I generally tip about 20% for good service. If it leaves an odd amount of change, I'll round up to the next whole dollar for satisfactory service, and leave off the change for minimal to adequate service that was less impressive. I consider my approach to be easy math: move the decimal point to the left one spot, double it, and then round it to a whole dollar. So, a $25 bill goes like this: $2.50 is 10%; $2.50 X 2=$5.00; and the tip will be $5.00 for minimal to adequate/$6.00 for going above and beyond the call of duty.
I refuse to tip for bad service, period. Consider yourself lucky that I've decided not to complain to management about it. Earn it, and you'll get it from me. I'm also one of those people who has a problem with a manadatory gratuity being added to the bill. Tipping is totally given at my discretion when I'm paying the bill, and I think I'm a very reasonable person, maybe even a little lenient, when it comes to deciding how satisfactory the service is.
I think there've only been two waitresses I've stiffed on the tip in my entire life. Both of them were horrible servers, so I didn't feel obligated to leave so much as a token tip.
One was at some little mom-and-pop cafe in a small town near my hometown. The waitress spent more time sitting in a nearby booth chatting with a couple of old farts and chain smoking cigarettes than she did waiting tables. The only times she even visited my table was to take my order, bring me my drink while I waited for my order, then when she brought out my food. That was it, no offer to refill my drink or ask if I needed anything else at least once after I've had a chance to sample my food. She never checked on me again, never brought a bill to the table, and never even bothered to get off her butt when I walked to the cash register to indicate that I wanted to pay. I stood there looking right at her, and she just kept sitting. One of the cooks happened to see me, so she came up from the kitchen to ring me up. Needless to say, I never went back, and laughed when I saw the cafe was closed a couple of months later. Gee, I wonder why if the service never got any better than that!
Then, there is this one clueless waitress at the local IHOP. I don't know how she's kept her job this long. There have been three occasions on which I visited IHOP to get stuck with this particular waitress, and her service has been horrible each time. The only reason I go back to IHOP still is because I do like the food, and they do have a couple of really good servers who are regular customers at my c-store. The other IHOP servers who are good at their job already know that I tip more generously with them because I know them.
One morning, I waited 20 minutes after being seated, and the place was dead. I was the only customer in the entire restaurant. She asked me what I'd like to drink, and I told her coffee. She walked past my table without saying a word several times. I finally asked about the coffee I'd ordered after about five minutes. She said she'd bring it right out. Another 15 minutes passed, and I still was waiting for my coffee, so I just left.
Another time, a coworker and I had gotten off work at 7 a.m., and we decided to go to IHOP. We got the same waitress, but she got my coworker's drink order wrong. He asked for iced tea, I ordered coffee. She comes back with two coffee cups. Our orders took forever for no more business than they had, and my eggs were cold by the time we finally got our order. I left no tip because I remembered her service on the previous visit, too. My friend actually wrote a note on the back of his receipt and left it on the table, "Here's your tip for today, work harder!"
Then, another time, my wife and I went out to dinner with some friends after church one Thursday evening. They wanted to go to IHOP. Guess who we got for a waitress? Yep! I was nice, but I just thought you had to be kidding me. I don't think she remembered me, but I never made a scene those other visits. I just paid and left without tipping. She got the orders all wrong, and another waiter had to help her straighten the mess out. The husband of the other couple was about to lose his temper because his order was wrong when the waitress brought it back a second time. I ended up giving our portion of the tip to the waiter who saved the day. I told him about my previous experiences with this waitress. He didn't say much, I assume out of professional courtesy, but he didn't seem all that surprised.
Honestly, I wish I was making all of that up. I mean, how did this woman keep her job all this time? I'm to the point that I ask who's working when they seat me, and I request any other server if this woman is working. I just simply explain to whoever is the hostess that I've had bad experiences with this particular server on several separate occasions, and prefer not to be served by her. When I get the puzzled look from the hostess on duty, I always just say that I'm too nice to complain to management because IHOP's food is good and the other servers have always been good, so I don't want to rock the boat for them.
The bottom line is that I'm low-maintenance and lenient type of customer, but I still have expectations if I'm going to leave a good tip. Bad service equals no tip.
I refuse to tip for bad service, period. Consider yourself lucky that I've decided not to complain to management about it. Earn it, and you'll get it from me. I'm also one of those people who has a problem with a manadatory gratuity being added to the bill. Tipping is totally given at my discretion when I'm paying the bill, and I think I'm a very reasonable person, maybe even a little lenient, when it comes to deciding how satisfactory the service is.
I think there've only been two waitresses I've stiffed on the tip in my entire life. Both of them were horrible servers, so I didn't feel obligated to leave so much as a token tip.
One was at some little mom-and-pop cafe in a small town near my hometown. The waitress spent more time sitting in a nearby booth chatting with a couple of old farts and chain smoking cigarettes than she did waiting tables. The only times she even visited my table was to take my order, bring me my drink while I waited for my order, then when she brought out my food. That was it, no offer to refill my drink or ask if I needed anything else at least once after I've had a chance to sample my food. She never checked on me again, never brought a bill to the table, and never even bothered to get off her butt when I walked to the cash register to indicate that I wanted to pay. I stood there looking right at her, and she just kept sitting. One of the cooks happened to see me, so she came up from the kitchen to ring me up. Needless to say, I never went back, and laughed when I saw the cafe was closed a couple of months later. Gee, I wonder why if the service never got any better than that!
Then, there is this one clueless waitress at the local IHOP. I don't know how she's kept her job this long. There have been three occasions on which I visited IHOP to get stuck with this particular waitress, and her service has been horrible each time. The only reason I go back to IHOP still is because I do like the food, and they do have a couple of really good servers who are regular customers at my c-store. The other IHOP servers who are good at their job already know that I tip more generously with them because I know them.
One morning, I waited 20 minutes after being seated, and the place was dead. I was the only customer in the entire restaurant. She asked me what I'd like to drink, and I told her coffee. She walked past my table without saying a word several times. I finally asked about the coffee I'd ordered after about five minutes. She said she'd bring it right out. Another 15 minutes passed, and I still was waiting for my coffee, so I just left.
Another time, a coworker and I had gotten off work at 7 a.m., and we decided to go to IHOP. We got the same waitress, but she got my coworker's drink order wrong. He asked for iced tea, I ordered coffee. She comes back with two coffee cups. Our orders took forever for no more business than they had, and my eggs were cold by the time we finally got our order. I left no tip because I remembered her service on the previous visit, too. My friend actually wrote a note on the back of his receipt and left it on the table, "Here's your tip for today, work harder!"
Then, another time, my wife and I went out to dinner with some friends after church one Thursday evening. They wanted to go to IHOP. Guess who we got for a waitress? Yep! I was nice, but I just thought you had to be kidding me. I don't think she remembered me, but I never made a scene those other visits. I just paid and left without tipping. She got the orders all wrong, and another waiter had to help her straighten the mess out. The husband of the other couple was about to lose his temper because his order was wrong when the waitress brought it back a second time. I ended up giving our portion of the tip to the waiter who saved the day. I told him about my previous experiences with this waitress. He didn't say much, I assume out of professional courtesy, but he didn't seem all that surprised.
Honestly, I wish I was making all of that up. I mean, how did this woman keep her job all this time? I'm to the point that I ask who's working when they seat me, and I request any other server if this woman is working. I just simply explain to whoever is the hostess that I've had bad experiences with this particular server on several separate occasions, and prefer not to be served by her. When I get the puzzled look from the hostess on duty, I always just say that I'm too nice to complain to management because IHOP's food is good and the other servers have always been good, so I don't want to rock the boat for them.
The bottom line is that I'm low-maintenance and lenient type of customer, but I still have expectations if I'm going to leave a good tip. Bad service equals no tip.
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