# Bad Service and Bloody Tipping!

An episode of [Best Life Pending with Steph De Sousa & Chrissy Hearn](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6806116018), 13 Oct 2026, 9:23.

Audio: https://p.podderapp.com/2544644999/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/8a91b3ea-7269-45c7-af4a-b4b4000720d1/e51c4f6c-ef7b-4210-817c-b4e2002aaab4/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=e767cf02-fafa-4c28-b85a-b4b400072512

Chrissy and Steph get fired up about the decline of customer service, disappointing restaurant experiences and the growing pressure to tip in Australia. Plus, why Chrissy thinks her husband needs to rein in his generous tipping habits! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:05] Speaker 1: A PodJay production. And action. I'm Chrissy Hearn.
[0:14] Speaker 2: And I am Steph D'Souza. And our podcast is Best
[0:18] Speaker 2: Life Fending. Do you want to be my wingwoman?
[0:23] Speaker 1: Be nice to yourself.
[0:24] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[0:25] Speaker 1: Don't think so hard on yourself.
[0:26] Speaker 2: Yeah. What are you officially too old to.
[0:29] Speaker 1: Put up with?
[0:29] Speaker 2: Okay.
[0:30] Speaker 1: Buckle in, people. I am totally over... Is that what
[0:34] Speaker 1: the word is? Totally over?
[0:36] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[0:36] Speaker 1: Not putting up with? Bad customer service.
[0:40] Speaker 2: Oh. Do you get it a lot?
[0:42] Speaker 1: In Australia, we have no idea what customer service is.
[0:46] Speaker 2: Oh, really?
[0:46] Speaker 1: Absolutely. I'd go into a restaurant, sit down. I'd be
[0:50] Speaker 1: lucky to get eye contact from the person. I'd be
[0:53] Speaker 1: lucky to have my glass of water filled up.
[0:56] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[0:56] Speaker 1: Lucky to get any type of, how are you? Lovely
[1:01] Speaker 1: to see you. Sit down. What would you like? I'll
[1:04] Speaker 1: be back in a minute to take your order. Like
[1:06] Speaker 1: last night, for instance. How long did it take them to.
[1:08] Speaker 2: Get our order to us? Yes, but they were friendly
[1:10] Speaker 2: and they were nice.
[1:11] Speaker 1: I don't care if someone's friendly or nice or drops
[1:14] Speaker 1: to their knees and kiss my feet. If they cannot
[1:17] Speaker 1: serve me in a timely manner with, hi, come on in. Enthusiasm.
[1:22] Speaker 2: Sit down.
[1:23] Speaker 1: Provide customer service. Not, oh, mate, I'm just about to
[1:28] Speaker 1: knock off. I can't possibly make you a cappuccino.
[1:30] Speaker 2: Oh, I see what. I don't think that's my experience.
[1:33] Speaker 1: Oh, we're really busy. You'll have to wait. I'm happy
[1:36] Speaker 1: to wait, but give it to me nicely.
[1:39] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[1:39] Speaker 1: Not like I'm an afterthought.
[1:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, see, that's not my experience with customer service. I
[1:45] Speaker 2: feel like I get really good customer service.
[1:47] Speaker 1: We went to New Zealand in February of this year. Yeah.
[1:50] Speaker 1: The customer service over there in restaurants was amazing. They
[1:54] Speaker 1: couldn't do enough for us.
[1:56] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[1:57] Speaker 1: Here, I feel like we owe them for just walking
[1:59] Speaker 1: into their restaurants.
[2:01] Speaker 2: See, I don't feel that. We live in different cities.
[2:04] Speaker 1: Yes, Sydney.
[2:05] Speaker 2: I mean, Newcastle, which is a bit more rural. Well,
[2:07] Speaker 2: it's not rural. It's still a big city. It's not
[2:10] Speaker 2: a big city. I think maybe the service is a
[2:13] Speaker 2: bit more personal or maybe a bit better.
