Tipping

yeah I feel sorry for all the American waiters out there, whose salary is basically decided by how much joe citizen tips them. I work in Australia at a hotel as a waiter/bartender, been working for 3 months, and have been constantly told that I am the nicest and fastest waiter/bartender in the place, however, I have yet to recieve a tip, I would think it would be weird if I was given a tip, appreciated none the less.
 
Tip is a funny word. Tip, tap, tippity tap. Tee hee.
 
sea said:
Yeah, there's this bagel shop I go to sometimes... there isn't even a place to sit down; it's just a counter with people behind it. There's a tip jar there next to the register, but when you're paying about a dollar for a bagel, what the hell are you going to tip them? Ten cents?
Click to expand...

I guess...it adds up. Some people will throw money in there because the people behind the counter are funny or maybe friendly or can actually get a complicated order correct. Some people recognize a job well done and are willing to tip for it. I myself hate lazy idiots so I am willing to reward people who do a job well done as I feel people that actually do their job deserve more than the idiot sitting in the back eating bagels.

As for tipping with haircuts and that sort of thing...you would be suprised. I tip the lady who does my hair fairly well and she spends about twice as long on my hair making sure it's perfect and spending time cutting it in different lengths and making sure it's all even so when I do my hair it's a million times better. You would be suprised how far a couple extra bucks can go. People who are known good tippers I will go out of my way to make sure everything is perfect for them. Whereas known bad tippers get shafter and probably don't even realize it.

Also mind you that when it's super busy don't expect to get everything you want. A server will be in the weeds then and knows what everyone needs but doesn't have nearly the time for it all so they have to prioritize which means putting in food instead of getting a refill at 1/4 full or greeting a table instead of checking back on you right away.

Oh and if you are one of those few people who do regularily not tip it does spread. When I worked at TGI Fridays people warned me that some guy used to be a regular at applebees and never tipped and came here and got bad service...or he used to go here all the time. People do know and you will get bad service. So don't be cheap you will have a better time.

Oh and a tip for those of you who want really good service for times when you bring a date or something. Figure out how much your bill is and personally hand the server 20% or more. That will amaze them and you will be top priority over everything. This has happened to me before and I would be walking to the table that tipped me and other tables would try to stop me and ask me a question and I would just tell them to hold on instead of stopping like I normally would just so I could bring them refills a bit sooner or their food a bit sooner and I would also reduce their bill by not ringing in certain things. It pays to be nice.
 
I figure this is the best thread to ask this question in, considering I was going to make a thread asking it:
What actually happens if you don't have enough money to pay for the meal by the time you are done eating it?
Say it was an honest mistake?
 
It really depends, if I can see that the person is working hard and keeps checking on me to make sure everything is okay, then generally I do try and tip around 10%. But on the other hand if the person is inattentive and seems not to have a care in the world I would be the person not to leave a tip at all.
 
zombieturtle01 said:
I figure this is the best thread to ask this question in, considering I was going to make a thread asking it:
What actually happens if you don't have enough money to pay for the meal by the time you are done eating it?
Say it was an honest mistake?
Click to expand...

Some people leave without leaving any money at all. The best a restaurant can do is blacklist you.
 
Who tips delivery guys and cab drivers?
 
Solaris said:
Or have you arrested.
Click to expand...

Doubtful. It is, in all sense, a crime, but hardly treated like one.

We had a lady come into the store a few months back; everytime she came she'd complain about her food and got a free lunch. Her server refused to take her order and the manager asked her to leave. The paperwork involved in arresting her would have been far more costly and ineffective than if you just warn the other servers and managers about who she is and just turn her away at the door.
 
Pesmerga said:
Doubtful. It is, in all sense, a crime, but hardly treated like one.

We had a lady come into the store a few months back; everytime she came she'd complain about her food and got a free lunch. Her server refused to take her order and the manager asked her to leave. The paperwork involved in arresting her would have been far more costly and ineffective than if you just warn the other servers and managers about who she is and just turn her away at the door.
Click to expand...

