Once again, isn't it all about 'words' and how we use them?

To use the word 'tip' takes on an entirely different meaning than (servis) service and interchanging the two when dealing with French restaurants is the problem as far as I'm concerned.

Since this new restaurant is on the Dutch side, it will have to either be listed on the check which is easy enough to see, or else the gratuity is up to you.

Personally speaking, I don't ask and assume the service covers the staff on the French side of the island with the choice of a pourbois (sp?) being at my own discretion, and on the Dutch side, while I don't like the fact that it's automatically added in so many places these days, it's pretty easy to see on the dinner check so again, I don't worry about it. If the service is great, rewarding additionally to any individual staff member is again my choice.

And with regard to the question of 15 or 20 percent, my personal feeling is if an establishment assumes their staff is worth a tip in the first place but only worth the lesser amount, why should I doubt them? (You see, I really do resent the automatically added gratuity since even at only fifteen percent, it's not always deserved - and I do like to make my own decisions, usually leaning towards at least 20 percent as a rule on this! ) Again, unless the individual server is excellent. These problems really need to be resolved between the management and service staff and should not, IMHO, be made to be the problem of the guests. That's my story and I'm staying with it.<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />