How do you tip when using credit card

Hi all,
What is the best way to tip when using a credit card.

Restaurants normally have a space on the credit card slip for you to write in the amount you want to tip so that you can sign the whole thing in one go.

In case they don't have that facility, then it's always wise to carry some cash with you in any case for just such an occasion.

I always like to leave a tip on the table, if you add it on to the credit card you can't be sure it gets to your waiter.

Dont worry about the tip not getting to the server if its put on the credit card...as they do a count in their head just how much they should receive after every shift..which they are paid upon leaving.

Restaurants in both UK and USA usually have a space where we can write the tip. In the UK, the bill usually says 'Gratuity' while in the US it is a straightforward 'Tip'. In cases where the service has been particularly good, I usually leave the tip in CASH (even though paying the bill by card)and make sure that the specific waiter/waitress gets it. Apparently, this is not always certain because the restaurant managements often have their own policies regarding credit card tips.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by blott
Restaurants normally have a space on the credit card slip for you to write in the amount you want to tip so that you can sign the whole thing in one go.

In case they don't have that facility, then it's always wise to carry some cash with you in any case for just such an occasion.
[/quote]

Never EVER tip via the credit card.
Always tip in cash. Reason is the employers don't always pass on your tip if given via your card. First rule of tipping in the States.

I have never worked in any resturaunt or bar where the establishment did not give me my tips from a credit card. The server always picks up the credit card receipt after the customer pays so she or he knows exactly how much tipping she or he will receive after they finish their shift. There tips are paid from the credit card before they leave for the day or night. I always leave tips on my credit card.


<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by RPK
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by blott
Restaurants normally have a space on the credit card slip for you to write in the amount you want to tip so that you can sign the whole thing in one go.

In case they don't have that facility, then it's always wise to carry some cash with you in any case for just such an occasion.
[/quote]

Never EVER tip via the credit card.
Always tip in cash. Reason is the employers don't always pass on your tip if given via your card. First rule of tipping in the States.

[/quote]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by bellaepovera
I have never worked in any resturaunt or bar where the establishment did not give me my tips from a credit card. The server always picks up the credit card receipt after the customer pays so she or he knows exactly how much tipping she or he will receive after they finish their shift. In case they don't have that facility, then it's always wise to carry some cash with you in any case for just such an occasion.

[/quote]

I accept what you are saying, but I don't think it is always true. A waitress at one establishment of a popular Mexican restaurant chain in the UK clearly told us that the serving staff get only a percentage of the CC tips as a rule. Apparently, this is the case in many other restaurants as well. We go there frequently and have got to know this girl and I belive she is telling the truth. So, unless the service has been sub-standard, we try to tip the waiter/waitress personally in cash.

There was a court case in the uk recently regarding passing on credit card tips onto the serving staff.
I'm a bit vague on the exact details, but the case was bought against the owners of a restaurant because they were not passing the full amount of the tip onto their staff. The end result was that the owners won. waitresses/waiters are not entitled to the full amount in the uk if paid by this method.

We've always left a cash tip , and zero the credit card bit.

Just a tip (;)) is to make sure that you put a line through the whole gratuity bit on the credit card bill if you don't intend to use it as it has been known for this to be filled in after you've left (but you all check your credit card statements against the receipts, right?).

Also make sure that you fill in the Total Amount at the bottom, whether you leave a tip on your card or not.

Where I work you have to print off a server report at the end of each shift and that has all your cc tips on it. These get added up over the week and you get them in the next pay packet. I always print off 2 and keep one for my records.

The only person to have anything from cc tips is the tax man:(:(

Jacqui

I never tip on the credit card in UK or US as normally the cc tip goes to the company and not the waiter. I always cross through the tip section, total the cc slip and give the tip in cash to the deserving server.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:
The only person to have anything from cc tips is the tax man:(:(

Jacqui
[/quote]

Quite true. Why should the *#@'*"(^#! tax man get a part of the tip? If we all paid tips by cash, the hardworking waiters/waitresses do not have to declare them, do they? I'll tip only by cash from now on.

Tell you a secret..in the states servers do not declare all their tips!! So I suppose leaving cash on the table is best!![msnwink]

We always tip in cash here and in the U.S because the servers seem to appreciate it, probably because they don't have to declare all or any of it to the taxman.