After my last post on the Rules for Eating Out, I’ve decided to make the Rules into a short series. This is going to be part 2: The Rules for Tipping. This is a major thing that people these days seem to have a problem with, and it needs to be addressed. I’m not expecting this post to change everyone’s mind, but if one person learns how to follow these rules, then I’ll be satisfied that the message is getting across.
Before we start, I’d like to say that most servers and bartenders ONLY make $2.13 an hour, and $3.23 at an overtime rate. We rely on you to pay our bills. A %15 tip on the post-tax check is socially acceptable, and will give us a somewhat living wage. We’re here to make your meals a happy and expedient time, make it worth ours.
Rule #1: Leaving $2.00 every time you go out to eat is UNACCEPTABLE. This is not the 60’s, the cost of living has gone up, and a $2.00 tip is insulting, especially on those larger checks.
Rule #2: Those of you with children should take that extra little addition into account when figuring up your tip. We have to clean up after your messy child, and should be paid accordingly. If there are cheerio crumbs all over the ground, and spit up all over the table, then you should leave at least an EXTRA %3 on top of what you’re already leaving.
Rule #3: Stiffing your server under any circumstance is out of the question. How would you like to go to work, work hard, be cussed out, have things thrown at you, and then not get paid for it? We are NOT volunteers, and tipping is a social standard in this decade.
Rule #4: When you go to a restaurant with 9 of your closest friends, expect in most places that your check will include an automatic %15-%22 gratuity. These are standards for these restaurants, and to complain to the management about said gratuity is UNACCEPTABLE. Most of these restaurants include a line about gratuity for parties on every page of their menu. Even if you are all on separate checks, you will still have to pay the gratuity. If you have it taken off, you are in essence saying that you can run us like dogs, treat us like dung, and leave us nothing because you think we are worthless. We aren’t trying to screw you, you entitlement junkies, that is what we’re owed according to the companies we work for. Stop whining about the gratuity.
Rule #5: When drinking heavily with your friends, and you get cut off for being too intoxicated, don’t stiff us because you’re mad we won’t give you another drink. We’re doing that for a number of reasons. Your safety, our liquor license, our money. We can be prosecuted if something happens to you after we over serve you. Being cut off is not an excuse for tipping badly or not tipping.
Rule #6: Doubling the tax to figure our tip is sometimes a good idea, as long as there is no alcohol on your check. In most places, the tax on alcohol is either included, or is not allowed on liquor by the drink. Therefore you’re only tipping on food, and alcohol generally makes up about half of the bill. Tip extra in those cases.
Rule #7: If you plan to camp at the table for an hour or more after you’ve paid your bill, please consider leaving extra money to compensate us for the loss of that table. We generally run 3-5 table sections, and you taking up our table (or more than one when you have a party requiring more than one table) is keeping us from making our money. If you have to sit for the entire 3 hours of the game, or the entire Nascar race, please tip accordingly.
Rule #8: Tipping %10 may have been acceptable years ago, but these days it is not. We have to claim every bit of our tips. If we’ve made only %10 the entire shift, we claim all of that, tip out on that, and end up making about %7.5 for the night. That does NOT pay our bills, or feed our families.
Rule #9: IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO LEAVE A DECENT TIP FOR THE SERVER THAT YOU RUN LIKE A HORSE AT THE KENTUCKY DERBY, THEN YOU SHOULD COOK DINNER AT HOME! WE ARE NOT SLAVES, WE HAVE TO PAY TAXES AND TIP OUT OTHER EMPLOYEES REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU TIP OR NOT! DON’T COME OUT TO EAT IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD A TIP!
If you want to be a good person, not be considered a social pariah, and want to get good service the next time you come to the restaurant, always remember to tip your server. While %15 is generally considered the norm these days, tipping %20 really helps us out, and to be honest, we actually do deserve it when you have sent us for 15 refills in 10 minutes. Remember, the cost of living these days is through the roof, and servers work their asses off. Tipping %20 will generally ensure that your server will average about 8-9 dollars per hour when you include the pay rate. Remember also that’s lower than most people make, and our money is hit or miss.
