a chef of nine years that considers the wait staff's job to consist solely of "carrying plates 20 feet"
your staff must've fucking loved your ass.
your staff must've fucking loved your ass.
Tipping Etiquette
- Thread starter thiosk
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Its not. A tip is sort of a thing that encourages good service. Anyone who leaves a tip because they feel obligated to do so obviously doesn't understand the system. No one is every obligated to leave a tip. I have a friend who works as a waiter and he doesn't expect a tip, regardless of his service. He does his job and does it well. Just because of that, some people feel the need to give him some extra money as a thank you.Azure-Supernova said:
For other jobs, I believe if they get payed below minimum wage that means they're working there part-time. I think minimum wage applies only to full-time jobs. Not 100% sure on that though. Things might have changed since I last had a job, which was about a year and a half ago, and it was full-time, so I got minimum wage.NightmareLuna said:
I think a tip should only be given if you excel at your job. Just doing an assigned task isn't enough. That is your JOB. It should really only be given to someone who goes beyond the base level of what they have to do the more they excel, the more they get. Going over 15% is a no no.
States without a minimum wage default to the national minimum wage. Service industry minimum wage is lower than the standard, because the difference is expected to be made up in tips.
Every single state has to meet or exceed the national minimum wage on both fronts, but can have a higher minimum wage.
Yes, it's a broken system, and I don't agree with it, but until it gets fixed, I'm not about to stiff the person busting their ass for low pay.
As to the original point: In those type of mostly self-serve places, I don't tip.
Every single state has to meet or exceed the national minimum wage on both fronts, but can have a higher minimum wage.
Yes, it's a broken system, and I don't agree with it, but until it gets fixed, I'm not about to stiff the person busting their ass for low pay.
As to the original point: In those type of mostly self-serve places, I don't tip.
As stated previously, in the states waiters/waitresses make a lower minimum wage than every other job out there. It's a draconian and broken system, but tipping is expected as part of their pay, and it's seen as very poor form not to do so here.Matthew94 said:
I keep a card in my wallet that gives the 15 or 20% tip amount depending on the bills dollar amount [I round up or down depending on change value]. Most places I will give the 15% amount but for the occasionally slightly nicer restaurant I'll go the extra bit for 20%. Another factor of which level I choose and on occasion if I give a little extra amount is how well the service was, primarily from the waiter/waitress but also just over all; was the greeter/host person polite and efficient getting me and others their tables, is the restaurant and in particular the table clean, how long it took for the food to arrive and how good it was. Depending on how I feel in regards to these I may leave a few extra dollars if I have them or charge a larger tip amount if using a card. Overall on a good night I tend to give a little bit more than what the 20% would be.
kortin said:
A quick Google informed me that only Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee are the only states that do not adhere to this law, but the federal law preempts that. Out of those five only Tennessee isn't covered by a promised wage law. So yeah, if you rely on tips in Tennessee then you're fucked.
Banks: wouldn't that actually be illegal? seems like it would lead to conflicts of interests.Matthew94 said:
Shops: lots of shops have tip jars, and that's usually where my change ends up.
Hospitals: Being form the land of free health care, it's not really applicable for me.
---
I'm not going to defend the fairness of which jobs deserve tips and which don't, I agree that it's very arbitrary.
that being said, using that as an excuse not to tip someone in a position that custom dictates is tip-worthy is pretty lame.
and again, only really works for Steve Buscemi.
One summer I worked as a delivery guy and it truly sucks getting stiffed on a tip. That's how waiters and delivery people make their money. I think one of my waiter friends told me once that he made HALF of minimum wage regardless of how many hours a day he worked.
We used to run lunch specials for $4.95 after tax, and more often than not I would get stared down until I fished a nickel out to give the customer. It was either that or I'd get checks written to the restaurant with no tip included. It was a small, local restaurant so we didn't have a set delivery charge or figure tip into the overall bill. We trusted the generosity of the customers. I was hoping during this summer I could make enough to trade in my truck and get something more gas efficient. Because I kept getting stiffed on tips, and my paycheck was set at a specific level, I still drive a truck that doesn't get good gas mileage (because it's already paid off) and have to put more money in gas every week. There were days I'd work a full day, open to close, and walk out with $44 (all day work is 2 shifts totaling 12 hours for $20 a shift. That equals around $3.34 an hour) because people would stiff me on tips. I barely made enough money to keep gas in my truck let alone buy another vehicle.
Anecdotal example aside, I personally don't see why waiters and servers get paid as little as they do. Anyone who's worked in a restaurant can tell you horror stories of customers, bosses, other co-workers, so I try to take all of that into consideration when I tip someone. I've also looked at it as "how much of a convenience is it for me that this person has this job and is doing this for me?" How much do I value not having to think about if my drink is low? How much do I value being able to stay at home during the game while the pizza guy brings me dinner? How much do I value empty plates being taken away so they don't clutter the table?