That's different. When someone dine and ditches it's considered theft.
 
At our restaurant, if someone is unable to pay the bill we will usually tell them to sit tight and call someone to bring the money over. We've also had a few attempts at dine & dash, each time they were caught, and all times called on by the police.
 
Kakashi623 said:
At our restaurant, if someone is unable to pay the bill we will usually tell them to sit tight and call someone to bring the money over. We've also had a few attempts at dine & dash, each time they were caught, and all times called on by the police.
Click to expand...

Whatever happened to the days of washing dishes to pay for a meal?

Or is that just a myth?
 
Darkside55 said:
You always have to be careful with how you word things on the internet. It's not just me; if you look at most of the replies to your post, your attitude was coming off as shitty. Singling me out because I replied to you first and calling me "ignorant" and "immature" for three pages, even when you aren't talking to me (replying to Glirk) doesn't improve how I'm going to feel about you. "Ignorance like Darkside makes me hate my job." Kid are you for real?

And don't get me wrong--I'm not justifying low tippers or trying to support them. I'm just saying that's the way it is. Don't take your shit out on me because I'm telling it like it is. You don't get tipped big, oh well, find another job; it's been suggested to you countless times. But you say no, that it's still good money even on bad nights--then what are you bitching about? Some people tip good, some people don't. And you aren't entitled to any of it no matter how courteous you are, how backbreaking the work is, or how attentive to the patrons' needs you are. All of that, ALL of it, it's not some divine mandate that says, "I did this for you now you must tip big. If you do not, f*ck you."

Like I said, all you can do is hope they take it into consideration and tip you well. If they don't...that's that. You might get angry about it, but don't act like they slapped you in the face and then screwed your mother. There might be a hundred different reasons why they didn't tip you, and if they bother to give you 10% the reason might not be that they just didn't like you or felt you weren't performing.

You get a bad tip, shit sucks, hope the next person is a big spender. Don't pout about it and then rant on the internet and say, "everyone who doesn't agree with me is immature and ignorant and makes me hate my job." It just makes me want to give you a penny all the more.
Click to expand...


To begin, the way I word things on the internet doesn't concern me, even if it does get misconstrued to the point where I'm getting insulted by an I.P address somewhere on the other side of the country. However, I still to this point haven't insulted you or your beliefs while you on the other hand have done nothing but that. Also, calling me kid doesn't make you sound older because again, the internet is faceless and ageless. I'm pretty sure if you read one of the 5 posts that I posted since your initial statement have all said that I know how shitty it feels to get a bad tip. I'm not crying, I'm not angry, I'm not getting mad. You seem to have this fixation that I'm angry at you or that I'm acting up. You started off talking like I insulted you, and merely reacted to your statements. Calling me kid, trying to use cute analogies, and making long winded speeches about how I need to get over something I never said I was crying about does nothing for the topic of conversation other than make us both look like douschebags. :cheers:
 
Warbie said:
Who tips delivery guys and cab drivers?
Click to expand...
Not cab drivers usually, unless I'm traveling considerable distance/through heavy traffic and the cabbie gives some interesting conversation. I tip delivery guys all the time.

Shin, the "kid" comment doesn't have anything to do with your age or maturity; it's just slang. I don't need to make myself sound older than anyone on the internet because of the reason you already stated, plus it's not important to the point of the post. It's slang, don't get hung up on it.

Anyway, when all you do is go around calling people immature, and then start saying stupid stuff like, "Ignorance like Darkside makes me hate my job," that's not an insult? You "still to this point haven't insulted me?" If "I'd read any of your five previous posts?" Do you remember writing any of your five previous posts? I guess I shouldn't take those kinds of terms as insults and I definately shouldn't think you're insulting me when you start telling other people you're replying to--whose posts had nothing to do with me--that I'm ignorant.

