Tipping

[Voxton]

I go 20%+, nearly always: Move the decimal point one spot to the left (of the total sum, including taxes), double it, and round up to the nearest dollar. If the service isn't all that good, I still do this -- perhaps as a form of encouragement, or perhaps because I know it isn't a very good job. If the food is late in arriving, or screwed up, that isn't neccessarily the fault of the server. Yes, the wait staff is responsible for the final product presented to the customer -- and yes, they generally tend to take in more money for less effort than the folks in the back of the house, but hey, I dunno. I'm a forgiving guy.

However, if the service is truly horrendous, I leave absolutely nothing. It's extremely rare that the service is so bad that I do this, but leaving tip for someone who does a really sh!tty job doesn't make sense. We all have off days, but that doesn't mean we get away with not doing our job.

 

[jamaesi]

I've worked as a waitress. My check for working ALL Thanksgiving one year came out to less than five dollars because of taxes, I don't think I ever even cashed it in. I wasn't very thankful. People tipped lousyly the entire day and my bus was less than honest about tips, to boot.

I'm sorry if you had to wait a minute to get a drink refill, but I have many many other tables to see to and I can't baby-sit yours the entire time. I don't think you'll die of thrist before then, either. Those pitchers don't fill wash and fill themselves with your exact drink and fly to me magicly from the kitchen (which is a war zone). I'm not ignoring you on purpose, I'm just busy. Half the time the dishwasher staff was MIA and I was washing dishes AND waiting on tables and filling dishes with foods and salads and ice cream and bringing up supplies from the basement and taking the trash out and hunting down the damn dishwasher boys and so on. We also did parties and those after-wedding events, so my duties included steering drunks out of the kitchen and back to someone who would claim them. One fun time invovled the people running outside and off the property to do illegal drugs (we couldn't call the cops in that case for some reason, as much as I longed to) and then come back in.

When people I don't tip, it bugs me. : P I tip insanely well, if things take a moment- I understand. If the server is a jerk though, I'll tip the bare-min I can.

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

I waitressed for 18 years. I used to argue that we only made half of what everybody else made for minimum wage. Until a boss told me to write down everything I make and compare it to the cooks paycheck. The waitresses, in fact usually make way more than any other employeee. Even working at a bar-b-que place, I could make between $12-20 an hour.

I had to learn to treat everybody like big tippers, whether they were or not. I had this one customer who came into Golden Corral every day. He wanted the same booth, and he did not want to go throught line. He would call ahead of time, and want his salad bar plate and tea waiting for him at his table when he got there. He was rather easy to wait on. Usually went back for seconds, so he would need one clean plate, prebus, one re-fill of tea. He was a real estate mogul. Sometimes he would have business meetings, and my work would increase a bit. But every day, no matter what, he left $1.00. He was a complete ******* if anything wasn't right, but no matter how his service was he would still leave One lousy dollar. Nobody ever wanted to wait on him. So I took him as my own.

Somebody asked me why I wait on him, and I said, "Jeff is here every single day, Mon=Fri. except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day (the only two days the restaurant was closed). And everybody else sees only a dollar on the table, I see $363, every year. I worked for Golden Corral for 6 years, so that means Jeff, with his one dollar a day paid over $2000 to me. Plus, I ended up buying my first house from him. He ended up being a lifelong friend.

 

[Crystallas]