Remember also that we have families too. We have rent, lights, water, gas, mortgage, insurance, medical bills, dental bills, school costs for the kids. Many of us have kids. Many of us haven’t got many other options for work. Do the right thing. Going by the “Reservoir Dogs” philosophy of “Mr. Pink” and not tipping, ever, is unacceptable, and if you happen to get the same server you’ve stiffed once before, your service is going to suffer immensely. We can’t afford to waste our time when we know you aren’t going to tip us, there’s other tables in our section that will.
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September 15th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
“Rule #1: Leaving $2.00 every time you go out to eat is UNACCEPTABLE. This is not the 60’s, the cost of living has gone up, and a $2.00 tip is insulting, especially on those larger checks.”
I will agree with MOST check amounts, but if you dine alone at Denny’s or IHOP for instance, which let’s say your bill is not higher than $10, $2 is 20%, which is a GOOD TIP for THAT check amount. So you cannot say for ALL checks.
“Rule #2: Those of you with children should take that extra little addition into account when figuring up your tip. We have to clean up after your messy child, and should be paid accordingly. If there are cheerio crumbs all over the ground, and spit up all over the table, then you should leave at least an EXTRA %3 on top of what you’re already leaving.”
I don’t have children, but cleaning up crumbs off the table and floor is done ***AFTER*** customers have LEFT, which means LITERALLY, the customer DOESN’T actually receive ANY “SERVICE” to tip for when you clean something up a child spills or drops AFTER the customer has left already. NO EXTRA MONEY SHOULD BE GIVEN FOR NOT ANY EXTRA SERVICE THAT THE CUSTOMER IS ACTUALLY RECEIVING. If you have to clean up more, oh well, that’s what the RESTAURANT is PAYING YOU FOR. NO SERVICE=NO TIP JUST LIKE MCDONALD’S employees pick up food off the floor that kids drop. If you are cleaning up spit and crumbs AFTER I have left, WHO CARES WHAT YOU DO AFTER I LEAVE THE PREMISE? Do “YOU” honestly CARE what goes on AFTER YOU LEAVE A RESTAURANT? GET REAL if people care about what you have to clean up after their child has mad a mess. Cleaning up is NOT part of the customer’s service considering it’s done AFTER the customer has LEFT ALREADY. HOW CAN YOU ACT LIKE SOMEONE IS SUPPOSED TO TIP FOR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT AFFECTING THEIR SERVICE AT ALL, NOT EVEN ONE MINUTE OF IT, HUH? THAT’S JUST STUPID!
“Rule #3: Stiffing your server under any circumstance is out of the question. How would you like to go to work, work hard, be cussed out, have things thrown at you, and then not get paid for it? We are NOT volunteers, and tipping is a social standard in this decade.”
Sorry, but sometimes it’s DESERVED when servers do poorly. Have you EVER been OVERCHARGED a large amount and not received an apology? I have and it was almost $11 on my credit card, NOT even on the check itself. The waiter NEVER ONCE APOLOGIZED and I WAS NICE ABOUT THE SITUATION. Like HELL I WILL PAY SOMEONE A PENNY EVEN TO STEAL FROM ME! When you get a server to make 6 mistakes in one dining experience like me and my husband have experienced, you’d think about the lack of EFFORT should EQUAL ZERO TIP for RUINING YOUR OUTING and she was RUDE. She kissed her boyfriend goodbye while she was getting my drink order. If you think that’s not rude, you are just plain mean. OF COURSE she got my husband’s drink wrong and didn’t remember what margarita I asked for. If you think I will pay someone to treat me even lower than a McDonald’s cashier would, think again. As I said, she did 6 mistakes. HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET AND HOW EFFORTLESS CAN YOU GET? As far as not liking to get paid for my services, well if I was a server, I would know that my income is just like gambling. One day good tip, next day bad tip. If you want STEADY PAY, WORK AT FUCKING MCDONALD’S.
“Rule #6: Doubling the tax to figure our tip is sometimes a good idea, as long as there is no alcohol on your check. In most places, the tax on alcohol is either included, or is not allowed on liquor by the drink. Therefore you’re only tipping on food, and alcohol generally makes up about half of the bill. Tip extra in those cases.”
I tip on the TOTAL BILL, which includes tax. I don’t do any of this BS of doubling the tax crap.
“Rule #7: If you plan to camp at the table for an hour or more after you’ve paid your bill, please consider leaving extra money to compensate us for the loss of that table. We generally run 3-5 table sections, and you taking up our table (or more than one when you have a party requiring more than one table) is keeping us from making our money. If you have to sit for the entire 3 hours of the game, or the entire Nascar race, please tip accordingly.”
