Tips.........

[magyar123]

Several months ago there was an article that waiters/waitresses groups are pushing restaurants into automatically adding a 20 % surcharge to the meals as tips, as they contend that a lot of customers do not leave a tip.
Why should I be "punished" if I have to wait 5 or more minutes to be seated, wait another 5 minutes for them to ask me what I want to drink, wait another 5 minutes for them to bring a menu, and being asked every 30 or so seconds if I have decided yet.
And after eating wait another 5 to 10 minutes until I get a bill.
Supermarket baggers are more worthy of a tip, especially if they help you out to your car sometimes in 100 degree heat or bone chilling cold.

[lrprn]

Why should I be "punished" if I have to wait 5 or more minutes to be seated, wait another 5 minutes for them to ask me what I want to drink, wait another 5 minutes for them to bring a menu, and being asked every 30 or so seconds if I have decided yet.

Just to play devil's advocate....why should the waitress be punished with no tip if the owner won't hire enough help to ensure speedy service or the kitchen is so slow that meals take longer than they should to come out?

Most waitresses make $2-$3/hour base, so they depend on tips to raise them up to the minimum wage so they can pay for basic living expenses like paying rent and buying food.

No one gets rich waiting tables. My daughter waited tables for five years while she went to school. She saw a big change over those five years - fewer tips for less money overall. I believe it's a sign of the financial hard times in this country.

And btw, when I get bad service and can see it really is the waitress's fault, then I leave a very small tip so the waiter/waitress knows I meant to do it. Leaving nothing allows them to think I just overlooked it.

[SinkingFast]

Having a daughter working as a waitress, I am learning way more about this than I really cared to know.

Waiters and Waitresses are not paid minimum wage like the bag boy at the grocery store is.

Daughter is paid $2.38/hour plus tips. At the end of her shift, she HAS to tip out the bus boy, who makes minimum wage, 15% of her tips. She is automatically taxed for tips on 8% of her gross receipts whether she actually received a penny in tips or not.

And while you're sitting there patiently and nicely trying to enjoy your dinner,........... Your waiter or waitress could be working other tables with "Guests from Hell". Special orders. Substitutions. You name it.

Daughter said the other night, one of her coworkers had a Guest eat about 2/3'ds of his dinner. Then he sent it back to the kitchen saying the food wasn't good. He wanted full credit for the meal. Basically trying to walk out of the restaurant will a full stomach while spending no money. Daughter comes home from every shift with some similar type of story.

Plus, the wait staff refills salt, pepper, and other condiments that go on the table. Rolls silverware and napkins for the next big meal rush. Many other little details jobs that people don't think about. Not to mention cram in a trip to the bathroom when they can catch a minute.

Next time you're in a sit down restaurant, take some time to observe your wait staff person. See what all they are dealing with. It's really a tough job that takes a talented person to make look smooth and effortless.

[HeatherB]

Not fun sometimes

My mother waitressed for a while and told me that she would get a group of people who came in all the time and not tip well. She said they would take their glass (half full) and tip it upside-down on top of a quarter. Then, when she'd go to clean up the table, the water would pour everywhere when she picked up the glass. I think that's shitty.

While I don't agree to having the 20% automatically added on to my dinner bill, I do see their point. My husband worked delivering pizzas for a while and said that the 1st and 15th were the worst days of the month due to people not tipping. I guess a lot of people on welfare decide to buy pizzas??

Anyway, I always try to leave a nice tip. I have seen people be just plain aholes to waitresses and waitors, though. I see it from both sides.

[Minnymouth]

Yep, there's always sides to each situtation......... and I have been both the waitress and the customer...........

Both can be a "pain in the butt".............

[BKOnce]

Before :: Tips are luxury, generous, & gifts...

Now :: Tips are necessity, must, & fees for survival ...

[BKOnce]

While I don't agree to having the 20% automatically added on to my dinner bill, I do see their point. My husband worked delivering pizzas for a while and said that the 1st and 15th were the worst days of the month due to people not tipping. I guess a lot of people on welfare decide to buy pizzas??

Well, Maybe 1 & 15 are the only payday loans they need to take care of ...

[AMISLANDER]

My boyfriend used to bartend for his family's bar/restaurant as well as wait tables.

The business has all changed, like everything else in life, except for the pay scale...still that damn $2.38. If you wait tables and don't work fine dining, forget about it. The tips are just not there.

It is a sign of the times & a lot of people just don't know about what servers REALLY get paid. Not enough for dealing with the substituters, complainers, not cooked enoughers & Sneaking a free mealers....not to mention your co-workers & managers.

It is a business where employees tend to drink/drug....unless you open or do lunch, you don't have to be in till 4:30 p.m....(down side of the business).

My boyfriend worked fine dining with the cheapest tabs around $75.00....at 20%, he made $14 on that tab, and he's good at it...can take an order for a 12 top without writing anything down...but again, these days....even "season" in Florida doesn't make you the same $ as a server it used to...people are battening down the hatches on their money. Just think of how many tables you need to make $100 in tips for the night...and do them right?!

I think it would be good to be able to type at this time and point, if you've been waiting tables.

[JollyGG]

The business has all changed, like everything else in life, except for the pay scale...still that damn $2.38. If you wait tables and don't work fine dining, forget about it. The tips are just not there.

I waited tables one summer right out of college (2000). My mom couldn't believe it when I told her what my base pay was. It was no more than she made waitressing 20 years earlier. (I think it was under $2/hour)
Plus I worked for one of those owners who never staffed appropriately for the Sunday after church crowd, which was the shift I worked.
Once tips were added in I usually made barely over minimum wage.
Since I've waitressed before I tend to be a better tipper (plus, mom taught us to tip well). However, if a waitress is just horrible and it is the waitress not the kitchen or a busy shift I am a bit more critical since I know what the bare minimum that should be acceptable is.

Reminder to everyone out there - you signal your waitress you are ready to order by putting down your menu. Once all the menus are down you waitress knows he/she can come and get your order. If people would consistently do this waitresses wouldn't have to ask every thirty seconds if you are ready to order or not. There were so many times that I would be working and half the table still had their menus up looking at them, however they are waving at me impatient because I haven't taken their order yet. After enough times you stop expecting people to know how to signal they are ready and you start asking everyone if they are ready to order.

[HHM]

However, although I am sympathetic to the plight of the wait staff...when I was overseas, it was so nice NOT to tip.

Generally, I only tip 15% which is what I was brought up as understanding was the normal tip. So for me, 20% seems excessive.

[JollyGG]

Generally, I only tip 15% which is what I was brought up as understanding was the normal tip. So for me, 20% seems excessive.

I think it has gone up to 20% due to the fact that wait staff base salaries have not increased.

Personally I think wait staff should get minimum wage and then tips or lack thereoff can go back to being a sign of poor, acceptable, or good service. I would much rather see that than a tip added automatically to my bill.

[JollyGG]

Supermarket baggers are more worthy of a tip, especially if they help you out to your car sometimes in 100 degree heat or bone chilling cold.

Check your supermarket policy but if they don't have a policy against. Definatelly tip your bagger, expecially in 100 degree heat or bone chilling cold.

[Minnymouth]

Adding that 20% to your bill for a "tip" is THAT COMPANIES way of making up enough money so that their employee will make minimum wage.... SO REALLY, you are NOT TIPPING, you are paying the salary for the company where you are eating.

NOW - does the $3.00 delivery fee they charge to deliver food (pizza, etc) go to the driver for gas for his vehicle he uses, OR does the company collect it as an extra BONUS for them for delivering your food????

[Granny]

My percentage of the tip varies with the price of the meal. If I am by myself and the bill is less than 15.00, I tip at least 30%, usually more and then round it up to the next whole dollar. If everyone goes, including hubby, who can run a bill up with a couple of beers, I tip more like 20%. but still round it up to the next dollar.

My "wild child" was a waitress for several years, and when she saw the tips I was leaving, she stated that she wished she could be my server.

Since I often frequent the same establishments over and over, the wait staff gets to know me, they know I tip well and I get good service, no matter how busy they are.

[Minnymouth]

OH YEAH, BELIEVE ME - THEY KNOW WHO THE GOOD TIPPERS ARE!!!

And yes, it's worth it!!