I'm not mad either. I just have this thing where, when someone's talking shit, I like to put them in their place. Being a hypocrite with a bad attitude and then saying, "I didn't mean it like that" when myself and Qonf call you out on it, and then calling me ignorant, immature, this that and the other thing, and mouthing off about me to other posters (which, while I had previously used the term as a pronoun, that IS childish behavior), and then when I bring it up you say, "No, no, I wasn't insulting you at all." Are you really buying into that or trying to convince me or others that you're not insulting me here? Don't try to save face by shrugging off what you've said and hope that people won't go back to read those previous replies, instead forgetting that you're calling me stupid.

But I ain't mad at ya. I'll even toast you back. :cheers:
 
One time at taco bell I put a quarter in the little tip-machine, where you drop in a coin and it's supposed to roll down these little steps... I dropped it in, and it landed on the first step and stayed there :(
 
Warbie said:
Who tips delivery guys and cab drivers?
Click to expand...
I tip cab and airport shuttle drivers if they make an effort to make the trip quick and are nice. I make a number of business trips to Las Vegas, so I'm in airports/cabs often. If they get me to my destination without driving recklessly, get there in a short amount of time given the traffic (knowing shortcuts), and help with bags, they're getting a good tip.

For food, I usually pick whatever even dollar amount will put me over 15%. If they actually go the extra mile for service, I'll go 25%-50%; if they're egregiously rude, they'll get nothing. I've only tipped at these extremes like four times ever, and I eat out a lot.

I like what tipping originally stood for, but now that it's expected (indeed, taxed), it's not the same, we're just subsidizing their income. Waiters/waitresses that do go the extra mile are hard to find.
 
Glirk Dient said:
I guess...it adds up. Some people will throw money in there because the people behind the counter are funny or maybe friendly or can actually get a complicated order correct. Some people recognize a job well done and are willing to tip for it. I myself hate lazy idiots so I am willing to reward people who do a job well done as I feel people that actually do their job deserve more than the idiot sitting in the back eating bagels.

As for tipping with haircuts and that sort of thing...you would be suprised. I tip the lady who does my hair fairly well and she spends about twice as long on my hair making sure it's perfect and spending time cutting it in different lengths and making sure it's all even so when I do my hair it's a million times better. You would be suprised how far a couple extra bucks can go. People who are known good tippers I will go out of my way to make sure everything is perfect for them. Whereas known bad tippers get shafter and probably don't even realize it.

Also mind you that when it's super busy don't expect to get everything you want. A server will be in the weeds then and knows what everyone needs but doesn't have nearly the time for it all so they have to prioritize which means putting in food instead of getting a refill at 1/4 full or greeting a table instead of checking back on you right away.

Oh and if you are one of those few people who do regularily not tip it does spread. When I worked at TGI Fridays people warned me that some guy used to be a regular at applebees and never tipped and came here and got bad service...or he used to go here all the time. People do know and you will get bad service. So don't be cheap you will have a better time.

Oh and a tip for those of you who want really good service for times when you bring a date or something. Figure out how much your bill is and personally hand the server 20% or more. That will amaze them and you will be top priority over everything. This has happened to me before and I would be walking to the table that tipped me and other tables would try to stop me and ask me a question and I would just tell them to hold on instead of stopping like I normally would just so I could bring them refills a bit sooner or their food a bit sooner and I would also reduce their bill by not ringing in certain things. It pays to be nice.
Click to expand...

Wow... So you still wonder why you get shitty tips sometimes?

Let me recap for you: If you "think" someone might not tip well, you give them crap service. When some other guy tips you in advance you bend over backwards for him and RUN AWAY from your other customers. Seriously, I'm a very generous tipper (20% or higher, always unless the server is a real dick then I leave him a tip that will communicate how unhappy I was with his service) but from what servers in this thread have said, I wouldn't tip any of you over 10%, hell, I might even go as low as 5% for being complete dicks to your customers.

