Keep the tip?

z31maniac wrote: I think most people have unrealistic expectations of what type of service they should get at a restaurant. It seems most think they should be getting 5 star, $50+ a plate service, from the $11.95 a dinner places most people eat.

this

Talk about entitled--a lot of people expect to be bowed down to just because they're spending their money.

I go out to eat. I'm pleasant to the server. He/she is pleasant to me. I finish dinner. I tip. Not really much of a process. I'd hate to cloud one of my favorite activities with that much ill will.

I've had $400 dinners, I've eaten at Chili's. Service is generally good.

Actually, now that I think of it, the service at a Mario Batali restaurant in Vegas (B&B) sucked. That was a $350 dinner. Food was astonishing, though. Still left a decent tip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-qV9wVGb38

PHeller wrote: If its a new restaurant or I'm from out of town how do I know what restaurant is or is not my style? I know I want a certain type of food I can only get at this one place. I walk through the door and its crowded, the music is turned up way too loud,

Turn around. Go to another place.

z31maniac wrote: I think most people have unrealistic expectations of what type of service they should get at a restaurant. It seems most think they should be getting 5 star, $50+ a plate service, from the $11.95 a dinner places most people eat.

I get better service with my eggs and coffee at a small town or roadside type diner more often than almost anywhere else.

Good service costs the same as bad for the restaurant - it should be universally good. The chef, menu and ambiance is what that $50/plate pays for.

gamby wrote:

PHeller wrote: If its a new restaurant or I'm from out of town how do I know what restaurant is or is not my style? I know I want a certain type of food I can only get at this one place. I walk through the door and its crowded, the music is turned up way too loud,

Turn around. Go to another place.

There is also Urbanspoon, Yelp, local food blogs, the Internet.........

z31maniac wrote: I think most people have unrealistic expectations of what type of service they should get at a restaurant. It seems most think they should be getting 5 star, $50+ a plate service, from the $11.95 a dinner places most people eat.

Or maybe as a society we've just allowed our standards to slip as a whole and make allowances for poor work ethic and attitude.

I tip, I tip well. But as PHeller points out, its a service job, your job is to SERVE, if you cannot perform that simple function to a decent standard than you should not be in the job and certainly not expect to be highly compensated for it.

I don't care if the person before me put you in a bad mood. If I am rude to one of my customers because earlier in the day someone pissed me off, I assure you I won't get any breaks for my attitude. It's all part of the job. Being in any service position is difficult, it takes a certain type to be able to smile through it all and perform well. But at the end of the day you are asking me to pay for your performance, so do your job.

I guess I'm as quality obsessed with service as I am with any purchase. I pay money, good money, for something, I want you to do more than just tell me to sit someplace and fetch my food.

I tend to avoid overcrowded "trendy" places these days for the reasons I previously mentioned.

That doesn't mean that $11.50 a plate has to be bad food or bad service.

gamby wrote: Turn around. Go to another place.

I do that regularly. Walk in, sit down. Servers gets me water. I look at the menu, disappointed with prices, drop a buck on the table, walk out. The server gets a dollar for serving me water? Go them.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I get better service with my eggs and coffee at a small town or roadside type diner more often than almost anywhere else.

PHeller wrote:

z31maniac wrote: Wait, so you go to a restaurant that isn't your style, then want to punish the wait staff, because you went somewhere "trendy" instead of somewhere "quiet?"

If its a new restaurant or I'm from out of town how do I know what restaurant is or is not my style? I know I want a certain type of food I can only get at this one place.

Al Gore invented this magical thing called the internet where you can find reviews of stuff.

JThw8 wrote:

z31maniac wrote: I think most people have unrealistic expectations of what type of service they should get at a restaurant. It seems most think they should be getting 5 star, $50+ a plate service, from the $11.95 a dinner places most people eat.

