How Well Do You Tip?

[Texas Star]

In my topic about the snake venom-milking article, Snapping Twig mentioned the need to tip one's server in restaurants. I found out that servers make about $2.30 an hour, and the rest of their income has to come from tips.

I do have preferred waitresses at the two restaurants where I most often eat, and they take good care of me. I always tip them more than the 20% that is the upper limit for most diners.

In one of David Lindsey's excellent detective novels, the author said a fair amount about one character's background and personality when he noted that this individual always tipped two quarters, regardless of the price of the meal, even if he picked up the tab for his detectives. (The guy was a Homicide Lt.) This so embarrassed one of his sleuths that the man slipped a few dollars under his plate to make up the difference. (This guy was independently well off, the result of an inheritance.)

Waitresses tell me that the tightest tippers are people attending religious conventions. Somehow, that didn't surprise me. But any group can prove to be tight-fisted. One table of about 15 people ran up a bill of several hundred dollars and left a five buck tip.

I do believe in leaving a poor tip, if warranted. The origin of the term "tip" was to abbreviate To Insure Promptness in old English pubs.

How well do you tip? Do you have preferred servers at regular retaurants by whom you do especially well? or do you resent having to pay a tip as well as the price of the meal, like my late mother did? Or do you think the normal suggested range of 15-20% of the bill is about right?

T-Star

 

[bamabiker]

Great service = more than 20%
Good service = 15 to 20%
Bad service = a quarter

 

[Matt C.]

I tip very well especially at my regular haunts.
I don't tolerate bad/poor service and address it immediately if necessary.

 

[GKC]

Philosophically, I don't like the concept of tipping...because a server should give you good service as part of doing their job. However, in reality, since they are not paid a full wage, it is actually not fair to the server not to tip them, so I do.

I usually give 20% if the service has been satisfactory. I might give more if it has really been stellar...and I give less or nothing if the service has been poor. If the service is poor, I also let the manager know. What I resent is the restaurant automatically adding a gratuity to your check. That should be my decision.

When we eat at a self-service restaurant (buffets, etc) where the "servers" basically just refill your drink I still leave a couple of dollars.

One of my sons is a manager at a Sonic drive-in...and he told me that they recently reduced the car hops' wages to less than minimum, because they get tips. (It wasn't his decision...a corporation owns a chain of several Sonics, and they decreed it.) I don't know if this is the case at all Sonics or not...but now I give the car hop a couple of dollars as well.

It seems to me that tipping is getting out of hand. How many of you tip a cab driver? Your mail man? A bell man or maid at a hotel? And so on... It just seems like everyone is looking for more than their wage...which I can understand if their wages are reduced to offset the potential of tips...but where did just earning your wage go?

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I've been tipped several times I used to be embarrassed, but I've come to realize that it is a real expression of gratitude from clients.
Either that or I didn't charge enough

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

Providing the service is good, the server is polite, 20-25% seems to be what I tip on a dinner order. Lunch, usually more because the tab total is generally smaller and 25% wouldn't be much to say thank you for good service, in this rotten economy. I do this whether I'm eating out locally, or travelling. Most of these folks work hard for their money, and as has already been pointed out, their hourly wage is sub minimus. I also don't believe in penalizing a server for unacceptable food by leaving a poor tip. In my opinion, when that rare situation arises, the issue is between the customer and the manager, host/hostess. I have no problem with the server if the food is delivered and they are courteous if I voice an objection to the quality or preparation of the cuisine and they make it right.

Snotty behavior is intolerable and I've straightened out a few rude waiters over the years, before departing and never returning to that particular eatery. Cause if I stayed after adjusting their attitude, I might discover something nasty "accidentally" found it's way into my meal.

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[Bob R]

If the service is poor, I also let the manager know.

Anybody can do that. If you really want to make someone's day, talk to the manager and tell them what a great time you had there, that the food was stellar, your service was second to none. I have had people from the kitchen brought out to personally thank them....you should see the way that will square sagging shoulders.

