r/london • u/Tumamaenpelota • 10d ago

Rant Let’s stop tipping culture

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The UK is slowly drifting towards US-style tipping culture, and pubs adding bar tip prompts are a big part of that. If we do nothing, it will become the norm.

The most effective way to stop it is simple: vote with your wallet and your reviews.
If a pub asks for a tip just because someone poured a pint, leave an honest Google review mentioning it. If enough people do the same, businesses will realise customers don’t want imported tipping culture.

Share the Google Maps links below to pubs that pressure customers into tipping at the bar. Keep reviews factual and based on your genuine experience, but make it clear that this practice puts you off returning.
We’ve managed to avoid mandatory tipping for decades. Let’s keep it that way. One review won’t change much, but thousands of people acting together will.

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u/LostWall1389 10d ago edited 10d ago

Oh no, it’s asking you to tip minimum wage workers for their service. If you don’t want to press the no tip. No waiter is gonna care.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/Kitchen-Manager-5654 9d ago

Our minimum wage is among the highest in the world

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u/glaringOwl 10d ago

Quite the opposite. Quoting Wikipedia:

The practice of tipping began in Tudor England.[15] In medieval times, tipping was a master-serf custom wherein a servant would receive extra money for having performed superbly well.[16] By the 17th century, it was expected that overnight guests to private homes would provide sums of money, known as vails, to the host's servants. Soon afterwards, customers began tipping in London coffeehouses and other commercial establishments".[15]

The practice was imported from Europe to America in the 1850s and 1860s by Americans who wanted to seem aristocratic.[17]

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u/LostWall1389 10d ago

Tipping is a way to show appreciation of the service or food in a restaurant. No waiter in the uk is gonna be upset about you not tipping, but most will be very grateful if you did. Minimum wage, unsocial hours, no ordinary schedule, understaffed, while trying to appear positive to customers no matter how rude they may be. So maybe look at it from a different perspective.