Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

i usually buy in shops just to avoid possibility of bad vibe. mainly because when im stoned it seems the easiest thing to do. supose they are well within rights to insist you only smoke what you buy there if they want- you wouldnt (i hope) try sneaking in your own beers into a pub to save money- just as long as they are up front about it.

however- barneys on harlem st. will never ever ever ever, ever go into again. on last visit me and my bro bought 1g of weed each and drinks and took our seats. less than 10minutes later, before we had even finished our spliffs or drinks we were told we needed to buy more to keep the table. we should of told the guy to go f%+k himself but because we were stoned we just left. i think he done this because the shop was begining to fill up and they wanted us to go away so any new customers were not put off by lack of seats. great customer service. Personally i think barneys lounge is a nice place but will never visit any other barneys shops again.

id say probally in the main most good shops wont hassel you as long as you buy drinks as minimum. I think if you go in dont buy weed or drinks and smoke your own that your a cock and i hope they hassel you big time.

On the last visit to harlem st. dampkring we saw a guy do exactly that. the waitress told him that he needed to buy drinks or weed and it was not cool just to go in and smoke your own. he ignored her, big mistake. Few minutes later a large skin head bouncer dude came upstairs and threatened to end his ability to walk if he didnt buy something or go away. boy shat himself and left few minutes later. Personally although it killed the chilled out vibe i was aiming for, i think dampkring was well within rights to remove the guy.

I subscribe to the idea that you should buy something. However it's been a long time since my friends and I smoked regularly, I can't remember the last time I had a spliff so on our forthcoming trip I don't know that buying weed in every shop we visit would be practical without it getting very messy or having a lot of stock left over which I'd rather not do. We may surprise ourselves and smoke a forest or two. However we will be buying drinks at least and I think I shall ask from the outset if it is ok to just buy drinks and smoke our own. I shall also be asking if it is ok to take photos of each other as long as we keep it at that. I feel a polite, two minute conversation about house rules will eliminate any problems. I want a hassle free trip, so if somewhere doesn't suit then we will just leave, not worth my time. I do agree though that you should buy something.

boywonder wrote:I subscribe to the idea that you should buy something. However it's been a long time since my friends and I smoked regularly, I can't remember the last time I had a spliff so on our forthcoming trip I don't know that buying weed in every shop we visit would be practical without it getting very messy or having a lot of stock left over which I'd rather not do. We may surprise ourselves and smoke a forest or two. However we will be buying drinks at least and I think I shall ask from the outset if it is ok to just buy drinks and smoke our own. I shall also be asking if it is ok to take photos of each other as long as we keep it at that. I feel a polite, two minute conversation about house rules will eliminate any problems. I want a hassle free trip, so if somewhere doesn't suit then we will just leave, not worth my time. I do agree though that you should buy something.

this is how i tend to go about my CS visits, the british way be over polite, hate causing a scene especially when im so grateful the be in such a great place that they provide me

If its the first time i have been to the shop and more importantly if i like whats on offer then i will always buy both!
On the other hand if i have already bought there that trip and i recognise the barrista i will just buy a drink and carry on with a kind of 'remember' me gesture if anything is said...never had any probs

Actually there was one shop , possibly old church ,ran by a fairly surly lady who insisted i buy both and both were terrible , non flushed , black acrid smoke and awful 2.50 euro plastic cup vending machine coffee.
It was pissing it down though and i was in no state to be walking about so had to be done

Also a very strange looking/sounding midget tried to befriend me whilst sat in said shop which really span me out. Don't get me wrong i have no problem with 'little people' or whatever the pc term is but this guy was really very weird!

lol some of these posts make me laugh.

Bottom line I ALWAYS buy something to drink and usually try out a bit of their smoke or hash as well. I also tip them which seems to surprise them so they treat me even nicer after

2rollingstoned wrote:lol some of these posts make me laugh.

Bottom line I ALWAYS buy something to drink and usually try out a bit of their smoke or hash as well. I also tip them which seems to surprise them so they treat me even nicer after

This +1

People would be surprised what differences a little tip can make for the quality of an experience

Sometimes a tip results in extras or simply a smile... Either is good

TwoCanucks wrote:

2rollingstoned wrote:lol some of these posts make me laugh.

