My First Waitress SCs

[akilika]

That makes sense, but they shouldn't make it so across the board. I HAVE followed guests out of the restaurant, but not for non-tipping....

"Ma'am? Ma'am? You forgot your purse! I figure it looks better on you than on me anyways."

They always appreciate that. Hey, I DID say I take pride in doing a good professional job, didn't I? I take care of my guests, damn it.

Oh, gosh, I didn't even think about that! I do that all the time, and didn't even think of the application to the rule . . . whoops. Well, I'll still doing it; it's only against the rules if someone complains, right?

[Jester]

Actually, you might want to ask your management about that one. Because I can see a dickweed manager applying that rule to get rid of employees that they didn't like. How many stories of bad managers have we seen on this site....would something like that REALLY surprise anyone?

[Dawnchaser]

I have seen a server follow a lousy tipper into the parking lot and call them on their lousy tip.

I can beat this...my group was actually chased about 2 blocks by a server who didn't like his tip

This was at a fairly nice place in downtown Portland, OR. No dress code there, though. We checked beforehand. Day trip from Eugene, last year about this time I believe. We'd already had a HORRIBLE day. (That has no bearing on the tip, but man this was the day from hell and the server just made it worse.)

We'd heard rave reviews about the food and service. Sadly, our waiter took it upon himself to judge us based on looks (a very tired, ragged group of 4) and decided that none of us could afford to tip. (For the record, tipping would not have been a problem at all - 3 of us regularly tip 15-25% several times a week.) He was snotty from the start...refused to take the whole order at once, drinks first ONLY, generally had a major attitude.

When the food came out it looked like something from Fear Factor. Fair enough; we experimented with foreign cuisine and lost. Our faults for not knowing. But the attitude continued and we could hardly get drink refills. He was all smiles and sunshine when he brought the bill.

My husband and I tipped 10% because it was a "nice" place and we REALLY hate to stiff waiters. And we thought maybe our bad day was coloring our perceptions. My friends did not tip - and I don't blame them.

This dude chased us down and proceeded to yell and berate us while at a crosswalk. We couldn't get away. He kept coming and I really thought I was going to have to fight him. (I was ready to go - I was already mad, LOL) He finally left. My friend called the restaurant and talked to the manager...had a free meal offered. We declined gracefully.

Dunno what happened to the guy. Guess it's the restaurant's problem if they kept him and he went psycho on anyone else. Gah.

[Jester]

I can beat this...my group was actually chased about 2 blocks by a server who didn't like his tip.

I've told this story before, but this seems like an appropriate time to repeat it.

My Uncle Harry was one of those old tough coots who would wear just pants, shoes, and an UNDERSHIRT outside in winter. In BOSTON. He was a great guy, not all that big, but tough as nails and didn't take guff from anyone.

He also was a 10%/20% tipper. He didn't bother with 15%. Good service received 20%. Subpar or worse received 10%....or worse.

One day he was out with his family and received subpar service, though it wasn't truly awful. He paid the bill and plunked down 10% as a tip, what he thought the server deserved.

As he and his family were leaving, the server came running out of the restaurant and right up to Uncle Harry, madder than all hell. "What's THIS?" he yelled at Harry, waving the tip in Harry's face. Harry didn't blink. He took the tip out of the server's hand, looked at it thoughtfully, then calmly asked the server, "You don't think this is an appropriate tip for the service we received?" The waiter sneered at Harry and said, "No, I DON'T."

"Then you get nothing." And with that Harry turned and walked away, pocketing the tip and not saying another word to the shocked (and now painfully educated) server.

I learned a lot from Uncle Harry.

[Javarod]

Tipping is so poor here in PHX that I've made waitresses ecstatic when I tip since its a minimum of 15% if we get alright service, and it goes up by quality, 25% is not unknown with me.

[Jester]

Once again, as a Zonie, I have to disagree with this. I worked in the East Valley for years, and made darn good money. As did/do many of my friends/former coworkers. Yes, there were cheap assholes (they're everywhere!), but to say the tips are lousy in Phoenix is just not correct. Perhaps certain PARTS of town suck for tipping, but the overall metro area? No.