I think it’s rude(only to other customers) of the customer to sit for hours if they aren’t eating or drinking, because another customer could have been seated at that table. So I ONLY think it’s inconsiderate to other customers, NOT inconsiderate to the wait staff AT ALL. Why the hell should any customer be concerned about if you turn and burn the table faster or not to make more tips? Customers are out to have a nice time and if they want to stay for 2 hours, they have that right as long as the MANAGER doesn’t throw them out. Let’s say, I’ve paid, they aren’t *SERVING ME* anymore, and I am not receiving anymore service WHAT-SO-EVER, so if I pay them extra, they’ll be getting paid to do NOTHING for their money. THAT’S NOT FAIR OR RIGHT! Tips are for SERVICE, NOT NO SERVICE. NO SERVICE=NO TIP! Why should a server get to ignore my table and get a little extra money just because I’m SITTING AT THE TABLE? If they aren’t *SERVING* ME, THEY AIN’T GETTING A PENNY MORE! YOU WORK FOR YOUR MONEY JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! If you are truly giving me more refills or doing something for MY table, then I will tip for the extra service you provide me, but if there is not more service, then no more tip should be given.
“Rule #8: Tipping %10 may have been acceptable years ago, but these days it is not. We have to claim every bit of our tips. If we’ve made only %10 the entire shift, we claim all of that, tip out on that, and end up making about %7.5 for the night. That does NOT pay our bills, or feed our families.”
Try not to make many mistakes and you shouldn’t receive a low tip like that. TRY YOUR BEST instead of taking a lazy way out of serving a customer.
“Rule #9: IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO LEAVE A DECENT TIP FOR THE SERVER THAT YOU RUN LIKE A HORSE AT THE KENTUCKY DERBY, THEN YOU SHOULD COOK DINNER AT HOME! WE ARE NOT SLAVES, WE HAVE TO PAY TAXES AND TIP OUT OTHER EMPLOYEES REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU TIP OR NOT! DON’T COME OUT TO EAT IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD A TIP!”
I agree 100%. I normally tip for wonderful service 25% and up. I’ve tipped 3 times 30% even. The tip has to be EARNED to get that high.
September 16th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I love it when you post stuff like this! People need to get with the damn program & stop being ass holes!
September 16th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I completely agree with most of what was said, with the exception of the person who responded. I am a server and without peoples tips then I would not make any money. We get paid $2.65 an hour. That is not very much. I work at a relatively up scale restaurant for my area of town, and I like to pride myself on giving good service. I will always have a refil of your drink on the table before you ever have to ask for one, and I rarely ever make a mistake on an order. I can’t gaurentee the cooks will not mess up, but that is not my fault, and usually before I drop the food off to the customer I have already checked to make sure the food is prepaired correctly, because if it is not then I make the cooks re-prepair it, which may take a few extra minutes, but I am jst trying to mkae sure that you as a customer is happy. I will just say that everyone should remember if you are going to sit at the table for a long time after you are done eating, you should leave an extra tip, becaue the chances of the server leaving the table alone and never coming back are not good. They will come back to see if they can get you something, just because you do not want anything as the customer, does not mean there was no service. Not to mention you prevented them from making more money that evening or afternoon, by sitting at their table. That would be like me sitting in your office for hours while you may have some other meeting that you must attened, but I decide to sit there and chit-chat. Also remember when your tipping that most restaurants make the server give 3% of their sales to the bus boys, when all they do is take the last plates off the table. A good server will have removed most of the plates and cups well before the end of the meal. So if you leave a 15% tip it is like really giving a 10% tip if you include the 3% to the bartenders and bus boys, and the amount the government takes out about 2%. So please be generous with you tips especially if they earn it
September 17th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Clayton 811
“I will always have a refil of your drink on the table before you ever have to ask for one”
That’s one thing that IRKS ME is that servers think they can do the ORDERING FOR YOU. You have NO RIGHT to order for me. If I want a refill either you ASK me or I ASK you, but this getting things BEFORE you even KNOW 100% for sure the customer wants it is STUPID.
