Here's something this Europhile prefers about the U.S....
 

The cup of coffee thread got me thinking.

In Europe, places charge extra to drink coffee on the premises.

In Europe, I've seen hotel breakfast buffets with different charges depending on what items you take (granola is extra, for instance), leading, one time, to confusion and a nasty exchange.

In Europe, restaurants are much more likely to charge for the use of the toilet.

I could go on if I thought about it.

These things do not happen nearly as much in the U.S. Americans would view it as petty, and as poor customer relations.

Has anyone else noticed this? Why do you think this is?

I know what you mean Cimbrone.
Thats what I like about going to the US -Its all clear (and in English of course)so we dont make fools of ourselves.
We do however spend more on tips in the US though.

Placing bread/rolls on the table as though its part of the meal and then charging extra is annoying to me.
Jane

In Europe, you get teeny weeny hotel rooms that aren't even airconditioned. Often, the bathroom is down the hall and has to be shared.

If you rent a car, it's teeny tiny, has manual transmission and there's no place to park.

Worst of all, though, Europe is mobbed with tourists.

((I))

as a general point, i think you can argue the foolishness or sensibility of just about every regional practice depending on which side of the issue you are on or what agenda you have.

JaneB, were you saying that placing bread on the table and then charging for it happens in the US? I've never seen it.

Hi missypie,

>..were you saying that placing bread on the table and then charging for it happens in the US? I've never seen it.<

I have. Not often, but usually in expensive places where the expense account clientel doesn't care.

((I))

SAme w/the pretzels in Germany...you set them in front of me, of course I'm going to eat them. But @ 2 or 3 Euros a pop, I might think twice.

Hi, in Europe and South America sometimes when you have tea and pastry in a cafe,because there is a lot of different pastries to choose from they might bring you on request or even if you do not ask for it, a plate with 6 or 8 different pastries.
Then you are charged according with what you have eaten.
In all my trips to Europe I never encountered a buffet breakfast that would charge you more depending of what you eat. It sounds almost impossible for the waiter to keep up with it.
In some countries like Portugal and
former Checoeslovaquia, the waiter might bring to the table some cold samples of different delicacies and if you do not want them you should tell the waiter to take them back.
In general Americans are more generous in their general approach . And for instances in my experience it is much easier to deal with an
American airline than with an European.
In general when you are lucky and are dealing with a nice representative of an airliner when they are AMericans they tend to be nicer and more helpful than their counterparts in EUROPE.
Once an airliner representative of an airliner( I believe it was Swissair) in Athenes drove me crazy. He charged for things that later were refunded. I tried to tell him that he was wrong at no avail.He was also rude.
However my worst experience ever was with a young couple of airliners attendants -a man and a woman- in Delta first class flying from Atlanta to Miami.
I had had a terrible accident in ITaly and was flying with my leg in a cast and I know I looked very bad and was very tired having iniciated my trip in Rome.They were so nasty that to this day I still have a bad feeling to it . On the other hand the personel in the Rome Atlanta flight in business were wonderful. May be because they were not that young..
or is it that I am prejudiced?

It was irritating to us, too, before we figured out in Germany that we'd need to refuse the pretzels/bread rolls set on the table or we'd pay for them. Also the condiments in some places.

The flip side of the coin, I think, is that we Americans are so used to bottomless cups of coffee, endless soda refills, limitless bread and chips/salsa -- that we've become hugely overweight! (We also ride around in our big fat cars too much.)

I was lucky to be brought up on a Scottish island where luxury was getting a hot water bottle in your bed in winter!
Now I'm all grown up (and then some)I do enjoy the finer things in life.
When we go to the US we really appreciate the large rooms and beds - a touch of luxury!
When we're holidaying in Europe we never go for less than 4* and usually try to get a bargain 5*. At least you get a decent sized bed that way!
We were in Bergen last weekend and although the hotel room was a decent size, the bed was on metal foldy out legs- like a camp bed.
It had 2 separate mattresses which were thin and we had 2 single thin quilts on top.
The tin bath was a good size and the shower efficient. The floor was heated too! No bath mat to step out onto and a small towel each to dry us! 2 very small hand towels hung by the basin.
I just love when you get big fluffy towels and bathrobes!
My husband always jokes that it would be cheaper to just buy a bathrobe and take a cheaper room! Cheapskate!

Missypie,
No, it's a European thing that is annoying. I guess I should have said that I like NOT having bread placed on table in US. I've never seen it done here. :)
Jane

Bread on the table - it's a local version of a minimum charge, though admittedly it's a bit off to go through the palaver of charging it in addition to a main meal. It's just one of those things people in the country have come to accept almost without noticing.

I remember an old American song, the refrain of which was "You don't get bread with one meatball". Everyone has their charges and restrictions..

You are right. Europe is awful.

I posted this question/issue on another thread, but it was never addressed: We traveled in Italy with "big kids" (ages 10, 13 and 15). Most of the time, only the adults were charged the bread/cover charge; on two or three occasions,however, they added five charges. The charge ranged from one euro to 5 euro per person. So that means that our bread/cover charge ranged from a low of 2 euro to a high of 25 euro (and the 25 euro was not at a super-high end restaurant).

I assume that it is only tourists who blindly go into restaurants, not knowing if they will be charged 1 euro or 5, or whether they will be charged for the kids or not...a 23 euro differnce in your check is significant to most people.

So, do budget conscious Italian families ask about the cover charge before they sit down to eat, or would it have been clearly posted if we had known where to look (we saw an amount posted sometimes, but not whether they'd charge for the kids). I can't believe that Italians let themselves be subject to large surprises in their restaurant tabs.

About 10 years ago we went into a Burger King in Berlin for a coke and fries, and of course asked for catsup. The young counter girl seemed to be embarassed when she told us that she had to charge us extra for the little catsup packs.

She said that the Americans were always very surprised at that. I have no idea if that is still their policy.

DH's pompous bumpkin and I mean bumpkin brother in law and DH's sister, stayed with us for a few days in Paris. When we were in the process of ordering our dinner, he included bread as part of his order. He thought that he could only get it if he ordered it, and that there was an extra charge for it on the check. We didn't want to embarass him, he is very capable of doing that to himself, so we didn't say anything.

Nina

I like the fact that a lot of European cities, I can get a very inexpensive cup of coffee standing at the counter. If I'd like to sit & relax, I pay a little more for a table. If I want to sit at an outdoor table, I pay a little more. In the U.S., the outdoor tables are much more likely to be all taken, because there's no disincentive to use them.

That's great, but the charge for a bread basket that I didn't ask for is quite annoying.

So - why DO they charge for catsup or mayonaise, instead of just adding a bit extra to the price of the fries? Do most Europeans eat their fries dry? It was no big deal to pay extra, but it makes me wonder about the different approach.

No bread at the table in US restaurants? In my experience, most restaurants serve bread or some sort of dinner roll--though there is no separate charge. Perhaps it's a regional thing--I haven't dined in the southeast (at least not south of Virginia) or Pacific northwest in quite some time.

I'm a Europhile also,

However...

The fresh squeezed orange juice at any corner diner in the US is many times tastier than the orange juice at any place I've ever been in Europe - including expensive, well known, places.

That and lower US gas prices pretty much sums it up.