Question for restaurant servers.

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  • SyntonicGarden
    SyntonicGarden Posts: 944 Member
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    I just flag the server down and ask/gesture. Sometimes some of these places hire kids who don't have any sense or were raised by feral, rabid wolves. Sometimes, they hire college students who are exhausted. Sometimes they just hire the daft who were out the day that clues were being handed out. We try to find places we like to dine and stick with that. Sometimes, we'll ask for a specific server's section. (I was heartbroken when my TGIF guy went elsewhere.)

    Having waited tables, I had a shirt that I cold never get the burnt grease smell out of. I expect people to do their jobs, so I tip exceptionally well when they do and call them on it when they don't. I'm also that b*tch who'll flag down the manager, to impart either words of praise or to tell them how I REALLY feel. I try to focus on the positive though. :)

    On the flip side, Federal minimum wage, not counting tips, is $2.13 an hour in some states. I split my time between dining in PA ($2.83) and NJ ($2.13). So, some compassion usually prevails, but only after I've said my piece.



    http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
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    How come y'all never refill my soda pop? At least half the time I'm trying to eat, I'm sitting and waiting for soda pop while my food gets cold. Some are better than others, but I'd say 9/10 times, I'm sitting there thirsty. And the pop gets taken out of the tip! (Which is $1.99-$3.99 here.)

    Only one waitress ever caught on. She left a pitcher for me. I tipped her 100%.


    Sometimes you get so damn busy you don't even realize. Or you see it and think "After I get table X their drinks I need to come back and fill hers" and next thing you know your manager is pitching a fit over something and it slips your mind. Other times you just have a ****ty waiter/waitress.
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Many years ago I was a server. I was always on top of refills, I think partly because I hated waiting for my diet coke to get refilled. But give me a rude customer, they can sit forever and if I did bring them a refill after the were grumpy, I would oh so drop the tip of a dirty towel in it, smile and say enjoy. Be nice to your server, or dine at fast food places. Yes, you can get really bad service. If so, don't tip. TIPS... To insure prompt service

    Yea...that's a pretty crappy thing to do to someone. If someone is rude, sorry, that doesn't give you a green light to introduce potentially damaging materials/bacteria etc.. into their meal.

    You should honestly be ashamed of yourself for ever doing something like that. It's not cool when people are rude, but you should never put their health at risk because of it.


    It seems to me to be common sense not to be a d-bag to the people who handle your food.
  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
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    Many years ago I was a server. I was always on top of refills, I think partly because I hated waiting for my diet coke to get refilled. But give me a rude customer, they can sit forever and if I did bring them a refill after the were grumpy, I would oh so drop the tip of a dirty towel in it, smile and say enjoy. Be nice to your server, or dine at fast food places. Yes, you can get really bad service. If so, don't tip. TIPS... To insure prompt service

    Yea...that's a pretty crappy thing to do to someone. If someone is rude, sorry, that doesn't give you a green light to introduce potentially damaging materials/bacteria etc.. into their meal.

    You should honestly be ashamed of yourself for ever doing something like that. It's not cool when people are rude, but you should never put their health at risk because of it.


    It seems to me to be common sense not to be a d-bag to the people who handle your food.

    It seems to me if you go somewhere to eat, there should be no chance someone is going to contaminate what you ingest for their own amusement, regardless.
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Many years ago I was a server. I was always on top of refills, I think partly because I hated waiting for my diet coke to get refilled. But give me a rude customer, they can sit forever and if I did bring them a refill after the were grumpy, I would oh so drop the tip of a dirty towel in it, smile and say enjoy. Be nice to your server, or dine at fast food places. Yes, you can get really bad service. If so, don't tip. TIPS... To insure prompt service

    Yea...that's a pretty crappy thing to do to someone. If someone is rude, sorry, that doesn't give you a green light to introduce potentially damaging materials/bacteria etc.. into their meal.

    You should honestly be ashamed of yourself for ever doing something like that. It's not cool when people are rude, but you should never put their health at risk because of it.


    It seems to me to be common sense not to be a d-bag to the people who handle your food.

