Tipping in NZ??
 

I can't remember from our last trip....but what is the tipping policy in NZ restaurants??

Thanks

I'm not sure what the actual policy is, but I'm so used to tipping , I just did the same as I do at home.
We really didn't eat in restaurants that much though. We cooked our own meals in hostels.
I'm a big fan of good tipping if the service is good. I feel that a bit more out of my pocket isn't going to make or break my vacation, but it might make a hard working server feel appreciated.
Making people feel good adds to my pleasure, so I suppose it's sort of selfish on my part!!!!

Local custom is no tipping, and the locals really do not appreciate that tourists do tip. At most I would do it in a tourist-oriented or very upscale restaurant, and not the full amount you do at home.

mlgb.......OK...I may be dense...but why would the locals NOT appreciate
tipping??

Hi Bailey, although I live in California I can tell you why the locals do not appreciate it.

A lot of countries do not have the outrageous tipping policy we do here in the USA.

Countries that do not tip, or tip just a little for extremely good reasons pay their employees a proper wage unlike in the USA.

Consequently, if we Americans go to countries that do not tip and tip as we do in the USA we start, in some cases, making the employees feel "entitled" to a good size tip. The Americanization of other countries as it were, which so many people with good reason complain about.

I always look at it as "when in Rome".
I think one is obligated to follow the local customs to the best of their knowledge when one is a guest in another country.

Just my thoughts on the subject. But I would like to add it is the thoughts of people I know in other countries that do not have the USA type of tipping policy.

Enjoy NZ, just had a grandson that was there recently and he is still talking about his beautiful trip.

Thanks for the info....
The tipping thing always drives me crazy...I am an over-tipper....I feel as if I'm solely responsible for the servers
college education...his/her childrens education....his/her parent retirement...you get the point!

""I will limit my tipping...I will limit my tipping....""

LOL Bailey, I understand the feeling. I have spent all my life telling myself I am not responsible for everyone. I "think" I am getting better at it - but then again maybe not.

I know when we first started going to Italy I died of embarresment because we tipped (or not) as our friends there told us to. Not sure if I still feel comfortable about it but I do try to follow their rules as I understand the thinking.

Take care, and have a wonderful time in NZ!

Because they believe that you should not have to pay for good service, it should be part of the job requirements.
Think of it as factored into the price of your meal already. Actually, Love italy explained it very well.

I just finished touring NZ and as some of the above posters stated, tipping is NOT expected in most places, BUT I started to see the "tipping" line on some CC printouts. It was mostly in the tourist areas or bigger cities. In small towns or areas that did not receive many tourists I actually did get a strange looks when I left some change on the bar/table at the end of the evening as the CC printouts did not have any room to add a tip. In one little pub, the bartender ran outside after me to give me the money she thought I forgot. :-)

LoveItaly is spot-on as usual, and for "New Zealand" read "Australia" too.

If I can add a personal, but in this part of the world widely shared, slant - IMNSHO people in the hospitality industry, like anyone else serving the public, are entitled to a living wage, and their employers should not be allowed to escape their obligation to provide them with decent pay and conditions. They shouldn't have to bow and scrape to customers to make up the shortfall.

I understand that Americans have grown up under a very different system and will feel uncomfortable in (mostly) not tipping, but I do believe that introducing a reliance on tips will not be doing Oz/NZ hospitality workers a favour in the long term if the ultimate effect is that their mandated conditions are whittled away and they end up even more insecure than they are already.

A slightly dodgy analogy - the tourists who feed wild deer in US national parks because it makes those same tourists feel better (good point, kodi!). The end result is that the beasts become dependent on customer handouts, raid garbage bins and in the process choke on plastic bags, even attack "cheap" tourists who won't fork out. Now, there's a scary thought, but anyone who's ever stiffed a NY waiter will know the feeling, sort of.

VERY well said, Neil! And everyone else made very valid points too.
I'll try and behave the next time I'm on vacation!!!!
Thou shalt not tip.......
Have a great trip Bailey. I understand the desire to return to NZ. I wnat to go back already and I've only been home a couple of months.

We did not tip, with the exception of at Mapua Smokehouse where we saw a container beside the cashier for holding tips so we just dropped the loose coins inside. (As a note: We did not see such containers at the other restaurants we went to.)

We did not feel forced to tip or embarassed that we did not, unlike in the US where waiters do give you a hard stare when you tip too little. In my home country, we have to pay a standard 10% service charge at restaurants, regardless of the service and whether you like it or not.

Therefore, I truly enjoy dining at NZ restaurants. No strings attached! :)

We just returned from NZ. We felt that tipping was not expected in most places, and did not. We felt that some people had pride in their labor and did not want to want to be considered as dependent on handouts from superiors.

Even when there was a 'tip' line on the bill, we did not tip unless we felt it was reasonable to do so.