I have switched from dr. pepper to coke before LOTS of times. One time, a Red Lobster waiter was TOO LAZY and UNCARING to COME TO SEE WHAT ****I****** WANTED, NOT WHAT HE WANTED TO BRING ME. Just because refills are free DOESN’T mean they are wanted. My husband one time switched from a cup of coffee to diet coke. I’ve also declined refills before also. There’s NO SENSE in making an extra trip that you don’t know 100% FOR SURE you have to do and there’s NO SENSE in getting glasses of ice and drink if you don’t have to. That WASTES VALUABLE TIME you could have found out some people at the table did NOT want the refills in the first place. I absolutely HATE when servers try to do the ordering for me. When someone orders a soft drink or tea, they order ****ONE***** GLASS, NOT REFILLS OF IT. If the customer wants a refill, ASK THEM or let them ASK YOU. This way you won’t waste your time, the customer’s time, and other customer’s time getting a possible unwanted item. I do NOT like when servers try to ASSUME OR READ MY MIND. It’s NOT THEIR PLACE. I am the customer, I get to order, NOT my server.
“I rarely ever make a mistake on an order. I can’t gaurentee the cooks will not mess up, but that is not my fault, and usually before I drop the food off to the customer I have already checked to make sure the food is prepaired correctly, because if it is not then I make the cooks re-prepair it, which may take a few extra minutes, but I am jst trying to mkae sure that you as a customer is happy.”
I don’t take off for things the person that is taking to me CANNOT SEE UNLESS the person admits at fault(such as putting in the order incorrectly). With the situation with such as a pasta dish that was supposed to have chicken, but was brought out by a food runner or another server WITHOUT the chicken is the fault of the person that ran the food to me, which ***IS*** PART of MY SERVICE. If the cook cooked my steak wrong or if I have a pickle under a bun I ordered without pickles, or a burrito filling that is wrong, unless my server admits they put the order into the computer wrong, I won’t take off points, because that’s NOT part of “MY SERVICE”, that’s the COOK’S fault. The pasta chicken dish situation with the food runner or another server IS part of my service, because SOMEONE is BRINGING me the food WITHOUT READING THE TICKET OR THE SERVER PUT IN THE ORDER INCORRECTLY. The person that brings the food to me should take the food as CORRECT as possible to me as far as what they can ***SEE****. If they cannot SEE the error, I do NOT take off. Is it fair to pay for bad service just because MY SERVER could not bring the food to me and that person that ran the food didn’t read the ticket to verify that the plate had chicken on it? Of course it’s NOT. I tip on my service. If the food runner or another server runs the food with OBVIOUS things wrong with it, I DO take off, because it’s part of MY SERVICE. One time at Outback, I ordered a baked potato along with an appetizer as my entree. Another server that ran the food did NOT have the baked potato. Maybe the server put the order in correctly, but the person that ran the food to me was TOO DAMN LAZY to READ THE TICKET. I tip based on non-lazy service. I understand if my server put the order in correctly, it’s NOT “HIS” fault, but still, it’s the person that ran the food to me, which I feel a lowered tip IS deserved. The service is a TEAM EFFORT with situations with a food runner or another server that is involved. If the food runner or other server gets tipped out from the sales no matter what happens, well, that’s unfair system you should deal with your manager. That’s NOT MY PROBLEM. I tip based on what comes to my table if it’s correct and things being brought in a timely fashion. Condiments can ALWAYS be brought by the main server. There’s NEVER, EVER, an excuse to trust a food runner for condiments. It doesn’t take 20-25 mins. to get a few sides of condiments and that IS the truth.
Me lowering the tip for my missing side dish is JUSTIFIED in that “MY SERVICE from the person that “BROUGHT” me the food did NOT compare the ticket or the menu if the server doesn’t know what comes with what, with the plate BEFORE they took it to me) should be fair if the tips were equally split and that if they messed up, you could give them less. So, if the system is unfair that the other person gets tipped out no matter what happens, that’s something you need to deal with your employer about. Like if Joe Schmoe server keeps messing up, well you need to let your manager know this, so you CAN REDUCE his tipout. The manager CAN change the rules for things, because he or she is the manager. I have NOTHING to do with the system of tipping out being unfair. I am just a customer that is not receiving the side dish I ordered.
“if you are going to sit at the table for a long time after you are done eating, you should leave an extra tip, becaue the chances of the server leaving the table alone and never coming back are not good. They will come back to see if they can get you something, just because you do not want anything as the customer, does not mean there was no service.”
