Celebrities (mostly liberal) who are terrible tippers

Bitter Waitress ^ | 8/23/03 | ILMH

[I_Love_My_Husband]

*Natalie Portman - (loc.)Boston (#in party)2 (amt/tip)$27.00/$3.00 (tip %)11%

*Tom green (loc.)Los Angeles (#in party)5 (amt/tip)$175.00 /$15.00 (tip %)8%

*Serena and Venus Williams (loc.)Boston (#in party)12 (amt/tip)$280.00 /$20.00 (tip %)7% *********

*Madonna (loc.)New York (#in party)4 (amt/tip)$120.00 /$10.00 (tip %)8%

*Natalie Merchant (loc.)New York (#in party)2 (amt/tip)$108.00 / $8.00 (tip %)7% ******

*Allen Iverson (loc.)Detroit (#in party)5 (amt/tip)$495.00 / $50.00 (tip %)10%

*********Tipper's Name: Serena and Venus Williams Restaurant: Italian Where it happened: Boston Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $280.00 / $20.00 / 7% What happened: They came in with coaches managers and groupies....ordered things that were not on the menu only drank a strict 40% water 60% cranberry juice mixture and very rudely snapped their fingers for water refills (they had played that afternoon). The manager payed one bill and tipped well the groupies payed the other and left only 20 bucks. They were awful, and when they got the bill had us split it 12 ways and denied ever ordering half the things their fat asses just ate! Never again if these two walk in will i jump to serve them and their group of 12- 14 aunts uncles cousins neighbors and any or all other groupies that walk around kissing their asses!

******Tipper's Name: Natalie Merchant Restaurant: Campagna Where it happened: New York Total bill / Tip amount / Percentage: $108.00 / $8.00 / 7% What happened: Not to mention all the shit she got for free that night from the evil owner of this now defunct B-list celeb shit hole

[metesky]

My experience has been the reverse:

I grew up around Boston where you learn the ropes pretty early, if you have any social life and then lived on Cape Cod for thirty years where almost all my friends were restaurant owners or staff.

We live in Bangor, Maine now where tipping is small town style. When we go for dinner or drinks we tip 15%/20% and the staff sometimes protests that we're giving them way too much!

[Atlas Sneezed]

The % concept discriminates against people who cannot get jobs in upscale restaurants or who live in poorer areas with no trans to work, and bust their ass for 1/10th of what the elite waiters get.

---

When I go out for an expensive fine dining experience, I happily tip 20%+ for good service, and I expect good service, attention to details, perfect timing, correction of culinary disappointments, all by an attentive yet invisible professional presence. Someone who fails to screw up a $180 dinner for two on an unrepeatable special occasion deserves her $40.

And when I return to the restaurant repeatedly after never tipping less than 20%, you would be amazed how servers of whom I have no memory greet us with warmth and polite familiarity ("yes, I remember serving you last year, you were at the table over in the corner, I think you had the...")

Fine dining is an EXPERIENCE, and it is not worth saving 10% to risk ruining the experience.

[Foxfire4]

I decided that a 20% tip made an even $20 so I pulled out a twenty and told the waitress the rest was for her. For the rest of our time there, she acted like I had just given her $50.

I took my grandmother out to lunch last week. The waiter was in his 50s and treated my grandmother like a queen - absolutely made her day - so I left him a twenty dollar bill for a $15 ticket. Pulled out of the restaurant with my grandmother, and as we hit the street, she started lamenting that she'd only had $2 to leave him as a tip. I think the waiter came out of that encounter pretty well... :-)

[At _War_With_Liberals]

"I prefer two types of places - the moderately priced ones for entertaining others or to "treat" myself, and the hole-in-the-wall types that serve good food at a below-market price."

Thats pretty much my plan.

[wardaddy]

the fat and obnoxious one.

[wardaddy]

good manners are taught.

[At _War_With_Liberals]

"Someone who fails to screw up a $180 dinner for two on an unrepeatable special occasion deserves her $40. "


What about a $ 40.00 dinner? I would tip 10.

[Tall_Texan]

...many celebs are innumerate, and find calculating a 15% tip an unbearable burden. It's easy to see some of the mentioned celebs going into brainlock in the attempt.

It's really easy. Remove the last digit and move the decimal one spot to the left - that's 10%. Remove the last digit, move the decimal and double - that's 20%. Remove the last digit, move the decimal and add half - that's 15%. Even if you don't want to do the hard math (and I don't), doing the easy math gets you in the ballpark and you can round up or round down from there.

For example, let's say your food bill came out to $37.24. 10% is $3.72. 20% (double this) would be $7.44. 15% (adding half) would be $5.58. Now, let's say the service was fine but nothing exceptional. I'll know I want to leave a tip of somewhere between six and eight dollars. If I'm paying cash, I may just leave $45 total for the tab (I try not to sweat the change - I figure it all evens out in the end). If I'm paying by credit card, I might just round the tip to the nearest dollar or I might do the hard math and leave the actual % tip I meant to give.

Now some people don't think it's right to tip the tax. Others think you shouldn't tip the drink - only the food. I'll let them whip out a calculator and do the math themselves if they feel that way. The only thing I usually exclude would be on those rare situations where I buy a gift certificate. I figure the gift recipient would be the one tipping.

