Comments on: Your Take: Remember To Tip Your Servers

By: Crystal

Crystal — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:28:57 +0000

My husband and I are both servers. We only get paid $2.13/hr here in Tennessee. I agree with what Brad said, we have to pay money on our taxes on our total sales wither we get a tip or not. Do you think it is fair for a server if most of his/her tables stiff them or leave them crappy tips and then the STILL have to claim at least 10% of their total sales! Why should I pay taxes on money I didn’t make. No, it’s not your fault that resturants are made up this way, but if you don’t like the rules then don’t eat there. Simply put. Go to McDonald’s where they get paid at least Min.Wage. Another thing that isn’t fair. How about the server that has been taking care of you for well over an hour, you KNOW that their shift is OVER, considering the new server taking the tables, and they have to stay extra waiting on you to LEAVE because they can’t cash out. Is it fair for them to have to be away from their family and you dont leave one or tip only $2!? There have been days were I get to work at 7am and technically I should have left a 3pm…3:30pm at the LATEST but dont get to leave till almost 5!My co-worker is losing out on a potential table/tip and I am waiting to be screwed over. So sometimes you aren’t just screwing over your server but the server who is working the next shift! Also, I HATE the church groups who ONLY leave the “BE SAVED AND FIND JESUS!” pamplets! Ok, first of all, Jesus/GOD(yes I only listed thems because it is ONLY the Christain faith that I have seen do this) DOES NOT pay my bills, God grants me the gift of life to be able to get my ass out of bed in the morning to WORK for a living. I work HARD for my tips and it isn’t up to my OTHER tables who tip over to make up for what you didnt tip. No one, can say “Get another job” well if that were the case, NO ONE would be there to feed you. So I guess you’d really be saving money by eating at home! Please be curteous to your server. If the service was HORRIBLE. Factor in some things, was the server extremly busy(and couldn’t immediately refill your drink, that you drank down in one gulp., was it’s the kitchen’s fault and the server tried all she/he could to make things better? If it was for poor attitude or respect than by all means DONT tip but if it wasnt the servers fault, Tip right. We deserve the money, we work hard(I actually work a job were I have to run UP and DOWN stairs to get to my tables from 7am-3pm(unless I get a table who wants to sit there forever), we don’t usually have the time for a break considering how busy we get) So you figure in I run ALL day for about 8-9 hrs. non-stop. I put up with rude arrogant people, I deal with people who let their children(or even themselves) DESTROY the whole table and area around them with food and paper, I have to run extra hard when a table can’t just tell me EVERYTHING thing they need in one trip and I have to go back and forth EVERY SINGLE TIME. I put up with a person who tells me “Yes, I am ready to order” but then it takes me 10 minutes JUST TO GET IT, because you really didnt KNOW! I even put up with people who are mean and hateful and talk to me like I am beneath them. I deal with people that WONT even talk to me and just ignore me, uh I cant take your order unless you speak. I do this all the time. I put up with it. Why? Because I know I am a good server, I know there are people out there that I can not please. But, I feel like I still derserve that tip. For those of you who DO tip(and I mean tip good and not poorly). Thank you, we honestly appreciate it. There are those of you who remind us of why we DO put up with the things we do. You are the ones who make are job a little more pleasant. Because of you treating us like we are people too. Joking with us. Asking how WE are doing. Letting us know when there is a problem but not over doing it like some do. There are those of you who stack the plates up right so it’s not as hard for me to juggle all of them. It’s nice when you hear a customer tell you that you are the best server they have ever had. It’s nice when you get a thank you in return. So again thank you to all of you who DO take care of us and respect us. For those of you who DON’T just remember the next time you tip, you might be the reason a server can’t put food on a table that night or can’t pay that bill tommorrow. Remember most of us get paid a lot less than min. wage. We rely on those tips. Sorry thats just the way it is. Dont like it stay at home and dont waste our time.

By: Ginger

Ginger — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:39:11 +0000

All restaurants that have a busser or bartender and some for host make the server no choice tip out a % of the sales. Not the tips the sales, then it is the law that even if the server make less then 8% of the bill as there tip they are tax on 8%. So if there is a busser and a bartender you must tip a least 10% min to the server so they are not lossing money by serving you. It is better to tip 15 as a min because sometimes the host and others take a cut. There was a case where the managers were taking cut. Trust me servers will remember and not server you or the service will be worse the next time because you are not worth it. There are other tables that may tip better. If the service is decent 20% if it get bad enough that you would go below 15% talk to manager. Btw if your just cheap and that is why you don’t tip tell the manager may lower you bill.