[2:15] Speaker 1: There's no personal service in Sydney. I generalise there and
[2:19] Speaker 1: that's fine. However, from my own personal experience, I find
[2:23] Speaker 1: that customer service is completely gone now in the restaurant.
[2:27] Speaker 2: Oh, there you go.
[2:28] Speaker 1: And their quality of food in some of the restaurants
[2:31] Speaker 1: that I've been to lately have not met standards.
[2:33] Speaker 2: Not met standards. No. Okay. Maybe I need to take
[2:37] Speaker 2: you to some nice places.
[2:38] Speaker 1: I think you might have to. And give you some
[2:39] Speaker 1: good experiences. Because I'm now to the point where, why
[2:41] Speaker 1: are we going out, really? I mean, I'll make something.
[2:44] Speaker 1: It's easier to make something at home. Not me, Ricardo. But, like,
[2:48] Speaker 1: why go out and buy substandard food? Okay.
[2:51] Speaker 2: I've just had a thought. Is it because you're on
[2:53] Speaker 2: the jabby jab and you're not actually really hungry anymore? No.
[2:57] Speaker 2: And there's no food noise? No. No, not the service,
[3:00] Speaker 2: but quality of food.
[3:01] Speaker 1: On our recent trip, we were in the UK. We
[3:03] Speaker 1: went to Notting Hill, this most amazing Italian restaurant.
[3:07] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[3:08] Speaker 1: We don't buy two meals anymore because I just don't
[3:10] Speaker 1: eat at all.
[3:11] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[3:11] Speaker 1: So Riccardo and I will share a meal.
[3:13] Speaker 2: Okay.
[3:13] Speaker 1: Perfect. I had the most amazing pasta dish ever. It
[3:20] Speaker 1: was just blow your minds. Rick was like, I can't
[3:23] Speaker 1: believe how good this is. It was so yummy.
[3:26] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[3:26] Speaker 1: However, I don't always get that standard where I'm going
[3:30] Speaker 1: or have been.
[3:32] Speaker 2: I think the taste of food isn't necessarily just about
[3:36] Speaker 2: the taste of the food. I think there's all these
[3:39] Speaker 2: other things that impact the taste of the food in
[3:42] Speaker 2: your mouth. So you're on holidays. You're having a lovely time.
[3:46] Speaker 2: You're in an unusual place. You are open for experiences.
[3:51] Speaker 2: You are happy. I think all of those things also
[3:54] Speaker 2: impact your experience and the taste of the food.
[3:57] Speaker 1: Okay, let's just bring this back a bit. You're saying
[4:00] Speaker 1: to me that my experience is based on how I'm
[4:04] Speaker 1: feeling at the time.
[4:05] Speaker 2: No, not always.
[4:06] Speaker 1: That a piece of shit food in front of me
[4:09] Speaker 1: is my fault.
[4:10] Speaker 2: No, shit is shit. Shit is shit.
[4:11] Speaker 1: Shit is shit.
[4:12] Speaker 2: But I think you can think something is even better
[4:15] Speaker 2: than it is based on... your mood and your experience
[4:21] Speaker 2: and where you're at, all those kinds of things. I
[4:24] Speaker 2: think when I'm on holidays, everything tastes better.
[4:27] Speaker 1: Do you think?
[4:28] Speaker 2: Yeah, because I'm feeling great. My attitude is really positive
[4:33] Speaker 2: and sometimes it's new and it's fun and I'm happy
[4:37] Speaker 2: and I think I'm open to things. I'm feeling more
[4:40] Speaker 2: positive about life in general. Therefore, things are going to
[4:43] Speaker 2: be better when I'm on holidays. I don't know. You
[4:45] Speaker 2: don't think that?
[4:46] Speaker 1: No.
[4:47] Speaker 2: We need a psychologist to qualify that.
[4:49] Speaker 1: No, no. I'd like to take you to some of
[4:51] Speaker 1: the places.
[4:52] Speaker 2: I think you're right. There is good food and there
[4:54] Speaker 2: is bad food and there's good service and there's bad service.
