It was the same when I was in Germany, Switzerland, France, and Spain. The service was the same regardless of any gratuity. Most menus state that the gratuity is included in the price of the meal. The waiters make sufficient salary (supposedly) without it. It does remove any incentive to give really great service though unless they are driven to anyway...
>>>But then you're expected to add about 15% for the tip. Tip on $2 wine isn't worth waiter's walking.
>>>
>>>IOW, it's not that they're making profit on the price difference, they're also underpaying their staff, and can do so because tips are institutionalized.
>>
>>Not here. It isn't customary to pay tips. A very few restaurants add a certain percentage for the "service" category.
>
>So you pay no matter the kind of service you had?
>
>What if the service was awful?
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