edhouk,

There is a law/rule somewhere which says French waitstaff must be paid a reasonable living wage and French restaurants must include 'service' in their menu pricing to cover this living wage. This way the waitstaff is NOT dependent on 'tips' as in the USA.

The problem, as already stated is when we Americans ask them about a tip, and since the canny French waitstaff knows exactly what we're asking - in most cases, they say no - because there is no 'tip' in France. Ergo, the unwitting American puts another 15 to 20 percent on the bill, in essence double tipping.

Do yourself a huge favor and don't ask in the first place and there will be no confusion. If the service was exceptional you may want to leave a few dollars more but you don't absolutely have to and you shouldn't feel you as though you must.

On the Dutch side this shouldn't be an issue if you look at your dinner check. If there is an unaccounted line item amount on the bill, generally 15% of the check, whatever they call it, no additional tip is required unless you choose to leave one. Again, if you ask if the tip is included, the staff may say either, "No, " or "Yes, the tip is included but we don't get it," hoping you will tip them additionally. Believe that or not as you see fit.

As you can probably tell, the whole tipping scam on the island is out of control. I get it but I don't particularly like 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="" />