I just want to say I DO NOT do this, but I do still have an opinion about the people that do. If let’s say I have paid my check already. Let’s say I sit for an extra 30 minutes chit-chatting. Let’s say you come to ask me if I need anything else. If I say “NO”, then tell me “WHAT DID YOU ACTUALLY DO FOR ME?” You haven’t done anything for me, so WHY TIP MORE? Tips are for *******SERVICE********, NOT just because you come to the table to ask something. If the person declines, think about it logically, that you haven’t actually “DONE” ANYTHING. You just simply asked a question and honestly, that’s just like the CiCi’s Pizza buffet bussers coming to our table to take my plates. I don’t know of anyone who tips at CiCi’s, because you serve yourself everything. It doesn’t matter what wage they get paid, because if they are doing actually MORE WORK than you would to just ask a question, then how much they get paid means nothing.
Now, if you came to my table during that extra half an hour, but I said “YES”, I would like a refill or something like that. ONLY THEN should I tip you more for doing something FOR ME. Coming to the table to just ask a question is NOT doing any ACTION for me to BENEFIT ME in ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.
“becaue the chances of the server leaving the table alone and never coming back are not good.”
That’s NOT TRUE, because sometimes I order an afterdinner drink and the check. Sometimes the server is efficient to already have the check processed by the time I get my drink or at least have given me and my husband the check by the time it arrives. My point is, during that 10-15 minutes I am drinking my drink, MOST(99%) of the servers DO NOT OFFER to give us more service. They feel once you have paid, that’s it. It’s RARE to see a server actually do something for a customer AFTER they have paid already. We go out every weekend, twice a weekend since 2001, so I have a LOT of experience with this, so I truly DO KNOW THIS for a FACT.
“Not to mention you prevented them from making more money that evening or afternoon, by sitting at their table.”
The customer DOESN’T CARE about the server’s income lost. WHY SHOULD THEY? WHY should they concern themselves with something that has absolutely NOTHING to do with them? 99% of people wouldn’t even THINK of giving more just because they sit longer. Customers pay for SERVICE, NOT for just chit-chatting a long time at a table. NO MORE SERVICE=NO MORE TIP, PLAIN AND SIMPLE! WHY should I pay someone more? I am NOT “RENTING” the table.
“That would be like me sitting in your office for hours while you may have some other meeting that you must attened, but I decide to sit there and chit-chat.”
NO, it’s NOT the SAME AT ALL. People in an office do NOT depend on tips for most of their income. The people that work in an office get paid by their EMPLOYER for all of their wages, NOT depending on customers.
“Also remember when your tipping that most restaurants make the server give 3% of their sales to the bus boys, when all they do is take the last plates off the table.”
Honestly, I think tipping out a bus boy is VERY UNFAIR in that they didn’t actually “SERVE” ANYONE. At least the host or hostess actually give customers menus, which to me, is a type of service.
“So please be generous with you tips especially if they earn it”
I give 25% and higher a LOT of times. Those who have EARNED that much, get that much. There are a lot of crappy servers out there that shouldn’t be servers.
“just because you do not want anything as the customer, does not mean there was no service.”
IT DOES, because I didn’t receive ANYTHING FROM YOU! You DECIDED ALL ON YOUR OWN TO ASK AFTER I HAVE ALREADY PAID ALREADY, so that’s YOUR PROBLEM if you came to my table for nothing. It’s not like the table next to me you couldn’t ask if they needed anything, so it wouldn’t be a wasted trip. You have to think about it logically, that if you didn’t get me anything, then WHERE WOULD THERE BE ANY SERVICE THEN? Coming to the table to ask a question DOESN’T COUNT FOR ANYTHING if I decline considering it would be AFTER I would have paid already.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Psycho
September 26th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Thanks for the heads up for the tax amount not always including alcohol. Sometimes I’ll double the tax looking for about 20% and didn’t realize this.
And I am totally with you on tipping based on time if you’re going to be staying a while.
October 5th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
“Why should I care that the server isn’t making money?”
Why should they care if you get any service? You don’t care that they need to make money. It seems justified.
Also, bussing the table is a service YOU receive. Consider it a service you receive before you got there, not after the last customer left. They aren’t bussing the table for the people who just left. They are cleaning the area for the people who are coming next. Which is a service YOU are receiving, whether or not you want it.