I am of the belief that if you don't like your job you quit and find a new one. There is absolutely no excuse for being one of those lowlifes that don't do their job properly to their full extent. If you feel underpaid, get a better job. If you don't like relying on tips, go get a job at Best Buy or something. If I can get a job, an international student, forced to work on campus, then YOU can get a job that you don't bitch about.

You guys also wanna know what pisses me off? The servers that give you an attitude when you're not ordering 50 bucks worth of food. Often times my friends or my girlfriend and I will go to a place to sit and talk and order an appetizer because we're not hungry enough, and servers will just do that whole "You're so wasting my time" bit because we didn't order a meal. Guess what, these are the times I am most generous with my tip because I'm not blowing a bunch of money on a lot of food. I have left a 20 dollar tip on a 20 dollar bill before, but the a-holes that treat me like I'm wasting their time on these occasions, I leave em 2 bucks.

If you guys are these kinds of servers you can go to hell. Seriously, I don't go eat out so I can get an attitude. Give good service and you get a good tip, but you don't ever "deserve" a 20% tip. Your service dictates what you deserve, and if you don't believe that, you shouldn't be working for "just tips" to begin with.
 
Rico said:
Wow... So you still wonder why you get shitty tips sometimes?
Click to expand...
No actually...I am a pretty good server and almost always make 15%-25% and usually average around 20% and if it's below that it's usually because I screwed up or someone else screwed me over, but it happens.

Let me recap for you: If you "think" someone might not tip well, you give them crap service. When some other guy tips you in advance you bend over backwards for him and RUN AWAY from your other customers. Seriously, I'm a very generous tipper (20% or higher, always unless the server is a real dick then I leave him a tip that will communicate how unhappy I was with his service) but from what servers in this thread have said, I wouldn't tip any of you over 10%, hell, I might even go as low as 5% for being complete dicks to your customers.
Click to expand...
No you have never served have you? I am not saying that I will completely ignore my other tables. I will simply prioritize the table that actually tipped me. When you work in a restaurant and get used to working in the weeds you might understand what that means. It's too hard to explain to people who don't know what it's like to serve.

I am of the belief that if you don't like your job you quit and find a new one. There is absolutely no excuse for being one of those lowlifes that don't do their job properly to their full extent. If you feel underpaid, get a better job. If you don't like relying on tips, go get a job at Best Buy or something. If I can get a job, an international student, forced to work on campus, then YOU can get a job that you don't bitch about.
Click to expand...
What the hell is this all about? Also not everyone can just quit their job because they don't like it. Some places such as around here aren't hiring because it's the slow season and some people have rent and bills to pay and can't afford to quit and find a new job.

You guys also wanna know what pisses me off? The servers that give you an attitude when you're not ordering 50 bucks worth of food. Often times my friends or my girlfriend and I will go to a place to sit and talk and order an appetizer because we're not hungry enough, and servers will just do that whole "You're so wasting my time" bit because we didn't order a meal. Guess what, these are the times I am most generous with my tip because I'm not blowing a bunch of money on a lot of food. I have left a 20 dollar tip on a 20 dollar bill before, but the a-holes that treat me like I'm wasting their time on these occasions, I leave em 2 bucks.
Click to expand...
Yeah I can understand. When this happens I am always nice until they leave but you do have to understand this happens a lot to us and often times don't even get a tip. A lot of times I could have fit 2 regular tables in that amount of time and made $20 and instead those people came in, ordered an app and waters and left no tip. People don't understand that they are taking up a table. I am glad that you at least leave a good tip for servers who aren't dicks.

If you guys are these kinds of servers you can go to hell. Seriously, I don't go eat out so I can get an attitude. Give good service and you get a good tip, but you don't ever "deserve" a 20% tip. Your service dictates what you deserve, and if you don't believe that, you shouldn't be working for "just tips" to begin with.
Click to expand...

