Restaurant Tipping

[KAYLINDA]

My husband and I would love to see tipping stopped. We get so tired of hearing things like... so and so only tipped....I busted my butt for that table and they only left me....I had to clean up after 4 kids and I only got....

It's funny how we never hear complaints about the tables they received good tips from! lol

If waitstaff got a set salary..would you,the customer, get the same service? I kind of doubt it. Why kick butt when you're getting the same amount of money just for being there?

Except for a few very large parties, we don't even let them put gratuities on parties of 6 or more where a lot of other places do...for this same reason.

We even pushed a pencil on our sales here. Just to pay minimum wage we would have to raise all our meals $ 1.00. I know our girls make somewhere between 7.00 and 12.00 an hour. Think how much more that would raise the meals. It will never happen....and maybe it's for the best.

It's probably much more pleasant to get a waitress that is doing her best for the sake of a tip...and one who is going to get the same whether she smiles or not.

 

[minerman]

15% seems to be the middle of the road standard around here... I most often tip this, if i really like the service, i will increaes to 20 or 25...if im not pleased i will go down to 5 or 10...i always make sure to leave a tip because i know that these people depend on these tips to get by. (unfortunate)

 

[roadfix]

Until tipping makes sense I will stop doing it.

When you patronize an establishment where tipping is the norm you're basically expected (and agreeing) to tip. Best if you did not patronize these establishments.

And yes, I realize this is an old thread...

 

[RPCookin]

When you patronize an establishment where tipping is the norm you're basically expected (and agreeing) to tip. Best if you did not patronize these establishments.

And yes, I realize this is an old thread...

It's old enough that I'd never seen it before.

I feel that tipping is the best way to "rate" your server. I usually tip 15% for average service, 20% for good service. I have tipped as high as 25% when I thought that the server went above and beyond expectations, but that's rare. When service is particularly poor, the tip percentage can drop below 10%.

Since most restaurants don't pay very good wages, tips are both expected and necessary for a consistent income. Not tipping as a matter of "principle" is just being cheap. Failing to tip (or tipping minimally, under 10%) because of bad service is sending a message to the server that their performance is sub-par. The good ones will get the message and improve, the bad ones will just complain about the cheapskates they just served and never change.

I won't undertip when I can see that a server is clearly just learning the job. There is a bit of an art to being a good server, to keeping a good attitude while running your tail off during the busy mealtimes, and it takes some training and experience to get it right.

I don't like restaurants that "pool" the tips and divide them equally - that removes any incentive for improvement or excellence. I think that's no different from those places where the gratuity is automatically added to the bill. I want to make the decision myself, and I'm not above even lodging a protest with the manager if I receive particularly bad service.

 

[JustJoel]

Usually leave about 20%, don't calculate it to the penny, and often more.

25% is not uncommon.

Tend to leave more when we go to inexpensive places, particularly if the service is good, because those folk are working just as hard as those at many of the more expensive places.

For really bad service am always confused. If I just leave 10%, the waiter may just think we are cheap amd not that we are displeased.

Hate to stiff someone though. Think I have only done that once in many years of dining out. And for me to do that, I have to be fuming.

Years ago, if my friends and I received bad service (usually at a Denny’s or someplace similar), we’d leave two pennies in a conspicuous place on the table. Our reason8ng was that the server would know that we didn't forget to tip, and the amount was a clear indication of our displeasure. It also appealed to our juvenile, rather cruel. Senses of humor.

 

[JustJoel]

My husband and I would love to see tipping stopped. We get so tired of hearing things like... so and so only tipped....I busted my butt for that table and they only left me....I had to clean up after 4 kids and I only got....

It's funny how we never hear complaints about the tables they received good tips from! lol

If waitstaff got a set salary..would you,the customer, get the same service? I kind of doubt it. Why kick butt when you're getting the same amount of money just for being there?

Except for a few very large parties, we don't even let them put gratuities on parties of 6 or more where a lot of other places do...for this same reason.

We even pushed a pencil on our sales here. Just to pay minimum wage we would have to raise all our meals $ 1.00. I know our girls make somewhere between 7.00 and 12.00 an hour. Think how much more that would raise the meals. It will never happen....and maybe it's for the best.

It's probably much more pleasant to get a waitress that is doing her best for the sake of a tip...and one who is going to get the same whether she smiles or not.

Tipping is considered rude in Japan. Most people who work in the service industry there take pride in their jobs, and I don’t think I’ve ever had lackadaisical service in Japan, for any reason.

And in a no-tip establishment, the server who doesn’t smile, instead of getting stiffed, gets fired.

 

[roadfix]

I know many visiting tourists to the US from non-tipping countries don’t tip. I doubt it’s from sheer ignorance.

 

[CakePoet]

In Sweden we only tip if the waiter or food, is beyond expected. We had a waitress who worked her arse off, while the kitchen was understaffed, they also been lied to when they bought the restaurants how many they could seat and the one of the chefs had been rushed to hospital due burns. So our food took 2 hours, she never stopped smiling , being nice and trying to help while people shouted abuse at her, yes people where really rude. I also know the tip goes into a common jar for all staff to enjoy. So we slipped her 10 dollar in her own pocket and 10 dollar for the staff and this was for a very good 40 dollar meal. It is the best lamb I ever had.

