Posted on 02/11/2018 6:18:09 PM PST by BenLurkin
A Florida Outback Steakhouse worker says she filled a local megachurch’s $735 takeout order and then was fired when she ranted on social media about not getting a tip.
...
Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach Gardens was holding a conference and called in an order to the local Outback Wednesday for 25 steak dinners, 25 chicken dinners and 25 side orders of potatoes that Yoder said she had to prepare, costing her other tips.
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A friend read her post and called the church to complain and was told that the person who picked up the food didn’t know to leave a tip.
“Coming in to eat or takeout, you should automatically be wanting to tip 15 percent,” Yoder said. “From there, you either go up or go down based on service.”
A church representative called the restaurant Thursday to make it up to Yoder.
Nevertheless, she was shown the door.
... Outback has a strict policy forbidding workers from posting about customers on social media, WSVN reported.
Outback even reimbursed the church for its big order.
“We did not call the restaurant to have her fired, we wanted to get the situation resolved,” church official David Lonsberry told the Palm Beach Post.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
You are correct. Management should be in charge of expediting that order. Line monkeys are under a lot of pressure to put together an order that may represent as much as an hour or two of sales at one time. Servers do not generally handle the making or boxing of a large order.(usually may contribute a small bit, but not enough to warrant a tip.)
A manager’s job is to be able to step up and perform ALL facets of the restaurant. As a chain, this manager started out doing dishes on day one of his training, and worked his way through ALL of the stations. It was definitely the MANAGER’S job to put this order together.
*plonk*
-PJ
Thumper you have to read the majority of posters here are good tippers but do not usually tip for takeout.
We tip for table service and for delivery. That’s understood.
While I understand a 700 order being unusual I also understand the church lady not knowing.
I oick up three or four dry cleaned shirts for $20. No tip, ever. No one wants one. There is no tip jar.
If I have a big wedding party or something and pick up 40 shirts for $200 am I suddenly supposed to tip?
Do I tip the clerk at Macy’s because I bought 20 pairs of shoes whereas I usually only buy one? Etc.
The fault here, if this lady isn’t blowing smoke, is with management. Since it is NOT USUAL to tip for takeout - which us actually why some take out instead of eat in - management should tell people with large takeout orders that tipping is customary, or build a gratuity into larger orders. Caveat emptor.
Correct. Managers are compensated at a far higher rate. Usually, if not always, salaried. To expect a server paid sub minimum wage to prepare a huge order is ridiculous.
Thanks.
I felt really bad. The manager said people grab the signed one often but my call was a first
“and it hit me that I might should have left a tip.”
When I has in college, my Grandpa left me money in his will to buy an opal ring. Go to the jewelry shop, reach into my purse to get the envelope with the cash to cover it and the envelop was gone. Talked to the story manager and some kid had returned it.
Found out from the store a few weeks later the kids name and address. Sent this kid’s parent the kindest letter I could think of and the kid a chunk of change. (I was a waitress back then)
It really makes you feel great! So worth the time/and or effort.
It certainly IS the duty of management to deal with these sorts of issues. Management failed, the server vented and the "friend" screwed the pooch. The manager ended up covering their arse and comes out on top.
In any case, far too many here are ignorant concerning what servers do and how "hard" they may work to ensure a decent level of customer service.
In a well run establishment, it would have been the manager who should have compensated the server for duties not germane to her job. If all Outbacks are run this poorly, I'd hesitate to ever "dine" there.
Takeout tip, 5% assuming nothing goes wrong. Dine-in 20% and up, again assuming nothing goes horribly wrong. It is not as much work as it is to constantly keep me satisfied through a 45 minutes plus meal. I do not tip if it was just picking up a pizza though, only full meals.
I see the beef with no tip, and also the ignorance of someone not tipping in this situation. Two things happened here that probably shouldn’t have.
How is anyone today unaware that anything you post on socialist media can come back to bite you on the butt? Maybe this person thought it’s still OK to whine about a church?
No one is above reproach.
back in the day I worked for a chain restaurant. Made almost as much as a manager. Of course I worked 60-70 hrs a week. When managers hit 60 hrs, it seemed like they all disappeared. Most of the time they could be found sitting at the counter complaining about food cost while eating steaks they had written off as waste.
It was fun when the district and regional managers would come in for inspections. Low managers would bump us off of the line to show off their “skills”. I finally had enough and asked why they were showing off in front of big wigs,when they usually sat at the end of the counter and ate?
Good times... Good times...
When I became a chef, I swore I would never be a typical manager.
The etiquette of tipping is not an exact science. But in general take out orders do not usually come with an expectation of a tip unless there is something unusual. In this case one could make an argument that the size of the order was such that some kind of gratuity might have been justified. But that’s not a given. I think a small gratuity would have been nice, but the kind of tip normally accorded table service was not justified. That said, I do agree with a lot of the comments above pointing out that in most states restaurant wait staff are exempt from the normal minimum wage. These people depend on gratuities for compensation and people who fail to tip w/o a very good reason (i.e. really bad service) are taking advantage to the point where they might be morally guilty of theft of services.
I washed dishes in high school and waited tables in college. It’s exhausting work and a great education, like you say. I tip generously for table service and usually give them a couple bucks for a carry out order.
Houston? Was the exterior trim redish perchance? If so been there. What a story I could tell.
For a $700 order, percentage doesn’t seem appropriate either...
Seems to me waiting on enough tables to generate $700 is expected to e FAAAR more personal service than sorting it into bags. Expecting 15% for that reason is just silly.
I always expect that a check for six(usually) or more includes the gratuity automatically, but I do look at the menu fine print. I wouldn't know how or if that applies to a takeout, but I really don't see where normal "service" is involved in a takeout.
Don’t do the Tweet if you can’t take the heat.
lol. My breakfast/lunch waitress loves me. She gets 50%. One is personalized service, the other isn’t. I bet you have a history in the job and think all customers are cheap. Sometimes it’s because it was really crappy service...but you never got that.
Do I tip my mechanic? No.
Do I tip my dentist? No.
Do I tip when I do a million other things where I buy a product and don’t tip? No.
Quit with the attacks...I’d have few words for you, as you can’t disagree without civil discourse.
I tip for take-out. After all, they drove their butts all the way over to the house.
Swear to God in Amsterdam on The Walletjies (sp?) there were seven service members talking to this prostitute thru her two way intercom. They said how much for the seven of us? She said all at once or one at a time?
Me and my traveling buddy fell down physically the laughter was so intense.
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