Yeah, but I can see why OP would do that. In other countries tipping waiters is not expected because they are actually paid well. It kind of sucks when you don't get tipped simply because the customer didn't know that in the US most waiters get paid basically only through tips. Fishing for tips isn't cool, but I get it in this case.

Well what if the server was not doing a good job, what if the person only had enough to pay for their food?

24- a tip is a choice; that's why it's a tip, and not included in the price, tipping is not required and is not illegal to not tip in any state

Even if the service sucks, I always tip. But if you go above and beyond, you're getting more than 20%. If you do the bare minimum, you're getting 20%. That simple. and if you only have enough for just the meal, carry your butt to McDonald's, where they get paid more than $2.13 an hour.

For a fact in Canada servers don't get paid very much. I believe it's like 3$ lower than minimum wage.

20% tip for bad service? Here, 15-16% is normal (average service) and 20%+ is for good service. I agree about tipping even if service is bad (unless something ridiculous happens like the server is mean/rude/etc.) so I always tip at least 15%, but 20% seems like a lot to me... Maybe it's a geographical thing?

Number one rule, if I wanna go out, I'm goin out, if my waiter fishes for a tip, they're not gettin one. If my waiter expects a tip regardless of their service not getting one. I'm sorry, but if your only excuse for "deserving a tip" is you live off those tips, you need to find a better job. I have had this argument before, you don't look to the consumer if your check is shitty. Look to the person writing your checks and ask why you make so little, and have the dignity to find a job that pays you decently without asking for more of my hard earned money.

@16, "can't afford to tip" LOL love that ad hominem technique. Not very effective though.

#28 it is quite illegal not to tip where I live I am a restaurant manager and my employees have had people arrested for not tipping. Bill fully paid but there was no tip.

And for the record I work for a corporate restaurant so I can't pay my servers more than $4.50 per hour it's not up to me

I really dont get how it can be illegal to not tip. Isnt the point of a tip to freely reward a person for doing a good job. When you have people arrested for not giving away money it just seemes wrong.. Many places include a 10-15% tip in the prices of anything you buy, which seem like a better solution...

They can have people arrested for not wanting to pay more than their bill states, and not wanting to fund your employee's life? That's pretty ****** up, and congratulations on losing customers too for that I'm sure. Just because they're eating out doesn't mean they're obligated to spend more money than they want. While you're at it maybe you should hand over all of your unused money that you can spare to a random homeless person, because you can afford it, right? I know it's not up to you but, maybe restaurants should actually pay their employees what they deserve and not expect customers to do it? I wonder why so many restaurants fail... hmmm

Minimum wage in Canada is $13, at least in British Columbia anyway

Restaurants will never change. Why? Because they rather pay the bare minimum than have full time employees that then will want medical insurance and other benefits. Finding another job isn't always easy. What if this one works around his schedule? Like him being in school. It sucks that waiters get jerked around a lot but I do agree the OP should not have been fishing for a tip. They will just try to work harder for the next guest.

#34 If you weren't expected to tip in the US, your bill would be more as gratuity would be built in. You'd still be paying more and complaining. Find a job that pays more? If everyone did that then no one would be there to serve you. While I do agree it's your choice to tip, you don't have to be a dick about it and basically demean the position.

#61 no it's not. It's $10.25 in BC

#55: $4.50? If anything's criminal in what happens at your restaurant, it's that salary!

Unfortunately 77 that's how some restaurants are. My sister worked at Applebee's and got paid around that. The rest she had to earn in tips. But even then the hours were horrible there for her.

In a capitalistic economy, labour shortage is an indication that the industry is paying too little for the work performed. Raise the salary and people will come. If you can't figure out how to be profitable while paying people decent wage, it only means that you have a broken business model. It is not my responsibility to fix the business model for you. It is not easy to be an entrepreneur, that's why they deserve the big bucks right?

I hate when people complain about not getting tipped as servers. People who work in clothing stores and grocery stores work their asses off too, generally for minimum wage, and are not allowed to accept tips from customers, which are never offered anyway in those settings. If I can tip a server, of course I will. But I won't not go out to eat as someone mentioned above if I can afford to.

30 the term minimum means it can not be less than. 47, remind me to never go to your state. There's no reason to work hard if your customers are forced to tip. Just charge more and pay them more if they deserve it.