I always am very nice to people, even people giving me attitude. It takes a lot to push me over the edge but it's hard to serve. You have to deal with so much and you never know if your server had to deal with someone bitching about how it took 2 minutes to get drinks, their food came out and they didn't like it because they didn't read the description or they don't feel they should have to wait 15 minutes for a steak to cook so they call for a manager, have their whole meal comped off and then tell your manager you should never be a server because the kitchen is taking too long then your manager is pissed and yells at you saying he might not ever let you serve again because people in your section are getting pissed and then you have to go great a table and it's hard to be all cheery.

Oh and yes, stuff like that happens every night. When I served at fridays I don't think we had a single normal night there. Every night someone complained about something stupid. Even if it was the music we played, they wanted their meal payed for and we have to do that. Or we don't accept their out of date coupon so we have to comp their meal again.
 
Darkside55 said:
Not cab drivers usually, unless I'm traveling considerable distance/through heavy traffic and the cabbie gives some interesting conversation. I tip delivery guys all the time.

Shin, the "kid" comment doesn't have anything to do with your age or maturity; it's just slang. I don't need to make myself sound older than anyone on the internet because of the reason you already stated, plus it's not important to the point of the post. It's slang, don't get hung up on it.

Anyway, when all you do is go around calling people immature, and then start saying stupid stuff like, "Ignorance like Darkside makes me hate my job," that's not an insult? You "still to this point haven't insulted me?" If "I'd read any of your five previous posts?" Do you remember writing any of your five previous posts? I guess I shouldn't take those kinds of terms as insults and I definately shouldn't think you're insulting me when you start telling other people you're replying to--whose posts had nothing to do with me--that I'm ignorant.

I'm not mad either. I just have this thing where, when someone's talking shit, I like to put them in their place. Being a hypocrite with a bad attitude and then saying, "I didn't mean it like that" when myself and Qonf call you out on it, and then calling me ignorant, immature, this that and the other thing, and mouthing off about me to other posters (which, while I had previously used the term as a pronoun, that IS childish behavior), and then when I bring it up you say, "No, no, I wasn't insulting you at all." Are you really buying into that or trying to convince me or others that you're not insulting me here? Don't try to save face by shrugging off what you've said and hope that people won't go back to read those previous replies, instead forgetting that you're calling me stupid.

But I ain't mad at ya. I'll even toast you back. :cheers:
Click to expand...

Let's make love?
 
Que-Ever said:
One time at taco bell I put a quarter in the little tip-machine, where you drop in a coin and it's supposed to roll down these little steps... I dropped it in, and it landed on the first step and stayed there :(
Click to expand...

Your tip was rejected.


That story makes me sad for some reason though.
 
I'm a tip whore. I give a good amount.

Half because I'm generous and half because I've worked in a restaurant and I know how many retards servers have to deal with everyday.
 
I worked in a restaurant and 15 to 20% tip was avg. And even outside of the restaurant there is always the middle ground were everyone is trying to make some cash and they are working for it. So i like to return the favor when ever i can and give a tip when i get a cab or a delivery.
 
This thread has inspired me to become a server.
 
good luck, it's certainly nopt easy work; I've witnessed complete mental breakdowns, explosive hissy fits and uncontrollable sobbing from server staff ..and that was on a slow night ..if you can stand to be humiliated, if you can stand to serve people who see you as nothing more than a busboy (and will let you know it at every single opportunity) who will make you jump through hoops just to tip you a meager 5% after waiting on them hand and foot then waiting tables is the job for you ...I'd much rather be a bartender ..bartenders have the power to cut someone off from alcohol ..people do funny things to avoid being cut off
 
$kelet0r said:
Tipping sounds like such a stupid system - I mean you're employed which equals salary, not a charity case. When I worked in a supermarket nearly a decade ago now, we were told NOT to accept tips, and being offered one was not exactly insulting but kind of insensitive considering all the other staff who were part of the team. Besides starting wage was like 5 pounds an hour at the time which wasn't exactly spectacular but wasn't bad either.
Click to expand...

