More Canadian restaurants start tacking on an automatic 20 per cent tip to your bill

[Elyse]

You don't have to live in Toronto to pay attention to the city's flap over restaurant tipping. These trends tend to migrate.

The Big Smoke is currently wrestling with a controversy over the practice by some restaurants of adding an automatic 20 per cent gratuity to the bill, whether you were happy with the service or not.

The National Post reports two new restaurants, the Westerly and the Ace, are adding the automatic tip percentage on handheld electronic terminals.

The Westerly's co-owner Tom Earl says it's not compulsory but up to diners whether or not to OK the amount as they complete the transaction.

"Nobody's demanding that anybody tip anything," he told the Post. "It's a personal decision. If [customers] want to, they can. If they don't want to, they don't have to."

The commonly accepted tip these days is 15 per cent, more if you find the service exceptional. The recent move is drawing kudos from restaurant servers, who point out 20 per cent tips are customary in large U.S. cities such as New York.

"But while Toronto servers earn a minimum hourly wage of $8.90, waiters in the Big Apple only earn $4.65 per hour 'because their total compensation includes expected tips,' according to the New York State Department of Labour," the Post says.

Of course, in a flush town like Calgary, big tips are more common.

"Eighteen to 20 per cent is easily the norm," said Janet Watson, an Alberta-based etiquette expert. "Some people tip 25 per cent ... I don't know anybody who tips 10 per cent anymore. Fifteen per cent is the bottom line here."

In Vancouver, Cafe Medina manager Robbie Kane says his eatery assigns an 18 per cent gratuity to groups of eight or more. During the 2010 Olympics, many Vancouver restaurants and bars apparently added 20 per cent tips to the bill.

Server Aidan Johnston has worked in Australia, where the hourly restaurant wage is $19.50 and tips are small "keep-the-change" gratuities, and in Toronto, where the minimum wage is $8.90 an hour but a good server can earn up to $200 a night in tips.

"I like the excitement of getting tips," Johnston told the Toronto Star. "It's like opening a Christmas present when you see that billfold."

The Star reports that the low-wage, high-tip model is unlikely to change because restaurants operate on thin profit margins. Raising pay to Australian levels would raise

menu prices and remove some of the incentive to provide excellent service.

"Is Joe Consumer willing to pay 20 per cent more for a meal and have not great service?" asks Todd Sherman, co-owner of the Gabby's restaurant chain.

Some places take the compulsory tip practice very seriously. An American couple was arrested a few years ago for refusing to pay the automatic gratuity tacked onto their bill after getting poor service. Leslie Pope and John Wagner were hauled away by police and charged with theft for not paying the mandatory 18 per cent gratuity totaling $16 after eating at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with six friends.

Police later dropped the charges.

How do you feel about restaurants that tack on an automatic tip to your bill?

The day they start doing THAT in the restaurants we go to...is the day we're not going to them anymore! They're going to lose a lot of business, the idiots!

Nobody wants to pay an extra 20% on their bill if they got bad service or if their waitress was...well...'mean'.

[Rosemary]

Eating out at a good restuarant is a luxury for us and is not something we do as often as we used to, so good service is very important.

A waiter/waitress can make or break a good night out at a restaurant. The size of the tip we leave definitely depends on the service we receive. If I have to wait an hour for the glass of water I asked for - forget it, the tip will be 10%, but if the water appeared as if by magic the tip would be in the region of 20%.

My niece waitressed during her time at varsity and earned a small fortune in tips - being polite and efficient cost her nothing but brought huge rewards. I know she would have hated to earn the same in tips as the slacker who did just the minimum.

I would definitely not go to a restaurant that automatically added the tip, what incentive would the waiter have to give good service - none. But, it must be very hard on a waiter who worked his butt off on a table that left a 'keep the change' tip that is not fair either.

[RoseWillow&Dexter]

OMG I can't believe how low the minimum wages are over there. The minimum wage in Australia is around $15 an hour and most waiters/waitresses would be on a casual rate of around $18 an hour.

It's not really customary to tip here like it is in America but people would still give tips if they received exceptional service, I guess tips are already factored into wages here.

[persephona]

It's interesting to see the difference in mentality in different countries. Here it's customary to leave a 10% tip if you are happy with the service. If unhappy, leave nothing.

I understand that waitressing is a difficult job, but I still think it is a bit presumptuous to assume that all customers will be happy and decide to give 20% of their bill for the staff. I want to be able to decide what I leave to the waiter, depending on how good the service was.

However, I think that legally speaking, you can ask for the service charge back and just leave as much as you want for the staff. Surely it can't be legal for the 20% extra to be mandatory.

[Biggles]

The problem I see with automatic tipping is will the staff member actually get the tip or will it remain with the restaurant or I can foresee the restaurant charging an admin cost to process the tip so the staff don't get it all. Also you will be tipping for bad service and there is no incentive to give good service. I never add on the tip to the bill and always leave it separately depending on how good the service has been and I then know that the employee gets the tip and not the business.

[Rosemary]

I never add on the tip to the bill and always leave it separately depending on how good the service has been and I then know that the employee gets the tip and not the business.

Yes, so do we

[lebe03]

I wouldn't go back to a restaurant the automatically applied a tip as I feel it's my decision to make based upon the service I received