Stephen Sprunk wrote:

In the US, I rarely hear of restaurants not passing on tips to waiters,
but they _do_ have to take out taxes and report that income to the
gov't, whereas it's up to the waiter to report cash tips--and most
don't. This can add up to a significant difference in income for a
waiter, especially given all the special tax credits and such they can
qualify for by not reporting most of their income.

I can see you haven't been a waiter for a while! The IRS requires that the
restrauant "impute" the cash tips and withhold taxes accordingly. It's up to you
to prove the value of the cash tips if you disagree.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...5204907AAnoz6r

Stephen Sprunk wrote:

The discussion above was obviously about _cash_ tips, which are an
entirely different matter. The employer (and therefore the IRS) only
knows what the employee _reports_, not what they actually _received_.

Doesn't wotk that way dude. The employer knows the ticket total for the waiter
and imputes an assumed tip witholding based on the sales total. The employee
doesn't have to report a thing.

In message , at 21:48:37 on Wed, 29 Feb
2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:
Tipping in restaurants is largely optional here in Britain and the
amount is completely up the patron's discretion.

Do your restaurants pay much higher straight wages than US restaurants do?
In the US, it's largely understood that the waiter is compensated in
part by the restaurant through straight wages and in part by the customer.

In smaller restaurants, including pubs (bars), the waiting staff are
often the proprietors or their relations, so the manner in which they
are paid isn't really the concern of the customer. If you want to leave
a tip it's more for the establishment than the waiter. Paying
individuals for the service you'd expect to get anyway feels a little
like bribery.

I know it's different in the USA, and waiters there are more likely to
be assigned to tables and customers, rather than there being a pool of
waiters and a pool of tables all 'belonging to' the establishment.
--
Roland Perry

Neil Williams wrote:

I've seen them used on trains (in the buffet car mainly), but more
common is an integrated ticket and payment machine. Traditionally
the railway did not pre-authorise at all (at their risk) but with
on-train Wi-Fi and mobile phone based devices this is likely to
change.

That's very interesting. However, couldn't these devices be loaded with
lists of invalid and canceled credit card numbers?

Roland Perry wrote:
at 21:48:37 on Wed, 29 Feb 2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:

Tipping in restaurants is largely optional here in Britain and the
amount is completely up the patron's discretion.

Do your restaurants pay much higher straight wages than US restaurants do?
In the US, it's largely understood that the waiter is compensated in
part by the restaurant through straight wages and in part by the customer.

In smaller restaurants, including pubs (bars), the waiting staff are
often the proprietors or their relations, so the manner in which they
are paid isn't really the concern of the customer. If you want to leave
a tip it's more for the establishment than the waiter. Paying
individuals for the service you'd expect to get anyway feels a little
like bribery.

I know it's different in the USA, and waiters there are more likely to
be assigned to tables and customers, rather than there being a pool of
waiters and a pool of tables all 'belonging to' the establishment.

It depends on the restaurant. In some restaurants, yes, the waiter who
takes the order brings the food and, later, the check. If the meal is
elaborate, he might be assisted by one or more busboys when serving. In
other restaurants, whoever is free takes the order, brings food, then
brings the check. It might be three different people. One Chinese
restaurant I eat at many times each year does that. They are really good
about bringing the food to the table the moment it's plated in the kitchen
so it's nice and hot. In this style, all tips are pooled among everyone
working the shift.

We have restaurants in which the customer orders food at the counter,
and then carries his own food to the table when it's ready. Sometimes,
the clerks put out tip jars. I ignore them, given that I'm serving
myself.

Now, buffet-style restaurants are a little different. If I see the
staff keeping the buffet well stocked and removing the unserved food
that's been sitting out too long, I leave a tip. Those people are
working hard to provide good service. If the buffet isn't looked
after, I don't tip and I probably wouldn't eat there again.

I like being able to reward good service. On those rare occassions in
which the waiter was horrid, I've left a single coin. You have to leave
something so the waiter doesn't assume that the diner just forgot.

We also have the owners of barbershops who expect to be tipped. If the
barber owns the shop, you're not supposed to tip, but he's trying to
extract more money from his customers. If the barber is just renting the
chair, then you're supposed to tip.

Do you have tradesmen who insist that they are professionals, and
insist that their customers are clients? That annoys me.

Ancient joke: Only lawyers and prostitutes have clients.

On 01-Mar-12 08:40, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Neil Williams wrote:

I've seen them used on trains (in the buffet car mainly), but more
common is an integrated ticket and payment machine. Traditionally
the railway did not pre-authorise at all (at their risk) but with
on-train Wi-Fi and mobile phone based devices this is likely to
change.

That's very interesting. However, couldn't these devices be loaded with
lists of invalid and canceled credit card numbers?

Before the advent of telephone authorization, credit card companies
would send merchants small books each month listing all of the invalid
and/or canceled cards that had not yet expired. However, even by the
1980s, this proved impractical--and the number of cards circulating
today is at least two or three orders of magnitude greater.

Also note that many consumers today have _valid_ cards with little/no
available credit, so it's not sufficient anyway if a merchant wants to
ensure their transaction will be accepted.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 01-Mar-12 08:40, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Neil Williams wrote:

I've seen them used on trains (in the buffet car mainly), but more
common is an integrated ticket and payment machine. Traditionally
the railway did not pre-authorise at all (at their risk) but with
on-train Wi-Fi and mobile phone based devices this is likely to
change.

That's very interesting. However, couldn't these devices be loaded with
lists of invalid and canceled credit card numbers?

Before the advent of telephone authorization, credit card companies
would send merchants small books each month listing all of the invalid
and/or canceled cards that had not yet expired.

I recall using these books, yes.

Also note that many consumers today have _valid_ cards with little/no
available credit, so it's not sufficient anyway if a merchant wants to
ensure their transaction will be accepted.

No one would care on suburban/commuter railway, since the discussion
drifted back on topic, where the only concern is if fare collection in
aggregate is improved and cost of fare collection is lowered.

In intercity train travel, well, you assume that the traveler has
available credit, as it's difficult to travel without credit cards.

On Feb 29, 3:57*am, Roland Perry wrote:

What would Amazon use in the USA if you bought a book for say $10?

U.S. Post Office; and they use them for larger orders, too.

Many mail order businesses charge very high 'fees' for 'postage and
handling'.

On Feb 29, 10:47*am, Stephen Sprunk wrote:

The link for tracking the shipment reveals that it was actually sent via
FedEx Smartpost®, an interesting hybrid system in which FedEx delivers
the package to the local post office and USPS does the final delivery to
the customer.

The old Western Union Telegraph Company had that arrangement for a
number of years, the service was called Mailgram. The message was
sent to a printer at a local post office and it was delivered by
regular mail. Much cheaper than a regular telegram, though more
expensive that regular letters.

Industries used it to recall laid off workers.

On Feb 29, 10:51*am, Roland Perry wrote:

In my experience, standard shipping for a $10 book might be $2, two day service
might be $10 and overnight might be $15.

Which of those are tracked or signed-for?

If it's sent by US Post Office, it is not signed for.

If it's sent by United Parcel Service, it varies on whether a
signature is required--basically depending on the quality of the
neighborhood.

If you're not home and you get a package (or letter) that requires a
signature, it's a lot easier with the Post Office as you go local.
With UPS, it may be cumbersome.