Tipping

[cbzdel]

What is everyone thoughts on tipping? I am not posting this to start anything because its a sensitive topic for some I am just getting peoples thoughts.

Personally I tip because I feel obligated to and plus the wife makes me. On the rare occasion my service was above what I consider average I feel happy throwing them a few bucks, but I hate how its expected even when service is non existent.

I have a few examples.

My and Wife went to Vegas last year to visit her best friend who lives there while there we were walking the strip and there was a outdoor bartender working out of a cart. I walk up buy a beer for $5 and walk away, there was no service, I bought an extremely overpriced bottle of beer, all he did was open it. As I walk away my wifes friends husband walked up to him and hands him $2 and says "sorry, hes not from around here". He walks up to me and says this is vegas, tips are what people live on. I say well maybe he needs a better job and that was the end of it. Why do you tip a someone who does NOTHING!

I went to a buffet for lunch the other day, it is a restaurant at night but they have a lunch buffet. I go in and pick my own table, get my own drink, get my own food. Nothing is brought to me and I do everything myself. A lady does bring you a bill when you are done with your meal though, it came to $8 and some change. I hand her a $10 bill and she asks if I want change. If you ask for a tip thats grounds NOT to get one IMO, but then again what did she do for me, nothing, and she still wants a tip?

And my third and final example.
This dates back to a few years ago. I had just graduated college and gotten an entry level job and a structural engineering tech. My contract was signed for $40,000, which I thought was great for entry level for what I was doing. After a year my buddy came over while I was doing my taxes. He was a waiter for Outback Steak House at the time. He asked how much I made and I said $40k he laughed and said he makes more than me, I asked how much and he said after tips he made almost $60k. WHAT? $60k for working a full time minimum wage job, he made more in tips than what he made in salary! Is being a waiter so hard they should be making $60k a year when all they do is hand you your food? I was making sure multi-million dollar building stayed standing and made less than that, plus no one was tipping me! Its that the case I wasted several thousand on school, I should of just became a waiter haha!

I admit I am cheap, but I do tip an average of 10-15% because the wife gives me dirty looks if I dont. She makes me tip even if service SUCKS, I could get away with maybe 5% then but if I try to leave nothing she give me "the look"

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[Trlsmn]

Servers are taxed on the tip you didn't leave.

 

[the4thshake]

You have to wait for the cow to fall asleep and get a couple buddys to help you shove it....

 

[ZachS]

I was a structural engineer who made less than a server at Outback Steakhouse

You have to wait for the cow to fall asleep and get a couple buddys to help you shove it....

You guys both went to OSU, right?

From what I understand they are not getting minimum wage but much less. The reason is because the tips are considered part of the wage and the employer is not required to pay minimum wage because of it. So they may be making in the $2-3 range per hour wage wise and are really relying on the tips for the major part of their income.

In many states that's true, but not Oregon. Same minimum wage for everyone except (maybe) certain agricultural employees.

 

[Cougfan2]

Is being a waiter so hard they should be making $60k a year when all they do is hand you your food?

I'm sorry, but this attitude displays your ignorance about how hard being a professional waitperson is. You try the job for a day and tell me they don't deserve the money they make.

 

[gunnails]

I'm sorry, but this attitude displays your ignorance about how hard being a professional waitperson is. You try the job for a day and tell me they don't deserve the money they make.

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And being an engineer, carpenter, secretary, baker, etc. isn't?

I tip 15 to 20% often more if the service is exceptional, then again I have no problem with stiffing the staff if I have to pay for poor service.

Several times I have left the table and had to go back because my wife tried to sneak a tip onto the table, and I am not fussy, all I ask is you serve me pleasantly in a reasonable amount of time. I pay an extra 5% for a smile.

And I don't tip out door $5 for a 12 oz beer servers that set up on a sidewalk or sell from the aisle at a stadium.