So don't just save the manager for when things go bad, also let them know when things go right.

bob

 

[wbraswell]

I'm about with you, but I never frequent a place enough to have a preferred waitress. Some places today, the help will round off your change to the nearest dollar. If it's in my favor, I will make sure their tip is adjusted accordingly. Likewise, if it's in their favor,(I hate this!) it will be adjusted. A while back, a buddy and mine went to a local Hooter's for Sunday lunch. Our waitress was new, clueless, and inattentive. She was too young to bring us beer and we ran dry during our appetizer and my buddy had finished his meal before they brought another one,(after we ordered one 3 more times) at which point he told the manager, who brought it, that he didn't want it now, he was finished. All the tip she got was the .15 she short changed me. I will never step in a Hooter's again.

 

[Marshwheeling]

I will normally tip somewhere in the neighborhood of 20%, sometimes a little under, depending on how my change works out. For excellent service I don't have a problem tipping more. There is one local place where I eat about six times a month with a group of 6-12 people. They know not to apply the house minimum of 18% tables of six or more because they know they will do better by giving us separate checks. I gather from our usual waitress that not everyone tips that well. She is always glad to see us, and to accommodate our sometimes demanding quirks.

My son and stepdaughter both work for tips and tip even more generously as a result. It is not unusual to see them leave tips of forty to fifty percent.

 

[GKC]

So don't just save the manager for when things go bad, also let them know when things go right.

I do that too...and I always note on the check whether the service was good or bad.

 

[Raider]

What Bamabiker said. One time my wife and I ate at Fajita Willies. The server who took our order and brought the meal was a young man. Toward the end of the meal we wanted more water but couldn't get the attention of our waiter who was busy trying talking and trying to score with two girls. No luck; he didn't come back to the table even once during the meal. I got the water myself and left him a 2 cent tip when we left. He went berserk and followed us out the door screaming about how cheap we were etc etc. I yelled back that he should have paid attention to us if he wanted a tip; now he could get his tip from the girls. He was no longer employed by Willies the next time we visited.

Charlie

 

[Raider]

On tipping, I have been told that some restaurants the servers are required to turn their tips which are placed in a pot that is divided equally among all the minimum wage employees at the end of the shift. That just doesn't seem right that the poor performers are rewarded equally with the great workers.

Charlie

 

[NFrameFred]

I see both sides of this one, having been raised by a mother who had at one time in her early life did such work and a daughter who helped put herself through college by waiting tables.

As a result of her time and the day in which she worked (early 1950's), my mother taught me good service to a paying customer is what should be expected and to tip accordingly when it was received.

And it is a shame to those of us who are persons of faith, but my daughter's experiences back up the notion that some of the tightest, most surly and demanding customers wander in just about the time the churches let out . . . . exactly opposite of what it should be if they are living in public what they were just professing 30 minutes prior. I actually heard one such clueless individual opine one time that "these 'people' should have been in church {like he was?} on Sunday anyway" - to which I replied that maybe they would be if they didn't have to earn a living by being there to serve such as him who wanted, expected, and demanded that someone be open at that time to serve him Sunday dinner. Strange, I don't believe we ever went out together again - can't imagine why . . . .

In a self serve buffet type restaurant, if the wait staff keeps the drinks topped off and drops by occasionally to make sure all is well I will leave at least a couple of bucks.

For standard "I'm don't want to be here - I'm just doing my job" service I leave 10 to 15%.

For someone who pays attention and services their areas/customers, anticipates needs and asks, and is personable/friendly enough - 20% or more.

I used to have some business sized cards that had a picture of a penny on it and the words "If the service had been better, the tip would have been bigger". I have rarely had occasion but have left one or two on the table under a penny. The wife did not care for the practice so I abandoned it. Instead I tend to give a heads up to manager or cashier that their wait staff could use some training and attitude adjustment.

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
I tip at least 20% no matter the service or food.
If the service or food is poor I do not return to the establishment.
(No I am not wealthy. Surviving on a disability pension)
Jimmy

 

[Sgt Preston]

Sgt Preston here...

I've seen this from both sides of the table...

My daughter "waited tables" when she was in college...

20% is my normal tip...

Hope this is helpful..!

Sgt Preston
USMC LLA

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

Anybody can do that. If you really want to make someone's day, talk to the manager and tell them what a great time you had there, that the food was stellar, your service was second to none. I have had people from the kitchen brought out to personally thank them....you should see the way that will square sagging shoulders.