But normally we dont tip, at all because of the minimum wage laws and you are not allowed to work for tips here.

 

[Aunt Bea]

New York state is looking at a bill that would bring servers hourly rate to $15.00 and eliminate tips.

I think that in the long run, it is a good way to go but in the beginning, it will come as a real hardship to the folks in trendy bars and restaurants that make about as much as the Governor.

 

[buckytom]

I know many visiting tourists to the US from non-tipping countries don’t tip. I doubt it’s from sheer ignorance.

I doubt it's mostly ignorance from Western European countries. It's more just being cheap.

Many of the servers in the pubs where I've hung out in NYC and NJ have complained about the lack of tipping from tourists, and the servers were immigrants from the same countries as the tourists (Ireland, England, France, Poland, etc.). They've often said It's fully well known about tipping in America, but the tourists play stupid to save a few bucks.

Even Canadians have been known to be guilty of low tipping. A couple of friends of mine work at restaurants during the skiing season in Vermont, and they can tell the difference between an American and a Canadian just by the % of the tip. Americans supposedly tip 5 to 10% higher. Canadian servers get their minimum wage plus have tipping at home I believe, so they tend to tip less when here, or so I've heard.

I was skiing at Killington one year during their Can-Am promotion week, and when I left a 20% tip after lunch, the waitress said in a low voice, "Oh thank God, finally an American."

As far as being a tourist in other countries, I remember getting such good service in a restaurant in Ireland that I decided to leave a tip even though I knew it wasn't customary. After making sure I understood the custom there, the waitress was thrilled to accept the small tip and brought me an extra strong coffee "with legs" as a thank you before I left.

 

[roadfix]

I wonder how servers handle a situation where they know they have a very good chance of receiving zero tip when a small group of tourists walk in.

 

[Vinylhanger]

New York state is looking at a bill that would bring servers hourly rate to $15.00 and eliminate tips.

I think that in the long run, it is a good way to go but in the beginning, it will come as a real hardship to the folks in trendy bars and restaurants that make about as much as the Governor.

This is going to be the problem. Folks who work in high end restaurants can make 4-500 a night or more in tips. If you now tell them they will be making 120 dollars a night and no tips, why would they work very hard, and how do you expect to hire the best servers. They are professional servers, it is a career for them. They will go somewhere else and service will suck, business will go down.

Are they going to tell lawyers and accountants they can take only make 15 dollars an hour and not negotiate a contract.

 

[RPCookin]

This is going to be the problem. Folks who work in high end restaurants can make 4-500 a night or more in tips. If you now tell them they will be making 120 dollars a night and no tips, why would they work very hard, and how do you expect to hire the best servers. They are professional servers, it is a career for them. They will go somewhere else and service will suck, business will go down.

Are they going to tell lawyers and accountants they can take only make 15 dollars an hour and not negotiate a contract.

I agree. Hard to believe that New York, the center for business in the western hemisphere, is trying to pass a law that restricts free enterprise. A law like that could literally put some restaurants out of business because they won't be able to provide the level of service that their customers expect and demand.

 

[Vinylhanger]

Yep. If I'm doing a business lunch, a New York City type, I would want the best service possible. I wouldn't be interested in going to a place I pay 200 dollars a meal for and get served by minimum wage servers. I can get that at Dennys Nothing against Dennys servers, but it is not even near the same level of experience. Not that I make it a habit, or have had many, if any dinners at that level.

Also, it is going to make the restaurants money, but it won't trickle down to the servers. Funny coming from a state that is always telling us they are there for the little guy.

If you don't want to work in a minimum wage joint, up your game. Though even in a lower paying place, if the service is good, I up my tip. My buddies and I have been known to give a 10 dollar tip on an 8 dollar meal. Service is worth that.

I have a good buddy who gave a waitress in a burger joint a 20 because she helped a blind guy set up outside so he could feel the sun. Great service. She did it with a smile and true caring. With the new rules, he couldn't do that.

If you take that opportunity away, you will lose those servers. You will end up with servers who don't speak your language or understand that level of service.

Capitalism isn't just about the owners.

 

[buckytom]

NYC and NY state are almost 2 different entities.

In NYC, people from upstate are eaten for breakfast.

A NYC hipster when lost in upstate NY is at least used for sex first before "disappearing".

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Why do I keep wondering how many people it would take to Tip a Restaurant? All on one side?

 

[RPCookin]

Why do I keep wondering how many people it would take to Tip a Restaurant? All on one side?

Only if it's a floating restaurant.

 

[Vinylhanger]

NYC and NY state are almost 2 different entities.

In NYC, people from upstate are eaten for breakfast.

A NYC hipster when lost in upstate NY is at least used for sex first before "disappearing".

That's some funny stuff right there.

 

[CakePoet]

Why do I keep wondering how many people it would take to Tip a Restaurant? All on one side?

50 Drunk and hungry Swedes if you wonder and No there was stove in there, only a broken microwave oven...