They could just leave it all at the table and sit you down at it and then clean it while you are there. But I bet you wouldn’t like that, now would you?
And you’re right. It’s not like the server sitting in your office and chit chatting. It’s like the server sitting in your office, hanging up on phone calls that come in for you, and calling your debtor’s and telling them to fuck off on next month’s bill payment. ‘Cause that’s what you do when you camp tables and don’t tip accordingly. The server is there to make money, and if you don’t understand that then you need to go and eat places where you serve yourself because you are not mature enough to understand proper etiquette of dining out.
While you think it’s not fair for a tip out (which I don’t think is fair either), it’s still a fact of life for most servers. If you are too base to take that into consideration (on principle or not) then you really aren’t taking your tip into consideration of what it actually is. It isn’t a tip for just the server. It’s a tip for the server for serving you, the bussers for having the table clean and prepared for YOU when YOU got there, and the bartender for making any drinks you may have had.
That brings up another point: Tip sharing. Most people don’t realize that tip sharing is based on TOTAL SALES. It is not based on the tips the server made. If you stiff a server, you aren’t just not giving the server money, you are forcing the server to pay up to 5% of your bill out of their pocket to other people in the forms of tip out. They have to tip out whether or not they make money.
And you keep saying, “What did they do for me?” when you sit at the table and not get service but still sit there? What they did for you is put up with you being there stopping them from making money. Most people are much less than amicable when people are taking money away from them out of their own greed. They could, however, come and be rude, but most don’t. Most let you be a jackass and waste their time (wasting the time doing nothing for your table they could be making money on the table you hi-jacked). Servers aren’t there as a hobby, it’s to pay bills. Eat, tip and get out. A restaurant is a place of business. Go to a park if you want to sit and chit-chat for hours on end. If the restaurant is busy, most servers don’t care. If it’s busy, however, you better get your ass on the move or else you may find yourself on the receiving end of an escort.
I have also seen managers (especially very good ones) come to the rescue. They kindly move the people to another section that isn’t busy, or ask the people to leave.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Jimmy-James
http://howtobeagoodserver.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-be-good-server-in-restaurant.html
My comment is TOO LONG for Ribeye to want to post, so I posted it at my own blog. You can read the comment to you there.
October 25th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I’m not a server. Never have been and never will be as I could never do what they do, which is put up with rude people who equate watiers and waitress to slaves. As a customer who expects good service, tips well in return, is polite to my wait staff, I think that maybe Springs1 needs to eat at home as she has many, many rules for servers that would make me want to spit in her food. We all expect good service but, holy cow! If you expect that much from your wait staff maybe you shouldn’t be going out at all.
October 25th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
I think this post screams “entitlement”. The definition of gratuity is “something given without claim or demand”.
You want big tips? You should earn it. If you don’t make enough money- look for a different job.
October 25th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Have you ever waited tables? We servers work VERY hard, run our asses off for the Entitlement Junkies, and do it with a smile on our face, only to get a 3% tip from them. We run for their constant skraws and lemons, their 15 sides of ranch for their house salad and their exkra croutons, and still we get nothing. When we get a tip like that, 3% to nothing, we end up PAYING for those entitlement junkies to eat in tip-out and taxes. So think again before you say I should earn big tips, because I go above and beyond for this trash and still get nothing for my efforts.
October 25th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Springs1 wouldn’t last a day in my little joint as a customer. What a Nazi.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:54 am
Please stop encouraging people to “double the tax”. It is not acceptable under any circumstances to merely do that. People are dumb and lazy, still, this is no excuse to not be able to move a decimal place over (10%) and double that (thus making it 20%). For christ’s sake, people have calculators on their cell phones, pda’s and every other abysmal, excessive piece of ‘connected’ technology, all they have to do is type in bill amount and hit “x” .20
(On a similar train of thoght…they even have ‘debit card’ monopoly games now…no need to teach the kiddos basic math skills!)
November 20th, 2007 at 5:39 am
Wow, only $2-$3 an hour? That is unbelievably low. Over here in the UK it’s usual to tip 5% of the bill if you’ve received good service. If you have bad service then it’s ok if you don’t want to tip. And there’s a minimum wage in place anyway (£5.52 an hour) so waiting staff are not so dependent on tips. I had a holiday in the states earlier this year and thought I had tipped well at the restaurants we had visited, well now you’ve opened my eyes I will certainly be opening my wallet a lot more if I get the chance to go to the USA again! Keep up your good work, and I hope you get a lot of nice, appreciative customers.