    It seems to me if you go somewhere to eat, there should be no chance someone is going to contaminate what you ingest for their own amusement, regardless.


    Don't be an *kitten* and there will be no chance of it. Pretty simple.
  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
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    Many years ago I was a server. I was always on top of refills, I think partly because I hated waiting for my diet coke to get refilled. But give me a rude customer, they can sit forever and if I did bring them a refill after the were grumpy, I would oh so drop the tip of a dirty towel in it, smile and say enjoy. Be nice to your server, or dine at fast food places. Yes, you can get really bad service. If so, don't tip. TIPS... To insure prompt service

    Yea...that's a pretty crappy thing to do to someone. If someone is rude, sorry, that doesn't give you a green light to introduce potentially damaging materials/bacteria etc.. into their meal.

    You should honestly be ashamed of yourself for ever doing something like that. It's not cool when people are rude, but you should never put their health at risk because of it.


    It seems to me to be common sense not to be a d-bag to the people who handle your food.

    It seems to me if you go somewhere to eat, there should be no chance someone is going to contaminate what you ingest for their own amusement, regardless.


    Don't be an *kitten* and there will be no chance of it. Pretty simple.

    Remind me which restaurant you work at...so I don't go there. Even though I'm the best tipper I know, I wouldn't want to "have" to treat you like some special snowflake to make sure I don't end up in the doctors office because you think it is cool to do whatever you want!
  • Mmmollyy
    Mmmollyy Posts: 13
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    Hey, look around honey... you're not the only table we have. On an average day one server has 10+ tables. Imagine having to get everyone at each table a ****ing refill. Gets hard.
  • Doodlewhopper
    Doodlewhopper Posts: 1,018 Member
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    Americans are very odd

    We usually have to pay for extra drinks in restaurants



    Pretentious much?
  • Musikelektronik
    Musikelektronik Posts: 739 Member
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    Hey, look around honey... you're not the only table we have. On an average day one server has 10+ tables. Imagine having to get everyone at each table a ****ing refill. Gets hard.

    We're customers. We really don't care how busy you are. We just want what we want because we're paying, and therefore believe that we deserve at least your best effort.

    But quite honestly, I usually don't have a problem getting enough soda in a restaurant. But then again, I'm a two-drink kinda guy. The OP apparently has an issue with excessive thirst. :laugh:

    And to the person who said that she punished her customers by contaminating their food ... get help. Seriously. You're a ****ing sociopath.

    ETA "sociopath." My original choice, "sadist," wasn't strong enough.
  • Musikelektronik
    Musikelektronik Posts: 739 Member
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    Americans are very odd

    We usually have to pay for extra drinks in restaurants

    We're Americans, honey. We want more, more, more ... and we get it. :laugh:

    It would be utterly prerposterous to charge extra for a refill of a soda, when it literally costs the restaurant pennies per serving. No one would go back to such a dump. Unless of course, they were masochists.
  • andeey
    andeey Posts: 709 Member
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    I seriously don't understand the comments from servers who mention how busy they are and how nice you have to be to get the service. First, you chose the job. You may not like it or find it easy or glamorous, but like most others, you have the choice to move along to more enjoyable work. Second, there are many, many customer service jobs that are stressful and difficult and deal with rude customers. Sure, the pay scales might be slightly different, but the concept of customer service is the same - your serving job requires you to provide a high level of customer service and you get rewarded for that. Take a call center, where an employee might have a higher hourly wage, but maybe they lose a bonus or raise due to poor customer service scores from rude or angry clients. None of those jobs are perfect, but they all have pros and cons. Again, you chose the job.

    For the customers who expect mind-reading for their special quirks, I think that may be a tad bit unreasonable. Everyone who pays good money for service should expect the minimum (friendly, attentive servers) but if you wish for something specific, like a soda refill every 5 minutes or bringing your check as soon as the last course is served or any number of preferences, then it only seems fair to communicate that with your server. If you do that and they make a reasonable effort to satisfy your requests, great and you can tip them well. If you find their effort lacking, then by all means, don't tip as much, but to not say anything at all and then punish them because they didn't "know" how you wished to be served smacks of a passive-aggressive approach (IMHO).
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
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    lol at the person that potentially poisons other innocent people because they looked at you too rudely. I personally find it HILARIOUS to put bleach and other chemicals in my fiance's food if he dares ask for something like salt. I just pour a little rat poison on there and no one is the wiser!