32, maybe? I'd always been taught to leave a 20% minimum. I was also raised by two people who were servers for years so maybe that's why!:P

Totally agree

The waiter/waitress tip is pretty common in Canada too though...

brittney94 you are such a liar, no where has a law saying you must tip, no one has ever been arrested for not tipping, I highly doubt you're a manager

Tipping is normal in Canada. The OP was being a douche.

We still tip ppl in Canada just saying. It's common courtesy. As long as your service is good, typically people tip. Unless you have a jack ass for a costumer

As a waitress/server in Canada, I gotta say this guy was just being a jerk, OP, unless of course OP is just a shitty server, cause in Canada servers do get paid less than minimum wage and do rely on tips just as much as American servers. Its policy that we give a percentage of our tips to bussers, bartenders, etc., so when customers don't tip, the server still has to "tip out" regardless and it ends up coming out of our pockets. Although, i have to say it is just tacky to straight up ask someone to tip you.

I haven't read all the comments on this post, but in Canada we do tip. Where I work, we get paid minimum wage which is $9.75/hr. And yes we servers do live off our tips. But that being said, I even as a server would not tip a server who is hinting at getting a tip. They are gifts from customers. Tips are expected, yes, but they are not mandatory. OP, you deserved it for being so rude about expecting the customer to tip you. It doesn't matter that they were from Canada.

#87, servers work harder than most, and make less than minimum wage. I believe the average wage of a server is $2.15/hr. They literally live off of their tips. So if they are a good server, and they don't get tipped, they have every right to be upset because that means it is that much harder to survive. And **** all of you who say get a better job. It's not easy to get a job, and most places that are hiring are ******* restaurants, hiring for servers! Their entire well being is based on tips, so unless your service is bad, ******* tip. Don't be a piece of shit.

it's $7.25 in Michigan!

That's actually not true. Canadian servers make most of their money from tips as well. In Canada it is expected to leave at least 15%, but they don't always get that, plus most places they are required to share their tips with the bartender and kitchen.That guy probably just left because she was fishing for the tip or maybe the service sucked? Either way I think it was rude not to leave a tip, but also rude of OP just try to hint for a big tip.

Thank you! Even when I worked in food service I thought it was so tacky to fish for tips. If you're trying to live off of waitressing then you need to get your shit together because it's not happening unless you get paid at least minimum wage.

#57, TIPS= acronym, to ensure prompt service, money given directly to a waiter, originally before the meal, to ensure you are given good quality service while dining.

Minimum wage in Canada is $10.25 but it's going up to 11 something in June. Students under the age of 18 get paid 9.60 but that's going up to $10 something. I get paid $9 a hour serving, $9.75 isn't bad at all. ☺️

My 3.5 cents: Please read these objectively. I'm trying to be brief, so it may unintentionally come off coarse in some areas. -If you are in a position where you know that you will only have enough to pay for your food, strongly consider a restaurant without wait staff. In some states, these employees are making as low as $2.15/hr. --If you're really craving a particular restaurant, consider take-out. -Employers are required to supplement pay, but an employee who must be habitually supplemented will likely be terminated in many restaurants. -Large parties (often 8+) may be required to pay added gratuity.

139, that may be true in Ontario, but not all over Canada. the minimum wage in BC is $10.25, it is not increasing to $11 in June, and it if you are under 18 you don't get paid any less. As for it being challenging to find a better job... Yes, it can be hard (to find something you like, that is) but if you're not even making minimum wage while being a server, apply at McDonalds, you will get paid min. wage and they are always hiring. No excuses for not making minimum wage!! (not that employers should be allowed to pay such low wages.)

139, minimum wage in Canada depends on the province or territory, it currently goes from $9.95 to $11.00. Several provinces have a lower salary for servers, but only Ontario has one for minors (which I find a silly idea, since they need the money and can't work as many hours). EDIT: Someone else commented the same thing before me.

@69 I'm not trying to be a dick good sir, I have respect for servers that deserve tips. I worked as a bus boy, makin minimum wage, makin no tips, watchin snobby servers yankin their money off tables in my face so "I didn't steal them." If you earn more of my money, I will tip you. If you expect a tip despite the fact that I sat there in a half empty restaurant for thirty minutes with nothing but ice water in the bottom of my sweet tea glass, you will get next to nothing. There are always better jobs out there, I realize there are circumstances in which a person needs to be a server, and if a server is great and get stiffed, yeah, I'm sorry, but if you fish for a tip, I will remind you that it's your managers job to write your check, and my job to reward good service. I apologize if I come across as a dick, but that's how it ought to be. There's a reason tips are paid AFTER the services rendered, because everybody else doesn't get payed before the job is done, because then, what's to give you incentive to do your job properly? That mindset comes from a couple years as a contractor, coming into half finished projects where the previous contractor came in and took half the money for the job and left town.

