Poll: Poll: Waiter's Rant-Tipping

[Warrior Irme]

What country do you work in? I mean 2.18 an hour? if thas in the uk then its against minimum wage laws and if its U.S thats like £1.50 an hour. thats appalling. I'd say change jobs.
And i personally dont like tipping a waiter/waitress whatever. They are already getting paid to do the job, why should i pay them extra?

In the US if you are a waiter or waitress a restaurant can pay under minimum wage as long as the tips you earn bring your wage up to the minimum level, and if they don't the restaurant must pay the difference to bring it up to minimum. (This is how I have known it though it has been a couple years since I was last a waiter so feel free to correct me)

 

[Altorin]

What country do you work in? I mean 2.18 an hour? if thas in the uk then its against minimum wage laws and if its U.S thats like £1.50 an hour. thats appalling. I'd say change jobs.
And i personally dont like tipping a waiter/waitress whatever. They are already getting paid to do the job, why should i pay them extra?

In the US if you are a waiter or waitress a restaurant can pay under minimum wage as long as the tips you earn bring your wage up to the minimum level, and if they don't the restaurant must pay the difference to bring it up to minimum. (This is how I have known it though it has been a couple years since I was last a waiter so feel free to correct me)

that's the issue that should be addressed.

The issue shouldn't be "those greedy bastards who don't tip"

It should be "those greedy bastards who refuse to pay minimum wage unless it's supplemented by money given to the employee out of the charity of their customer's hearts"

 

[D_987]

I pretty much don't tip. I don't see the point in it to be honest; why should I pay extra - the food itself costs more money than it should (wherever you go) and in buying the food I'm paying the waiters wages (theoretically). Why should I leave even more money?

If anything you should be lobbying to stop people tipping so waiters gain a normal working wage instead of this scam companies appear to have going on (as in using the tip money to pay wages).

Depends how good the food is; if it's good and they were generally cool, they most certainly deserve a generous tip

Shouldn't you be tipping the chef then, not the person who carried the food to you?

 

[Sven und EIN HUND]

Depends how good the food is; if it's good and they were generally cool, they most certainly deserve a generous tip

 

[BonsaiK]

Note: Poll is for a waiter who provided good service (was polite/helpful, got you your food on time, kept your drinks filled, etc.)

Now for the rant: I am a waiter at a family steakhouse, so everything that follows is from the source.
Tips have been abysmal recently. It may be the economy, though where I live the economy really isn't that bad. Here is the breakdown: In many places across the country waiters are only paid a very small amount hourly (as low as 2.15 an hour in some places, 2.18 where I live). Because of this we waiters make most of our money off of our tips. Therefore when a customer stiffs us or gives us a very small tip, it's basically a big F*** YOU, especially after if we have done a good job. Not only this but in many places we waiters have to relegate some of our tips to hostesses, bussers, bartenders, etc. At my resteraunt this is 3% of our total sales. So if I get stiffed on a hundred dollar ticket I'm in the red for $3. This really adds up after a while.

I do not know if this is because people are uneducated, I have had customers ask me how much we get paid hourly and I have told them truthfully, though we can't say anything about our pay or tips unless we are asked. Now don't get me wrong, I have some customers who go beyond what is considered average in a tip. But it's severely outweighed by the bad tips on any given night. I guess it's not surprising that serving is listed as the number one job that is not considered satisfying work.

Now I will also state this: We as waiters control your food. I will always give good service no matter what, whether I believe you will tip me or not (especially since I like to be rightfully angry when I get stiffed, and I can't do that if I gave poor service). If you have seen the movie Waiting you have seen what some waiters do to unruly/rude customers. I will never do that, nor will anyone I know of who I work with (the resteraunt would frown upon someone spitting in a customers food, etc.) But whereas my resteraunt doesn't do that, I can't speak for every resteraunt. And whereas I will always give good service to you, even if you have stiffed me 4 times, I can't speak for every waiter. Waiters tend to have long memories, especially when it comes to being stiffed. And there are more ways than messing with your food to make your dining experience a bad one. Hope you learned something from this.

I did, I learned that restaurant owners where you live should pay you more.

I live in a country where restaurants get shut down and the owners taken to court if they pay waiters below award/minimum wage and tips are not expected. That's how it should be.

I don't tip because I'm poor. Just getting together the money to visit a restaurant at all is something I have to budget carefully for. Damned if I'm paying any more than I have to. In fact, in a couple restaurants where I'm a regular face they give ME a tip in the form of a discount.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

10% basic.

15% if the service was excellent, by which I mean there was a good, modest spacing between meals, the waiter was polite, friendly, made eye contact, the drinks came quickly, I could easily signal for service, they directed me to the bathroom when I asked, and, most importantly, the meal was good.

Nothing more. I'd not pay 20% of my meal's total, that's silly.

 

[thewerebuffalo]

I do 10 but I recently learned it's common courtesy to tip 15

 

[Borrowed Time]

*snip*

I generally do 15% myself and it will vary by 5% either way depending on service, or none at all if the waiter is a complete ass or forgets tons of things. (though that hasn't happened in quite a long time).

