Uh, no, this is not fantasy, I know what my wait staff used to make for tips at the restaurant I managed in Germany. I know what my housekeepers used to make for tips in the hotel I managed in Germany too. So, these small tips may be what you and your friends tip out, but it isn't reality in many restaurants. Most places are 10% if service was good. If service was bad, I have no problem not tipping at all.

No, I don't tip Mc. D staff. That is fast food, not a restaurant.

Mainhattengirl wrote: "No, I don't tip Mc. D staff. That is fast food, not a restaurant."

It's going to take me forever to work out the import of that.

I worked fast food from 2001-2004 and made $6 an hour. Just because I was working in fast food doesn't mean I worked less than housekeeping or someone at a sitdown restaurant.

You get paid an hourly wage for what your position is deemed to be worth (in general), not the amount of effort it takes. If those positions were that horrible, nobody would do them for low pay, and the wages would go up.

I only tip servers, (which I think American's tip far too much as I worked as a hostess and servers were making over $25 an hour) because they do not make minimum wage in America.

Should I tip someone who helps me find the right size shirt at Target? Should I tip the person who checks me out at the grocery store? Where does the tipping stop? Both those jobs are also lower paying jobs but nobody would ever think of tipping them for their service.

I know people who tip the gas station attendant that fills their gas tanks.

If you earn $6 an hour, you shouldn't think about tipping, but worry about survival. But then if you can afford internet access, that doesn't seem to be a problem.

They tried to re-introduce gas station attendants for filling up your tank at BP last year. A huge failure. They actually wanted one € for that service but weren't allowed to take cash. Instead you got a plastic card that you were supposed to hand over at the cash register where that € was added to your bill. I didn't see anybody who paid that €, all refused, including me... What a ... idea that was.

I don't currently earn $6 an hour (the minimum wage isn't that low anymore either). I was in high school saving money for college and gas.

We also don't have gas station attendants that fill up your tank where we live. If you are handicap you can request assistance but that's it.

Mainhattangirl..

I might have had to much red wine tonite already.. so please excuse if my brain does not work properly anymore.
But: if I got your last posting correct, you say that YOU were a hotel and restaurant manager, and YOUR employees were paid so little that YOU expect the customers to give YOUR employees a good tip that YOUR employees can make a better living?????
This might be a total outlandish idea, but: Why did not YOU pay them a proper wage?
How was I, as your hotel or restaurant guest, supposed to know that YOU employ housekeeping or waitstaff at such low wages that I was supposed to fill the gap and let them put some food on the table?!
I would suggest little notes in the rooms (like the ones for hanging up your towel to save energy): "Dear guest, in order to give you a competitive rate, we exploit our housekeeping and waitstaff. A decent tip is appreciated. Kind regards, the Management"

I really doubt that workers at MacDonald's have to pick up the nasty stuff that uncivilized people leave in hotel rooms.

I'm not uncivlized; I don't leave nasty stuff in hotel rooms. Does that mean that I don't have to tip?

[I don't leave nasty stuff in MacDonald's either, if we disregard what they pretend is food.]

I do tip the hairdresser 5€. In Munich, the answer is "thanks". Up north, the usual answer is "wow, please do come again". So there may be differences.. LOL

Where do you leave the tip? I always wonder if the housekeeper will realize that I am leaving a tip so in the US, I usually leave a note and leave the tip on the desk. Where I can't write in the local language, I wonder where the customary place is to leave the tip.

Cowboy, I wasn't going to come back onto this thread, but yeah, you had too much wine and totally misunderstood my post.

Not once did I say I "expected" guests at the hotel or restaurant that I managed to tip. I said I "knew" what my employees received, as they often told me. Please don't read more than what is there. I don't know why you are being so arrogant with me about this.

Secondly, since you know so much about Germany, then you should also know that most salaries are tarif based, especially in the hotel and restaurant industry and a manager has little to do with how much people earn.

Still waiting for you to come back and tell us all what you think a housekeeper at the Best Western or Ibis makes an hour and whether or not you think it is a living wage. How most of these women are immigrants (who will probably only be able to get lowly work like this due to their lack of education in Germany or their German language). If they come home at the end of a back-breaking 8 hour day, after cleaning 15-20 rooms with 20 euro, cause most people do only leave 1 euro or so, they are very happy.

So, I am out of here.

Cowboy is a native German, which became clear to everybody in the Dutchies thread. Good to know there are a few around.