 

[Cougfan2]

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And being an engineer, carpenter, secretary, baker, etc. isn't?

Did I say that? Gee, I didn't think I did. I wasn't disparaging any group of workers. It appears that the OP was. Or maybe I'm mistaken.

That being said, I too will not tip for bad service and if the service is bad enough, I let the owner/manager know about it. If I were the owner of an establishment, I would want to know if my employees were driving away business with bad service or attitude.

For good service, I tip 15%. For exceptional service, I tip 20%.

 

[cbzdel]

I'm sorry, but this attitude displays your ignorance about how hard being a professional waitperson is. You try the job for a day and tell me they don't deserve the money they make.

Sure sounds like you are making the "professional" waiter out to be the high and mighty..
(edit, a user PM'ed me about the above statement, to be clear I laughed when I saw professional waiter written, not because I think low of them, I think of the working class as blue collar vs white collar, and professional vs non-professional. and I do not consider the waiter a professional career, i did not mean anything negativity by my remark, I was just thinking of the way I think of the the working class)

I am 100% sure I could take any waiter from any restaurant stick them in my chair at work and say do it, and they wouldn't have the first idea what to do. I am also 100% positive if I was placed at any restaurant in my area as a waiter (besides hooters and similar) and they said do it, I could wing and it make it work, it might not be perfect but it does not take any specific skill to do the job.

I was just wondering why people tip thats all. Doesnt tip mean "To Insure Promptness" and used to be given in advance to ensure you are treated above average. If you meal was not prompt, nothing amazing about why are we still required by society to tip? If it was amazing and above average i will pay more, but if there is nothing special why should I be required to tip at all? Why would I get dirty looks from the waiter if they provided me average service and I didn't think it was worth more than the total cost of my bill?

But then again like I said, I do tip, so don't create any hatred towards me. Matter of fact I was at Olive Garden for lunch today and the bill came to $20 and I tipped $5 and the service sucked so bad, but the food hit the spot and put me in a good mood. Yeah 25% tip for crappy service..

 

[longcolt]

I think a 10-15% tip is the acceptable range.

I agree if the service is lousy I will tip less. If the service is excellent I will tip the 20% number.

Its a very difficult job being a server and few make 25K much less 60K. They usually work certain meals only and work their buns off during that time frame.

Business have been spotty in many restaurants recently with the economy so bad, so I imagine they are suffering like most of the rest of the US.

 

[coctailer]

Servers are taxed on the tip you didn't leave.

True.
When I was a waiter, my paycheck for a 40 hour work week averaged out to be $2.62 per hour. That is about $104 per week.

The tips are what servers/bartenders live off.

I usually tip 20% more or less.

I take the first digit in the total, and double it for the tip.

$47.50..............$8 tip
$22.14..............$4 tip
$12.93..............$3 tip

Servers PAY OUT OF THEIR PAYCHECK a percentage of your food total.
If you DONT tip, they actually lose money. That is why they get pissed.

The extra $1 you give over the norm is worth a lot more to the waiter than to you.

 

[coctailer]

I tip 20% religiously if it is not already included in the bill. I always have. I will usually round it higher too. Now if the service sucks that is a different story!

Some people never tip. For instance my wifes family doesn't tip EVER so when we go out and they buy dinner I always have to slip some cash or leave the tip. It actually drives them crazy seeing the cash layed out on the table for the service. Seriously the look in their eyes is funny.

Yup, if the server is awful or rude, I have left NO tip. (only happened a couple times in my life)

Your wife's family should be shown how much a waiter makes on their paycheck.
That will be an eye-opener............

Also, I will never hold it against the waiter if my food is cold, burned, late, or bad tasting.
That is the cooks fault, not my server's.

 

[gunnails]

Also, I will never hold it against the waiter if my food is cold, burned, late, or bad tasting.
That is the cooks fault, not my server's.

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Don't most wait staff split there tips with busboys, cooks, etc?

