Yeah.
Posted on 11/10/2004 12:29:27 PM PST by billorites
Tippins is the way for the restaurant encourages employees to give good service. The restaurant want the customer to get good service and be inclined to return, but the manager cannot possibly monitor the staff 100% of the time, so they "outsource" the job to the customers, who gives feedback based on the service they receive.
Those who give bad service will either have to quit due to not making enough money, or improve.
And let's face it, if the restaurant had to pay waiters more, the price on the menu would increase to reflect it.
So they aren't passing off the cost, they are simply passing off the judgement of how much each server deserves.
You can't change the culture. I would go the opposite direction. Make tips tax free, and make over time for a family tax free (the government should only get dibs on the first 40 hours of the primary bread winner in the family).
Good service and extra work should go exclusively to the servers and their families.
Not my job to meet their ends.
Why should I punish the business owner for crappy service a server gives me? We have some good restaurants in this area that I enjoy going to but sometimes I get a bad server. If everyone tips based on merit bad servers don't last long. And by bad server I mean lazy or stupid. My leaving a bad tip in return for bad service is a signal to the server that this is not the job for you, seek employment where customer satisfaction doesn't determine your take home pay.
I've been a waitress and a restaurant manager, so I know the difference between bad service because of kitchen problems and bad service because of a bad attitude or laziness. I tip appropriately as the situation warrants.
As for the "bless their little hearts all they make is $2.13 an hour hour argument": I made really good money as a waitress so much so that the paycheck at the end of the week was incidental. I won't be guilt ed into paying someone to do a bad job.
Whether or not the waitperson in question is a single parent would seem to be irrelevant to the arguement- unless you're arguing "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" at which point tips wouldn't be calulated based on the quality of service provided as a fraction of the total bill, but on some calculus of how many dependents the waitperson has.
I always leave at least 15%. If the service was bad, I don't go back.
I'm actually about to leave to go to work (waiting tables) to pay my way through college. I will walk anywhere between 3-5 miles all night, lift hundreds of pounds, and stand on my feet until at least midnight, only having my daunting homework to look forward to when I get home. Don't want to tip? Don't eat out.
Do you know that. If the service was surly, inattentive, uncommunicative and ungracious, then $2.13 is too much.
My father had a formula - a large tip after an excellent meal with comparable service is the cheapest money you can spend if you intend to return. If everything was OK - not great but OK - then 15% on food and 10% on liquor (after factoring out any taxes).
I feel the same way - 20% when I'm happy and intend to come back.....for just OK, its 15%.
I live in a city with a very large illegal immigrant community. Nearly all of the restaurant and bar workers are illegal. They get paid by the hour (more than 2.13) and they get tips. None of them pays taxes. I leave a 20% tip minus about 1/3 to make up for their tax avoidance. After all, I am paying with after tax dollars.
Yeah.
I'm simply stating, "In most cases, give these people the benefit of the doubt." Sometimes subpar service has a valid reason.
Agree.
Years ago we went to lunch in a well known NY restaurant. While they had a buffet, the menu was available and waiters were standing in the back shootin the xxxx. I motioned for a waiter and tried to order from the menu. No dice. The waiter kept telling me that the buffet was available and I should use the buffet. Nothing I could do to get him to wait the table.
When we were presented with the tab a 20% gratuity was added. FOR WHAT?? We used the buffet while the waiters all stood around bs'n. Never Again!!!
Tipping is discretionary. As a (former) waiter I raked in the cash, but then again I was conscientious and have manners. Many waiters feel entitled and it shows. Not only should one NOT leave a tip, but they should also speak to the manager, calmly and concisely.
And before you get on my butt about paying good I paid my staff 6/7 an hour, way way over minium since I want the best staff I can get.
Bottom line tip or keep your sorry self at the house.
Oh, we also have donation fees we're charged for fire and rescue.
we hardly ever eat out. When I am on business trips I eat out quite a bit however, but it's on an expense account.
I tire of pretty much all restaurant food. The tax, tip, wait, parking, etc. just make eating out a hassle.
I wouldn't give someone with your attitude the sweat off my....
Here's to your short lived success.
I used to wait tables to make ends meet...
it was some of the hardest work I ever did.
I learned that no matter how hard I worked, often things happen sometimes that I could'n't control (bartender slow, kitchen equipment not working, floor staff short).
ANYHOW, Men were usually very good tippers,
Women were the worst...
Trust me ladies, when a waitress sees you, she groans internally.
Women would run you ragged, sending you back repeatedly for on item at a time. They seemed to get off on having another woman wait hand and foot on them. These brats would always leave a 5% tip.
If you have couple, the man may tip you well, which makes the woman mad (at you) and she takes your tip!
I guess I sound sexist against my gender, but it was a major eye opener.
Anyhow, I remember how it felt. I dont' want any waitress in a place I frequent groaning when she sees me walk in so I always leave a good tip.
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