tipping your waiter/waitress

[Swellegant]

Most Americans believe that an included service charge makes the service worse, because you get the same tip whether or not the service is bad.

That's an old wives' tale, a HUGE misconception, Swellegant, and I'll tell you why.

I worked in a job like that once, and while we did not have to worry about "not getting tipped", we did have to worry—from one minute to the next—about complaints about slow service. That worry was never very far away from our minds.

Waiters who got a lot of complaints about slow service were subject to discipline, up to and including dismissal.

Oh, I quite agree with you, and in non-tipping situations (retail, business, non-American restaurants) payment has nothing to do with good service. I mean, I give great customer service, and I don't get tips for it.

I'm just saying that tipping is a mechanism by which you can exercise discretion over how much you pay for the service. Tipping isn't going anywhere, the degree of governmental reforms and cultural reprogramming required to reverse an institutionalized tradition like tipping is simply not going to happen. I was just trying to give people a way of looking at the practice that made a certain kind of sense.

The whole issue of tipping (in the US) is that it doesn't matter why you must tip, or why you think you shouldn't have to tip; what matters is that you are expected to tip just as much as you're expected to pay your bill. It is a cultural contract, but no less imperative than a legal contract. If you don't want to tip, don't eat in table-service US restaurants. That is the very bottom line.

 

[blackbeltninja]

I don't believe you.

Well, call me a liar for doing it for 11 months. I did though, truly.

I then moved into retail, where service is expected and tips just don't happen. The salary difference was significant - the basic wage about 40% more, but with no tips; but I worked regular hours and was guaranteed a decent enough amount of money. In the 11 months waiting I'd had days where we'd only served 4 tables during the shift and I'd made literally enough in tips to catch the bus home, on top of the pitiful basic, so I figured the definite fixed-income of retail was just a better bet overall. It was hardly rocket science, and as a biochemist I'm not exactly a rocket scientist.

Perhaps if circumstances were different and I was able to get to a better restaurant in a better part of town it would have been another story, but as it was I couldn't and there was no way around it, so I just made another plan.

Nobody forced me to wait tables; when I realised the pay-off wasn't worth the proverbial setup, I looked for something better. To hedge my bets, I worked both jobs for two months while I made sure the bet I made moving jobs was paying off.

So I'll stand by my original statement: if you don't like the tips, or playing the game, get a different job. If you choose not to, well, stay where you are and quit bitching about it. As I said, not exactly rocket science. And I'm tired of waiters who believe that getting your order right and providing a basic service, not even an exceptional service, entitles them to some sort of benefit. If it were up to me, EVERYONE would spend a year waiting tables and then a second year in retail, just so we all understand each other better.

-d-

 

[TickTockMan]

I got back a few minutes ago from eating out.

When I got there the entire wait staff was still working. A few minutes after I sat down I noticed they all but one got sent to lunch.

One lone waiter by my count had to deal with about 60 people. That in and of itself is enough to quit a job. It took the owner about 30 minutes of standing around before she helped him out some. Even then she only cleared the tables, he still had to clean them, set them up again, get drinks, etc. on his own.



I don't get why an owner would do that to their customers, but also their employee.

 

[TickTockMan]

I have feeling this thread could get popcorny soon..,.,.,

If you don't get it yourself you better tip well!

 

[zingerz]

What I truly think about Waiters/Waitress' if you're good at your job, you will make good tips and not have to worry about not getting tipped, outside of that one douche that doesn't tip or is just a shitty person and leaves small tips. My boyfriend use to be a waiter and goes on about he loved it, and it was because he was good at it.

My problem with tipping, is that the people in this thread are saying 20% all the time are probably in that occupation. I don't like the sense of entitlement these people feel when they're serving you. Don't worry about your tip and worry about giving good service because thats where the good tips come from.

I also dislike the misdirected anger at the people going for food. Why aren't the higher ups at the company getting any flack for giving you shit pay at a hard working job like any other? It's accepted in this type of work that they will pay you shit and you have to rely on the public for the paycheck, I think that is unfair because if you get a shitty customer and you did a good job you don't get paid. There's something wrong with that and that anger shouldn't be directed at the customers.

well, honestly the only reason i tip "well" or the american standard is because i live in the USA, but when im in hong kong i tip what people do there and it's usually just the coins left in the change or none.

so, i feel like tipping based on the area you are in is correct, but of course understanding you deserve what you get.

to your third point i think why the USA food-serivce industry evolved into "living off tips" well it's simple you COULD make more and quite a bit more, but at the same time it is possible to make very little. And on the high end, i know a few waiters/waitresses who work in high-end resturants in NYC, and they make very good wages lower 6-figures. but at the same time there's a lot of waiters/waitresses that make horrible money.

 

[hotb0d]

^^To respond with a snarl comment just makes your opinions seem so less interesting and invalid.

 

[blackbeltninja]

^^Look, Johan, I'll lend a sympathetic ear to anyone who is unhappy about things in their life. I'll hear you out, I'll make all the right noises, I'll sympathise, empathise and commiserate and it will all be genuine. We'll shoot the shit about how you can change things, or what can't be changed, and we'll come up with a way to get you out of the "mess," however you define that at the time we chat.

If you then decide to NOT do it... I'm going to be a bit less sympathetic next time, and even less the time after that, and eventually I get to the stage you find me at now. It just sounds like an addiction to drama, if you ask me, and I simply don't have the time for it.

