Who Tips In Paris Cafes and How Much?
 

In Paris to tip or not at cafes and restaurants?

The BBC article has some interesting data - what country's visitors to Paris tip at all - well Americans easily top the list and the French themselves are near the bottom - only 15% leaving a real tip.

Anyways an interesting article on tipping and how it is declining in Paris cafes and restos:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28793677

Only tourists who do not know any better leave large tips. I might leave change but find an article in French that tries to convince readers to leave 15%.

I do not tip unless spending at least 10 euros, and then only 0.10 or 0.20 at the most if I don't want to wait for the change.

slightly off topic.... what about tipping taxis?? (we will likely take a taxi from cdg, which we have not previously done....)

That is not true taht French don't tip. Look at me, I'm half French by now and I go about 100 times a year to a restaurant. I tip twice, maybe trice in a year.

Last time I was the bank towards the restaurant, we had a bill of roughly 200 € and I left a gigantic tip of 3€.

SO If I leave 3 times a tip of about 2% out of a hundred meals, my average tip is ?

I tip more the taxis : when they ask for 23,5 €, I round it up to 25€.

I tip the hairdresser with about 1-2€.

Then we tip : the schoolmaster (one bottle of wine when I think of it) the cleaning lady (at home) (oops not this year), the vet (ah, no), the cleaning lady at hotel (never), the bookkeeper (I paid the restaurant last time), the dentist (ah no), the garage mechanic (ah no)... and I bring once a year a few bottles of beer to the guys in charge of the recyling disposal 'park'.

Another tipping thread. It's an American obsession, isn't it?

BTW, the article is poorly researched. The Germans who left "a powerful 15-20%" did it probably by mistake.

Only NewBe tips.

If I'm a few cents short of the total, I leave it. Otherwise, no tips unless I've gotten extraordinary service. It's just not expected.

Service compris. I'll leave change, maximum being 2-3 euro on a larger bill that is say over 37 euros. If it was 35 euro bill, i'd leave just the change under a euro.

Arbitrariness is fine with me if I'm the arbitrary one.

with my French in-laws every time I try to leave left over change they chastise me for throwing my money around like an American.

Note that Italians are the most at leaving the least tips - even lower than the French - means in Italy I guess nearly no one local tips?

Don't Germans understand the Servis compris part -- I thought it were that way in Germany too?

Pal - the article is crap. Germans round up or tip 5% maximum. The journalist's sample size was one - not a reliable number. It must be a mistake.

I left a tip in UK last month. The waitress was charming. The food was ok.

<i>slightly off topic.... what about tipping taxis?</i>

Just like everywhere else, no need to tip. I might add a euro or two if the driver helps with the luggage.

One would think that taxi drivers may expect to get a tip from say Americans and may invite it - and work for it with special treatment, etc? It's human nature - same for wait staff.

I wonder if French wait folk share their tips with say the cooks and bottle washers like I think is the case here in the US of A.

Tipping has always been distasteful to me - a job is a job - waiter or bus driver and should be paid a living wage by the proprietor and not as American wait staff do grovel for tips - but then you may end up with rather brusque or let say not great service in places - fine with me - just bring the food and drink - you can leave the smile and small talk out.

but though I have encountered more than a few rude wait people in say Paris in France in general I find that waiters view themselves as professionals and do their job in a way they have been trained and see fit - don't expect them to say 'is everything all right' every few minutes, etc.

I like restaurants here that have a service charge and say no tipping needed.

<i>One would think that taxi drivers may expect to get a tip from say Americans and may invite it </i>

No driver is going to look at your passport to know where you live. Those from New Zealand speak English and they don´t tip anymore often than do the French. Speaking English doesn´t mean a thing in reference to what a taxi driver may or may not expect.

I was in a taxi in Shanghai (well a Limo - or their definition of a limo) which we had asked several times at the airport was a regular taxi...

Anyway, we overpaid for the trip and upon arrival the driver asks us about a tip. We say no - price is price all in.
He then takes a board on which was written 'Tips : 20%' !

We repeated : no. He looked disappointed. I put this on the disastrous influence of the American tourists - nowhere else were we asked for tips. Indeed, we got rebates everytime we bought something.

St Cirq, do you live in France? Quel miracle!

Jaloux(se) ?

NewbE - just what is your point? Go stalk StCirq somewhere else. This is really annoying.

Coming from you, fuzz... Well, never mind.

Note that St Cirq mentioned me first in this thread when I was not even participating in it, so if anyone is doing any "stalking ", it's that well known expat herself.

Fuzz, you're just mad because you're taking well deserved ribbing for a very silly series of comments on the Uber thread.