[Seshat]

I know that; just thought I'd point out that some people don't tip loads cuz they can't afford it not cuz they're being mean. I'm sure there are people in America who are in my position, too. Why should I miss out on going out just cuz I'm not rolling in money?

You shouldn't - you should just go to cheaper places. Or pack a picnic and go eat in a park, or something.

Every culture needs to decide whether they're 'a tipping culture', 'a non-tipping culture', or a culture where some restaurants and bars are tipping and some aren't.

In a tipping culture, the cost of the service is not included in the cost of the food, the customers are expected to pay the server directly, and the customers indirectly drive the bad servers out of the industry and reward the good ones.
Customers who choose not to tip, for any reason, are rorting the system and getting something they've not paid for.

In a non-tipping culture, the cost of service is included in the cost of the food, customers can choose to reward exceptional service if they wish, and management is responsible for the quality of the servers they hire.
Customers can't rort the system and steal services in a non-tipping culture, as the cost of the service is factored into the menu.

In a some-each-way culture, either every restaurant/bar has a sign telling you which they are, or there's an accepted norm and signs indicate a deviation from the norm.

The overall cost of the trip out should be much the same, whether the culture is a tipping culture or not. The only difference is whether the customer is paying the server directly or indirectly.

My personal preference is for non-tipping, for a number of reasons. But the USA is not my culture, and it would be arrogant of me to expect another culture to follow my rules when I'm a guest there. My home culture is non-tipping, so I'm cool.

[Javarod]

Once again, as a Zonie, I have to disagree with this. I worked in the East Valley for years, and made darn good money. As did/do many of my friends/former coworkers. Yes, there were cheap assholes (they're everywhere!), but to say the tips are lousy in Phoenix is just not correct. Perhaps certain PARTS of town suck for tipping, but the overall metro area? No.

Either you're lucky or I'm not, in north Phoenix I delivered pizza, all over the valley I've driven a taxi, and now I deliver luggage Central Ave and points west (right out to the edge of the valley, or at least to Miller Rd so far), and I have never seen an are where the tips were this bad, and I don't do anything different than I did back in NJ.

[matty]

Sadly, our waiter took it upon himself to judge us based on looks (a very tired, ragged group of 4) and decided that none of us could afford to tip.

On the other hand, I once had a waitress "judge" me like this in a very friendly way. Let me explain...

I was 18 years old, had just moved out of home and into my own small flat maybe two or three months earlier. One night, perhaps a Monday or Tuesday (early in the week and quiet) I was walking around the neighborhood and saw a restaurant - I thought to myself "Hmmm, I might have a treat and eat dinner there tonight".

What I didn't actually know at the time was that this was one of my city's most famous (and expensive) restaurants. (Sheltered life?? )

So, I walked in and said hello. I didn't exactly looked scruffily dressed, but I was hardly wearing a suit either, and I definitely looked like I was only 18.

I looked around, and most of the tables were empty. The waitress said to me, in the friendliest way, "I'm sorry, but although the tables appear empty, we are actually expecting many reservations to arrive soon".

Now, at the time I took this at face value (and it may have been true). But I realise now that in all likelihood she was doing me a favour by saving me the embarrassment of realising too late how pricey the place was. On the one hand, sure, that's a bit "elitist", but I actually felt glad, and she was completely friendly about it.

[Jester]

But the USA is not my culture, and it would be arrogant of me to expect another culture to follow my rules when I'm a guest there.

That is a GREAT attitude, actually. Thank you. Now, if you could just educate your fellow countrymen/women for when they visit us, that would be fantastic....

Either you're lucky or I'm not, in north Phoenix I delivered pizza, all over the valley I've driven a taxi, and now I deliver luggage Central Ave and points west...

Ah, now that I can't comment on, as all my tipped jobs in Phoenix were in the food service industry. I never delivered pizza, drove a taxi, or delivered luggage. The only other job besides server that I had where I occasionally got tips was DJing weddings, and in that case, any tip I might have gotten was from the client, not from the wedding guests.