It all varies from place to place. And there is something to be said about the attitude of the waiter/waitress as well. Friendliness gets you more of a tip from me than being pissed about your job. I'm a big fan of rounding as well. If the "tip percentage" gives me some asinine number for the change, I round it up.
So I guess to wrap it up, while I don't think there is a set percentage people should tip waiters, I do think some common sense has to come into play. If a waiter serves a table of 6 who complain and rack up a sizable bill that person deserves more than a $2 tip. The longer you occupy a waiter's time, the more you should tip them. The longer you sit at one table, the more you limit the amount of turnover that table can see.
This is all under the pretense of course that the waiter is not a colossal asshole or doesn't spill anything on anyone.
EDIT: I live in South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach (one of the biggest tourist spots in the state) and it sucks balls to work in the service industry around here. Often times you can ask a waiter what OTHER job they have and get an answer other than "this is my only one." Locals around here don't have the disposable income to tip well, and it's very apparent how people from other areas view southerners based on how well they tip (this is not a "set it stone, always how it is" statement so please don't read it as such).
I saw a northern couple one time leave a $5 tip after sitting at one table for 2.5 hours and racking up a bill of well over $100 and they debated as they left about whether or not it was "too much." The wife justified it by saying "that's a lot of money to them." I felt so bad for the waitress who worked that table because she worked hard to make sure they were happy and got almost nothing to show for it.
We used to run lunch specials for $4.95 after tax, and more often than not I would get stared down until I fished a nickel out to give the customer. It was either that or I'd get checks written to the restaurant with no tip included. It was a small, local restaurant so we didn't have a set delivery charge or figure tip into the overall bill. We trusted the generosity of the customers. I was hoping during this summer I could make enough to trade in my truck and get something more gas efficient. Because I kept getting stiffed on tips, and my paycheck was set at a specific level, I still drive a truck that doesn't get good gas mileage (because it's already paid off) and have to put more money in gas every week. There were days I'd work a full day, open to close, and walk out with $44 (all day work is 2 shifts totaling 12 hours for $20 a shift. That equals around $3.34 an hour) because people would stiff me on tips. I barely made enough money to keep gas in my truck let alone buy another vehicle.
Anecdotal example aside, I personally don't see why waiters and servers get paid as little as they do. Anyone who's worked in a restaurant can tell you horror stories of customers, bosses, other co-workers, so I try to take all of that into consideration when I tip someone. I've also looked at it as "how much of a convenience is it for me that this person has this job and is doing this for me?" How much do I value not having to think about if my drink is low? How much do I value being able to stay at home during the game while the pizza guy brings me dinner? How much do I value empty plates being taken away so they don't clutter the table?
It all varies from place to place. And there is something to be said about the attitude of the waiter/waitress as well. Friendliness gets you more of a tip from me than being pissed about your job. I'm a big fan of rounding as well. If the "tip percentage" gives me some asinine number for the change, I round it up.
So I guess to wrap it up, while I don't think there is a set percentage people should tip waiters, I do think some common sense has to come into play. If a waiter serves a table of 6 who complain and rack up a sizable bill that person deserves more than a $2 tip. The longer you occupy a waiter's time, the more you should tip them. The longer you sit at one table, the more you limit the amount of turnover that table can see.
This is all under the pretense of course that the waiter is not a colossal asshole or doesn't spill anything on anyone.
EDIT: I live in South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach (one of the biggest tourist spots in the state) and it sucks balls to work in the service industry around here. Often times you can ask a waiter what OTHER job they have and get an answer other than "this is my only one." Locals around here don't have the disposable income to tip well, and it's very apparent how people from other areas view southerners based on how well they tip (this is not a "set it stone, always how it is" statement so please don't read it as such).
I saw a northern couple one time leave a $5 tip after sitting at one table for 2.5 hours and racking up a bill of well over $100 and they debated as they left about whether or not it was "too much." The wife justified it by saying "that's a lot of money to them." I felt so bad for the waitress who worked that table because she worked hard to make sure they were happy and got almost nothing to show for it.
I know a place like that, very awesome deli style place called McAlisters, but anyway I don't usually leave a tip when I eat there. If the service is really over the I will leave a couple of dollars, or 2 cents if it's crap. I think one of them said they get paid regular wages.thiosk said:
Some people here don't like 4chan and want their own discussion.Akio91 said:
OT: England here, we don't really tip. Only time I have is when I had a pretty awesome level of service
Edit: I really didn't have any idea how bad it was over in America. Your system is really quite broken.
I don't know the law exactly, I'm just telling you what I know based on my experiences with working in restaurants and talking with a lot of friends who do as well.Matthew94 said:
In most cases, tips are factored in as part of a salary. I've seen owners entice unsuspecting applicants with "Waiters only make this, but you keep 100% of the tips you make, and there's no cap on what you can make in a night. You can make as much as $300 a night" and their eyes light up. While this is technically possible, it's unlikely. And the applicant will jump at the opportunity because to someone in the position of applying to be a server (generally speaking of course) that kind of statement sounds like a gold mine.