[Tall_Texan]

Some places, you are paying for the atmosphere, not so much the meal. If my true intention is to eat, not be amused, the hole-in-the-wall types can provide the good food minus all the yard sale stuff hanging on the walls and the ceiling. In some places, part of your bill is actually to replace the stuff other customers STEAL from the walls and the ceiling.

[FITZ]

If you can't handle it, don't eat out.

That's what I say --- if you don't want to pay someone to wait on you --- stay home and wait on yourself. Who expects to have something for nothing? I can see how liberals are less likely to tip.

[FITZ]

The % concept discriminates against people who cannot get jobs in upscale restaurants or who live in poorer areas with no trans to work, and bust their ass for 1/10th of what the elite waiters get.

I think sometimes with fine dining upscale restaurants, the diners take much longer (low table turn-around) and the waiters actually might make more in a fast turn-over cheaper place where people just come, eat, and leave. The same table might have 5 different parties in a cheaper place and only 1 or 2 at the expensive place. Some of the lower scale diners can bring in enough money for the staff.

[Sloth]

Do you really think that the server is some kind of "slave to bring you gifts"??? Lord I hope your pulling my chain.

You are either deliberately misunderstanding or you are a moron. The gift is the tip, given FROM me TO the server, not the other way around.

In fact, dictionary.com defines 'gratuity' as: A favor or gift, usually in the form of money, given in return for service... Something given freely or without recompense; a free gift; a present.

Now, having established that a tip is a gift, I assert that nobody has a *right* to a gift. Beggars can't be choosers.

[sandlady]

I'm sorry, but complaining that Allen Iverson "only" left a $50 tip is a tad ridiculous. If everyone's spending $100 a meal there and the average customer is tipping $10 per meal, the waiter is probably clearing $300-$400 a day which isn't bad.

First, I don't believe you've ever waited tables before because the tips are split between the hostess, bartender, busboy and wait people. Second, if you have a large party, usually 6 or more, they usually occupy more than one table in your section, therefore, lowering the number of checks of which you're getting a percentage. If you have 2 large parties that think 8-10% is a decent tip for a large check...you see my point. BTW-more expensive establishments usually assign smaller sections (less tables) to ensure the customers never have to wait for anything--the 15-20% of a larger check will make up for the smaller number of customers. I think that a diner knows the expectations when he chooses to eat at a restaurant with service. If he doesn't want to compensate for the service, then he should go somewhere he can serve himself.

[riri]

And the upscale restaurants turn the tables over at a much slower pace. I worked as a waitress in many four star places in college. Some places I had to pull the meat out of the lobster, make banannas foster (yes, with a live flame!), dip fresh pineapple wedges into hot chocolate sauce to serve with the check, etc. I had a 3 table section and had to jump through hoops for the mostly miserable and rich (what's wrong with that combination?!) customers.

[sandlady]

I admit I have problems with places that are generally self-serve buffets. Why should the server be tipped the same 15-20% if *I'm* the one fetching the food and delivering it to the table?

I did not wait tables at a buffet style restaurant but I think 10% is acceptable there. Same for cocktails. Is this right, anyone?

[Tall_Texan]

Generally, that's what I do - for an $8-10 buffet, I leave a dollar tip. But I don't always feel right about it.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Why would the percentage change over the years? The prices of the food has gone up so the tips have risen also.

I always thought 10 - 15% was standard unless the service was very bad, so you might leave less, or great, so you might leave more. I was a waiter while in college, by the way.

[ClearBlueSky]

I usually eat at Chinese buffets where you serve yourself, but there are servers who clear your plates and bring you drink refills. I always leave $3-4 tip( and thats for a place that charges no more than $8-11, lunch or dinner), AND use the napkins to clean the table of any spills or crumbs. ( Especially when eating with toddlers!)I think that's just considerate.

I am a female who did that kind of work as a teen. I know how hard and thankless it can be- especially with big groups.
Guess I go against the stereotype again!

[Tall_Texan]

Well, toddlers are more of a challenge! OTOH, if all the server's interaction with me is to bring me a beverage and hand me the check, it just doesn't seem worth the same as someone who takes my order, brings my beverage, brings my food, checks to see if I need anything else (dessert?), brings my check and handles the transaction as opposed to having me walk up to the cash register.

Obviously, if my party has completely trashed the area or been an ungodly nightmare, I'd be more sympathetic. But I'm rarely with kids and, when I am, they've been well-behaved or they don't go out to dinner.

[staytrue]

It is hypocritical, for those with left-leaning political ideals to consistantly tip low

This professor (tipped $1) is a Marxist liberal who has written 3 books on Marxist critical theory!

I personally find liberals to be hypocrites on just about everything. "Say one thing and do another" seems to be their motto in life.

Further, if you try to do a business deal with a liberal or democrat, you should start with the assumption that they are not telling you the whole truth and are trying to cheat you. You need to do extra due diligence if you even suspect they are a democrat. This is my personal experience.

With conservatives or republicans, I find the business negotiations are tough, but are on the up and up.

I think liberals as a people may be screwed up in the head and it is not just that I don't like their ideology. For most liberals, I don't like them as people and all this discussion about how they screw people when tipping, does not surprise me at all.