@chuck #70 - here here mate.

@debz #79 - What are you talking about? The cost of living in NZ is a LOT less than anywhere I have ever been long term. Last time I checked petrol in the UK was equivalent to about $2.75 per litre as an example. that is with their own oil industry too.

@Josh #83 - GST - VAT(last time I was in the UK it was 17.5%). In northern America and Canada they have two or three taxes to be added onto to any shopping you do and they don't do it 'til you get to the till. GST at 12.5% is a bargain.

"Kiwis DO tip....it's called GST. Goods and Services Tax. Other countries don't have services tax"

What utter tosh!

GST is a TAX! Like Income Tax! It has nowt to do with the service you get it is just a government tax.

And almost every other country has one - Australia, UK, most US states, Canada, Germany, France etc etc

Have you ever even been off the north island?!!

I never complain in NZ as I have come to realise after living here for 5 years that as a race (sorry to generalise) you simply react very badly to complaint and criticism.

Usually it is either made out to be my fault or it is impossible to get anyone to take it seriously.

I have even had tradies refuse to work for me again because I queried an account or the way a job had been done!!

Very childish but sadly all too common. Americans welcome complaints and go out of their way to fix them - Kiwis get defensive and personal!

@ Debz #79

Behave yourself! The Kiwi $ is fairly weak, and I agree gigs cost a little bit more to go to over here but it's not completely like for like! Spending $40 is not like spending 40GBP!! For example, a beer in the UK might cost 3GBP, or less. Over here, it's $6 on average...

As for the gigs as well, they are few and far between here as opposed to London where you could probably go to at least one 'big name' gig per week! Here you will be lucky to get one big name every 2 months and therefore you can budget for it!

As for sports, it's fair enough about the Rugby World Cup - ticket prices are shocking and I wouldn't blame anyone for not paying. What I am talking about is Super 14 and NPC games that have about 6 home games each and maybe cost anywhere between $15-$50. It's really not that much considering back in the UK I would pay around 25GBP to go to about 30+ football matches per year!

And, I am earning slightly less here than in the UK but nothing that makes a significant difference to everyday life...and besides there's plenty of other things in the UK that are a lot more expensive than here to balance things out!

thats right Pete, kiwis earn no money, maybe the lowest income earners in the western world!

I disagree with those saying servers live on tip money due to their low wage - most restaurants add a service charge of 12.5% which should go to servers but usually doesn't - not the customers problem, this is pure greed by the establishment - I know I have worked in many, and have also travelled through europe where service charge was included in my bill.

Tipping is a great way to get great service. Here in NZ if you do not like the service you receive, there is is no method to show this except complain (which we dont). However if there was tipping, you are able to just not tip or adjust the amount based on the quality of service received. Great for point of sale quality control.

Considering how little we are paid, the low value of our Dollar and how far and how costly it is for NZers have to travel to get anywhere it isn't surprising there's no cash left to spend in overpriced Eurpopean, american and British cities. As for Crompton's comment "Crompton also suggested Kiwis abroad ought to be environmentally conscious", I'd suggest we could be environmentally conscious by not getting on the fuel guzzling aeroplanes in the first place and spending some money on this side of the world and help our economy.

Kiwis are stingy, fact. It's all the Scottish blood I tell you. If you don't believe me you haven't really seen other cultures at work. and it's not just tipping either.....

It seems that many NZ's need a good lesson on customer service. In NZ we are paid to serve customers, and still the service they receive is rubbish. In the US, they are paid less, so the tips make them want to work harder = better customer service. If you are travelling to a country don't be ignorant - it takes two minuets to do a google search to find a little out about their customs.