But as I understand things to be, as long as the tips that person makes plus whatever the restaurant is paying them equals minimum wage then it's not illegal. However, because tips come in cash, it's incredibly fluid and difficult to make any set plans when a large portion of your income fluctuates from one day to the next. Some restaurants who don't see a lot of business will pay someone closer to minimum wage because they know the tips that will come in won't balance it out if they do.
I was a bartender for a while, and tips were typically needed. Up here in Canada, if you're part of the food service industry, it is legal to give people under minimum wage to a certain extent, so you count on tips.
Anyway, I could see very large tips on some days and small to no tips on others. Nobody wanted to work dollar draft day because normally you didn't get any tips at all, unless someone paid you at the end.
Biggest one I've seen- I was paid/tipped $100 to give a guy precedence when serving people. This happened only once though. Normally I made about 40-50 dollars in tips.
OT: It depends on the restaurant, and the quality of the service. If it's mediocre it's normally around %10, good- %15, amazing will be %15 tip plus another %5 right to the server. If they're really chatty and they miss my cues telling them to buzz off, it's 2 pennies.
Anyway, I could see very large tips on some days and small to no tips on others. Nobody wanted to work dollar draft day because normally you didn't get any tips at all, unless someone paid you at the end.
Biggest one I've seen- I was paid/tipped $100 to give a guy precedence when serving people. This happened only once though. Normally I made about 40-50 dollars in tips.
OT: It depends on the restaurant, and the quality of the service. If it's mediocre it's normally around %10, good- %15, amazing will be %15 tip plus another %5 right to the server. If they're really chatty and they miss my cues telling them to buzz off, it's 2 pennies.
>trying to green textAkio91 said:
>only works on 4chan
>/v/ is the vidya board
OT
how much you feel like tipping but also the service you get
for example if you get a cold pizza in a busted box don,t
It sure CAN be the server's fault if the food isn't cooked correctly:Jodah said:
1. They can put in the order wrong into the computer such as "Medium Rare" instead of "Medium well."
2. They can BRING out something obviously cooked wrong such as if bacon isn't covered up by anything if the person ordered it EXTRA CRISPY, but appears limp, it's YOUR SERVER'S FAULT FOR SERVING THAT TO YOU. Same thing with times I have asked for fries not overdone, yellow not brown, what do some stupid servers do, BRING them BROWN to me very OVERDONE.
http://www.bunrab.com/dailyfeed/dailyfeed_images_feb-07/df07_02-04_baconn.jpg
You can tell in this picture above the bacon is very crispy just by simply LOOKING at it.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vv2IGE5obwk/RwVi-0hZziI/AAAAAAAABjc/m6bP-Te_wJE/s320/IMG_8338.jpg
You can tell in this picture above, the bacon is NOT CRISPY, just by simple LOOKING at the bacon.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DzuAhw_RcXU/TAyZ38A67EI/AAAAAAAAALo/R6zLKIKy1do/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG
You can clearly see the fries are overdone in the picture above if the customer ordered them "NOT OVERDONE, lightly cooked." I would REFUSE to serve this plate if the customer ordered the fries not overdone.
http://www.orthogonalthought.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/dsc_6087_550.jpg
In this picture above, you can see the fries don't appear overdone and the bacon is NOT CRISPY. If a customer asked for their bacon to be crispy, I would REFUSE to serve it and I would have enough CARING and COMMON SENSE to get that fixed **BEFORE** I brought it to the customer only to have the customer send it back or leave me a bad tip for not caring about their food.
If another server is involved, if the original server that took the order put the order in correctly, then these issues would be on the other server, not on the kitchen staff for not noticing them BEFORE leaving the kitchen by comparing the ticket to the food.
Cold food is most of the time NOT your server's fault. Once, my husband had a chicken sandwich that the chicken felt like it was from the *FREEZER*, NOT cool, but LITERALLY COLD. Do you expect your server to TOUCH YOUR FOOD? I didn't think so.Jodah said:
Another time, I had a bowl of bisque that came out extremely fast that I ordered when greeted even before we ordered our entrées even, I had to send back, because it wasn't WARMED UP ENOUGH.
I will say SOMETIMES it can be your server's fault if they leave your food sit. I am just saying you aren't thinking about MOST of the time that it's NOT the server's fault why your food is cold is all.
Two clicks from the link you provided.
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
And I quote
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
And I quote
Monkeyman O said:
If it is cooked right but sits for awhile you can tell. In your example that is a problem with the cook. The cook didn't cook it all the way. If, however, the chicken wasn't frozen but was just cold/room temperature when it should be hot that is the server's fault for letting it sit.Springs1 said:
Cold food is not the same as under cooked food.