Tipping Debate

I've not had a debate since The Great Video Replay Debate in January 2005 so here's a good chance for people to air their opinions on the sometimes controversial issue of tipping.

Back in April was the annual student society committee meal at Lounge 68 in Huddersfield. Tom, Mel, Sam, Emily, Cheryl and I were those present and it would be a farewell meal for Sam and Emily who moved on to all things Leeds.

We had the meal and a fair bit of drink (not as much as last year thankfully) and then received the bill. The food wasn't of a very high standard and the menu was quite poor too. We also felt the service could also have been better. The bill came to £182.15 Question 1: Tip or no tip? Answer: We decided to pay £190 tipping a small amount out of politeness rather than anything else.

They wouldn't let us pay by cheque so I put it on my card and we were just about to leave when the waiter came over and told us that he'd undercharged us for a drink so we owed about £3.20 more. Question 2: Now what course of action should be taken? Answer: We considered running but weren't really near enough the door and would've had to go past the till so in the end we decided to explain to them that we had overpaid for our bill and that as it was their mistake it should come out of their tip. They weren't very happy with this and tried to make us pay but we refused to back down and they let us leave.

So, did we do the right thing? Discuss!