Do they have a different credit card procedure in Germany I don't know about?

[Jester]

I just seem to be getting some doozies this week.

A couple of nights ago, I had a party of five from Germany. Everything went fine until the end of the meal, at which point the mother said, in a heavy accent, "Do we pay downstairs?" I replied that no, she should pay me. "Cun I pay vit a credit curd?" Um, yes. No problem. And with that I wandered off to take care of my other tables, and to give her a few moments to get out her credit card that she intended to pay with. I figure, no problem, right?

Well, if that were the case, would I be telling you about it?

Anyway, a few moments later I came back and had the following conversation with her...

MOTHER: "Cun I pay wit credit curd?"
JESTER: "Um....yeeessss....."
MOTHER: "How do ve do dat?"
JESTER: "Umm....you need to give me the credit card....."

At this point, two things happened. One her, kids started cracking up. Even THEY knew! Two, I knew that there was no way I was getting any tip from them at all. NOT because I was a smartass...I wasn't. I was very polite. But simply because this woman was so clueless about these things that I knew she couldn't know about the American custom of tipping.

And I was right. Zero tip.

And for those who doubt me, understand that I am only a smartass to people who get the joke, and if I don't think they will get it, I am simply Polite Efficient Friendly Server Man.

I know we have mentioned the tipping in America thing before. And I know a lot of Euros don't know it. And that is fine. But how, I ask you HOW, can you not know how to pay with a credit card? My German coworker (The Mustache) just shook his head and laughed about it.

[Pezzle]

Next time you tell them "Vielleicht...gib mir deine Kreditkarte? Es ist am leichesten, wenn du mir deiner Kreditkarte gibst, denn kann ich die Kreditkarte durch die Maschine ziehen! "

Hope I didn't butcher that snarfs. I've got my final on the 11th

[Jack7957]

When we were in Australia, we weren't sure if they tip or not. When our CC slip came there was a line for tip on it, so we paid a tip (the usual American 20%). Turns out they don't tip in Aus we were told later.

[jb17kx]

No. We don't.
I don't tip. Nobody in my family tips. Becasue it's not expected that we tip. Service staff are almost always paid an hourly wage, above the minimum. In fact, many are forbidden to accept tips. If you do tip, this is done in a communal tip jar at the counter, or a small amount ($5-10) for exceptional service, along with words to that effect.
As Jack discovered, most card systems also have this built in. And most restaurants have the tip calculated into the bill anyway.

In fact, the only people that we do tip with any regularity are taxi drivers.
If you ask staff at places where they are allowed tips, you'll find that the best times for them are whenever there is an American tourist boom. More SCs, but more money as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiquet...nd_New_Zealand

[Calud]

Next time you tell them "Vielleicht...gib mir deine Kreditkarte? Es ist am leichesten, wenn du mir deiner Kreditkarte gibst, denn kann ich die Kreditkarte durch die Maschine ziehen! "

Hope I didn't butcher that snarfs. I've got my final on the 11th

Ahh my eyes are bleeding!

No it was ok. Just to not let it stand like that, the sentence should be:

"Geben sie mir ihre Kreditkarte. Es ist am leichtesten, wenn sie mir ihre Kreditkare geben, dann kann ich die Karte durch die Maschine ziehen."

By the way: A LOT of people in Germany don't even have a CC. It's the only country in the world, that uses other methods to pay (like EC=Electronic cash, which isn't a credit card but still, since you type in your pin or sign a receipe.) Maybe she just got the card for this trip and was confused? Come on, they are in a different country with something they maybe never used before. She just wanted to make sure.

[melk.]

I dont tip and i'm in Australia...
Sometimes i put money in the little tip jar near the console.. but i dont think its expected.

[Pezzle]

Ahh my eyes are bleeding!

No it was ok. Just to not let it stand like that, the sentence should be:

"Geben sie mir ihre Kreditkarte. Es ist am leichtesten, wenn sie mir ihre Kreditkare geben, dann kann ich die Karte durch die Maschine ziehen."

