Make sure you leave a tip!!!

[NetXteN]

Originally Posted by hybrid

some of you are losers. That is the traditional way that waitresses get paid and its been like that since before you were a twinkle in your daddy's eye. Just pat the f@cking 15% and be happy you can afford to have someone serve you

Actually... I'd be just as content serving myself. But they'll call the cops on you if you try doing that too.

If the waitress/waiter is being a bitch/dick to me then they aren't getting any tip. I'm not tipping someone who doesn't do their job just because you "are supposed to". At my job, I'd get fired if I was an ass to a customer. Plain and simple. Not that I don't get paid for that hour, I'd get FIRED. If they don't receive a tip from me... they already knew they had it coming because I give the benefit of the doubt any time I can. No, if they aren't getting a tip from me then they better be happy I didn't speak to their manager at that point. End story.

[orange57]

I always leave a tip. i have a lot of friends that are in the food service industry, and they work pretty much strictly for tips. hourly wage for a server is 2.13/hr here in AZ, and that goes pretty much straight to taxes.

It depends on the circumstances of the bad service. if i'm their only table, and i'm having trouble getting a refil, i'll only leave 10-15%. if the place is packed, and its taking a little longer, chances are its not their fault, they could be bustting their ass the best they can, but the cooks could be slow, someone could have called in sick making the server have more tables, etc.

understand that when you go to a restraunt for a meal, the servers probally aren't getting paid more than 2.13-2.25/hr so that money doesn't pay the bills, they work for the tips.

matt

[audiophan]

gq or maybe kiplingers published a great article on tips a while back. as orange stated, just about every server in the food service industry relies on tips for income. it is no longer optional, and hasn't been for years now. it started as gratitude for a job well done but now has become an actual paycheck.

uncle sam charges taxes on tips - so when you tip zero some server is paying tax for your ingratitude. and just about every resturant includes tip for large parties - the server busts their but trying to please 10 rowdy people who usually end up hogging the table/booth for a long time.when all said and done all they get is $10 for dealing with them for 2hours. then the cooks, busboy/girls and taxes all eat at that. so you end up making jack.

just because your water didn't get filled up 10times during a meal doesn't mean the server is lousy. most times they try hard to please, but after seeing the same type of people tip nothing over and over they realize who to give 100% attention and who to let take care of themselves.

HOW TO DEAL WITH A RUDE SERVER:
tipping low doesn't cut it anymore. if you do that you just ruined the servers mood, and now the next person gets shitty service as well. instead, tip and see a manager. usually they reinburse you more than the few dollars you saved by not tipping. and if the server really is horrible then there goes their job.

that just about summarizes what i remember of the article mentioned

[AnnieMei]

Having been in the business, I disagree with alot of the points:

Originally Posted by audiophan

gq or maybe kiplingers published a great article on tips a while back. as orange stated, just about every server in the food service industry relies on tips for income. it is no longer optional, and hasn't been for years now. it started as gratitude for a job well done but now has become an actual paycheck.

Which is quite sad. I worked to sERVE people, and if they felt my service was on par or more than average, then I see it reflected in the tips i've gotten. AND I've gotten no tip or tips that were next to nill. I can't say that my service to them was poor, but I dont expect every single patron to tip me (they may not have enough $$ to do so). Expectation of tips is one of hte aspects of the service help job that has been skewed too far in this day. And Employers who depend on using the "tips" as part of their wage calculation need to wake up and smell the 21st century.

uncle sam charges taxes on tips - so when you tip zero some server is paying tax for your ingratitude.

Um, no, they dont. You can't tax something they did not earn. Tax on $0 is still $0

and just about every resturant includes tip for large parties - the server busts their but trying to please 10 rowdy people who usually end up hogging the table/booth for a long time.

And what about the lazy server who didn't come back to inquire "
1. if the food was to their expectations
2. check to see if the patrosn were satisfied.
3. timely with the refills of water or drinks?
4. and was only seen to, seat, take their orders, serve and return with the check? and have an "attitude" during the whole evening?

And those 10 people were as proper and unabusive as can be?

No, I dont award bad behaviour , nor do I reward someone who isn't keen on whom they are serving. Restaurants that "make" you pay a tip, should also be lenient on that "rule". Otherwise, they lose me as a customer, and maybe the 10-20 people they just served, and the 100+ customers that I would tell, and my group would tell

when all said and done all they get is $10 for dealing with them for 2hours. then the cooks, busboy/girls and taxes all eat at that. so you end up making jack.

last i looked, cooks aren't a "tip" paying job. The ony people who should get a tip is the wait help. busboys are hourly; if they expect a tip, make them become the waithelp. They are paid to clean the tables and have it ready for the next party, couple, whomever.

just because your water didn't get filled up 10times during a meal doesn't mean the server is lousy. most times they try hard to please, but after seeing the same type of people tip nothing over and over they realize who to give 100% attention and who to let take care of themselves.

Then dont be in a job where 100% of your time is dedicated to "serving" other people whether 1 of your customers is an asshat or all of them wree asshats.

HOW TO DEAL WITH A RUDE SERVER:
tipping low doesn't cut it anymore. if you do that you just ruined the servers mood, and now the next person gets shitty service as well.

Then they should be fired. We have a 3% jobless rate in this countyr. Im sure the millsions of americans who dont have a job, wouldn't mind filling in the shoes of one ungrateful server.

instead, tip and see a manager. usually they reinburse you more than the few dollars you saved by not tipping. and if the server really is horrible then there goes their job.

dont tip, see the manager and negotiate.

that just about summarizes what i remember of the article mentioned

and a bullshit one. an opinioned article probably written from the point of view of a restauranteer who knows jack about customer service.