So don't just save the manager for when things go bad, also let them know when things go right.

bob

Yes, and I agree with you entirely. Nearly 40 years ago, my late partner and I were building my camp in a very rural part of the country. We had no utilities and were working in very cold and rugged conditions. Dinner therefore, was greatly anticipated each evening. About 30 miles away, there was a wonderful family run joint where we would reserve a table in advance for the length of our stay, for dinners. The food was in fact outstanding in every respect, the service impeccable. At the end of each evening we would buy every waiter, waitress, cook, dishwasher and any other staff there, a beverage of their choice. At the end of our stay, we'd drop a $100.00 off in an envelope (that was at the time, a pretty good tip) to express our gratitude. In subsequent months, these folks treated us better than family. Kindness and appreciation can't be measured, but when it is returned, it's just as satisfying as any fine meal.

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[jeepjeepwhat]

I believe the argument that "they only make $2.50 an hour" is a horrible horrible argument. Why should it be my problem or obligation to make up someones hourly wage. THEY are the ones that agreed to take a job for $2.50/hr while running around on their feet all day. That is a big NOT MY PROBLEM.


If a possible employer told you, "hey you gonna be super busy your whole shift, carry heavy objects, deal with rude people, and we are only going to pay you $2.50/hr" what would you say? I'd say pound sand.

Don't get me wrong I still tip, but I don't feel obligated to a percentage, I tip what I feel is right.

 

[Erich]

I'm pleased to have been able to learn how to tip from my grandfather, who was a charming and well liked man. From 20% (normal service) on up - there's a couple of places that I always leave a ten (they always have treated me really well - sorta like Lefty describes), even if that's more than seventy percent of the base check. Always a buck for coffee, which is usually $2.62 after tax. That kind of thing. Might as well spread it around - nice to have people glad to see you (though an awful lot of that rides on your attitude, not on your tipping).

 

[Texas Star]

I'm about with you, but I never frequent a place enough to have a preferred waitress. Some places today, the help will round off your change to the nearest dollar. If it's in my favor, I will make sure their tip is adjusted accordingly. Likewise, if it's in their favor,(I hate this!) it will be adjusted. A while back, a buddy and mine went to a local Hooter's for Sunday lunch. Our waitress was new, clueless, and inattentive. She was too young to bring us beer and we ran dry during our appetizer and my buddy had finished his meal before they brought another one,(after we ordered one 3 more times) at which point he told the manager, who brought it, that he didn't want it now, he was finished. All the tip she got was the .15 she short changed me. I will never step in a Hooter's again.

I'm surprised that they hired a girl too young to serve beer.
The one place I asked about that said that they'll hire younger people as hostesses, but not as servers. State law.

I posted recently about a very pleasant experience in a Hooter's, so I guess their locations differ. I did eat in one a few years ago where I had a girl who clearly didn't see service as much of her job description and she seemed to dislike me. I asked for a different girl and got a very bright, attentive college student who was great fun and even hung around and talked when she wasn't busy. Maybe I was just lucky. The experience that radio personality Kim Stewart and I had a few weeks ago at the downtown Dallas Hooter's was quite positive. We even got another girl to photograph us with our waitress, who was very friendly and efficient.

If the girl shortchanged you, I wouldn't have tipped at all, and would probably point out why, especially in view of that girl's overall attitude.

Some restaurant chains, like Outback and Applebee's, ask for customer feedback. You can call the number on your bill or take an Online survey. The Outback survey rewards you by giving you a number to write down on your bill that you can exchange for a Bloomin' Onion appetizer on your next visit. Some managers may allow subbing a dessert. On that survey, there is a place for comments. Make those that you feel are warranted.

I do detest automatically adding a gratuity, and think it should be illegal.

T-Star

 

[thndrchiken]

I learned long ago about tipping when I worked at a Donkin' Donuts in my youth, I was a baker/finisher and when needed would work the counter to help the girls when it got busy. The rule of thumb was to split the tips evenly among all who worked the counter. When I found out how much they made and realized that I was making 3-4x what they did I told them to keep the tips unless I spent a good amount of time at the counter, but even then I would insist they prorate it for the amount of time I was out there. I.E. if I didn't work the counter the whole shift I would not take an even cut of the tips. Some of the girls would actually become insulted if I did not take something.