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How low of a tip will you give for bad service?

AndyL0711

AndyL0711

I Need To Play Some Golf!!!!
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How low of a tip will you give for bad service?

Went out to dinner with my wife and daughter tonight to a newer Italian place. Really just went for a pizza and salad. Was told no pizza for adults but kids can get one, this was after we told our first server "no reason to give specials, we are just getting salad and pizza". He says ok and takes our drink orders. Ok whatever.... so we order, food comes and our waiter goes MIA for 30 mins. Saw them (2 servers tag teaming tables) walking to other tables just not ours. Finally, after we are basically finished he comes over to ask how everything was. Never got refills, more bread etc. My wife had to get a food runner to bring out parm cheese for her meal.

What would you have tipped these servers?
 
$0

I’ll take care of the server if they at least give an effort. My wife says I give them too much usually. But if I’m ignored and have to track down someone to get a refill, napkins, condiments, etc I have no issue not tipping
 
I've given $0 on a very, very rare occasion - things have to go absolutely terribly for that to happen (much worse than this or the other example given) - but I'm not giving nothing to people waiting tables during a pandemic.
 
I have left a penny - it was the worst service using the term very lightly I had ever seen.
 
On a $50 bill with that kind of service, $5 would be the tip.
 
If service is that bad, I'll leave a penny if I have one (even if I have to walk out to the car to get it before we leave). A $0 tip could just mean you're a tightwad or you forgot - a penny tip shows that you thought it through and deliberately did it.

I'm generally a decent tipper - minimum 20%, anywhere up to 30-33% if the service is very good. I'll tip 20% for any semblance of even a reasonable level of service, but I won't reward genuinely bad service. They need to know there are consequences for not doing their job.
 
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I’ve left zero before.
 
CorvetteGuy said:
I have left a penny - it was the worst service using the term very lightly I had ever seen.
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^^^ This. So much this. I'm generous, too, but it's gotta be warranted. Participation trophies are not something I believe in. You earn your income from me. I can observe and tell if the reason I'm being neglected is simply because the place is too busy or if the waiter is just a POS.
 
Snowman said:
If service is that bad, I'll leave a penny if I have one (even if I have to walk out to the car to get it before we leave). A $0 tip could just mean you're a tightwad or you forgot - a penny tip shows that you thought it through and deliberately did it.

I'm generally a decent tipper - minimum 20%, anywhere up to 30-33% if the service is very good. I'll tip 20% for any semblance of even a reasonable level of service, but I won't reward bad service. They need to know there are consequences for not doing their job.
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10% 😖 I’ve never had such poor service I’ve felt I should give anything less.
 
I have only left less than 10% at a sit down restaurant 3 or 4 times and those were on occasions that it was so messed up that they should have comped the meal. 10% is usual the minimum on poor service from me. My wife will leave 20% even when I want to throat punch the server
 
15%. From working in restaurants for years the majority of service issues are not because the server is lazy. I made $2.13 per hour as a server and counted on those tips. If I provided you bad service it was because a other table was a PITA or the kitchen/bar was having issues.
 
wubears71 said:
15%. From working in restaurants for years the majority of service issues are not because the server is lazy. I made $2.13 per hour as a server and counted on those tips. If I provided you bad service it was because a other table was a PITA or the kitchen/bar was having issues.
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This. It takes a special kind of bad for me to not still give at least 15%.
 
10% is my bare minimum. I’ve had terrible service before and 10% isn’t a great tip. But I never fully know what’s going on at the restaurant or to that person on a particular night. They have to be pretty bad to only get 10% though so it doesn’t happen that often
 
I was a waiter, my wife was a waitress, me for not so long as she loves to remind me, but she for a good part of her existence in NYC. I would not go below 10% and that would be for terrible service. Rude and nasty might take me lower, though in this day and age. They are getting paid very small amounts with no benefits and in these times, it must be really tough to make a living.
 
10% and it has to be completely the servers fault to get that. I don't blame the server for bad food, cooked wrong, or if they are slammed. If they are rude, disrespectful, or I can validate they just don't care by seeing them standing around, eating or just socializing they will get 10%. Most servers are required to tip out a percentage of their sales to bussers, bartenders, etc. They are also are taxed on an assumed tip as income. I am not making them lose money on me, but they might not make much if the don't give a crap. That rarely happens though. Usually when service is bad it is a staffing issue more than a server issue.
 
