Tipping Advice from former waitgirl!

[It's A Happy Day]

Hello All! Not trying to be rude or pushy but I used to be a wait staffer and manager, as well as a bartender.

Now days, 18 to 20% is the norm for regular service. I know that when I take my children, who I make be as neat as possible, I start at 30% and go down, depending on service and messiness of my children.

I do understand that many people are on a budget, but can you imagine how many non-tippers and parents with messy children are at DW places on a regular basis? Remember, many of these people work there for jobs, not for fun! (Hard to believe not everyone loves DW, huh?) Also, they have to split tips with the bartender and the clean-up crew, and many times the hostess that seats you. And they take the brunt of frustration about bad food, or just bad day in general.

As a former waitstaff, please be generous to them as much as you can. It is a lot easier to get great service when you tip well, and are considerate to the server. I always say thank you and please, and try my best to keep neat because the work is hard and you would be super suprised the quality of the service you can get most of the time.

Just some advice from someone who knows!!!

Please explain to me how you know that I am going to tip well or not I understand the being considerate to a server, but multiple times you have implied that the person tipping $1 at the bar vs. the $0.30 is going to get more attention/better service. Also to quote you above "it's a lot easier to get great service when you tip well"

How? I don't tip till the end of my meal

 

[sjaakie]

It is a lot easier to get great service when you tip well, and are considerate to the server.

That's the world upside down.
The waiter is there to help me and I'm not in a restaurant to please the waiter

 

[kilarney]

The logic that a waiter will give great service if tipped well escapes me. At Disney, we tip at the end of the meal, and don't know the waiter.

A standard tip in the USA is 15% Many people tip between 15% and 20%. I usually tip about 18%, but that includes the tax, so it's closer to 20% of the food bill.

Here is the big problem with tipping in the United States: It has become an automatic surcharge. A very mediocre waiter can earn 15% without much trouble at all. A great waiter will be lucky to earn more than 20%. There is not much incentive for attentive service. As the OP suggests, tipping is viewed as an entitlement by waitstaff.

A question.... do most people tip based on the food portion of the bill or on the total with tax? I've never really known the answer.

 

[sandym718]

A question.... do most people tip based on the food portion of the bill or on the total with tax? I've never really known the answer.

Probably out of laziness - I just generally tip 20% on the total bill. If service was poor, I go down from there. If EXCELLENT service (I mean above and beyond) I'll add more.

 

[Tricia1972]

A question.... do most people tip based on the food portion of the bill or on the total with tax? I've never really known the answer.

Pure laziness on my part too, I tip on the total bill after tax. My choice entirely, the 'proper' way to do it is to tip on the total pre-tax.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . I do understand that many people are on a budget, but can you imagine how many non-tippers and parents with messy children are at DW places on a regular basis? . . .

1) So, am I supposed to subsidize for all the folks who don't tip well?
2) Do I pay to compensate the waiter for someone else's nasty kids?
3) Did I miss the memo?
4) And, do you REALLY think I should start at 30% tips?
5) If asked by a patron, we tell them tips are 15%-18% FOR GOOD SERVICE.

NOTE: We own two restaurants, one of which is fine dining, and this post sounds really strange to me.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Post sounds strange to me, too. 30 percent is nearly double the standard "starting point" for most. Also, the whole if you tip well, you'll get great service makes no sense. We tip at the end of the meal, not at the beginning, and we tip based on the service we're given throughout the meal.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Does the name Springs1 sound familiar

 

[TLSnell1981]

Amen! From reading these boards I find myself more and more offended by wait staff. I am actually almost dreading going to Disney in March. It's hard to like people who seem to feel so entitled.



.

I agree. I may have to stop reading these threads before I decide to stiff all the servers!

I am beginning to think I've wasted my money sending my kids to college. It seems that they all should have entered the restaurant buisness.

 

[M-I-C-K-E-Y]

I've always considered 15% as the low end of "standard" table service, and a poor server would get somewhere down around 10%. It's about sending a message - if they stink at their jobs, then let them know this with the bad tip. Most reasonable people who received sub-par tips might stop and think twice - "what am I doing wrong." In my book you don't reward for below average work - whether waiting tables, giving an annual raise to employees or even rewarding children for a report card.