Or maybe as a society we've just allowed our standards to slip as a whole and make allowances for poor work ethic and attitude. I tip, I tip well. But as PHeller points out, its a service job, your job is to SERVE, if you cannot perform that simple function to a decent standard than you should not be in the job and certainly not expect to be highly compensated for it.

I get that, you're talking to someone who spends as much going out to eat in a month as we spend on our mortgage. So I'm with you on getting quality service.

I'm not doing a very good job of getting across my point. If the server was courteous, timely and didn't screw up my order, or didn't let me sit 15 minutes before asking if I wanted another drink...........to me they did their job.

A bunch of you seem to be Steve Buschemi in Reservoir Dogs.

PHeller wrote: I guess I'm as quality obsessed with service as I am with any purchase. I pay money, good money, for something, I want you to do more than just tell me to sit someplace and fetch my food.

...and my reaction after so many years of retail is that I don't obsess over much of anything I spend my money on.

I bought my 99 Civic Si brand new, sight unseen because it hadn't been built yet and there were none to test drive

Made the decision to buy my house in an hour, because the housing market at the time dictated it.

Bought my wife's 2010 Fit in about 1.5 hours--because I didn't feel like taking more time to do so.

If I put that little emotional energy into big ticket purchases, I'm certainly not going to ruminate over dinner service--which is good 99.9999% of the time.

Joe Gearin wrote: You may think you are a good tipper, but if you tip less than 20% your server thinks otherwise.

if the service sucks I really couldn't care less what the server thinks ... with the exception that maybe the lousy tip will remind them that they ARE working for tips .... emphasis on working .... no work = no tip

to clarify I worked as a bartender and waiter for many yrs

z31maniac wrote: I'm not doing a very good job of getting across my point. If the server was courteous, timely and didn't screw up my order, or didn't let me sit 15 minutes before asking if I wanted another drink...........to me they did their job. A bunch of you seem to be Steve Buschemi in Reservoir Dogs.

/nailonhead

z31maniac wrote: I'm not doing a very good job of getting across my point. If the server was courteous, timely and didn't screw up my order, or didn't let me sit 15 minutes before asking if I wanted another drink...........to me they did their job.

Then we agree.

What we're talking about is whether we're obligated to tip servers who don't do that, and if as a customer, we should care how many tables our server has and if thats a good excuse to ignore us.

z31maniac wrote: I'm not doing a very good job of getting across my point. If the server was courteous, timely and didn't screw up my order, or didn't let me sit 15 minutes before asking if I wanted another drink...........to me they did their job.

EXACTLY.

gamby wrote: If I put that little emotional energy into big ticket purchases, I'm certainly not going to ruminate over dinner service--which is good 99.9999% of the time.

But I'm sure you researched those purchases, demanded (or offered) a very specific price, and expected a level of quality associated with the price you paid.

If your Honda was complete junk, wouldn't you want your money back?

PHeller wrote:

z31maniac wrote: I'm not doing a very good job of getting across my point. If the server was courteous, timely and didn't screw up my order, or didn't let me sit 15 minutes before asking if I wanted another drink...........to me they did their job.

Then we agree. What we're talking about is whether we're obligated to tip servers who don't do that, and if as a customer, we should care how many tables our server has and if thats a good excuse to ignore us.

You brought up the atmosphere/portion sizes and your seat location in the restaurant (which would be the host/hostess, not the waiter/waitress) as other things the tips is based on.

Some people turn into such megalomaniacs about it.

I SIT IN JUDGEMENT OF YOU

I DECREE THAT YOU DID AN INADEQUATE JOB

I CONTROL HOW MUCH YOU MAKE BECAUSE YOU ARE IN MY SERVITUDE!!!

YOU ARE DEEMED INADEQUATE AND I SHALL TIP THUSLY BECAUSE YOU DID NOT MEET MY LIST OF 748 REQUIREMENTS FOR A 20% TIP

...because the extra $3 for someone who did a decent job is going to break the bank.