I’ve done zero before. Once.

Went to a restaurant and got seated after a 20 minute wait in the lobby. Maybe 6 of 20 tables were full. Another 10 minute wait for a server to take drink our order. 30 minutes later water arrives at the table. About 10 minutes later, the server drops off drinks and takes off. 30 minutes later I go find the server and ask if everything is okay. I find him laughing and joking with kitchen staff and he says yes and will be right over. Another 30 minutes pass by and he hasn’t stopped at our table... I go see the hostess, pay for our drinks and leave.

Ended up going to a chain pizza place for takeout.
 
5% covers the tipout for the kitchen staff who likely have nothing to do with the service
 
My wife and I were both servers when we were younger, so I hate leaving a bad tip. But these guys either saw our table of 3 including a child, so figure small bill little tip or they just didn't care. They were attentive to other tables around us.

Your job as a server:
Get drink
Get bread
Take order
Make sure food comes out right
Fill drinks again
Everything ok checkup
Dessert and check
 
Whatever the change is from the bill. And when I say change, I mean the nickels, dimes and pennies. Then I write on the check T.I.P.P.S. TO INSURE PROMPT PROFFESSIONAL SERVICE.
 
We have no problem tipping $00.00 for poor service. Plus, we probably won't return to the place again.

My wife usually takes care of payments when we eat/drink out. For good service, I've seen her be quite generous with the tip money.

Another thing is a place that charges a "required" 10%-15%-20% tip for a larger group of people of 5 or more. We tell the server up front we will not pay the mandatory tip. If they don't agree, we get up and leave. Simple as that.

We were at one place for dinner. There was my daughter's family of 5, my wife, and I. No where was there a mandatory tip notice posted. The bill came to $70.00. My sil was paying the bill, and I had a $20.00 bill on the table for a tip. He noticed an extra $14.00 on the bill, and asked the server about it. That's when we informed of the mandatory tip because there were 7 of us. He asked her take it off the bill, that I was taking care of the tip. The server refused to take the extra $14 dollars off the bill, even though she saw the $20.00 tip in my hand. My sil paid the bill, and I gave him the $20.00. The server didn't realize she lost an extra $6.00 in tip money for not yielding.
 
WLG1952 said:
We have no problem tipping $00.00 for poor service. Plus, we probably won't return to the place again.

My wife usually takes care of payments when we eat/drink out. For good service, I've seen her be quite generous with the tip money.

Another thing is a place that charges a "required" 10%-15%-20% tip for a larger group of people of 5 or more. We tell the server up front we will not pay the mandatory tip. If they don't agree, we get up and leave. Simple as that.

We were at one place for dinner. There was my daughter's family of 5, my wife, and I. No where was there a mandatory tip notice posted. The bill came to $70.00. My sil was paying the bill, and I had a $20.00 bill on the table for a tip. He noticed an extra $14.00 on the bill, and asked the server about it. That's when we informed of the mandatory tip because there were 7 of us. He asked her take it off the bill, that I was taking care of the tip. The server refused to take the extra $14 dollars off the bill, even though she saw the $20.00 tip in my hand. My sil paid the bill, and I gave him the $20.00. The server didn't realize she lost an extra $6.00 in tip money for not yielding.
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Mandatory gratuities for "large" groups are often service charges and are not typically given to the server/etc (tips are property of the employee, charges are not), and it's not like they have any power to remove it. Ask them where it goes, and ask for management to explain their sh***y (possibly corporate) policies to you :ROFLMAO:
 
aljaklaw said:
Mandatory gratuities for "large" groups are often service charges and are not typically given to the server/etc (tips are property of the employee, charges are not), and it's not like they have any power to remove it. Ask them where it goes, and ask for management to explain their ****** (possibly corporate) policies to you :ROFLMAO:
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When my golf club was under previous ownership, they tacked on a 15% "gratuity" to every restaurant bill. I figured that was the tip for the wait staff, but later found out that they didn't get a penny of that - it went straight to the club itself. I had eaten there numerous times before I discovered that, and felt bad that I had unknowingly stiffed the servers every time. I apologized to them and made sure they were taken care of after that.
 
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