servers are paid less than minimum wage ..the only industry where it's allowed


$kelet0r said:
Optional gratuity on the restaurant bill is about as close to tipping as I've seen in this country unless someone really goes out of their way (note to the Americans in this thread, this does not mean smiling a little more - it's more along the lines of taxi driver driving much further then allowed/supposed to or a waiter making sure you got something that had been sold out on the menu).
Click to expand...

this is not the norm in the countries where tipping is the norm ..so your points are sorta of meaningless in light of the fact that servers depend on tips to make up for making $5/hr ..which isnt even sub-poverty wage
 
I've always tipped when visiting America, in some bizarre and arrogant way I feel pretty good about chipping in those extra bucks for someone who brought me cow-arsed size steak.

Back here though, I only leave tips as a convenience to myself and so do others. I mean, if your meal bill is ?47.50 or something, my group and I would leave ?50, a nice round number, no fannying around for change. It's not a huge deal but tipping is something I've never felt necessary here.
 
$kelet0r said:
Tipping sounds like such a stupid system - I mean you're employed which equals salary, not a charity case. When I worked in a supermarket nearly a decade ago now, we were told NOT to accept tips, and being offered one was not exactly insulting but kind of insensitive considering all the other staff who were part of the team. Besides starting wage was like 5 pounds an hour at the time which wasn't exactly spectacular but wasn't bad either.
Optional gratuity on the restaurant bill is about as close to tipping as I've seen in this country unless someone really goes out of their way (note to the Americans in this thread, this does not mean smiling a little more - it's more along the lines of taxi driver driving much further then allowed/supposed to or a waiter making sure you got something that had been sold out on the menu).
Click to expand...

Tipping is an incentive for a server not to be a total dick and ignore you. You get good service because the server wants a good tip. Have you ever worked in a restaurant? It's not easy to serve. There are points where your so busy you simply can't keep up, and that's normal. Not to mention how emotionally hard it is to deal with all the rude and stupid people all day as well as your job being on the line. Lot's of places give you hours based on your performance...and they keep track of hundreds of numbers so it's a very stressfull job, not some supermarket job where you make more an hour to stock shelves. Believe me...tipping is good both for the server and you. Without it there would be no restaurant experience, it would be like getting a meal at mcdonalds and sitting down to eat it because the servers just wouldn't care to make it a good time as there is no incentive to do more than the minimum.
 
CptStern said:
servers are paid less than minimum wage ..the only industry where it's allowed




this is not the norm in the countries where tipping is the norm ..so your points are sorta of meaningless in light of the fact that servers depend on tips to make up for making $5/hr ..which isnt even sub-poverty wage
Click to expand...

Servers at my store make $4/hr, which is also my hourly pay. My tipout is 10% of every server's tip. I make about $10/hr on an off season, and anywhere to $15/hr during busy seasons. I work a maximum of 20 hours a week, though since I only work lunches.
 
in my 3+ years of bartending I've never cleaned up puke ...that's what busboys are for ;)


Pesmerga said:
Servers at my store make $4/hr, which is also my hourly pay. My tipout is 10% of every server's tip. I make about $10/hr on an off season, and anywhere to $15/hr during busy seasons. I work a maximum of 20 hours a week, though since I only work lunches.
Click to expand...


below minimum wage and I'm sure the hours you do work are a lot harder if you worked at say a supermarket ...there is no such thing as a bad waiter ..at least not for long; they're usually weeded out sooner or later ..in my experience poor service almost always equalled being short staffed ..incompetency is only a factor in those ewaiting staff that are on their way out of the profession
 
CptStern said:
in my 3+ years of bartending I've never cleaned up puke ...that's what busboys are for ;)
Click to expand...

I've only cleaned up puke once (it was a Sunday night)

Cleaned up piss twice, unclogged the toilet once, and I clean up every other type of spill you can think of.
 
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