December 14th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
You are so full of it, you should be grateful for whatever you recieved. Your comments seems as though you are providing a needed services. The way I see it you are in a no win situation. How would you feel if no one came back to your resturant or bar because you expects the customer to pay your employees a suitable salary. I do not tip nor share I start…and I am not alone in my opinion at least in my area. I go out to have a good time not pay the order bills
December 14th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
And the people like you that don’t tip don’t deserve service. You can’t run your server to death for nothing. You pay your bill & that means you pay for the food only. If you expect actual service, stop being a selfish bitch & pay for your service. If you came into my restaurant, you would sit there with no service, seeing as how I won’t get paid for it anyway. Get your food to go bitch.
January 6th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Wow, Springs is a complete psycho. For a non-server to dedicate all of that time obsessing over eating out? The only explanation is that she’s an enormous whale who got shorted one too many mozzarella sticks and hates the skinny waitress her husband is drooling over.
January 6th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Dee Cee we already know you don’t tip- how could you possibly tackle basic math when you haven’t yet grasped the English language?
Tipping for service is customary in American culture. People that don’t tip like you wait 2 hours for a table where I work. Once you sit, we want to get rid of you quick so we give you the old food that was a mistake and has been sitting in the window for an hour. Then we charge you for refills and drop your check before you say boo.
Sounds like a fun night out!!
February 10th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Dee Cee…… are you black??
Black people usually tip 3-4 dollars no matter how big the bill. They dont even tip black servers.
My friends ex husband said that as servers we pick to make 2.13 an hour (yeah its bs). im not working my ass off for you for volunteer hours!!
February 11th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Tipping is a funny business is it not? I think some of these rules go too far, tipping remains a gift not a requirement. I know that you guys may be paid unfairly but who is to blame, the owner of the restaurant or the customer? Is there not a union you guys could join?
February 16th, 2008 at 10:20 am
First off as far as tipping is concerned, I have dealt with some pretty rude as well as inatentive servers, sorry but no 15% to 20% for these people. If you think you just deserve this 15 or 20%, then find another job. Do your job correctly and with a little tact and then you are deserving…
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:54 am
poor widdle Spring 1 and to start off I pity your poor husband balls as i can infer from your posts his balls are stone cold BUSTED.
and to quote the BARD on the I tip well 25% and better repeatedly “you doth protest too much” if you were such a great tipper you wouldnt be bitching about the crap you have posted about like kids gone wild at the table and the clean up involved. I personally always wonder how nasty their home feeding environment must be like when they leave a table looking worse than if a farm animal ate there-farm animals lick their feed containers clean in REAL LIFE.
you need to learn to enjoy yourself when you go out NOT obsess about how the one boy kissing chic took care of you and made six mistakes. Now you count anything wrong as the servers fault. That food runner should have checked the ticket to verify your order but maybe the chef nazi expo’ing just handed him 2 plates in his hands and screamed “Table 12.” Not a uncommon event AT ALL! And thats NOT the servers fault but it is their problem to fix.
As to occupying space over the time needed to eat your meal. A server has a section of tables which can be considered rental property with each specific table of diners being a rental customer. When one customer occupies the table over the time it takes to dine you are STEALING not from the fellow customers BUT the server they cant make any more money because you stopped spending, the owner stopped making a profit the SECOND you stopped spending, and EVERYONE being tipped out by the server isnt getting any more tip share because YES once again you stopped spending money.
YOU are taking away from their CHANCE to earn their lifelihood for the shift. How would you enjoy it if I came to your JOB and hung out with you and your boss took you off the clock and called it your personal time.
The shittiness of this practice grows exponentially as you add tables to the initial 2 or 4 person table you added to first one to accommodate your party of 6 or more and the worst offenders tend to be large parties as they can take forever to break up and since their bill is large they think their entitled.
You only begin to injury fellow later arriving diners who cant GET a table because your parked in yours despite being finished eating. If you want to eat over 2 or 3 hours go to FREAKING Europe its a socail custom there and better news for your cheap ass tipping isnt normal there!
March 4th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Springs1: do you really think you are going to change anyone’s mind?
