I can't say this with certainty, but it is my personal belief the poor service at many of the Dutch side eateries these days is directly akin to the almost universal inclusion of the forced 15% service charge routinely added to dinner checks at so many of the restaurants these days.

We have always been fairly generous tippers when good service was given, with 15% given for just average service, and we had no qualms about rewarding our server additionally when it was our choice to do so. I've developed the attitude of late that so many restaurants include that 15% and if that's what they think their staff is worth, why should I argue with them and give more? And of course, there is always the exceptional occasion when the servers turn themselves inside out to make your experience memorable and it's always reflected in the additional tips we happily give them..

Of late, I'm not totally certain some places/servers are even worth the mandatory 15%. When we were on island in January we had a meal where the service was horrible, the food was just okay, and the attitude of the service staff was, "oh, well!!" The gratuity was automatically included in the check and there was no way I was going to add to the amount and in fact, if my spouse had been agreeable, I would have disputed the charge with the management because the service was soooo bad. Fortunately for the staff he was not agreeable. Management doesn't always see what's going on and sometimes it needs to be brought to their attention.

I really think the servers now know they're going to get a tip so there is no incentive for them to do a better job and we've seen this happening over our last 4-5 trips. Not in all places, for sure and not all the time, but often enough that we've noticed it. Years ago, before this practice became so widespread it seem to me the waitstaff tried a little harder to make an additional effort towards making their meal service more personable and more precise and we were always okay with a twenty percent plus tip. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />