Comments on: How much should you tip a bad waiter or waitress?

By: rous

rous — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:45:49 +0000

In my experience, there are some customers that no matter how good the service, they are lousy tippers. I work the lunch shift in a regional chain. Although getting “stiffed” does not happen very often, it is not rare. Since our chain is more expensive than the adjacent fast food places, I understand that money is tight. However, I have a motto that I dearly wish I could proclaim to all my customers: if you cannot afford a tip, do not eat in expensive restaurants. While I am more tolerant of families with kids, I have little patience with the corporation employees that come in and leave less than 15%, or even no tip at all.

When I go out and plan to go to an expensive restaurant, I make sure that I can cover the food I order with a minimum 15%. However, we usually tip at least 20%.

By: server

server — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:44:08 +0000

I ma personally a server I give great service on a normal basis, if I am busy I sometimes give bad service because I can not keep up with what is going on around me. Also at all restraunts they want you to sell anything at all besides water, and you are supposed to stay completley away from giving lemons with water. If your managers see that all your tables have water they automatically assume that you are not doing your job and suggestive selling, so yeah when I get a table and they order with water and lemon 9 time out of 10 they tip bad, and by you thinking about not tipping, you still prove the point. If you are a guest that won’t let your waiter upsell to what they are trying to get you to at least listen to, consider or say ‘well I can’t drink wine, but ill take a water please and if you wouldn’t mind can I have a lemon to go with it as well’ that puts me in a better mood than just ‘no I want water and lemon.’ And plus regardless of service I still tip at least 5 dollars under any situation do I leave less than 5, its called respect, and plus servers will remember almost every person that does not tip, if you leave a bad tip, the next time you come in you will see what it is to get really bad service.

By: How To Manage Money Tips

How To Manage Money Tips — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:28:35 +0000

We almost always tip 20% unless it was great service.

My Dad however, would rather leave 50 cents and comment that the waiter didn’t help him chew his food.

Very imbarassing and I often try to slip the waiter a ten before leaving.

By: Wix

Wix — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:49:52 +0000

If the waiter/waitress is really bad, and I don’t mean bad like inexperienced or new, but rather rude and full of attitude, I’ll let them know by placing a single shiny quarter on the table when I leave. I very rarely tip by percentage or price scale of the restaurant, but instead go by what the server themselves are worth. Excellent service could earn them a 50 dollar bill or even more, poor- the dreaded quarter.

By: VICTORIA

VICTORIA — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:32:01 +0000

THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT GO INTO BEING A SERVER. AT THE PLACE I WORK I AM ANSWERING THE PHONE AND TAKING THE TOGO ORDERS. WHICH CAN TAKE A COUPLE OF MIN. IM RUNNING MY FOOD AND EVERYONE ELSES, IM TRYING TO GET TO ALL THE TABLES THAT JUST SAT AT THE SAME TIME AND THE TABLE THAT THE SERVER SAT ACROSS THE RESTURANT OUT OF MY SECTION BUT THE CUSTOMER REFUSED TO SIT ANY WHERE ELSE. NOW I HAVE THE KIDS THAT WANT EXTRA CRAYONS AND THE TABLE THAT NEED REFILLS AND THE TABLE THAT NEEDS EXTRA RANCH EVEN THOUGH I JUST ASKED THEM THE LAST TIME I BROUGT THEM NAPKIN IF THEY NEEDED ANYTHING ELSE. NOW i HAVE THE TABLE THAT I ASK THEM ARE THEY READY TO ORDER AND THEY SAY YES BUT THEY SIT THER IN SILENCE WHILE THEY READ THE MENU STILL MAKING THEIR CHOICE AND I FEEL THE EYES ON ME OF THE POEPLE THAT HAVE BEEN SITTING THERE FOR 10 MIN. NOW I HAVE MADE IT TO THERE TABLE THEY ARE ALREADY FRUSTRATED AND SO AM I NOW THEY FIND OUT THAT WE HAVE STOPPED CARRYING THE FAV MEAL SO THEY GIVE ME CARP ABOUT IT LIKE i CAN CHANGE IT. jUST SO POEPLE KNOW I THE SERVER DID NOT PERSONALLY TAKE IT OFF THE MENU. WELL THEIR FOOD COMES OUT. i ASK THEM IF THEY WANT DESSERT AND THEY SAY NO WE WILL TAKE THE CHECK. SO I BRING OUT THERE CHECK. GO BACK AND CHARGE THE CARD. TELL THEM TO HAVE A GREAT NIGHT AND WALK AWAY. CAME BACK TO CLEAN OFF THERE NASTY NAPKINS AND PLATES AND NOT TO MENTION THE PUT BACK ALL THE SUGAR AND SWEETNERS THAT THEY JUST LET THERE KID DUMP ALL OVER THE TABLE. PICKUP THE CREDIT CARD SLIP TO SEE THAT THEY STIFF ME. NO TIP! ON TOP OF ALL THAT I HAVE TO PAY THE BARTENDER , QA AND HOSTESS A TIP OUT ON YOUR CHECK OF 3%. SO I HAVE PAID TO SERVE THEM.