[If you can’t figure out the answer to that question, here it is: NO.]
P.S. What’s up with your penny fetish?
March 14th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Spring get a grip. I’m not a waiter/ress either and I feel sorry for the ones who get you at their tables. Anyone who sits and counts each and every mistake they imagine the staff made against them is looking for just such a thing. Hitler died, when did you take his place? You say you tip 25 to 30% for good service. My guess, with your hoity toity attitude, is that this doesn’t happen very often unless they agreed to give you a manicure and a brazilian after desert. *rolls eyes*
March 28th, 2008 at 1:16 am
I’m a server, and when people sit at your table for an extra 30+min, AFTER they have finished all their food/drinks, they really should tip extra. Servers live off tips, that means we need tables to pay our bills. We do not rush you out the door, because that would be poor service. But you are in a restaurant, not a coffee shop. For every hour you sit at a table just talking, you cost the server money. Now if there’s lots of open tables around you I suppose it’s a different story.
The people that say that tips aren’t really necessary have obviously never served before. If we got paid a fair wage, maybe it wouldn’t be. When you sit down and it’s different from a McDonald’s because we bring you all your food. You don’t just stand there and wait for it. We have to bring you drinks and refills and condiments and extra napkins etc…when at a fast food joint, you go and get them yourselves. That is what you are paying extra for.
And for those with children. Screaming children are annoying at restaurants. It annoys all of the other people eating them , and annoyed people don’t leave good tips. And if your child makes an unusually large mess, you should tip more. It’s not my fault you can’t control your child. If your child can’t behave long enough to make it though a meal, don’t take them out.
April 5th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Springs1, Dee Cee, I have worked in countless restaurants for over 14 years so I say this with 100% knowledge on the subject: Do you have any idea how much spit, pubes, ex-lax, and other assorted goodies you have unknowingly ingested over the years due to your hateful attitude toward servers you have come into contact with?
April 18th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Hey Ribeye…great site…I feel for ya buddy…I put up with all that shit at my restaurant too. Somebody needs to bitch-slap that ghetto-ass Springs1 whore! Let her work a day in a restaurant and see how she likes dealing with bitches like herself.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I used to serve tables for a Garfield’s restaurant many, many years ago. Now I am a pharmacy technician (9 yrs). Guess I’m a glutton for punishment and abuse…
Anyways, after waiting tables, it opened my eyes to the tipping situation. I was only making $2.15 an hour, and I worked SO HARD for tips. I hated working Sunday afternoons….loathed it actually, because typically church crowds were among the ranks of the worst tippers.
After my short-lived experience with waiting tables, I ALWAYS tip at least 20%, and that is for just average service. Ribeye….You sound like someone that I’d tip 50%, and yes I’ve been known to do it. My fiance sometimes bugs his eyes at me when he looks at how much I tip. But I KNOW what it’s like to be the one serving the food.
Keep up the good work, and excellent blog Ribeye. I’ve become a daily reader.
Heather, CPhT
June 18th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Springs1, come work with me ONE DAY in my restaurant. I’ll go easy on you and only make you take HALF a section. You will be in TEARS by the end of the day. You say that cleaning up after children is not providing a service? Really? What if the same family was at home? They would be forced to clean up after the child themselves. So yes, it IS a service - cleaning up after a child so they don’t have to. If I had you at my table, I would of course give you my standard service (which I think is slightly above average)…the first time. But if I happened to be human and make an honest mistake and therefore receive no tip from you, BELIEVE ME, I would remember you the next time you came in and you would get the bare minimum in service. You would get your order taken, receive what you asked for, and be spoken to politely and that is ALL. Why would I waste my time catering to every whim of a customer who I know is not going to tip me anyway? Thus, you get only the minimum required to not get me in trouble with my boss.
You also have to remember that some of the things you say are annoying about servers are actually things they are REQUIRED to do by their bosses. Did you ever stop to think that the managers at these places TELL their servers to bring refills automatically? It’s called silent service, and MOST customers appreciate it rather than being interrupted every two minutes.
I’m truly sorry that your life is so pathetic that the best thing you can think of to do at a restaurant is count the mistakes and then remember them years later so you can make a list of 34 billion rules you think we should follow.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
And one other thing…MOST customers actually appreciate it when a server makes a mistake and has the grace to ADMIT IT.