London, Amsterdam usually accept cards.

[lucaspiller]

> It's even worse in Europe, where a "mandatory tip" is already included in your bill by the time you get it.

Recently a lot of restaurants in London have started adding this, however the "service charge" is completely optional (UK advertising laws state that the advertised price, in the menu, should include all fees and taxes). I think they've only done this as European tourists are used to it, so they can get more £££.

[zhte415]

Service charge included in the bill, often 10-15%, has been standard for decades, though some restaurants decline to add it, as it is optional. You can refuse to pay it when included in the bill.

Tipping in the UK is not expected, nor is it expected that visitors from Europe will tip, unless they're tricked into expecting tipping is expected. It is appreciated, but not expected.

This is London, other parts of the UK may vary.

[eterm]

This has been standard practice in the UK for a while now, but it's completely legal to cross through the service charge and tip cash (or not at all).

[59nadir]

> In general, the US is a consumer paradise compared to Europe. In the US, it's better to be a consumer than an employee. In Europe it's the opposite.

Yeah, that's why every time there is a TnC/EULA dispute european courts are the ones to throw out garbage conditions stated in EULAs and US courts are the ones who uphold them.

Sweden has a very consumer-centric mindset, to the point where I haven't in 26 years of living there ever felt like I was 'being fucked'. Even in this thread I see stuff in the US about being charged for using a card to pay. That's illegal in Sweden.

As an even better example, you have a 3 year right to return a product if it breaks, which overrides any signed contract or anything you might agree with in terms of guarantee with a store. It makes things like Applecare (that you apparently badly need in the US) useless, because everyone already has "Applecare for everything" as a consumer right.

[dalore]

That's why it's all gone to pot. You don't realise that employees are consumers. You give them more money they spend more.