You may want to be wary of foods such as potato salad or tartar sauce in restaurants from now on.
Just wondering, have you ever worked in a restaurant?
i've only ever done this once in the 25 years i've been paying for my own food at restaurants, and it was a couple of weeks ago... the waitress was GROSSLY incompetent... i left a 27-cent tip... i didn't want her to think i had forgotten by leaving nothing... and i didn't want her to think i was a bad tipper by leaving a couple of bucks... but this has only happened once...
Servers make less than $2.50/hour. They depend on tips for a living. The government even taxes them based on expected tips.
If you cannot afford to tip, don't eat out. Otherwise, everyone should tip at least 15% unless the service is bad.
It is no longer the case that tipping is for extraordinary service. It is the only for way servers to make a living wage.
I agree with you. They will get what I think they have earned. I am not afraid to be stingy or generous, it simply depends on the service that the tip is based on.
An automatic 20%? I dont think so.
That said, I wish they would just add the price of the tip to the foods price on the menu and pay their serving people a living wage while leaving the customer out of payroll.
Then, if the service is bad people simply wont return.
If it is automatically deducted I ask to opt out.
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Of course, but if it is automatic it will be posted.
Even if it's automatic I like to give an additional tip if I get really good service.
As someone who's worked in food service over the years, both behind the scenes and as a "waitron," I see the importance of tipping. I usually start at 15%, unless there are problems with service. If I ever leave less than 15%, I make sure that I let the server know why. I don't include things like screwed up food, that's the problem of the kitchen staff, and I'll let the manager know that there's a problem. If service is particularly good or bad, I always let the manager know as well.
One time, I let the manager and server both know that I wasn't leaving a tip due to the server not bringing out our drinks, salads, or appetizer. Once she brought out our dinners, she just dropped them and disappeared again. I tried flagging down anyone else to get silverware, and ask for our waitress. It took another 10 minutes before our waitress came out, after I had walked over to the waitress station and picked up silverware and a pitcher of water. To say that I was very disappointed would be a huge understatement. The manager promised that he would "do something," but when the check came, the appetizer and drinks were still on it. Before allowing the waitress to clear our table, I asked her where the dishes for the appetizer, or the glasses for our drinks were? She said "huh? I don't know." My response was, "you don't see them, because we never got them. I'd like them removed from our check." She told me that it was "in the computer," and she couldn't do anything about it, so I demanded to see the manager one more time. Given the trouble, I would have expected at least one free meal, but at least he took off the charges for things that we never got. I also told him and the server why there was not going to be a tip. I never went back to that restaurant, recommended against it, and noticed that they closed a few months later.
Mark
Anything over 15% should be because of extra service. All servers must report tips and tip out at end of there shift to the hostess, bartenders, bussers, plus the hourly rate of “next to nothing”. So if the bill is 400.00 the server still has to tip out on thier total sales,so, again.. 15% of 400$ is 60.00 so leaving less or god forbid nothing means the server still had to tip out, so She Paid to wait on the lousy tipper. Personally I tip 20% unless service truly sucked. Even then they get 15%.
CindyDawg
You sound like someone I know who tips near the worthless level. My neighbor is a manager at an upscale place in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The wait staff makes about $2.50 an hour. When they work hard they deserve their tip. When they are rude and obnoxious they deserve less. Leaving nothing is almost never right. Anything 10 % or less is not acceptable when service has been ok. When service is good to great at least 15 % is needed. 20 % is excellent. There you have it.
I’m glad I never waited on Cindy when putting myself through college.
She is just plain cheap.