What other places ask for tip? I believe Europe also, but in my country when we tried to tip my family said no. No one tips but we do it out of generosity, thanking them for their service. we learned to tip when we came to the U.S. I hate when people ask for tip. When you do I choose not to give. sorry

as for ☝☝☝ any one can tip look at the celebs who are so cheap they give an autograph instead. And it's true people working at restaurants don't make minimum wage

wow.. im really surprised about these minimum wages. I had no idea it could be that low in the states. Here, in Norway, its hard to find anything that pay less than 22 usd ish.. Now i understand those talking about having to take on several jobs to pay for living. :(

To clarify my above comment I'm not saying they shouldn't get tipped. It was basically a reply to the person who said 'if you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip' which is not always the case. And most servers (at least where I used to work) made enough in tips to make up the difference so if someone didn't tip it wouldn't be too big of a deal, such as OP made his situation.

#143 $361.2 per week

#99 even if adding a tip for certain size parties is "policy" its still not required by law. You do have the option to not pay. I was at one of these resturaunts ocne and got really bad service. Half of our party were through eating before the other haf were served. Our drinks were never refilled and requested condiments were never brought. I asked mt waiter if they added a tip for my size party and he told me they did. I told him that I would need to speak to the manager and he told me he would take the tip off of the bill.

You guys should be blaming your government, here in the UK it's set, so tips are generally for good service. Although still expected by some in certain industries, despite the fact they are getting the same as people in other minimum wage jobs where typing isn't customary. Oddly some salons expect it, despite setting their own prices, apparently. And any qualified hairdresser should be making above minimum wage by a nice chunk anyway.

I completely agree with everyone who believes restaurants should pay their employees more, however, the wages most servers receive is common knowledge. Anyone equipped with that knowledge who still considers tipping for satisfactory to exemplary service is an ass. When making the conscious decision to patronize a full service restaurant, make an equally conscious decision to respect the service provided with an appropriate gratuity.

Can someone explain something to me? I thought minimum wage was the least amount an employer could legally paid. So how is it people are saying here that servers make less than minimum wage?

I personally do not reward bad service. 15% for average, below average 10%, 20% for above average, and if they treat me like a king, then I go above 25%. I've only had server fish for tips twice, once was a teenager who had only been working for like a week, so I told her that it was pretentious and that I normally would have left a 5% tip or less when they do. The other one was a waitress in her thirties who thought it was my privilege that she took the time to wait on me, so I left no tip and saw the manager on the way out the door. People pay good money to go to restaurants, if the waitress treat me as an inferior or fishes for tips, it does disrupt the meal and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And yes, I've worked as a server before, I know what to expect, and I know when my crappy service is the fault of the server or the kitchen staff.

Most decent restaurants around me tip out the kitchen staff at 5 percent. So even truly atrocious service and decent food gets that much. Dining alone I tip on a personal service system I've devised. I start at 25 percent and deduct 5 percent every time my coffee cup gets empty. Added percentages for smiling and pretending convincingly to give a crap how my day is going. So I usually tip out 20 to 30 percent and almost never less than 15 unless I'm left hungry and ignored.

198, tipped professions have a separate minimum wage. however, if they don't break even with minimum wage in a shift, the restaurant has to make it up at the end of the shift.

Lol minimum wage is $10.25 in BC.

Because obviously everybody follows the law! Wait.

Yeah, but in Canada, waiters rely on their tips as well cause it's a lower minimum wage for waiters. He basically asked for a tip by saying that. Shouldn't be so blunt about it, it's petty and unprofessional. I've spent a lot of time being a waitress, I would have never done that.

As an Brit I'm struggling to work out why it is legal to pay below minimum wage.

It is legal to pay tipped staff below minimum wage on the assumption that they will make it up in tips. If their meageer pay plus tips do not equal minimum wage at the end of the pay period (not shift or day), the employer has to make up the difference to top it up to minimum wage. So servers are not actually paid less than minimum wage. They just get it in small bits instead of a lump sum.

#22 They would not be buying the most expensive things on the menu if they only had enough money for the meal. However it was rude of op to fish for a tip.