On a side note, don't you dare try to guilt trip me into tipping you or demanding that I tip you. It is out of the goodness of my heart that I put that cash on the table after I've already paid my bill. If you have a problem with it, talk to your employer, as they are the one who is screwing you over.

I worked for Sears selling TV's for about 6 months on a 100% commission basis. Some TV's gave us a quarter in commission. That's $0.25 for a $350 television set. If you didn't make minimum wage with your commission, then they made up the difference, but you owed them the commission back later. That could be accumulated for up to 6 pay periods (meaning 3 months) Suffice it to say, I owed them $700 in commission sales when I quit, but legally they couldn't collect on that because then they would have been paying me less then minimum wage. Quit the job and find someone who is willing to pay you fairly.

Also, stop with the "oh no the prices will rise" argument. If the consumers need to bite the bullet when it comes to higher prices for restaurant food they will. We already are by "demanding tips" correct? So how is it any different? At least then you would make a consistant wage for your time, right? Or is the issue more along the lines that sometimes you make above minimum wage with tips and have good days and don't want to lose that? :shrug:

 

[Kuchinawa212]

yeah I just round up to be a nice guy. But I had this horrible waitress once, and refused to tip her anything! Crying already about my tip, then you get none!

 

[Dys]

Where I come from, it's considered shameful to beg for charity. If your job doesn't pay well, get a new one. I'm not going to give away my hard earned money to someone because they are to unmotivated to find a job where they are not treated like shit.

 

[SultanP]

My housemate and I sometimes go out to restaurants together, and we often tip very well. We have occasionally tipped our waiter about 90% of what we had to pay for our meal in total.

 

[microwaviblerabbit]

I usually tip about 18%, never below 10%, unless you do something like forget that I exist. (It happened.) I have a system that roughly works like this.

Excellent service. (Places that actually care and make that extra effort.) I tip about 20-25%.
Good service. (Everything correct. Food at the right temperature. Helpful.)I tip about 18-20%
Ok service. (Everything correct. But food cold, or took a weird long time. As in empty restaurant and it took 25 minutes to get two coffees from the kitchen 30feet away.)15%
Poor service. (Food wrong, or delivered something obviously cooked wrong. Eggs scrambled instead of sunny side up.)12%

Then there are the horrible cases. Being charged for both items delivered when one was wrong and I did not touch it. Forgetting that I was here. Serving my scotch wrong. Then just playing with it so it is still wrong. I can taste when it has been watered down. Then I will leave something like 10% and never come back.

Though I hate people who walk out on their bills than any service, no matter how horrible. That is stealing.

 

[Ignignoct]

Note: Poll is for a waiter who provided good service (was polite/helpful, got you your food on time, kept your drinks filled, etc.)

Now for the rant: I am a waiter at a family steakhouse, so everything that follows is from the source.
Tips have been abysmal recently. It may be the economy, though where I live the economy really isn't that bad. Here is the breakdown: In many places across the country waiters are only paid a very small amount hourly (as low as 2.15 an hour in some places, 2.18 where I live). Because of this we waiters make most of our money off of our tips. Therefore when a customer stiffs us or gives us a very small tip, it's basically a big F*** YOU, especially after if we have done a good job. Not only this but in many places we waiters have to relegate some of our tips to hostesses, bussers, bartenders, etc. At my resteraunt this is 3% of our total sales. So if I get stiffed on a hundred dollar ticket I'm in the red for $3. This really adds up after a while.

I do not know if this is because people are uneducated, I have had customers ask me how much we get paid hourly and I have told them truthfully, though we can't say anything about our pay or tips unless we are asked. Now don't get me wrong, I have some customers who go beyond what is considered average in a tip. But it's severely outweighed by the bad tips on any given night. I guess it's not surprising that serving is listed as the number one job that is not considered satisfying work.

Now I will also state this: We as waiters control your food. I will always give good service no matter what, whether I believe you will tip me or not (especially since I like to be rightfully angry when I get stiffed, and I can't do that if I gave poor service). If you have seen the movie Waiting you have seen what some waiters do to unruly/rude customers. I will never do that, nor will anyone I know of who I work with (the resteraunt would frown upon someone spitting in a customers food, etc.) But whereas my resteraunt doesn't do that, I can't speak for every resteraunt. And whereas I will always give good service to you, even if you have stiffed me 4 times, I can't speak for every waiter. Waiters tend to have long memories, especially when it comes to being stiffed. And there are more ways than messing with your food to make your dining experience a bad one. Hope you learned something from this.

Where do you live? 2-point-whatever seems criminal.

I was a busboy in vegas from 2004-2005 senior year of high school.

Busboy. I got 2% of my servers' sales in tips. The quicker/better I bus, the faster they get seated at MY server's table.

Made 5.15, state minimum wage which is on the low end, but easily made an average of $15/hour.