The waitress said to me, in the friendliest way, "I'm sorry, but although the tables appear empty, we are actually expecting many reservations to arrive soon".

Now, at the time I took this at face value (and it may have been true).

If the restaurant was that swanky, trust me, while she was being nice, she wasn't JUST being nice....they almost certainly had those tables taken by imminent reservations, even though they weren't there yet.

[Captain Kidd]

We do our best to keep food quality and delivery time out of the tip equation. I typically use 20% as my baseline and add or subtract as needs be.

I think I've only once left without tipping. The waitress in question was absolutely horrible. Sour attitude from the onset. First she took our drink orders and then forgot to bring the drinks. When they finally came, at least one was wrong. We had to ask multiple times for drink refills. (Not for multiple refills, just to get a refill.) The order was messed up (wrong food not bad food). It culminated with having to ask multiple times for the check (and they weren't that busy either, I spotted her cutting up with the other staff during one of the refill fiascoes). Add in a few other things and it was a nightmare.

I got chased by a waitress once demanding we tip her. I was sorely tempted to go back in, point it out to her, and then take a $1 or 2 out of it.

My mother-in-law has had really bad experience as a waitress. Here in the bible belt it seems the loonies come out on Sundays. More than once she's had people (usually little old ladies) tell her they're not going to tip because "you're not suppose to work on Sundays" or leave a pamphlet to that effect rather than a tip. Hello! Do they not see the hypocrisy of them going to a restaurant to eat and then complaining that there were people working there? She actually confronted one and ended up with the feeling that should they have a heart attack on a Sunday, they'd be telling the paramedics and hospital staff how they're going to hell for working on a Sunday as said hell-bound people are trying to save her life.

[Alpha Strike]

Don't Coldstone people have to sing if you tip at least a dollar? I would feel like a huuuuge jerk. "Here's a dollar to split between the 5 of you. Now sing, sing, monkey!"

Yes, yes they do. They'll actually sing even if you don't tip - maybe a way to justify the very high prices for the (admitedly quite tasty) icecream.

I've actually tipped them a couple times in the past when they were getting slammed and the employees were still friendly and quick. I did, however, specifically ask them NOT to sing when putting my cash in the tip box.

[Slow-Jo]

i pretty much tip this way.
good service, amazing tip
fair, okay tip
poor, no tip
and by poor i mean, no dishes or dishes look like they were eaten off of, no refills, food takes an hour and is still cold, and the server is sitting in the corner chatting with friends totally ignoring us.
but even with that said i can be a pretty bad tipper. im not afraid to say that.

[Javarod]

I usually tip quite well, but if the service is really bad, I don't tip much. Me and my mate only tipped a penny on T-day at Denny's in Cottonwood. I was working, and did a run to Sedona. On the way out we decided we'd like dinner, and Denny's is always open. Now, this place was mostly empty, maybe five tables at 10PM. It took almost fifteen minutes for our server to ask if we'd ordered yet. Umm, you're our server, you took care of the tables on either side of us that arrived before us, don't you know whether or not you took our order? And things went downhill from there, no drink refills, forgot something we asked for, ranch dressing or such. Did make sure to get our check to us right quick, which killed any chance of us ordering desert (I'd been planning on it) since it got to the table right after the food, and that was the last sight of our server until she rang us up at the register. I'm actually fairly non picky, get me the right food reasonably warm, and keep my drink full, and you'll get 15%, more if I'm feeling generous. Anything about that, and you can expect 20% or better. Am I really asking all that much?

[Jester]

Javarod, one thing in the Denny's waitress's defense: Denny', and a lot of other places like them, have a policy that the server has to follow where they drop the check immediately. This does not preclude you ordering more stuff, mind you....if/when you do, they will simply update the check and re-drop it. That is the store policy, not the attitude of the server at work there.

That being said, your server still socked great big hippo balls. If a server can't be bothered to check back with a table after the food arrives (preferably more than once), offer to refill drinks, be aware of what is going on in their section, or get the right order to the right table, then yeah, they kind of suck.

The 8 months I worked for Denny's was both one of the hardest and one of the worst serving positions I have ever had.