By: Lazy Man and Money

Lazy Man and Money — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:33:23 +0000

I ignore the random tip jars at Dunkin Donuts and other similar places. I don’t tip at Taco Bell or McDonalds, why would I tip at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 20:47:55 +0000

I have a job, and do not get tips for anything. If the wait staff is underpaid, quit & get a better paying job. Don’t prey on the CHARITY of others.
That’s pathetic.

By: Rashers Tierney

Rashers Tierney — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:55:36 +0000

Or how about actually addressing the waiter/bartender or the manager, and saying “listen, my experience here tonight was not good, so I’m not tipping”. Then perhaps someone can remedy what went wrong in the kitchen/on the floor for the next table, maybe you can get a break on the bill, the restaurant owner has a heads up. This passive aggressive leaving 4 cents thing, or throwing change in a dirty glass, is really petty behaviour that makes the customer seem like a sulky kid.

By: Javert

Javert — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:50:38 +0000

saladdin,

You are quite correct in the poor context of my post. I should have not put ‘lazy jerk’ in there in such a way as to be a personal attack.

With respect to the overhead of a restaurant…you are correct labor is factored it but it is factored in knowing that they don’t pay minimum wage. It is factored in at $2.15 per hour (estimated…what it was in 01). It is the structure of the system that is wrong but the wait staff should not be punished. A boycott of tipping does not seem to be the answer but rather a boycott of restaurants.

As to you not tipping for the cell phone…I do not believe in tipping as an absolute right. I start at 20%…service good, great service +, poor service -. I will knock down for bad service. But as a word of advice, if you are truly aghast at service, not leaving anything does not communicate this because there are some who simply do not tip. If you are truly ticked at the service at is was in fact due to the incompetence of the wait staff, leave 26 cents. Or 4 cents. Don’ just leave the change from the bill (coins) but leave a specific amount so they are aware that you made a decision to reflect their poor service by making an effort to tip bad. That is the only way they may think ‘hmm, maybe I am not cut out for this.’

By: saladdin

saladdin — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:44:00 +0000

I’ll add my last 2 cents.

Last night I went out to eat with my girlfriend. As we were sitting there the waitress came back over to ask if we needed any thing else…as she had her cell phone to her ear. She did not get tipped by me.

saladdin

By: Sherry L

Sherry L — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:06:32 +0000

As a former server who fed my kids on tips, I’d like to mention that many state governments “allow” employers to pay sub-minimum wages to employees who can reasonably expect tips……. waiters and waitresses. In Nebraska that wage is $2.23 an hour!! So right, wrong or otherwise, that is the amount most employers pay. This does not include fast food workers, they are covered under the “regular” minimum wage laws. I tip well if a person is at least trying to do a good job, not so good if they’re standing over in the corner chatting with friends and I’m out of coffee. Even I have limits of tolerance.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:00:06 +0000

Yeah I wrote about the same thing on my blog a few months ago and everyone was pretty fired up. There are always both sides of the story and everyone will see everything from their own point of view. Just do what you feel is right since there’s no right answer.

By: EA

EA — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:19:33 +0000

I don’t usually tip at the tip jars unless the counter person went above and beyond what they’re paid to do. (Although I often dump my nickels and pennies in there, especially if I already have a pocketful of change.)

For a meal in a restaurant it depends on the level of service. I tend to tip higher percentages at cheaper places. If I’m at the local greasy spoon and the two of us have a burger and water each, and the waitress comes by to fill the water and check on us several times that’s as much service as a fancy place with expensive drinks and an expensive meal. Why does the server at the expensive place deserve a $20 tip (20% of $100 for two people) and the server at the diner deserves only $2 (20% of $9.50, rounded up) for the same amount of work? I tend to leave a “large” tip for the waitress at the diner ($3 on that $9.50 meal) and a “small” tip for the server at the more expensive place ($15 on $100). Obviously that might go up for good service or down for bad service, but that’s the base I work from.

In my opinion the system should be more focused on what the person does (do they come back and check on you, bring your drinks promptly, top up your coffee) than a percentage of the total meal. Obviously a multi-course meal is “worth” more than a single course, and subtract for rude service, but there could be a standard of X, plus Y for promptness, plus Z for each extra course.

