The Art of Tipping

mattsrod7

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I'm actually getting to resent tipping.

No matter where you go EVERYONE expects a tip.

A tip = To Insure Prompt Service.


Sklar
Sklar you took the words out of my mouth. People should have to earn their tip, I hate when you go out and are expected to leave a bigger tip at a nicer restaurant when the service is like exactly the same. The job of being a waiter is to take the order and bring the food. So when they forget stuff, that's not quite doing their job. Or when they don't write it down and then they forget stuff, its not like they really made an effort to remember it in the first place. I've worked retail for a while and whether I do my job poorly or if I go above and beyond, I never get a tip. We're even told not to take money if people offer it, which some actually do. So if your waiting my table and I leave anything you should be thankful, becuase a tip is extra. I tip well if I get good service, but if its a regular experience, I don't see why they deserve more than 10-15%.
For instance, if a waiter has 4 tables, each table total is 40$, and every table leaves 10% thats 16$ plus the money they make, (~2.5) Thats like 10$ an hour which is pretty good. You can't expect to always make a huge amount. If you had been amazingly devoted to those tables you could've made 15% which would be another 20$. I worked hard for my hourly rate, so I'm not going to be wanting to give it up so willingly. remember that.
 

HellsKitchenmanNYC

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Folks don't forget to that if you go to a restaurant with friends and you stay there a looooooong time you should tip higher too because the waiter is losing out by not having the table for another party.
 

HazelGod

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Have people forgotten what a good tip was?
I'm just curious because it seems to me that most people don't realize what they are doing out there.
I'm an excellent server. I truly am..
And what really just EATS at me is one I give SPOT ON service and people leave 5% tips.
I can't tell you what this does to a server.
It's like getting your dick ripped off mid-shift.
A verbal tip... can be shoved up your ass.

If you can't AFFORD to go out and eat I got ONE word for yah!!!!!
MCDONALDS!

Seriously... if you're out there, you bad tippers.... Go to Hell.

With that said, a huge thank you to all you 15-20+% tippers.
You're appreciated more than you.
Every time I get a tip as such, I kiss the ground you walk on!:biggrin1:

I couldn't agree more, Nottie. Personally, I think everyone should have to work a food service job at least once in their lives.

That said, if I were in your shoes, I'd be looking for a job at a swankier restaurant...one that attracts a more educated and affluent clientele.


I live on Social Security disability... anything I leave is more than I can afford to spend. Sorry if I can't live up to your standards.

It isn't about "her standards." If you can't afford at least a 15% gratuity, then quite frankly you can't afford to eat at a full-service restaurant. End of story.


So if your waiting my table and I leave anything you should be thankful, becuase a tip is extra. I tip well if I get good service, but if its a regular experience, I don't see why they deserve more than 10-15%.
For instance, if a waiter has 4 tables, each table total is 40$, and every table leaves 10% thats 16$ plus the money they make, (~2.5) Thats like 10$ an hour which is pretty good. You can't expect to always make a huge amount. If you had been amazingly devoted to those tables you could've made 15% which would be another 20$. I worked hard for my hourly rate, so I'm not going to be wanting to give it up so willingly. remember that.

This ignorance is exactly why people should have to work in food service before being allowed to dine in restaurants.

What you left out of your example is a significant deduction for tip-shares. Most restaurants require servers to kick in a percentage of their tips to a pool that gets paid out to the hostesses, bartenders, kitchen staff, etc.

With your attitude, I hope for your sake you don't frequent any place where the staff will remember you.
 
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PrincessBlueEyez

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Yeh when i sit down it starts out at 15%, and then if my drink is constantly getting empty and i can never find the waiter/waitress, it goes down. I dont hold food orders against the waiters cause I use to be one and know how often the cooks screw up.

It takes a major screw up to get nothing from me, cause even if they're horrible ill leave a couple bucks, but yeh normally im 15+% cuz i know how hard it was.

(Thank God for cellphones with calculators, cuz i can never seem to calculate the percentage in my head, lol)
 

FlowerChick

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I'm a 20% tipper, however, I'm paying more attention to service more than ever due to economy, plus I just don't go out if I can't afford to tip. To not tip when service is satisfactory, just average to good, is wrong on so many levels. If the service is average or even lacking, I leave a 15% tip, and always calculated on the amount before taxes! I can't remember the last time I left a 10% tip for bad service, and probably only once or twice 0% when the waiter was so bad, even insulting, making rude comments even in light of my polite assertions.

I believe how a person tips also speaks volumes about the kind of person you are, for example, cheap, generous, rewarding, secure, etc.

I waitressed in my college days in a nice dinner restaurants and even a touristy coffee bake shop, and even in light of my good service moments, there were just some people, jerks, selfish persons who were and are cheap, just purely selfish.

If you have ever worked in the food industry, then you know more about people and their personality about how they dine, talk to others, especially the waitstaff.

I think a standard 15% to 20% tip should be applied, much like a surcharge , often what is done when dining parties exceed a certain head count. In this way everyone is treated fairly and if you don't like the dining experience, you have a choice to not return to the establishment, encouraging to hire better staff and/or schedule accordingly. It's not always about having good food, but the service you receive.

FlowerChick
 
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Notthe7

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Wow, some of the things that have been have really just astonished me!
Okay, perhaps just a couple.
My father is on social security/disability and he continues to tip upwards of 20% when we dine out. If you have money to eat you, you have money to tip. I suggest that you make wise decisions about your money if you cannot afford a tip, eat in.

MOST American waiters do NOT make minimum wage we make 2.13 an hr and depend on tips to survive.

