We've launched the new forums! Read more here

wait staff tipping

A

Art M

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
1,986
Reaction score
92
Location
MA
Handicap
10.4
I had a recent experience (not a new experience however) where the wait staff that provided my family service was pretty darn poor. No joyfullnes, no small talk, no suggestions, not refilling drinks, not "how are things"...you get it and i am sure have gotten yourself at times. I pretty much decided that I am done tipping any amount for that service. And you know, I have seen some of this lack of service repeated at places i frequent and wondered why are "they" still employed in this type of business. Does this type of server still get tipped by other patrons because they feel obligated to leave a tip? Does the server say "that customer was an a88hole and stiffed me?"
 
I always tip something. It is very rare for me to tip short for bad service but I will give a nice tip for good service.
 
I agree. Service has to be awful for me to stiff someone. To answer OP’s last question, yes, they will complain that you stiffed them and may very well call you an a**hole.
 
It would be a rare occasion that I left no tip. But I definitely leave less of a tip for poor service.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Efficient and bland service gets a minimum 15%, it goes up or down from there. I have left as low as 1/4 of a penny (Letherman multitool required) and as high as 110%

Personally I don’t care a whole lot about bland service, but I know a lot of people get annoyed by it. I think those types of servers probably struggle a lot.
 
I’m not judging or trying to tell anyone how to tip.

I worked in the restaurant business as a cook and server while going to school. I made $2.12 an hour plus tips (long time ago). I always intend to tip 20%. That drops to 15% for the worst service, but I’ll also go up to 30 for excellent service. I would never stiff anyone unless I was truly offended. This tipping philosophy has served me well (pun intended) since I tend to revisit the same restaurants. Establish yourself as a decent tipper and you’ll almost always be remembered and receive good service.
 
Service has to be well beyond "not friendly" for me to not give a tip. I think the folks are making something like $3.75 an hour before tips, so me getting my food is enough to get at least something.
 
Problem right now is there are more restaurants than ever before and less workers to staff them. The opioid epidemic is severely hampering the number of workers available to do jobs like this so most restaurants don't have enough qualified workers to tell anyone to go take hike. I have even noticed at 2 different summer vacation locations this year that the vast majority of the staff is from Eastern Europe and South America on 3 month and 6 month temporary Visa's. We're importing workers to serve us dinner and lunch. That said those folks all were much better servers and workers than the average local resident that waits on me in and around Louisville, KY.
 
My tips are on a sliding scale as to service but for me not to tip at all, something fairly significant would have to occur.
 
As a former server and bartender, my scale starts at 20%. It's easy to go up from there, harder to go down, but it is possible. I never stiff anyone unless they do something egregious, and even then I'm usually empathetic.

Depends on what part of the world you live in, but servers here make an absurdly low wage and tips are literally how they make a living. They also get to deal with people at their worst (second to probably people working in air travel), and have bad days just like everyone else. I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt, and find that most but certainly not all situations at a restaurant can be remedied with a positive and friendly attitude.
 
Until the food service industry pays waiters and waitresses acceptable wages, I will always tip something.
 
I try to tip decently, but if the server is bad i will tip less and in extreme cases nothing. It doesnt take a whole lot in my mind to get something, but there are some real pieces of work out there. Thankfully it is generally few and far between when i have run into those.
 
Art M said:
I had a recent experience (not a new experience however) where the wait staff that provided my family service was pretty darn poor. No joyfullnes, no small talk, no suggestions, not refilling drinks, not "how are things"...you get it and i am sure have gotten yourself at times. I pretty much decided that I am done tipping any amount for that service. And you know, I have seen some of this lack of service repeated at places i frequent and wondered why are "they" still employed in this type of business. Does this type of server still get tipped by other patrons because they feel obligated to leave a tip? Does the server say "that customer was an a88hole and stiffed me?"
Click to expand...

You are right though, the only way to deal with this lazy service is to under-tip. The idea that I owe a server 20% of my meal cost regardless of how they perform is flawed. Ask yourself if your employer would pay you the same no matter how poorly you did your job.
 
It takes atrocious service for me to stiff a server. When I receive bad service, I will politely tell them what I didn't like and let them know I would have happily tipped more if not for those issues. I haven't had any server lose their cool about it, even though I am sure I get called an a-hole once they are out of ear shot.
 
mpeterson said:
Service has to be well beyond "not friendly" for me to not give a tip. I think the folks are making something like $3.75 an hour before tips, so me getting my food is enough to get at least something.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
 
I still to this day don't understand why someone would "tip" someone for bad service. Its like giving someone money for a 5th place finish. They are to provide a service and get paid accordingly. They know how they get paid knowing the hourly wage will be low but for them to make a living they have to provide good service. They don't provide, they don't get paid.