By: Mary Mclarry

Mary Mclarry — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:27:58 +0000

What a horrible comment, and yet…Do you not realize that you are demeaning the very people who do the work you will not do? Why do garbage collectors and landscapers and waiters do what they do? Good money, flexible hours, and mostly good benefits. And you depend upon them every day, in some form or another.
Shame, sir or madam. You call yourself a Christian.

>>>>To me, its a simple process outside of faith or anything else. They are in the service business. They make their money based upon this service so, it behooves them to provide the best service possible to make the most money possible. If they don’t like it, or cant do it, then they need to get out and find another job. Garbage collection agencies, lawn mowing companies and the like are always hiring…<<<<

By: Brandi

Brandi — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:17:44 +0000

@ Travis.
Instead of not leaving a tip of more than 10% because that is all that is given to God, how about increasing the amount you give to God? My husband and I aren’t anywhere close to rich but we try to give 20% of our income (I guess it could be looked at as 10%-tithe, 10%-offering) to the Church because we believe the more we give the more we reap and instead of buying a new “toy” put it toward advancing the Kingdom.

By: Carnival of Personal Finance: Vacation-time edition | All The News

Carnival of Personal Finance: Vacation-time edition | All The News — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:40:41 +0000

[...] Christian Personal Finance How Much Should You Tip a Bad Waiter or Waitress? Bob gets quite a conversation going with a story about a recent experience in a [...]

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:01:25 +0000

I have worked in food service for more than 15 years and held every job from dishwasher to manager. Tips stands for “To Insure Proper Service”. It began as an Irish tradition and was paid before the meal was served. today we tip after the meal as an expression of gratitute for having our meal served to us in a timely fashion. Ok, enough of the history lesson…
Restaurants depend on customers tipping in order to reduce the labor costs of the restuarants. Often times the tips we leave our waitrons are split among all the service staff (bartenders, busboys, floor supervisiors, and even the kitchen staff), so you cannot be clear on who is profiting from your generosity. I believe that restaurants should have to pay a real salary to the waitstaff. When my wife and I go out for a nice meal, and spend a nice chuck of change, I should not have to figure out how much more dinner is going to cost by including a tip. Tipping is my OPTION, not my RESPONSIBILITY. It is not fair to put me and and the waiter at odds with each other over how much I am EXPECTED to tip.
Just as a waitron can have a bad day, so can the customer. If we don’t want the waitron to have a feeling about the customer who does not leave a tip, then the waitron should not have a feeling about the customer who does not tip.
Now, all that being said, I tip according to performance. If the waitron treats me well, they will be richly rewarded (it’s not unusual for me to leave a $50-60), I have left nothing for poor service. I expect to be served in a polite manner, the tipping starts from this baseline. If they are not polite, they get nothing and I simply don’t care what the server thinks.

By: ChristinaL30

ChristinaL30 — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:17:08 +0000

Wow, what a conundrum! I appreciate hearing from all the current & former servers; it gives a good perspective. Back when we used to go out we would try to tip 10-15% (depending on who left the tip, hubby or me!) as a standard. As broke college students, my roomie & I would leave “creative” tips — as much $ as we could scrounge, plus anything that would show our appreciation. (Midnight coffee @ Denny’s, we knew the staff and they understood.) But this situation …
Wanting to leave a good witness, I would leave at least 10%, maybe 15%, with a note (since he wouldn’t respond to verbal interaction) saying that I would be praying for whatever his situation was that made him have such a bad evening. I would also say the same thing to the manager, expressing my concern that Mr. Surly Waiter must be having a really hard time, and hoping that his circumstances would turn soon.