    But he totally deserves it because, like, how dare he ask for something I'm expected to give him with an attitude, I don't care to know if he's having a bad day and just inadvertently taking it out on the wrong person.
  • johnnlinda
    johnnlinda Posts: 69
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    LOL Calm down, I was just kidding. It has crossed my mind before to do something mean like that, But I personally haven't. Although I have seen plenty. Don't be rude to people that handle your food.. But seriously I made sure I double ignored the rude people. I didn't care or need their tip.
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
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    Weirdos. Just give your staff a wage already.

    Servers make at least $8-12 dollars an hour here plus tips, entry level. :)
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    Many years ago I was a server. I was always on top of refills, I think partly because I hated waiting for my diet coke to get refilled. But give me a rude customer, they can sit forever and if I did bring them a refill after the were grumpy, I would oh so drop the tip of a dirty towel in it, smile and say enjoy. Be nice to your server, or dine at fast food places. Yes, you can get really bad service. If so, don't tip. TIPS... To insure prompt service

    Damn you could have gotten that place shut down.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    Many years ago I was a server. I was always on top of refills, I think partly because I hated waiting for my diet coke to get refilled. But give me a rude customer, they can sit forever and if I did bring them a refill after the were grumpy, I would oh so drop the tip of a dirty towel in it, smile and say enjoy. Be nice to your server, or dine at fast food places. Yes, you can get really bad service. If so, don't tip. TIPS... To insure prompt service

    Yea...that's a pretty crappy thing to do to someone. If someone is rude, sorry, that doesn't give you a green light to introduce potentially damaging materials/bacteria etc.. into their meal.

    You should honestly be ashamed of yourself for ever doing something like that. It's not cool when people are rude, but you should never put their health at risk because of it.


    It seems to me to be common sense not to be a d-bag to the people who handle your food.

    It seems to me if you go somewhere to eat, there should be no chance someone is going to contaminate what you ingest for their own amusement, regardless.


    Don't be an *kitten* and there will be no chance of it. Pretty simple.

    All I can say is she is very lucky that no one became sick (to our knowledge) due to cross contamination could have killed someone. Imagine a child or an elderly person, or a cancer victim with a weakened immune system took a sip of that glass. Luck is all I can say wow!

    If she was one of my employees I would have fired her on site.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    Americans are very odd

    We usually have to pay for extra drinks in restaurants

    well, thats how you roll when you win two world wars.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
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    Seriously. Every server sometimes feels like doing stuff like that when he or she is frustrated...but in my eight years of restaurant work I have NEVER seen anyone do it, nor would I ever. Maybe I've been lucky to work in good restaurants with good people, but yeah. Never. Rude people get super efficient, nearly silent service from me so I can get them in and out as fast as possible and make sure they have nothing to complain about.

    I don't get into server wage debates as they're as bad as politics or religion. However, I find that good servers or bartenders have things equal out for them in the end. For every rude table who tips badly, there are so many more nice ones who tip well...as well as a few nice ones who tip poorly and rude ones who tip well. I have bad nights occasionally, as we all do, but my good nights outweigh them by a landslide. Probably because I work hard and try to treat everyone well, even the rare ten-soda-refills weirdo. I remind myself often that for every crazy person, I get many nice, normal people.
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Americans are very odd

    We usually have to pay for extra drinks in restaurants

    well, thats how you roll when you win two world wars.

    Oooh, we're going there now? :laugh:
  • hardyjessicag
    hardyjessicag Posts: 93 Member
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    Weirdos. Just give your staff a wage already.

    Servers make at least $8-12 dollars an hour here plus tips, entry level. :)

    For the united states, servers make anywhere from $3.00- to $7.25 (or whatever the specific's state minimum wage is)

    They CERTAINLY don't make $9.00/hr before tips.

    Just sayin'

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