PHeller wrote:

gamby wrote: If I put that little emotional energy into big ticket purchases, I'm certainly not going to ruminate over dinner service--which is good 99.9999% of the time.

But I'm sure you researched those purchases, demanded (or offered) a very specific price, and expected a level of quality associated with the price you paid. If your Honda was complete junk, wouldn't you want your money back?

Had to pay $2000 over asking on the house so it wouldn't go to open house

Had to pay sticker on the Civic because they'd just sell it to someone else if I didn't buy it. Went in knowing it was a good car and that I wanted it period.

...and good luck returning a car.

I'm very laid back about spending money. I can't stand when people agonize over it--and I'm far from wealthy.

z31maniac wrote: You brought up the atmosphere/portion sizes and your seat location in the restaurant (which would be the host/hostess, not the waiter/waitress) as other things the tips is based on.

I'll clarify, I don't base tip off those things, unless I mention something to server who does nothing about it.

As a server, if your struggling to hear your customers over the music, you have the power to change that. I hate when restaurants with no dance floor think they've got to be a club/restaurant/bar.

Maybe others enjoy yelling conversations?

In other news, the 'get a real job' 1% tip story is a hoax.

Now let me clarify (not sure why I need to, maybe I don't). I' don't like tipping. I think it's a bunch of crap. Why? Because I feel a waiter, waitress, pizza dude, etc. should be paid properly, by the hour. If you are a good waitress you will be able to work at any restaurant you want (higher end places would pay more, right?). If you suck, you'll be stuck doing the midnight shift at Denny's forever.
But, since tipping is the custom here, I tip. If you do an adequate job, you'll get an adequate tip and so on.
Nobody here is a meglomaniac any more than a waitress is demanding I pay get $X.XX on top of her salery, it's just the custom.

I have a theory about why the "standard" tip amount has moved up to 20% over the last few years. I think it has less to do with the service industry demanding and more to do with the average American's inability to do math in their head (e.g. it's easier to figure out 20% than 15%).

Otto Maddox wrote: I thought I was a cheap bastard until I read this thread. If you don't want to conform to societal norms for tipping, don't eat out.

This is basically the issue I have with people that go to bars and don't tip. Stay at home and drink beer or go hang out at a buddy's house. Hell, I hate going to bars but I barbacked at a bar(and still fill in when needed) for many years. I didn't get paid crap except 20% of what the bartenders made in tips.

Yeah sure its alot of money but it was non-stop restocking and bulldozing your way through huge crowds for 10 hour shifts. Not like being a busboy at a restaurant. Every step I made was valuable. This was at a high volume bar, not like Cheers on TV where you are hanging out talking to people while you are waiting for another customer to flag you down. Our bartenders would sell $2000-$4000 a night each on good nights and I would barback for 4 to 5 of them. That is a TON of liquor, beer, ice, etc.

Like someone stated earlier, if someone doesn't tip or tips crappy, there is usually really good tips that cover it. So honestly for all the cheap people, it is usually made up by someone else.

Me, I hate going out to bars, but when I do go, I general tip 20% or greater(up to 40%ish) because I made a great amount of money over the years mainly on tips.

914Driver wrote: Then there's this guy. Leaves a 1% tip and notes "Get a real job" on the receipt! Obviously he's a rich banker that never had to work for a living. http://www.refinery29.com/banker-one-percent-tip

Bunk. It's a fake picture. Real total was $33 (what the hell would you order at that place for $133 anyway?) and the real tip was $7.33.

DrBoost wrote: Now let me clarify (not sure why I need to, maybe I don't). I' don't like tipping. I think it's a bunch of crap. Why? Because I feel a waiter, waitress, pizza dude, etc. should be paid properly, by the hour.

The fact is they aren't, and they depend on your tips for their salary.

Getting paid $2.13/hour and making your money in tips is better for them anyway.

If the owners decided to pay waitresses $14/hour and no tipping, the cost of your food would rise to cover it, due to increased labor costs.