after poor service do you still tip good ???

Options
13567…13

Replies

  • stacygayle
    stacygayle Posts: 349 Member
    Options
    I have waited tables and the poor tipping is just bad. These servers in some areas only make about 3.00 an hour plus tips. As far as the situation, I think it was a good decision. She now knows that maybe serving isn't her cup of tea. Telling a manager wouldn't have necessarily given her an opportunity to try and do better. :smile:

    In Oregon, they have to make at least minimum wage that doesn't include the tips. Minimum wage here is $8.80 an hour. With tips, servers probably make more money than I do here in this state. $3.00? that just seems ridiculous. They should at least get minimum wage before the tips. What if they have a slow day? Wouldn't that break some kind of labor law if they don't average out to minumum wage?
  • KeegansMomma
    KeegansMomma Posts: 156
    Options
    I would have called a manager over early on in the meal to address the poor service you were receiving. Perhaps, given that she cried when you confronted her, her mind was elsewhere and work is the last place she wanted to be. If that was the case, perhaps being sent home early by a manager and reassigning a server to you would have been better. Plus, we've been in that situation before and upon talking to the manager have been comped one of our meals free or half price. *Shrugs*

    Either way, yes, I would have tipped lower.
  • rockinright
    rockinright Posts: 241
    Options
    I think tipping is a bigger thing in the US, do you have minimum wage there?

    In the UK I consider tipping to be earned by good service, i reaaly don't like it to be on the bill already. It can lead to bad service as they don't care because they will get the service tio regardless.

    If the service is bad I won't tip.
    I probably would but low if I was in the US

    We do have a min wage, but it's lower than standard for wait staff, since it is assumed that with good service they'll earn good tips. Both good and bad sides to that - good in that if you're a good waiter/waitress you can make more than someone who is mediocre. Bad in that if you get jerk customers, they might not tip well no matter what.
  • Sumo813
    Sumo813 Posts: 566 Member
    Options
    I tip depending on the service. anywhere from 10% for really sucky service to 30% for really good service. I haven't been to many places that warranted the high amount though. Usually I tip about 20% that's my usual. I always say something if my service is bad and I have been known to send food back several times for it not being to my specifications. My husband always cringes lol. If I'm paying for something, then it better be the way I want it. I'm sure I've had my food tampered with because of this but I try not to think about it. If someone is that petty then they should find another line of work. I would never intentionally do something to harm someone. I believe in giving great customer service and that's what I do on a daily basis at my job and expect that from others at their jobs.

    Whatever you do, do NOT watch the movie 'Waiting'... I've had friends who've worked in restaurants, and for the most part, the things you see in that, DO happen. So it might freak you out a bit.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    Options
    Once, we saw our waitress hanging out chatting at the hostess podium (she was within our sight line and the restuarant was practically empty) nearly the entire time we were there... she took forever to get our drinks, didn't refill them, took forever to get our orders out and then proceded to ignore us when we wanted our check... so the busboy got our check AND the tip (since he did more to grant us service than she did)... oh and we let the manager know. That was probably the worst service we had EVER recieved at a restuarant.

    If it was horrible service we don't tip and we let the manager know.... if we get par service, they get a standard 15-20%... and we have tipped higher than 50% (and let the manager know) before for incredible service... we take into consideration how busy the restuarant is and how hard we see the server working (not just serving tables, if it's a slow time).
  • tripitena
    tripitena Posts: 554 Member
    Options
    We never stiff a server. How much they receive, our minimum 15% or if they get more,depends on how good or bad the service is.
  • thefroglady
    thefroglady Posts: 3
    Options
    NO NO NO, you dont tip if the service is that bad. A tip is for excellent service, not a reward for bad service. You do not bring your home problems to work EVER! Unless someone has been kidnapped, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or kid problems need to stay at home. If they are that serious, then she should stay at home. She needs to grow up.
  • janalayn
    janalayn Posts: 510 Member
    Options
    I live with a chef ... TIPS stands for "to insure proper service". If we get bad service I leave $1.00 per drink that we received and I tell the hostess or manager exactly what was wrong with the service. I have even been known to leave a note for the server telling them if they had done a better job they would have gotten a better tip. People who are servers for a living should know what to expect. I do NOT blame the server for a slow kitchen or mistakes made by the kitchen ... I also take into consideration if the restaurant is extremely busy.
  • cspong
    cspong Posts: 260 Member
    Options
    Its rare for me not to tip, but ive done it. Ive even given the tip to other waitstaff I could see was picking up her slack.

    There have been times I've hugely overtipped for great service, just like I dont tip for bad service. It's rare, but it happens.
  • rockinright
    rockinright Posts: 241
    Options
    After having worked in a nightclub for 5 years, I am notorious for being a good tipper... if the service warrants it. I've tipped as much as 50% of a bar tab (or more). And usually with a restaurant ticket, I'm leaving 30% on average. I will even tip $5 at places that I go and do takeout from if they were prompt and courteous.

    If the service is horrible, I MIGHT leave the minimum, if that. You can generally tell who is working for their tips and who doesnt.

    Do bad tippers annoy you? My mother is a notoriously stingy tipper, usually leaving just a few dollars, about 5% or so.