Bottom line I ALWAYS buy something to drink and usually try out a bit of their smoke or hash as well. I also tip them which seems to surprise them so they treat me even nicer after

This +1

People would be surprised what differences a little tip can make for the quality of an experience

Sometimes a tip results in extras or simply a smile... Either is good

+2
I hope I don't offend anyone with this opinion, but it seems to me that tipping is not a common practice with Europeans. Tipping in the US is habit, and it does seem to go a LONG way at Coffeeshops.

ed the head wrote:

TwoCanucks wrote:

2rollingstoned wrote:lol some of these posts make me laugh.

Bottom line I ALWAYS buy something to drink and usually try out a bit of their smoke or hash as well. I also tip them which seems to surprise them so they treat me even nicer after

This +1

People would be surprised what differences a little tip can make for the quality of an experience

Sometimes a tip results in extras or simply a smile... Either is good

+2
I hope I don't offend anyone with this opinion, but it seems to me that tipping is not a common practice with Europeans. Tipping in the US is habit, and it does seem to go a LONG way at Coffeeshops.

In most places, the service charge is added to the bill so a separate tip isn't usually needed. Saying that it isn't a common practice with Europeans is also quite a large generalisation - in Germany they do tip.

Here are my two Euro cents about tipping...
I've lived in Germany for nearly 20 years and say that tipping is not the norm. As previously stated, there is a small surcharge included in the price. A tip, if you will, is given in the form of the following: the bill is E17.50 and you round it up to E18. For exceptional service, one could round to E20 with 2.50 being a very nice tip (except uber-pissy establishments, better make that a 5er ).
Tipping has been discussed several times in the forum if anyone is interested. Use the search function...

Happy trails...

Back in the day I worked at restaurants and we got paid 2.10 an hour plus tips. It was hard as hell to make a living this way unless you worked at a really class establishment that people understood this and took care of you for good service. My paycheck would be like 90 dollars a week. The rest was being dependent on the kindness of strangers. Fortunately I can talk to anyone and have an outgoing personality so this was in my favor. I've never forgotten what it was like to exist this way never knowing what your pay would be each week. I remember this and try to tip accordingly.

The coffeeshops are a different animal from the restaurants really but its still just our way to give a bit to show appreciation for good service. I am sure being a bud tender can be a job that wears on you with all the craziness everyday but really we were treated nicely by everyone and folks were helpful. But I also researched what was the best stuff being smoked around town so I went to those shops and purchased the beautiful selections that were HIGHLY recommended This is why I love this place, it helped me so much plus I met some really nice people!

Good manners, being polite, buying something to drink and perhaps a bit of their stock and you cannot go wrong.

If you are polite and they are rude, leave. There's far too many good places there to be treated disrespectfully.

I believe in tipping, but this thread keeps reminding me of Reservoir Dogs...

http://youtu.be/Z-qV9wVGb38

Actually had an English gent ask me while I was at a CS in Maastricht last year, "Whats up with you Americans and your tipping". He said that when he visits the U.S. he is surprised by how much we tip and what servers expect. I start at 20% and move up or down from there depending on the person. That's how I roll and it seems to work just fine with everyone on the receiving end.

There are many places like the Grey Area or the Katsu where I only hop in to buy some smoke. Then I have my regular hang out zones where I smoke it up and they usually wont see me buying weed. The 420 Cafe is one of these. They have pretty decent weed but not really my kind of thing. I do love the atmosphere there, so I do give a tip with every drink I buy. I never camp out in places without buying many drinks or also weed. The smoker friendly bars in Amsterdam also make a perfect location to smoke your own. Officially you are not forced to buy weed in a coffeeshop. In some shops they might push you to buy some smoke but I think those are best to avoid anyway.

I would think no matter where you live, a tip is always nice. I remember the first visit to amsterdam and I went with a gf. She didnt smoke alot but like her booze so we would always start our day at the Prix D'ami and end our night there. They still served booze in the shops then. It was close to where we were staying. Well we became friends with all of them and I even keep in touch with a few of them. We used to tip them alot and eventually they started giving them back to us telling us we tip too much but they appreciated the tips. I tip for people who are friendly and good at thier job. I will tip also for not so good service but just not that much and if they are horrible, they will be lucky to get a smile from me. I was taught you tip for good service. The better the service the better the tip.