[Rascus]

wow...Annie just broke it down

[AnnieMei]

Originally Posted by Rascus

wow...Annie just broke it down

having been there, done that, I can say from experience that the employer in the above article was a fucking asshat. I dont care if his 'waithelp' are studnets our single moms or what not. if HIS salary/hourly wage is that poor, to deman patrons pay a tip of 18% (which is , imho, extortion), then he should be flexible on that rate if the server was a total ass/bitch.

Why risk you reputation? This 'businessman' just guaranteed that his business will go down the tubes. Its now known through America, that if you dont pay the tip, you get arrested. Now what kind of fucking idiot does that?

Nope, watch in the news in the coming months that "the man who was known to have a non-tipper arrested" will have to file for bankruptsy due to "poor business".

Those students and single moms better start looking for another job.

The owner was an asshat.

[Rascus]

Originally Posted by AnnieMei

Nope, watch in the news in the coming months that "the man who was known to have a non-tipper arrested" will have to file for bankruptsy due to "poor business".

Espically with it being posted on the NY Times and now on Sportbike forums.

[NetXteN]

Originally Posted by AnnieMei

Having been in the business, I disagree with alot of the points: (etc...)

*highfive*

[TheSollyLama]

but anyway, if 10-15% is required of parties over 6 ppl, it should be added TO the bill and/or told upfront that it will be added on.. I just love how some places place advertise it at the bottom of the menu and print it in the smallest font possible

---Most places require a certain gratuity on large parties. I agree that most places hide this fact in tiny text on the back page of a menu under the seniors menue and store address info.

But tipping needs to come to an end. Minimum wage is minimum wage. Tips is an excuse for employers to underpay people (usually folks that cant' afford to be picky about jobs at that) and rely on what amounts to charity. And if the meals aren't getting any cheaper, what are we really saving by using this method?
I hate tipping because it either rewards or punishes someone that is only a part of the dining experience. Food cold and slow coming? Not the server's fault.

It's a cowardly way to deal with any negative feedback. You can have bad managment, bad food, slow cooks, understaffed dining area, etc. But the owner is insulated from all that by making the server take the ding by getting less tip as if it's his/her fault.
Where else does this happen? I make a salary. I don't get tips for having done my job. I'm expected to do it. Most of the things that end up as failures in my job are beyond my control- just like waitstaff- so dinging me for it would ass me up.

OTH, most places are becoming almost self service these days. One place I go to is a self-seating place where the server brings you a soda in a can, and delivers a sandwich made 25 feet away by someone else. Not exactly rocket science, and really not worth the 4 or 5 bucks it comes out to in tips. Really, with today's prices, a tip can be about as much as a single meal- all for someone to basically carry food a short distance and put it down. So for that tip, you're not really getting much in return.

[TheWraith]

It's the employer's responsibility to compenstate their staff. It is not the responsibility of the consumer. If the employeer would pay their staff adequate wages, there would be no need for tipping to suppliment income, or to provide income at all. It is not the responsibility of the customer to provide the income of the employee.

[freeky929]

Originally Posted by King Cobra

If the mandatory gratuity had not been advertised I would have been inclined to agree with you. But if it's known up front and they chose not to pay it, they were at fault.

But...how was it advertised? I know that most restaurants automatically add a 15% gratuity when a party has 6 or more. It pisses me off when they don't tell me they are going to do it. Also, if they add the 15%, that's all they get from me. I am a great tipper and usually tip closer to 20%...but not when they add the tip in for me. In my case, they are short-changing themselves by adding it in. I certainly don't think that the guy should have been arrested for not tipping. He paid for the food. He thought the service was bad, and gave what he thought it was worth. I think waiter should be rewarded for good service, but if the service sucks, so should the tip!

[freeky929]

Also, it wouldn't bother me as much if waiters were claiming the income...but they're not. I worked as a waiter for several years, and I would estimate that most waiters only claimed about a third of the income they made on income taxes. This is the reason that I NEVER pay with cash at a restaurant and NEVER leave the tip in cash. As long as you put the tip on a credit card along with the meal, the waiter is forced to claim the tip as income because it is documented. I have to pay taxes on 100% of my income...why shouldn't waiters?

[arma]

hahahaha that has to be one of the funniest things i've ever read. As a prior waiter at one of the "cool" eating places for High School kids, I have been stiffed more times than I can count. The one that stands out in my mind is I suppose 9 or 10 popular kids with a 65.something bill and they leave me 66. That person needs to cowboy the fuck up and quit their bitching. That has to be the absolute dumbest thing I have ever read. Wow, all I can say is WOW. Id walk up to that store with a sign that says, "Please, bitch more!" Lord

[TheWraith]

Originally Posted by freeky929

I think waiter should be rewarded for good service, but if the service sucks, so should the tip!

The waiter should be rewarded by a paycheck from his employer. If the employer doesn't pay enough. Find another job.

Originally Posted by freeky929

Also, it wouldn't bother me as much if waiters were claiming the income...but they're not.

Exactly. However, I disagree with your creditcard/cash statement on tips. I waited tables in college and anytime I was tipped via credit card, the owner simply took cash out of the cash register and gave it to me.

[AnnieMei]

and what also disturbs me is that tips are sometimes divided up between the waithelp in a section (ie restaurant).

Say there are 10 tables and 5 servers assigned to that section. What happens if 3 of the servers didn't "do their" job 100% and the others are covering for them or putting out 110% to satisfy their customers?

yet the tips will be divided up between all 5 servers, whether or not they did a good job.

That peeves me. If I feel a server did 125% above what they are supposed to do, I WANT THEM to be rewarded, not their fellow servers.