    When out to dinner with her I've often thrown extra money on the table when she walks away towards the door, if she was the one paying for the meal.
  • kymillion
    kymillion Posts: 791 Member
    Options
    Last night I went out to a nice casual dining restaurant and the waitress was super slack. Now it was Monday night and not really busy at all. She only had three tables while I was there. On a couple of occasions I saw her chit chatting with a co worker and another time checking her cell phone. She took the order wrong, didn't come to ask did we need refills and I had to get up to get her attention to get my bill after we had finished cause it didn't look like she was coming back. At first I was going to give her my usual "poor service 10% tip" but I had an idea. I would leave her my usual 20% tip cause she probably had kids or a meth habit to support but I would also speak to her about her service. Well I pulled her to the side ,discussed the issues I had and said hopefully she would improve her quality of work. Well she started crying! I wasn't mean or derogatory I just pointed out what I didn't like. What do you do when you receive poor service? Was I wrong to address the server directly ?

    Honestly I think you did her a favor , one you still tipped her in spite of her retched less then stellar performance and you also clued her into several areas that she needed to work on, I think instead of notifying the manager that may have costed her job you allowed her time to check what she needed to and to make improvements .. had you tipped her less without the conversation it would have been a bust , had you tipped her less and "scolded" her it probably wouldn't have been received well.. but I think you handled the situation perfectly tough breaks for her if she cant handle constructive criticism.
  • Sumo813
    Sumo813 Posts: 566 Member
    Options
    I think tipping is a bigger thing in the US, do you have minimum wage there?

    In the UK I consider tipping to be earned by good service, i reaaly don't like it to be on the bill already. It can lead to bad service as they don't care because they will get the service tio regardless.

    If the service is bad I won't tip.
    I probably would but low if I was in the US

    We do have a min wage, but it's lower than standard for wait staff, since it is assumed that with good service they'll earn good tips. Both good and bad sides to that - good in that if you're a good waiter/waitress you can make more than someone who is mediocre. Bad in that if you get jerk customers, they might not tip well no matter what.

    In the club I worked at, they got an hourly rate, but it literally was barely enough to cover taxes. So when our bartenders and servers worked for their tips, they WORKED for their tips. And in most of the places I've seen, it's very similar, as far as the pay scale is concerned. I think at the time (and this was over a decade ago at this point), they made $2.35/hr, while min wage was somewhere around $7.
  • Meliklotz
    Meliklotz Posts: 66 Member
    Options
    you did the right thing.
    We don't know it's broken unless someone says something right?
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
    Options
    NO NO NO, you dont tip if the service is that bad. A tip is for excellent service, not a reward for bad service. You do not bring your home problems to work EVER! Unless someone has been kidnapped, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or kid problems need to stay at home. If they are that serious, then she should stay at home. She needs to grow up.

    Uhhh not in America. Here, a server's paycheck goes mostly to taxes and they make a living off of their tips. If service is bad, it's counterproductive to not tip - be an adult and talk to the server or their manager about the service.
  • shaynak112
    shaynak112 Posts: 751 Member
    Options
    I won't tip much if I get poor service.
    Average service: 15%
    The better the service, the more they get.

    I don't get why you HAVE to tip servers. At least where I live, servers are only making a couple bucks less than minimum wage. In an hour, I'm sure ANY server will get $2 in tips total. So servers are making a lot more money than people making minimum wage!

    Thus, if a server isn't doing a good job, I'm not going to tip them much! If it's terrible, no tip at all.
  • groomchick
    groomchick Posts: 610 Member
    Options
    Coming from the sevice industry myself.... TIPS = To Insure Proper Service. I might leave a tip but would be lower and would let the manager know!
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    Options
    I have waited tables and the poor tipping is just bad. These servers in some areas only make about 3.00 an hour plus tips. As far as the situation, I think it was a good decision. She now knows that maybe serving isn't her cup of tea. Telling a manager wouldn't have necessarily given her an opportunity to try and do better. :smile:

    In Oregon, they have to make at least minimum wage that doesn't include the tips. Minimum wage here is $8.80 an hour. With tips, servers probably make more money than I do here in this state. $3.00? that just seems ridiculous. They should at least get minimum wage before the tips. What if they have a slow day? Wouldn't that break some kind of labor law if they don't average out to minumum wage?

    In Texas, wait staff make less than $3 an hour, because tips are supposed to make up the difference... HOWEVER, the restaurant is supposed to make up the difference if the minimum wage is not met with tips included... this is according to the State Dept. of Labor posters that are posted in every workplace.
  • mrmanmeat
    mrmanmeat Posts: 1,968 Member
    Options
    Last night I went out to a nice casual dining restaurant and the waitress was super slack. Now it was Monday night and not really busy at all. She only had three tables while I was there. On a couple of occasions I saw her chit chatting with a co worker and another time checking her cell phone. She took the order wrong, didn't come to ask did we need refills and I had to get up to get her attention to get my bill after we had finished cause it didn't look like she was coming back. At first I was going to give her my usual "poor service 10% tip" but I had an idea. I would leave her my usual 20% tip cause she probably had kids or a meth habit to support but I would also speak to her about her service. Well I pulled her to the side ,discussed the issues I had and said hopefully she would improve her quality of work. Well she started crying! I wasn't mean or derogatory I just pointed out what I didn't like. What do you do when you receive poor service? Was I wrong to address the server directly ?

    As a former server who was a head waiter, it's not your job to tell the server directly. You bring the issue to the manager on duty and let them handle their employee's.

    I still tip, but if the service isn't good the tip is less. It takes bad service for me to leave less than $5 if I eat anything.
  • Apa93
    Apa93 Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    I always tip 10%. That's the standard here in the UK.
  • mississippi_queen
    mississippi_queen Posts: 483 Member
    Options
    No tip! Or do what I did the other weekend and leave her a quarter, to call someone who cares :laugh:

Categories