The people of Sheffield stand accused of being the meanest tippers in Britain. In a recent survey, 28 per cent of them confessed they were ‘unlikely’ to leave a tip at the end of a meal. And the average tip left by the remainder was only £1.94 on a bill of £30, or a measly 6 per cent.
But, then again, who am I to judge? I have just come back from New York, where to tip or be tipped is all the rage. If you take a yellow cab and pay with a credit card, a sign pops up on the screen offering you a tipping choice of 20, 25 or 30 per cent.
There is no option of 15 per cent, let alone 6 per cent. Pity the poor Sheffielder, stuck in New York!
A survey of the people of Sheffield found 28 per cent of them confessed they were ‘unlikely’ to leave a tip at the end of a meal
The average tip left by the remainder of people in the Steel City was only £1.94 on a bill of £30, or a measly 6 per cent
In New York restaurants, 20 per cent is the norm, and this comes with further complications, as you are expected to add it to your own bill, then to add up the total and fill it in.
This means that every meal ends in a maths test. For instance, if your bill comes to $83.41, you have to work out 20 per cent of $83.41, then to add that figure to $83.41, and come up with the correct total.
Even at self-service restaurants, where you queue for sandwiches wrapped in polythene, a sign pops up on the credit card machine saying ‘Gratuity’, leaving a space for you to fill.
In America and Britain, hotels are a minefield of hesitation, worry, fear and guilt. The New York Times offers such far-reaching rules for tipping — ‘bellhops are usually given $2 per bag in luxury hotels, $1 per bag elsewhere; hotel maids should be tipped $2 per day of your stay; a doorman who hails or helps you into a cab can be tipped $1 to $2’ — that only those armed with pocketfuls of notes will feel confident about making it to their bedrooms.