Some Fridays/Saturdays I'd make $70-80 in tips alone, cash, in my pocket, and a Dairy Queen not 100 yards from where I worked . This was working either 1 4-hour shift or an 8-9 hour "double". My servers made 30-150% more than I did (you know how things flux), and were taxed for only 10% of their sales as if they were tipped 10% on each meal. Good deal!

Oh yeah... I made those Reese's PB&Chocolate/cookie dough blizzards BEG for mercy.

I'm not trying to just brag about how good I had it, but I mean this as an example of what's out there. Maybe you should look into a different restaurant? Leave your place gracefully, and go to a higher turnaround speed popular area.

PS: I tip 15-20%, and I'm very low maintenance. "Chicken strips and water, please!"

 

[Diddy_King]

Well in my country they add 12,5% of your total as a tip on your bill. Say you spend 80-160 dollars on your visit to a restaurant... it generates quite the tip. So tipping around here is just silly. I think 12.5% is fair. Waiters around here still make, at least, minimum wage.

I don't get paid massively, I work really really (and I mean REALLY) hard and I'm very polite to asshole-customers, but I rarely get even a "thank you". Damn it I hate the system... AND people.

Man I wish we had that 12.5% auto gratuity. We can only auto grat tables of 8 or more people. This makes sense as it is a lot more work to take care of 14 than it is to take care of 4, and since we have to automatically alocate 3% of the total sale to busboys/hostesses, etc. if we get stiff on a 300 dollar ticket then we are out nearly 10 bucks.

I believe I am a good waiter, I have several regulars who ask for me by name every time they come in. My customers get their food on time, they don't have to worry about running out of drinks, or getting their entree too early. I have one regular who comes in with his wife on a weekly basis (at least) he always orders the same thing, and he always tells me that he expects his salad to come out before his meal, his meal to come out after he's done with his salad, and he expects two VERY hot pieces of bread to start off his meal. I always listen to this with a straight face, but I've generally already got his order in the system and bread heating up if not already in my hands to set on the table. (They always leave thanking me for taking care of them and saying they'll see me again next week if not sooner, they also generally leave an above average tip)

That isn't to say I don't treat other customers as well as I can, even if they aren't regulars who tip me well. I treat all my customers well, even if I don't believe they are going to tip me, because sometimes you will be surprised. But the fact is at resteraunts here in America a tip is expected. No, don't say it shouldn't be, that's just how it is here. And if you don't want to tip a waiter for good service, go get fast food. You aren't just paying for the food when you go out to eat, you are paying for the experience to be waited on. To not have to pour your own drinks, cook your own food, set your own table, and clean up afterwards.

 

[Diddy_King]

$5 is what I usually give, but sometimes it feels a little low. What's your recommendation a tip for good service should be?

$5 dollars isn't bad, depending on how much you generally spend when you go out to eat. If you order a burger and fries $5 is usually a large percentage of whatever that meal cost you. Even if you order a steak, $5 is generally a decent tip. If you have 10 people dining with you, you pay for the entire ticket and leave a $5...well as you can see that's a very small percentage of the bill. It all depends on where you live, what the norm for tipping is, etc. In America tips are usually more expected, whereas outside of the country many places don't really use the tip system. If you live in the states, or in a place where tips are expected then 15% is the norm for a tip. If you feel like giving more, fantastic. If you don't think the waiter/waitress earned that then that's your priority too. If I do a poor job taking care of a customer and I know I did, I don't expect a tip. I am fine with that and I'll try not to screw up again on my next table (apologizing the entire time to my customer...though it's been a long time since I've made any real mistakes as I've been doing this over a year now).

 

[irishdelinquent]

I love how you mentioned the movie Waiting; you get an automatic tip from me for that!

Spoiler: Here you go

As a former waiter, I can empathize with your pain. I worked in a retirement home, and I can honestly say that some of the folks in there were the most crotchety people I have ever met. They were incredibly demanding. They were hard to serve, since they all had specific tastes and we had a fixed daily menu. They sometimes smelled, they were hard to understand at times, and they liked to keep the temperature of the dining room at 10 degrees below the sun!

...and yet I loved my job. I was paid a decent hourly wage, and was literally not allowed to accept tips from the residents. I worked my ass off at that job, and the managers (mostly) treated me very well as a result. Hell, when I was leaving to go back to college, they literally begged me to stay. I was always cheerful, helpful, and tried my best to make the old duffers' days a little more enjoyable. Yeah, it sucked that we couldn't take tips (sometimes the residents would secretly find a way to give us some though) but I still took pride in what I did. Even though "tips" usually consisted of chocolates or candy (although when we worked holidays the residents tended to give us their leftover booze ) I still thanked them greatly for it (and usually I would try my best to respectfully decline).

As for when I go to a restaurant, my tipping habits are based on variables. If I'm at a buffet, I tend to tip less than normal, or sometimes I don't tip. My logic there is that I don't really have a waiter, I have someone who clears plates and refills drinks. It sounds terrible, and it probably is, but that's just how I feel. At a regular restaurant, I try and tip at least 15%, but if I don't it's usually simply based on a lack of funds. I very rarely stiff a waiter intentionally.