I'll remember to never go into your restaurant establishment ever. I'm to broke to tip.

I do believe that in Canada, they typically add a gratuity to the check automatically. It may not be that way everywhere, but at the few restaurants with waitstaff that I've been to, it seems to be how they work.

You need to work as a waiter then. I'm a waiter, and I'm paid $2.13 an hour. People who work in clothing or grocery stores may work their asses off (and I can't be fair, since I've never worked in a clothing store, but I can tell you that I did work in a grocery store, and I definitely did NOT work as hard as I'm working now at this job), but at least they're paid minimum wage. I think we can all agree that $2.13 is JUST a bit below minimum wage. So please get off your high horse about tipping - it really is the only way most servers can make any kind of living.

No, it's not BS. I'm a server, and my employer is not at all required to add any money if we don't make minimum wage off tips, and indeed does not do so. Just because something you read said it, doesn't mean it's true. Maybe it's true in other states, but not the one in which I live.

It's a federal law. Federal minimum wage means exactly that. The minimum you can make per hour per pay period.

Minimum wage varies by province. 9.95 in Alberta; $10 in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, NWT and Saskatchewan; $10.25 in BC; $10.35 in Quebec; $10.72 in Yukon; $11 in Nunavut and Ontario (effective today). Liquor servers are paid $9.05 in Alberta, $9.00 in BC, and $9.55 in Ontario. The rest of the Provinces and Territories just play minimum wage for liquor servers.

Why would you get a job if you don't get paid in the first place? Dumbass.

I thought Canadians were supposed to be polite anyways

I'm a waitress in Canada, Quebec. It's true that we are leaving on our tip. But it would never in the world cross my mind to tell a customer, even if he is a tourist, that he has to tip me. That was rude from Op. Sometimes I wish people would realise that saying: "You're so nice and so attentionnate and "blabla" doesn't make us live. Customers are really rude sometimes. But the fact OP said such such a thing probably provocted the situation.

#49: Travel a little more. If you don't wanna go too far, just cross Canada's border. You might realize that the USA are not alone in the world.

#49: Canadians are also sick of America's crap. The customer's behaviour could've also been fueled by the fact that maybe he really disliked Americans and having to be in the US (it sounds like he was there alone - maybe on a business trip?)... I realize it's not OP's fault, but if she was fishing for tips and the customer is already unhappy with being there, that would be reason enough for me to just laugh at her and leave too.

@49 ; Stereotypes...

If you fish for a tip from me, you're getting nothing. And probably a complaint to your management.

A CANADIAN WAS MEAN?! WUT?!

I think he probably DID take the hint, which annoyed him enough to make a sarcastic remark and then leave! I'd feel irritated if a waiter was pressuring me to give them extra money. Perhaps that's just because where I'm from, tips are rare and anything more than 10% isn't usually given. If its a big part of your culture though then I understand OP's actions a little better.

#43, in the US, waiters usually make almost all of their money off tips. I believe they only have to be paid something like $2.10 an hour because they are expected to receive tips to make up the difference (to get at least minimum wage.)

And I was told that many of them underreport their tip income to the IRS.

No matter how great the service may be, he's socially and maybe even morally accountable for leaving a tip. Not by law. He shouldn't HAVE to take a "hint", especially when it comes to his own money.

^ Um no. No one is "accountable" for leaving tips. If the service is shit I wouldn't tip either. (Not that you did a bad job OP, we don't know that.)

Fishing for tips would be considered doing a bad job.

War has broken out once again in the comments I see.

No, no, no no NO! Unwritten rule OP: NEVER discuss a tip with your customer. Ever. Under any circumstances. Even if the customer brings it up but ESPECIALLY don't bring it up yourself. Now you know. (I don't think that's only a thing in Canada.) That being said, the guy should have tipped some anyway, especially if the service was decent. I think he may have been trying to make the point I stated above. Bit of a dick move.

Yeah that's not how that works...

That is a horrible use of "eh".

Your attempted use of "eh" is insulting. It's okay, we can teach you.

That's a good tip. Maybe we should offer it to OP.

Most commonly between the butt cheeks.

Some of them even work in the food industry and fish for tips..

@7 yup, and you seem like a shining example

You forgot to say eh. Eh?

That's not how you use eh you know? Bunch of hoser wannabes today.

America is the only country that does tips. how else would be know?

Oh, but it was still douchey of him to say that, so I feel you... Sort of lol