I heard a lot of gripping about included tips. For the most part I do agree that a tip should be a reflection of service but at certain high end restaurants it should be expected! It's off...t he BETTER place I eat, the worse the service. (Though I have a critical eye.)

I also THANK everyone who still tips depending on service and is mindful of how stressful the job.

One day I wore a pedometer to work and I walked 6 miles.

Great leg work out!

Great TIP of the day: Quit writing God Bless on my receipts and tipping me 10%.... God hates you for it. :cool:
 

warren84

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In a lot of places here, if you leave a tip it is put in a shared pot and shared out amongst the staff at the end of the day. So if you work hard and well your slacker colleagues benefit. It's wrong.

But on the flip side, whatever they get is on top of their wage and not a part of it

We do that at our restaurant. If the kitchen didn't cook anything, and the barman didn't make the drinks, then there wouldn't be any service to tip in the first place. We all share the tips, so that on average we get £40 per week extra on top of our wages.

As for slackers - trust me we notice! Slackers get ratted out to the management and are dealt with accordingly!:rolleyes:
 

D_Jared Padalicki

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Have people forgotten what a good tip was?
I'm just curious because it seems to me that most people don't realize what they are doing out there.
I'm an excellent server. I truly am..
And what really just EATS at me is one I give SPOT ON service and people leave 5% tips.
I can't tell you what this does to a server.
It's like getting your dick ripped off mid-shift.
A verbal tip... can be shoved up your ass.

If you can't AFFORD to go out and eat I got ONE word for yah!!!!!
MCDONALDS!

Seriously... if you're out there, you bad tippers.... Go to Hell.

3.64 on 58.00 is NOT good.
2.00 on 68.00 is NOT good.
0 DOLLARS ON 105.00 IS NOT GOOD.


Wish I could DICTATE your wages love.... :D

With that said, a huge thank you to all you 15-20+% tippers.
You're appreciated more than you.
Every time I get a tip as such, I kiss the ground you walk on!:biggrin1:

Tbh, that is a stupid American rule to count tips in and so. Here we decide if we give a tip.
 

BiItalianBro

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I think it should be mandatory National Service that everyone should wait tables for 6 months in the USA....lol. It appalls me how many people educated people do now know that servers makes less than minimum wage, are taxed on sales volume and have no bennies (vacation,health insurance,etc). I am a chronic over-tipper just because i have been there.
 

rob_just_rob

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Some thoughts:

Tip jars - screw you, really. I'm standing in line, waiting my turn, and possibly have carried the product to the cash register myself. There is no service involved. Thus, no tip. Although I might throw the change in there if it's mostly pennies.

Mandatory gratuities - I generally find the service lousy when I am in a group of 8 or more. I wonder if there is some connection to be made here.

In general, if I am at a restaurant, I'll tip 15%-20%, unless something really special has happened, in which case I've gone as high as 50% (on a $120 tab). If the service is crummy, I'll go well below 5%. But it would have to be really crummy - like being left at a table for 20 minutes with no menus or drinks crummy.

And there are some special circumstances where I won't tip 15%. Example would be a personal dinner where we drank two $550 bottles of wine. Aside from the wine, the dinner was about $300 (four of us). I was not about to tip an extra $160 because our waiter opened 2 bottles of wine (and no, the sommelier was nowhere to be found and we chose the wine ourselves, so he doesn't get a tip). The tip was good in absolute terms (around $120 IIRC) but not 15%.

Having said that, that was one of the few really expensive dinners I've had that wasn't an expense account dinner. Those all get exactly 15% (because it's justifiable both ways).
 

rob_just_rob

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Oh, one last point:

If you really hate tipping and believe that it should be abolished and a legislated minimum wage established for servers in its place... all that will accomplish is an increase in prices at restaurants. Probably a bigger increase than the tip would have amounted to (since the restaurant presumably has to pay payroll tax, among other reasons). So... I am not generally in favour of getting rid of the tip system. It's imperfect and feudal, but it seems to be better than the alternative.
 

HazelGod

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Tip jars - screw you, really. There is no service involved. Thus, no tip.

I was not about to tip an extra $160 because our waiter opened 2 bottles of wine (and no, the sommelier was nowhere to be found and we chose the wine ourselves, so he doesn't get a tip).

Amen on both counts.
 

B_New End

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I tip 15 - 20%. Ive tipped over 100% before, and not because of stellar service... I just do it to make someone's day. (And no, I've never given it to a hottie, I am sure they are used ot it, so I usually give it to an ugly or a dude).

However... I get really pissed when I hear I am supposed to tip $1 a drink. I am sorry, giving me a $3.50 well/happy hour drink is going to get you a 50 cent tip. I'm not giving you a dollar for spending 30 seconds to pour some jack onthe rocks.

With lattes, again, I usually just give the change if it is over 50 cents.

And of course, I like most people am insulted by mandatory gratuities. I never, ever, ever go back to a place that has mandatory gratuities.
 

cdarro

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Then fact that your boss underpays you does not oblige your customers to make up the shortfall.

That being said, yes, there are many bad tippers out there. I generally leave 15%, sometimes 20%. But it pisses me of royally when some goof (male or female) takes my cash and tries to guilt me into a big tip, saying .."do you need your change?" That will get them zero.
 

backa

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I'm a 20% person to begin with, and a variance of 5% either way depending on the service. Only a few times I've tipped very poorly due to service, which each time I believe the server was oblivious as to why they received such a paltry tip. If it's a place I visit regularly I'll tip more than my norm. I have on occasion tipped 50% or more for outstanding service and when it appears the server is just having a terrible day but doing everything they can.