[4:57] Speaker 1: And you pay for what you get. I get all
[4:59] Speaker 1: of that.
[5:00] Speaker 2: Absolutely.
[5:01] Speaker 1: And if I pay for a McDonald's burger, I will
[5:04] Speaker 1: expect a McDonald's burger. Yeah.
[5:07] Speaker 2: Right?
[5:07] Speaker 1: If I go to an Italian restaurant and pay a
[5:11] Speaker 1: lot of money for the experience and you're going to
[5:14] Speaker 1: provide me a dry pasta … Yeah, that's not great.
[5:18] Speaker 2: I agree.
[5:18] Speaker 1: Do you send food back?
[5:20] Speaker 2: Have been known to, yeah. Yeah.
[5:22] Speaker 1: I don't like confrontation.
[5:24] Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't like it either. No. It's not something
[5:26] Speaker 2: that I love to do and I think twice about it.
[5:30] Speaker 2: But I just think my money isn't shit, so you
[5:33] Speaker 2: shouldn't be giving me shit.
[5:34] Speaker 1: That's right.
[5:35] Speaker 2: That's kind of my attitude.
[5:36] Speaker 1: So I don't generally send things back.
[5:39] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[5:39] Speaker 1: I will just go. Thank you. And just never go
[5:42] Speaker 1: there again.
[5:42] Speaker 2: And just never go back.
[5:43] Speaker 1: Never go there again.
[5:44] Speaker 2: I'm also quite discerning about where I go. So I'm
[5:48] Speaker 2: quite good at reading reviews. Okay. Yes, and it's not
[5:52] Speaker 2: just reading that first review and seeing the star. You've
[5:54] Speaker 2: got to go back and look at the latest reviews
[5:57] Speaker 2: and you've got to scroll back a bit and you've
[5:58] Speaker 2: got to analyse them, you've got to read them, all
[6:00] Speaker 2: that sort of stuff. I'm quite a discerning diner. Yeah.
[6:04] Speaker 1: No, I just like good quality food, wholesome food, really,
[6:08] Speaker 1: you know, good food with nice service. I want to
[6:12] Speaker 1: feel a bit special. I don't want to feel like
[6:13] Speaker 1: I'm taking up their time interrupting something else. Yeah, I'm sorry.
[6:18] Speaker 1: The conversation at the bar or something with.
[6:20] Speaker 2: Their work colleague. I'm sorry that's your experience because it's
[6:23] Speaker 2: not mine. Yeah.
[6:24] Speaker 1: But that's not everywhere we go.
[6:25] Speaker 2: No.
[6:26] Speaker 1: But I have found that we are laxing in customer service.
[6:30] Speaker 2: Okay.
[6:30] Speaker 1: What do you think about tipping? See, this is a
[6:33] Speaker 1: big thing, tipping. When did this come into Australia? When
[6:36] Speaker 1: you go and use your tap-on card and they go,
[6:39] Speaker 1: do you want to leave 5%, 10%, 15%? Yeah. Excuse me?
[6:44] Speaker 2: It's a little bit awkies, isn't it? Because you want
[6:45] Speaker 2: to go, no. I do go no.
[6:46] Speaker 1: And you feel a bit pressured.
[6:48] Speaker 2: I mean, I say no too. Unless it's exceptional, then
[6:51] Speaker 2: I will give a little tip.
[6:53] Speaker 1: On the trip. Rick was tipping like it was Monopoly money.
[6:56] Speaker 2: Oh, really?
[6:57] Speaker 1: Oh, my God. I said, mate, you've just paid more
[6:59] Speaker 1: in a tip than you did in the actual meal.
[7:02] Speaker 1: We were in Rhodes. We had calamari. It was absolutely
[7:05] Speaker 1: amazing with a fantastic Greek salad. We had two drinks,
[7:09] Speaker 1: absolutely amazing. Then he went and paid for it. And
[7:12] Speaker 1: then the waiter come past and he goes, oh, this
[7:14] Speaker 1: is for you. I said, what did you just do then?