By: razmaspaz

razmaspaz — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:44:14 +0000

I tip. Usually generously. That said, I NEVER feel obligated to Tip. The whole point of a tip in my opinion is incentive for my server to work for me. I’ve always seen it like this. When I go to a restaurant the server works for me, not the restaurant. The better the job they do for me, the more they will get paid. For those of you in the food service industry, you are not entitled to that money any more than the guy who cuts my lawn would be entitled to the money. If he cuts my lawn and leaves zig zag marks on it, or chews up my garden hose with the mower, I’m not going ot pay him. Same thing in the food service industry. If my food comes out cold, or late, or wrong…you are responsible for it. You let it leave the kitchen in that condition. On the flip side of that, if you keep my drink filled, or ask me if I want another glass of wine right before my meal arrives, then you get the credit for that. Your level of service will determine my elvel of tip. That is the whole point.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:26:25 +0000

My wife and I believe tipping is essential and is one way to share our “bread” with people that are working.

Yes, we pay for the meal and the meal price *could* include the tip but then the sales tax is added to the tip. So we accept the custom of tipping to help people earn a good wage.

Some private clubs add the gratuity to the monthly food bill – but sometimes the service is not worth the gratuity – so I like to add an amount myself. Also, they have to add the sales tax to the gratuity and I don’t like that.

Our base tip is 10% and the max seems to be 30% with a norm of 20%.

We double the tip when we order one meal and split it if the waitperson provides service like it were two meals (and most do). If a single meal cost $20 then we tip $8 (rather than $4) to recognize that we took the table turn with a below normal meal price.

I (but not my wife) avoid buying soft drinks and alcohol with meals because I think their prices are too steep. I know that affects the total tab and I don’t mind giving part of that back to the wait person. We do not add desert frequently so I try to recognize that fact when I determine the tip. It seems that the “average” tab for many places we eat with drinks and desert is in the $50 range whereas ours is in the $40 range and that is why I don’t mind tipping $8 to $12.

Tipping for services such as hair cuts, pedicures, and massage depends on the provider. I still use a guide I learned as a child and that is not to tip the provider if the provider is the owner. Most providers that we use now are not owners, but I still wonder if the guide I learned is still correct.

We generally ignore the tipping jars.

I sometimes wonder if we should extend the custom of tipping to places like WalMart if we think their workers are underpaid. That is, we like the low prices on (name the item) but then some complain that WalMart does not pay their workers enough. We could tip their workers. Maybe WalMart and some organization could work out the details to see how many of us would help improve the wages of their workers.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:16:46 +0000

To clarify, I didn’t say that tipping over 10% abroad was considered bad taste by the staff (why would it ever?), I said it was considered bad taste by the locals, a.k.a. the clientele, because it tends to drive up the prices they pay. (This is the similar to my experience in China when Americans don’t bargain for better prices at open markets and drive up the prices that locals pay.) I agree that tipping over 10% is certainly appreciated by anyone involved but abroad it’s not EXPECTED like it is here in America. I always tipped decently well when I’m abroad but I think it’s nice to know that no one’s going to be all pissed off and chasing me down the street screaming that they can’t pay their bills if I don’t.

By: saladdin

saladdin — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:27:21 +0000

Elizabeth George,
Sure there is reason to “rant” about culture or the practice of tipping.

You are giving reasons why you tip, why should others not be allowed to give reasons or explanations for their opinions? Is yours the only one that counts?

To say “it is what it is” is just defeatist, lemming talk to me. To be honest, I really don’t care what others may think of my spending habits. But like the other posts, I have an opinion. And a right to it.

It is just as valid as yours.

If you really want to get worked up, check out this discussion about tip jars at My Money Blog. Last I saw there was like 50 posts. Some for tipping, some against. I will put the link below but am unsure if posting links is allowed. Again, it is at My Money Blog . Com but you will have to look back a few days to find the post.

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2007/07/tip-jars-are-everywhere-should-we-fight-back-or-give-in.html

saladdin

By: Elizabeth George

Elizabeth George — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:15:30 +0000

I usually tip around 20% for typical (i.e. good) service at regular restaurants. However, my standards and expectations rise the nicer the restaurant is. Decent service at Chili’s will get you 20%, but that same level of service at III Forks will only get you 15% (which is still a bigger tip since the food and drinks are much more expensive).

And if a waiter at a 4-5 star restaurant delivers less service than you would expect from a Chili’s waiter, he/she might get dropped to 10-12%, especially if the meal’s price is inflated simply because I ordered a nice bottle of wine.

By the way, there’s no reason to rant about our culture or the practice of tipping. Our culture is what it is and this practice has been around forever. If you want to buck it and refuse to tip where tipping is expected, well then people will correctly assume that you are a tight-wad, an a-hole, clueless, ignorant, or from another country.