 

[Tricia1972]

I am not going to quote the PP, but to address the "They have to pay taxes" issue.

Of course they pay taxes. I pay taxes on the wage I make. I am not given a salary and then given an extra 30% to cover what Uncle Sam takes, nor is anyone else. Servers should have to pay taxes, just like the rest of us. It's part of living in the United States. We all chip in for the government and government programs.

 

[dreamer17555]

I use to waitress too but to expect anywhere close to 30% is insane. HOnestly some nights I made pretty good money and some nights (Mostly nights where I was "off") I made very little. But there are many jobs in America that are far worse. I ran guest Service at Target once. Spent all day dealing with complaining customers and if I wasn't super nice I would have lost my job. I made a lot more waitressing and it was a lot less stressful IMO.

-Becca-

 

[Jimdvc]

a poor server would get somewhere down around 10%.

So if someone does "poor" we give them a bonus?

yikes.

 

[dreamer17555]

So if someone does "poor" we give them a bonus?

yikes.

Too be fair ( and I dont agree with the OP) you should get a manager and give them the tip money explaining to give it to the busboy, hostess, food runner and also the bartender. It really is too bad that a bad waiter means the sometimes these people get overlooked.

-Becca-

 

[Jimdvc]

Too be fair ( and I dont agree with the OP) you should get a manager and give them the tip money explaining to give it to the busboy, hostess, food runner and also the bartender. It really is too bad that a bad waiter means the sometimes these people get overlooked.

-Becca-

You are 100% right, and I have just made a mental note to do that if I ever find my self in that situation.

GREAT advice.

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

I start at 30% and go down

Wow. Maybe I should quit my desk job and start waitressing. Let me know which restaurants you frequent!

 

[Quiksilvr]

I never waited tables but my sister did for a long time when we were teenagers, so I definitely have observed her doing the "I ran around a restaurant for 8 hours and made $29" cry that the OP talked about. What annoyed her to no end were the tables that leave a similar tip (be it $5 or $10 or whatever) regardless of how many people were at the table or how much they ate/drank. After listening to all of her horror stories, I make sure to tip for good service. I generally start at 20% and go up or down from there. I often wish I could bargain with the server about the tip. I don't have too many demands... bring the appetizer before the entree and keep my diet coke glass filled up (I would gladly pay 30% every time if I could guarantee identical levels of service every time).

I don't understand all of the vitriol towards the OP for stating her method. It sounds pretty good to me. If I were to start at 30% though, it would be a lot easier for me to decide to go down for services I perceive as inadequate. It's not the server's fault that I hold them up to an arbitrary standard that they're not aware of. That's why I don't start at the higher number and then go down; for me it's easier to pick a middle number and then adjust up or down accordingly. I am definitely willing to go up when the situation demands it.

On my honeymoon last fall, my wife and I had dinner at Shula's and the service was beyond impeccable. The three members of the staff assigned to our table did an unbelievable job. It didn't bother me to tip them 40% of a $120 dining bill. They deserved every friggin' penny. And then we had a crappy experience with an awful waitress at Raglan Road (the restaurant was empty, so she had no excuses) and I felt perfectly justified giving her like 10% of a $25 dining bill.

I think the OP is particularly generous because of her ties to the industry, but that doesn't make what she does wrong. Rock on with the big tips...I'm sure your servers appreciate it.

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

And then we had a crappy experience with an awful waitress at Raglan Road (the restaurant was empty, so she had no excuses) and I felt perfectly justified giving her like 10% of a $25 dining bill.

I understand what you're saying except for the part where you rewarded the "crappy" experience with a 10% tip. It kind of negates everything.

 

[crisi]

The moment a former waitress tells me I should tip 30% is the moment I think waitstaff are greedy and I don't want to tip the 18-20% I do. I remember when a respectable tip was 10%. Where is the limit? Double the check?

Don't like how much money you make, or you think the work is too hard for the reward, pick a different career.

 

[Quiksilvr]

I understand what you're saying except for the part where you rewarded the "crappy" experience with a 10% tip. It kind of negates everything.

I have a wife who won't let me stiff the waitstaff. She was also a waitress during college and sympathizes with most of our servers.