Is Tipping 20% Too Much in the Philippines?

[BrettGC]

2 hours ago, Tukaram (Tim) said:

My wife and I were in Boracay for christmas. We had a nice dinner, and the bill was p963.  I left a p1,000 bill and was walking away... my wife says "what about our change?"

...It is a never ending struggle ha ha 

This is why I tip when SAO (Short Angry One) isn't looking 

[Jollygoodfellow]

19 hours ago, bows00 said:

I personally hate this system.  I normally want my money to go to the person that rendered the good service.  Do you think I could get the waiter/waitress in trouble if I tucked the money in my hand and placed in his/her hand?

The place I frequent has many waiters and whomever is available will serve you, then the next beer will come from another so on. So no one person is assigned to you and because of the size of the place it could not be done. But to answer your question in this particular place, yes they would get in to trouble by pocketing the tip and I have seen a few times where someone tries to give a waiter the tip for personal use and they put it into the tip box once the customer leaves. Also there are cameras. 

The thing about tipping is just because a waiter gives you good service everyone forgets about the 8 people working in the kitchen to prepare your meal or the 3 or so behind the bar flat out keeping up with orders so perhaps the tips should be shared.

 

[Jack Peterson]

1 minute ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

The thing about tipping is just because a waiter gives you good service everyone forgets about the 8 people working in the kitchen to prepare your meal or the 3 or so behind the bar flat out keeping up with orders so perhaps the tips should be shared.

 If it is all done fairly then yes I fully agree, what I used to do with my staff is pay out according to the Hours they had worked that week  Sometimes it was difficult to pay out daily but as I had a fairly low turnover of staff it worked well 

[Tukaram (Tim)]

7 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

The thing about tipping is just because a waiter gives you good service everyone forgets about the 8 people working in the kitchen to prepare your meal or the 3 or so behind the bar flat out keeping up with orders so perhaps the tips should be shared.

When I cooked at Chili's (in the US) the waitstaff tipped out to the bar and bus staff. It was based on a percentage of the tickets, and not on the amount of tip they received. The cooks got a real paycheck.  I preferred getting a real paycheck

[Mr-T]

We usually tip from P50 to P100 but sometimes just the coins in our change. Sometimes no tip, depends on the service.

 

[Jollygoodfellow]

Why is it no one tips at Mcdonalds or Jollibee type places? 

[Tukaram (Tim)]

6 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Why is it no one tips at Mcdonalds or Jollibee type places? 

No table service, I guess.

[Jack Peterson]

20%  Hmmmmm ok until the bill comes to over 1,500 peso  ( and it can with family in tow)  Awww come on guys it is all relative EH? 

[Guy F.]

20% is far too much. It gives the natives unrealistic expectations regarding us average guys.

I agree with JGF regarding sharing tips with the entire staff.

[scott h]

3 hours ago, Guy F. said:

20% is far too much

Just yesterday, we went to our favorite sushi restaurant after shopping at SR. We were met at the door (which is not unusual in a country where hawkers are on the sidewalk trying to pull customers in ) with big smiles, shown to our favorite table and ice tea for me and hot tea for the wife placed on the table with out ordering. There was always a wait person with in sight of our table and even though the menu said no substitutions, I asked if we could get an extra crab sushi instead of the sea urchin (which I hate) in our combo order "no problem Sir".  

All told after our senior discount, 17 % VAT and service charge our bill was a tad over 800 pesos.  We paid with a 1000p bill and left the change. We were bowed out with genuine smiles and best wishes. 

Now this is just me, but for 4 USD to be treated well and know in advance that we will have an enjoyable experience is not so much a tip but more of an investment for the future. After all, I am retired and deserved to be pampered