I need some information. I read about people upset for the tencent added to the bill.If we pay 15-20% in the States what is the difference..Please help..I am missing something besides that here in the States is voluntary...quasi...
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I posted this before in a previous thread:
This has been covered extensively before, but in a nutshell the Czech convention for tipping is to say to the waiter/waitress a number when he/she has added up and you are handing over the payment - this number is usually up to the nearest ten. Say your meal and drinks cost 190, you give 200 and say %26#39;děkuji%26#39; - keep the change.
If it is just a couple of beers they%26#39;re not going to kick off if they don%26#39;t get a tip, but if it comes to 38 for two beers then give 40 - you don%26#39;t want all that extra shrapnel in your pocket, unless you really need that 2 Crown coin for the tram ticket machine.
It is one of those things that sort of comes naturally, and nobody really makes a big fuss about it - but if you go out in a group of friends and one of you decides to give a 20 Crown tip on a 150 Crown bill, eyebrows would be raised all around and perhaps a jokey comment would be made.
This may seem a bit alien to some visitors, but that is the way it works! In the centre of Prague, and in tourist restaurants especially, unfortunately they have become conditioned to receiving tips no matter what the service. Places that automatically add on 10% service charge are to be avoided in my book.
You need to bear in mind that visitors in any large numbers have only been coming for the last 20 years or so, and before that everywhere was state-owned - tips and a smile came pretty low on priorities then, although at least you knew where you stood. To become a waiter/waitress you had to go to a specialist training college where they learned a very Austro-Hungarian way of doing things so it was generally very formal, but pretty efficient and stony-faced. Now they just take anybody.
But feel free to give whatever you like - nobody is saying you should do one thing or another. This is simply how the locals do it.
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Thanks. Last time I was there was 10 years ago. Seems like it was different. Your information is greatly appreciate.
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I once spoke about this with a friend who owns two restaurants in Prague. He told me that prices on a menu have the validity of a contract, they must include VAT and are final. This means that if a restaurant is adding any charge that is not specified on the menu and/or that is not for something you%26#39;ve ordered, they are ripping you off and you can and should refuse to pay it.
Many tourist restaurants still do it. They add 10% or a fixed amount to the bill as %26quot;service charge%26quot;. They only pull that trick with foreigners because they assume that tourist don%26#39;t know the laws here and know Czechs will not take any of that sh*t.
As for tipping. GCEK is right on the money. It%26#39;s entirely up to you (as it should be, actually)
Na Zdraví!
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I agreed with GCEK and Pivo. I have been to Prague 3 times and never been in a situation where I was surprise or shock to see my bill like previous TAs who wrote of their bad experiences. Luckily for me, I reviewed all the dos and don%26#39;ts on TA before traveling to Prague so I was aware of such cases and be vigilant when I%26#39;m in Prague. I always read the fine print both on the menu and on the wall or entrance of the restaurants. I always have Goulash as starter which usually come with dumplings so I always refuse bread. Such refusal must be marked on a note on your table so make sure you see the waiter/waitress makes this mark. before the bill come, tally the cost up in your head so that you can gauge as to is the restaurant trying to rip you off or not. I always leave a tip at least 15% but given the currency differential, I always tip 20% in Prague. The extra 5% is to show my appreciation that who ever took care of me did not take advantage of me being a tourist. It%26#39;s all about principle in my mind and honesty should be rewarded same goes with good services.
Just be vigilant and do take the dos and don;ts on TA in advise because I find it is very helpful.
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%26gt; I always leave a tip at least 15% but given the currency differential, I always tip 20% in Prague.
Is it a north American thing to leave 15 - 20% tips? That seems a bit excessive to me in usual cases in Europe.
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As I said above, even 5% is quite sufficient.
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In Toronto and not speaking about other areas in NA, I think the expectation is always 15% even on satisfactory services. For poor services, I think the principle takes over so some might leave petty change as a sign of dissatisfaction and some would just leave nothing. Tipping is not part of the ten commandments so it%26#39;s up to the individual to give tip. However, all restaurants in Toronto and I can comfortably say in NA will charge a flat 15% mark up for any party larger than 5-8 or more people. It guarantees that the waiter/waitress will get a minimum of 15% tip from servicing a large group of people.
For me, I never been a waiter when I was young but my wife has, so even if I tip the basic 15%, my wife always top it up as we leave the table. She always told me %26quot;I know how these hard these people work and how much they get pay from their owner%26quot;.
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Jason, thanks for the info how tippings are done in Toronto Canada but I thought we were talking here about tipping in Prague. You are against the principl %26quot; When in Rome ...%26quot; ? or you simply don%26#39;t know how tipping is done in Europe? No offence but a genuine question. Ok I should be careful here, %26quot;Europe%26quot; is too much of generarlization but basically here we never tip that much as you do the North Americans. Somebody called the overtipping by foreign tourits a %26quot;cultural terrorism%26quot;. 20 % may not be worth being called that name but something to think about.
And generally speaking (not that sure about Prague but) servers are paid in Europe much more decently than in North America, so they are not taht dependant of tipping. In case you haven%26#39;t heard about that.
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To answer the main posters question.
The reason people is upset is not the 10%
But the fact that the waiter puts it on the bill himself.
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To answer the main posters question.
The reason people is upset is not the 10%
But the fact that the waiter puts it on the bill himself.
I think we all know that but thanks for reminding ;-)
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