I tip according to what I have in my wallet. If I have money set aside for some things, then I try not to unballance my budget. If Im doing well, I dont think about it, I do a quick 15% tip calculator, and then think about how long this person worked.
Never less that $2 for your simple 1 person stop and gos. Mostly thats over 15% since the meal and drink ends up being $8.00
Rarely more than $5
If the service is outstanding, and the food is too... I give what I can. ie: If I spend $70 (nice date not cheap food, but not super expensive.) That server spends $10 minutes on us total. So Its hard to want to spend that much money on a nice night out, but then give that person a $10.50 tip. To me thats way to much to pay someone for smiling to me, asking me a couple of questions, and bringing my food and bill to my table. If everythings perfect, maybe I'll give them the 15%, if the slightest part bothers me.. $5 bucks. Which doesnt make me feel bad since if its not busy, they could have earned the tip, and if it were busy, then they have more tips comming at them.
If someone screws up everything, and im in a bad mood, I walk out. If Im in a normal or good mood, I see if the server is smart enough to make it up to me with some form of complementary something, like some places offer you a side dish or drinks. This server is smart, I then tip him more, if they ignore me I tip them less. I can careless if they earn their living this way, Its not my responsibility to ensure that they succeed, its their own. Thats why they do the simple steps and its easy going. Greet, Introduce, Order Drinks/Appetizers, Serve Drinks, Order main course, Serve Sides Main course, Ask if everything is okay mid-meal, and then ask if they want dessert, serve more or drop off bill. Someone that messes this up slightly is forgivable, but someone that is in LA LA land screwed themselves.
Anything that requires delivery, even if the food is late, I still try to give them atleast $1 more than I would at a dine-in.

I like to eat out, infact I eat out a lot. I think being a customer is just as important as tipping. Theres no reason a server should ask for more. You could have brought service elsewhere = no job opportunity, no tip at all.
You also notice that being a returning customer and familiar face improves your relationship with the server. If you find yourself returning to a place often, make sure you slip a big tip in. That server now remembers you and will treat you much better, and you can get away with not tipping as much from then on out, but you might not want to stiff anyone.
Also tip anyone that deals with your property. Utility people, Movers, and sometimes your waste management(if the same people get your route.) Slip your mailman a 5 spot once in a while, even though thery are hard to catch sometimes. Just make sure they are reoccuring faces. You'll notice the trash that gets tipped over is now cleaned up, the small packages that usually gets jammed into your mail box on those rare occasions are delivered to your door, the paperwork that your cable guy screwed up is no longer screwed up, but hooked up, your movers didnt play basketball with your lighter/fragile boxes...ect ect ect...

Im no cheapskate. Im a little better than *Fair* , or atleast I like to believe that I am.

 

[michel]

Just out of interest, I am sure you must have the same thing 'Over there', but there are restaurants in London where the waiters have to pay to work! - the tips are their only source of income from work; no pay, no commission, just tips.


There again, the type of Clientelle they have makes it worth paying to have the job.

 

[kreeden]

No Michel , they are not here yet . And when they arrive , I will NOT be eating in them . Nor do I go to places that tack tips to the bill . If they want to increase the price of their service , then do so . But a tip is my way of saying " Thank you for your service ", and if they demand it , it kinda makes my " thank you " rather senceless , doesn't it ?

Just thought that I should add that they may be down south , but not up this way yet .

 

[kreeden]

And everybody else sees only a dollar on the table, I see $363, every year.

A good point ES . I eat quite often at a local truck stop . Nothing fancy , but they make a good clubhouse . Anyway I always leave a $2 tip . Not a big tip , but add it up and it get quite expensive . { not sure what percentage that works out to ? A meal runs anywhere from $10 to $14 , so it isn't too bad I guess ??? }

 

[CaptainXeroid]

My wife & I used to work in food service, so we know most workers are not highly paid for what can be a demanding job. If the restaurant adds the tip on the check, I don't add a penny more. That just rubs me the wrong way. I usually tip 15-20 % and round up since I believe many people under tip.

There has only been 1 time I have tipped less than 15%. Our waiter was absent quite a bit,so I had to get up and find a pitcher for our own tea refill. When I went to find a manager, I found our waiter sitting at the bar hitting on a woman. Oh, and our food had been sitting about 10 minutes because the kitchen manager couldn't locate him to find out where we were sitting. When the manager barely apologized for the waiter and wouldn't discount the meal or even give us a dessert, I tipped the waiter $1.00 on a $40 check and handed the receipt to the manager. He did not seem very concerned. We learned the restaurant which was on Sanibel Island, Ft. Myers, FL, was destroyed in the 2004 hurricanes. Karma baby.

I think it's extremely rude for a waiter/waitress to lobby for a tip or complain about the amount. It's called a 'gratuity' because it's supposed to be freely given. It's a way to reward good servers and encourage others to improve their skills.

I wouldn't last more than a few days in food service, so I'm glad I can tip those who are good.