So if you don't like your circumstances, TRY TO CHANGE THEM. Otherwise, suck it up and quit bleating on and on about it. This is a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned. If you find that hideous and self-righteous, suit yourself.

-d-

 

[TickTockMan]

^^To respond with a snarl comment just makes your opinions seem so less interesting and invalid.

You should have saw it before he changed it.

 

[thinkagain321]

At the end of the day its a personal choice - if you want to tip 10%, 20%, 50% you are very welcome to! If you want to not tip at all then you have every right to do that too!

It amazes me that some people think they should be able to demand a certain amount is left by people. Its a person's choice whether they tip or not. Thats the point of a tip!

 

[presario1000]

I used to be a waiter so I'm usually pretty generous. If you give me shitty service though I'm leaving you the coins in my pockets.

 

[electricflame]

Hey, the waiters get paid by their employer. I'm not giving them more. If they can't live on that, get a better paying job.

I'll say it again. Waiters have to pay out money from tips you don't give. If you order one hundred dollars of food and don't tip, he *STILL* owes the kitchen five or so dollars JUST because you ordered that food. From his pocket. That's being paid *less* than minimum wage.

 

[electricflame]

I hate when people do not tip for good service. But every once in awhile when you get a bad tip, if you're a good waiter, better tips from other customers will usually make up for the difference.

 

[LilBit]

I'd just like to state for the record that the story about the word "tips" being an acronym for "to insure prompt service" is a myth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_(gratuity)#Etymology

Also, I'm tired of people complaining that it's the employer's responsibility to pay decent wages. Yes, it's true. But like my redneck daddy always says, "Boy, I know all about 'should be.' You tell me about 'is.'" And in this case, "is" is that most restaurants pay piss-poor wages, and the expectation is that the customer will make up for that in the form of a tip. If you use the employer's stinginess as an excuse for your own stinginess, then you're no better than the restaurant owners.

 

[electricflame]

Don't forget that most employers ignore labor law rules and if you work for five minutes , you get PAID for five minutes instead of the three hour minimum that is required in many places.

ALSO, hours are skimmed off your paycheck a LOT depending on the employer.

And the tipout is an industry standard.

 

[electricflame]

OH YES and in Quebec, the government actually TAXES you as a server on 8% of your SALES. AND in Quebec, servers are LEGALLY allowed to earn around two dollars LESS than minimum wage.

So if you get a table of customers that eat $100.00 worth of food, and they don't tip, you're paying:

about five dollars to the kitchen from your pocket
another *EIGHT* dollars to the government

That's $13.00! A fifteen percent tip would just be $15.00!

*AND* you're not even making minimum wage.

And in *VIRGINIA*, servers are allowed to earn $0.00 an hour (that's right, ***NOTHING***), if they are in a position of serving.

 

[Willie Boy]

And in *VIRGINIA*, servers are allowed to earn $0.00 an hour (that's right, ***NOTHING***), if they are in a position of serving.

I seriously doubt that as it defies Federal minimum wage and would therefore be illegal.

Here is the actual law:

Virginia Laws for Tipped Employees
# Virginia laws regarding tipped employees are not as generous as FSLA minimums. In Virginia, the entire minimum wage can be offset by tips. For example, if a person works 10 hours and receives $75.00 in tips, those tips would be considered full payment and the employer would not be required to pay an hourly wage.

http://www.ehow.com/list_6494191_laws-minimum-wage-virginia.html

As you can see, if the employee doesn't make enough in tips, the employer still pays them.The employer is only allowed to deduct the amount received in tips from the employee's wages. The word is offset, not replace. In either case the employee gets paid, either by tips or by wages. It behooves the employee to give the best service possible and receive more tips, anything over what they would normally be paid is still theirs to keep.

 

[electricflame]

I stand corrected. That was my understanding of it from the wikipedia page.

 

[Beachguyj]

where are you folks getting these numbers?

good grief !

I know that servers work hard - I appreciate their effort - and I appreciate good service -
But there is a recession on - I lost my job - i don't get to go out to eat very often --

If the economy is so bad that you don't want to tip well for good service eat at McDondald's or 'get Chinese take out.

to the OP if she did her best and she was pleasant you should give her at least 15%.

 

[bma1983]

I'd just like to state for the record that the story about the word "tips" being an acronym for "to insure prompt service" is a myth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_(gratuity)#Etymology

Also, I'm tired of people complaining that it's the employer's responsibility to pay decent wages. Yes, it's true. But like my redneck daddy always says, "Boy, I know all about 'should be.' You tell me about 'is.'" And in this case, "is" is that most restaurants pay piss-poor wages, and the expectation is that the customer will make up for that in the form of a tip. If you use the employer's stinginess as an excuse for your own stinginess, then you're no better than the restaurant owners.

If you expect a tip after providing bad service, that makes you worse than the restaurant owner. If you want a tip, any kind of tip, work for it. Don't expect it. If I go to a restaurant and don't tip, stinginess has nothing to do with it.

 

[LilBit]

If you expect a tip after providing bad service, that makes you worse than the restaurant owner. If you want a tip, any kind of tip, work for it. Don't expect it. If I go to a restaurant and don't tip, stinginess has nothing to do with it.

If you leave a lousy tip because the service was lousy, then you're not using the employer's stinginess as an excuse for your lousy tip, and therefore my argument doesn't apply to you.

But it seems to me that the anti-tipping crowd likes to operate under the assumption that all servers are bad at their jobs.