I hate the entitlement of that industry. Its called a "tip" for reason, not a "wage". Problem is, entitlement has grown so much in that field why try and provide good service when they know they are going to get paid anyway? How is that rewarding?

With all that said, I have been known to very often tip very well for good service and I usually write a little note on the receipt telling them for the good job the provided. I full heartedly believe in paying someone what they deserve and worked for. I don't at all till I die believe in paying someone for something they didn't earn and that's tipping for bad service.
 
Having waited tables, it takes A LOT for me to not tip, but I've done it. Sometimes, you see people that just shouldn't be servers. Not like a person having a bad day, but the kid of people you can tell are always angry at everyone no matter what and I wouldn't want them greeting customers in my establishment. You don't have to be bubbly, but some people just aren't right for it. Of course, when they act like schmucks and don't get tipped, they figure it can't be their own fault, so they get in an even shittier mood, and treat people even worse, then end the night complaining about only making 8 dollars during a dinner shift.
 
I agree with the majority - I always tip at least 15%, and have no problem tipping more than 20% if the service was good. I can only think of one time where I tipped less than 15%, and that was because the server stood at the register and loudly complained about having to work that day while ignoring her tables.
 
Greg Kulbick said:
Having waited tables, it takes A LOT for me to not tip, but I've done it. Sometimes, you see people that just shouldn't be servers. Not like a person having a bad day, but the kid of people you can tell are always angry at everyone no matter what and I wouldn't want them greeting customers in my establishment. You don't have to be bubbly, but some people just aren't right for it. Of course, when they act like schmucks and don't get tipped, they figure it can't be their own fault, so they get in an even shittier mood, and treat people even worse, then end the night complaining about only making 8 dollars during a dinner shift.
Click to expand...

Exactly. You don't have to be bouncing off the walls, but you need to care with some sense of urgency. But don't complain to me when you make 8 dollars during a dinner shift when you act like a clown.

Also, sure sometimes its not the servers fault but if the customer has any type of brain you can tell its a kitchen/establishment problem. I know its embarrassing for the server, but the ones that care make chicken soup out of chicken sh*t and again if the customer has any type of brain they can see that.
 
Greg Kulbick said:
Having waited tables, it takes A LOT for me to not tip, but I've done it. Sometimes, you see people that just shouldn't be servers. Not like a person having a bad day, but the kid of people you can tell are always angry at everyone no matter what and I wouldn't want them greeting customers in my establishment. You don't have to be bubbly, but some people just aren't right for it. Of course, when they act like schmucks and don't get tipped, they figure it can't be their own fault, so they get in an even shittier mood, and treat people even worse, then end the night complaining about only making 8 dollars during a dinner shift.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. I don't need people to make small talk, or even be particularly friendly. I've had "no nonsense" servers that are among my favorites at restaurants we frequent. Responsive, asking if we need anything, keeping an eye on the table, etc. At the same time, if I'm looking for another drink and you're behind the bar checking your phone, not paying attention, I'm going to be annoyed no matter how friendly you are. Still, things have to get pretty bad for me not to leave anything - like the example you give where they're downright angry or surly.
 
I've worked both the front and back of house in a previous life, I understand a little bit about what each part of the restaurant goes through. I still tip an amount that is commensurate to the type of service I received, with an understanding that they deserve a minimum percentage. I am a big fan of this "tip the bill" movement for when the service is exemplary.

Only once was it bad enough that I left only $1. They didn't deserve even that, but I didn't want them thinking that I'd just forgotten.
 
Art M said:
I had a recent experience (not a new experience however) where the wait staff that provided my family service was pretty darn poor. No joyfullnes, no small talk, no suggestions, not refilling drinks, not "how are things"...you get it and i am sure have gotten yourself at times. I pretty much decided that I am done tipping any amount for that service. And you know, I have seen some of this lack of service repeated at places i frequent and wondered why are "they" still employed in this type of business. Does this type of server still get tipped by other patrons because they feel obligated to leave a tip? Does the server say "that customer was an a88hole and stiffed me?"
Click to expand...

I usually concede a flat 10% for bad service. I think it's far more telling for wait staff to receive a bad tip over no tip at all. One says "that person sucks" and one says "wow maybe I could do better" a lot more realistically.

There's no good answer. Aside from make sure to grab a survey card and tell the establishment that they could do better.
 
I tip based on the service. If it's good, then they get a good tip. Not so good....not so good tip. Terrible....they get a penny left on the table to make sure they know I was not happy.

I do think it's time that the restaurants start paying the servers a living wage and not have them depend on their tips. The tips should be a "bonus" for good service, not an expected income.
 
For the extreme low tippers, do you feel like you do more to impact the server by giving a VERY low or no tip than you would providing feedback to the restaurant?
 
I start at 10% and work up, that is the lowest I will tip and that would be poor service. I always try to tip in cash and not on my card.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top