Yeah but I wanted to make it sound like I was an asshole Therefore, I used a command and improperly addressed them muahaha. JK in a real environment i'd use a formal pronoun... like I do at work with the occasional German shopper.

And you can just use "karte" in reference to kreditkarte? I thought there might be confusion -- we don't exactly learn technical terms in community college, so I use the full word to avoid confusion

[BusyBee]

Noone I know has ever expected a tip or to have to tip here in Australia, except for tipping taxi drivers. And none of those tourism links actually say that tipping is becoming more expected - "Tipping is not mandatory..." "Tipping is not standard practice..."
From what those links say, and my own experience, it seems to me like it's something you can do if you think the service earned a little something extra, but if you don't tip they certainly aren't going to be griping about you in the back room afterwards.

Meanwhile, I don't even own a credit card yet, hehehe. But I've seen it in movies so much I would still know how to pay with one when I do eventually get one!

[BusyBee]

It may not be mandatory, but it would certainly be considered standard practice. It is not considered standard practice here. And I still am not convinced that there is any increase in an expectation of tipping.
And that is the last I am saying on this because I don't want to threadjack.

[CurlyLocks]

Tipping isn't mandatory in the US either, unless there is an automatic gratuity added to a large party...

... doesn't mean I'd stiff the server and ever try eating at that establishment ever again....

I assure you there are no restaurants in the US where customers don't believe they have to tip, and that servers don't believe that they will be tipped for service. Whether you want to call it mandatory, customary or standard procedure, there is no question in anyone's mind that tipping is in fact how it's done in the US food service industry, for better or worse.

[CurlyLocks]

I'm just saying that it's not compulsory.

Yes, that's probably the best way to put it. It's definitely expected, and I'm sure that even the losers that don't leave tips know that. They simply don't want to tip.

[zelper]

Why is it considered 'stiffing you' if no gratuity is given? If a tip was a right then it would be cited in the price. It's a gratuity - a way of the customer saying thankyou to their server for excellent service. To say that it's expected belies the nature of the action. It's not an obligation and nor should it be.

The problem with cultures where 'mandatory tipping' is endemic is that shoddy employers are allowed to get away with low wages. One of the main reasons for this is so that the employer can avoid their financial obligations re tax etc. If the money is of the under-the-counter type (as gratuities are) then it goes direct from customer to member of staff and the employer can count it as salary while avoiding claiming it as income. What's actually needed for employees to get decent wages is a refusal to accept low pay and a refusal to accept tips as part of the salary. Admittedly, that can be hard if you are already broke and not in a position to turn down a job because the conditions are not acceptable. It really needs a cultural change in attitude to make that better.

I will happily tip if I've received excellent service and I tip quite heavily. But I won't do it as a matter of course because I refuse to subsidise a company who won't pay an acceptable wage. In the end, tipping is actually counterproductive there because the employer continues to pay low wages and the employers really get stiffed.

I am so glad I live in a country where employment law favours the employee and not the corporation.

[jb17kx]

Bannedanna, if I receive service far above what I would expect, I give a tip of around $5-10, and often, if the establishment as a whole was good I'll leave a few dollars in the tip jar. Taxi drivers generally get the change.
Effectivley, I tip if the person I am tipping deserves it. I tip for service that has far exceeded my average, reasonable expectations for service. If a waiter swiftly replaces my meal becasue it is cold, or becasue the order was mistaken, I'll tip. If they have a good attitude and are reasonable speedy, I'm mention that to them, and leave a tip in the tip jar. But the people I tip have to work for it.
I don't leave a tip just becasue it's expected of me. Otherwise the whole point of tipping is destroyed.

[AFpheonix]

Oh god you guys....not tipping debates again.......

Go to fratching.com please.

[iradney]

Moving BACK ON TOPIC *ahem*
I was 17 when I first figured out how to use an ATM card (hey, I never had one before!). Credit cards are quite easy to figure out as well, but some people need to be shown everything step...by...step.