 

[Walter Sobchak]

Also, I will never hold it against the waiter if my food is cold, burned, late, or bad tasting.
That is the cooks fault, not my server's.

The flip-side of that is you should never blame the cook if you're food was good, but the service was poor. I've several times left a very small tip on the table, and made a point of stopping by the kitchen door to give the balance of what would have been a normal tip to the kitchen staff.
-Curtis

 

[Bovaloe]

I dont find it necessary to tip, because the waiters dont get paid that well. How is that MY problem? They can go out and get a better job if its that rough. They get paid to do a job same as everyone else, they want more money get a job that requires something not everyone else can do.

That being said, I do tip if the service is good enough to warrant it. I have no problem coughing up some extra if they do a good job.

This will probably piss alot of people off, oh well, those are my thoughts on the tipping situation.

 

[coctailer]

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Don't most wait staff split there tips with busboys, cooks, etc?

It is common, but I wouldn't say MOST.

The cooks, busboys, hosts, get a couple dollars a night from the servers.
In many restaurants the cooks don't get a dime in tips.
They make $10-$15 per hour without the tax ramifications that servers get.

Tooooootaly different.
If a waiter makes $100 in a shift, the tip-out may be $10 to the other workers.
I know some places tip-out more, but some don't tip-out anything.
Some restaurants REQUIRE the servers to tip-share. Again, that just cuts into the server's income...........

 

[gunnails]

It is common, but I wouldn't say MOST.

The cooks, busboys, hosts, get a couple dollars a night from the servers.
In many restaurants the cooks don't get a dime in tips.
They make $10-$15 per hour without the tax ramifications that servers get.

Tooooootaly different.
If a waiter makes $100 in a shift, the tip-out may be $10 to the other workers.
I know some places tip-out more, but some don't tip-out anything.
Some restaurants REQUIRE the servers to tip-share. Again, that just cuts into the server's income...........

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Thanks for the feed back, I do agree without tips these folks would starve or the cost of our food would increase.

I think I understand where your screen name came from now.

 

[coctailer]

I dont find it necessary to tip, because the waiters dont get paid that well. How is that MY problem? They can go out and get a better job if its that rough. They get paid to do a job same as everyone else, they want more money get a job that requires something not everyone else can do.

That being said, I do tip if the service is good enough to warrant it. I have no problem coughing up some extra if they do a good job.

This will probably piss alot of people off, oh well, those are my thoughts on the tipping situation.

They get paid from tips.

Not at all like "everyone else"

 

[coctailer]

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Thanks for the feed back, I do agree without tips these folks would starve or the cost of our food would increase.

I think I understand where your screen name came from now.

I used to be a bartender. When I signed up for my first Yahoo e-mail account, Cocktailer was taken.
I mis-spelled it to get the same effect.

I was also a chef for 11 years. I helped open the first Stanford's restaurant with Bob Farrell (of Farrel's Ice-Cream Parlor) and Michael Fry (EC).

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

I was a waiter some years back and know what they have to put up with. Unless the service completely sucks I generally start my tipping at 25% and work my way up from there for good service. It is not uncommon for me to tip 40% on small tabs. I have always said, "If you can't afford the tip then you don't need to be eating out."

 

[coctailer]

Great service = 20%-50% tip

Average service = 10%-15% tip

Poor service = 0% tip

I'm very glad to leave any of the above percentages when it's deserved. I'm not going to go out of my way to give people money that I have earned. Since taxes are taken out in anticipation of what they are going to probably receive in tips then all the more reason for them to try and earn it. It's rough but anything else would be a charitable contribution.

Exactly.
When I was a server, I KNEW THAT MY INCOME IS A DIRECT PRODUCT OF MY PERFORMANCE.

I don't think anyone should feel forced to tip for bad service.

Exactly the opposite.

I submit, that if a waiter gives bad service, they deserve $0 tip.

They then need to find a new profession.