[7:16] Speaker 1: He said, I just tipped him. I said, how much
[7:19] Speaker 1: did you tip him? I said, Rick, that was more
[7:21] Speaker 1: than what the meal was made. It was worse. He goes, yeah,
[7:23] Speaker 1: but he did a good job. He made me feel good.
[7:25] Speaker 1: And I thought, oh, okay, now we're throwing money at Monopoly.
[7:29] Speaker 2: Where was that?
[7:30] Speaker 1: In Rhodes.
[7:31] Speaker 2: Which is what country?
[7:32] Speaker 1: Greece. Okay.
[7:33] Speaker 2: Is tipping a thing there?
[7:34] Speaker 1: I don't know. Oh, okay. I'm happy to tip.
[7:37] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[7:37] Speaker 1: I'm not tipping in Australia. Now, I'm coming across as
[7:40] Speaker 1: someone that's very down on people and customer service. If
[7:44] Speaker 1: we get really good service, I'm going to tip. But
[7:46] Speaker 1: I don't feel like I have to have it in
[7:48] Speaker 1: my face. If I want to do it.
[7:50] Speaker 2: I agree with you.
[7:51] Speaker 1: We will do it. I don't know what the laws
[7:53] Speaker 1: are in Greece. Are they paid a minimum wage? Are they,
[7:56] Speaker 1: you know, whatever. Happy for Rick to tip. I just
[7:59] Speaker 1: need to be mindful.
[8:00] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[8:01] Speaker 1: Of what he's tipping.
[8:01] Speaker 2: Not too much.
[8:02] Speaker 1: Because it's euros.
[8:04] Speaker 2: Keep a lid on that, Rick. Nev's a bit of
[8:06] Speaker 2: a tipper too. He likes to tip.
[8:07] Speaker 1: What would he be tipping?
[8:09] Speaker 2: I think he's more of a round-up kind of guy. Right.
[8:12] Speaker 2: So say the bill was $ 250. If it was an
[8:16] Speaker 2: exceptional meal, he might round it up to three.
[8:19] Speaker 1: Really?
[8:20] Speaker 2: Yeah, but it would have to be exceptional.
[8:22] Speaker 1: Where does it go?
[8:23] Speaker 2: See, this is the thing.
[8:24] Speaker 1: You just don't know?
[8:25] Speaker 2: No, you just don't know.
[8:26] Speaker 1: Is it going back to the owner?
[8:27] Speaker 2: I think in most cases it's not going to the owners.
[8:29] Speaker 2: I think it's going to the staff. But it also
[8:32] Speaker 2: depends on how that restaurant decides to split their tips. See,
[8:35] Speaker 2: I would like to think that the tips are all
[8:38] Speaker 2: gathered together at the end of the night and then
[8:40] Speaker 2: they're divided by all the staff. Because I feel like
[8:44] Speaker 2: there's people behind the scenes, like the chefs, for example,
[8:48] Speaker 2: that are cooking this fabulous food, that they're not getting
[8:50] Speaker 2: rewarded for it. They're not out the front getting the tips.
[8:53] Speaker 2: So I think I like the idea that it's sweet.
[8:55] Speaker 2: But then also I think that person did the exceptional service.
[8:59] Speaker 2: Like if it's a service tip, I think, well, you know,
[9:02] Speaker 2: that person over there didn't give me the service, that
[9:04] Speaker 2: person did, so I don't know.
[9:06] Speaker 1: I think there needs to be a user guide on
[9:08] Speaker 1: tipping because it's definitely coming into Australia and I don't
[9:12] Speaker 1: like it.
[9:13] Speaker 2: No, me neither. I mean, we already pay income tax, GST. Well,
[9:17] Speaker 2: I think we need to be paying tips as well.
[9:19] Speaker 1: Happy to pay for good service, happy to then give
[9:22] Speaker 1: them something, but I don't like it.
[9:24] Speaker 2: Yeah, same.
[9:25] Speaker 1: The end.

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