But when we felt that the service was exceptional, or in some cases, expected, we did. For restaurants, 5-10%. For the bellhop in Auckland, we were told it was expected $1-2/bag.

I am so infuriated at Americans who feel that they must tip no matter what. Whether it is a matter of habit or a feeling that they are saving the waiter from poverty, it is arrogant. It changes the local culture and makes it difficult for us Americans who follow.

Jed, bellhops in Auckland must do pretty well - I could be wrong, but I'd be surprised if NZ labour laws didn't provide them with a minimum wage, even if a modest one.

This topic raises its head regularly on the Europe and Asia forums too, and outside North America the tip situation generally seems to vary from zero to 10% (maybe in the form of a "service charge"). Even after getting the answer, though, some posters flatly refuse to accept it - one even labelled anyone who didn't tip (wherever they happened to be) a "skinflint"!

chenoa, the concept of a "service charge" has always mystified me. Do diners have the option to opt out of the service component of a meal and pick up their own meals from the kitchen, open their own wine etc? If not, why not fold the charge into the meal prices?

Hi guys from NZ

The tipping question often raises its head on this site.

In general, no you do not have to tip here. Only do so if you feel the service was truly exceptional.

Labour laws in New Zealand are such that staff are fairly well paid. Good staff even more so given that unemployment in NZ is so low good staff are always in demand.

As far as the space on CC dockets provided to fill in for a tip are concerned it is a rare day when I fill in any amount on that.

It is provided should you wish to tip not because you have to tip. Also since you are paying at the till there is no guarantee that the charge would go to the waitperson anyway. Probably justgo to the restaurant owners bottom line.

Chenoa, there are several countries that have a compulsory service charge included in the bill. Frankly I find this annoying. One should not have to separately identify the service as being different from the food being served. It should just be included in the bill.

That is of course unless the situation is like that in the UK, where you can (and I have) deduct the service charge from the bill if the service is bad. Which to be honest if you have ever travelled in the UK is standard anyway. (unless you are at an Indian or chinese restaurant where the service is generally very good)

So Bailey, to cut a long story short.

Don't feel obliged to tip. The staff are paid well enough, don't believe any sob story to the contrary either.

Enjoy your stay here in NZ.

Cheers

Steve

Neil..... You are right, I'd rather face the wild deer that a ""stiffed NY waiter""....hahaha!

In the US we are so accustomed to the 15-20% tip.....I bet it is a shock to come to the US & have to add that expense to a meal?

I will not tip I promise!!

Oh what fun to buy coffee & not have to leave more money in a jar.....and what great coffee it is in NZ........long blacks here we come!!!!

Just a little added story about the time I DIDN'T tip.
We had been driving all day and were really tired. We stopped in a little town and asked for 2 teas to go ( to take away) and the waitress prepared the tea and put it in small paper cups. Then she said, "That will be $7.00 please".
I just about fell over...and she said it with a straight face! After we got into the car and were on our way, we joked ( and still do) that it must have been gourmet tea!
I didn't leave a tip! But it is memory that makes us smile.

Neil and Kiwi_acct,
I've not heard that we can deduct the service charge for less than satisfactory service, but when it comes to genuine poor service, you can always make a complain to the captain and hopefully he'll make you feel better in some other ways, but usually not waive off the service charge. Fat hope if you think you can get away with the service charge if it's self-service. You still have to pay for "service" even if you are having buffet lunches or dinners and helping yourself. Basically, the service charge component is there not because there's waiters to serve you, but because it's a "restaurant" or more dignified eating place than the hawker centres, food court, coffee shop or the fast food restaurants. In posh restaurants where you can BYO, there might be another corkage charge. If you purchase their wines, then the corkage charge is "free" (i.e. included in the price).

I don't like the standard service charge either, but we seldom dine at restaurants so it's not too much a bother. We can get better food at better prices at hawker centres. Cheers! :)

Bailey, we thought we were well prepared for tipping practice in the US until I was told that it's customary to leave some money for the chambermaids - although even this seemed to be a matter of some disagreement. If so I regret not having tipped in the first few hotels we stayed in, because it's a hard, thankless job and I wouldn't like to think that I shorted the maids.

In general though I take a philosophical approach to tipping in the US, reasoning that if US staff were paid a full wage no doubt the price of your meal would be 15-20% higher than it is. The only times we tried to minimise tips was in the area of baggage handling, as tips to everybody in the food chain who can get their hands on your bags for even a few metres soon mount up.

I heard that rather than being paid to do the job, some hotel doormen in the US actually pay the hotel for their concession, as it can be quite a lucrative business. True?

Sorry, I've meandered off the topic, haven't I?

Having grown up in NZ and now living in Australia we do not usually tip in either NZ or Australia and it is not expected.
You pay for your meals so why should you tip.