Buffet tipping versus full service tipping?

[dqpowell]

if everyone had that attitude, they wouldn't make any money. if you just assume everyone else is tipping properly, and that means you don't have to, that's a poor attitude to have. while in the parks, you might as well through your trash on the ground b/c there are custodial workers there to clean up after you. you shouldn't always assume someone else is going to make up for your slack.

You should go back and re-read what I wrote, since it's clear (based on your comments in bold) that you didn't understand it the first time.

David

 

[KristinBelle]

Former server here and I don't tip the same amount. For full service I tip 20% for buffet, on average 10% but on rare occasions I've tipped more.

 

[doctorhead]

You should go back and re-read what I wrote, since it's clear (based on your comments in bold) that you didn't understand it the first time.

David

i understood what you said completely. you are saying that since disney restaurants are busy all the time, that the waiters should be making good money. i don't disagree with you there. if i wanted to work at disney for a semester intership or whatever, i'd want to be a waiter. the problem i have w/ what you said is that you feel that since everyone else is tipping the proper amount (15-20%), you won't be guilt tripped into tipping what is deemed the standard amount that should be tipped. i just don't know how you justify going to WDW (a place that is expensive) and being so cheap.

 

[klinlin]

Crystal Palace Dinner is $27.99/adult, $12.99/child.
Family of 2 adults, 2 children total: $81.96
10% = $8.20.

How many tables does that waiter at a buffet get drinks and clear plates for? 8? 10? More? Fewer? I wish we knew.

10 X $8.20 = $82.00
8 X $8.20 = $65.60

Some tables are going to have more guests, some are going to have fewer guests. Some will have all adults (therefore a higher bill and tip), some will have a child under 3 (lower bill and lower tip). I think the above could be considered and average.

At buffets tables seem to turn in about an hour.

So that "lousy" 10% tip could mean the waiter is receiving between $65 - $82 an hour. Of course, they have to tip out the bussers, but I think what is left is pretty good.

Tip 20% if you would like. But I won't lose any sleep over tipping 10% at a buffet.

I'm sorry, but you are way off here. A server is not going to have ten tables at a time per hour. They are going to probably have a max of 4 or 5 at a time, and the customers will take longer than an hour for their meal. Tip 10% if you like, but don't try to justify by unrealistic math.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

The servers' career choices are not my responsibility. If they want an exemplary tip they should provide exemplary service. This is quite unlikely to happen in a buffet restaurant, given the fact that everybody in my party is serving themselves. I will not tip the same percentage to them, when I'm doing a significant portion of the table-waiting work myself, as I will to a server who's doing it all.

David

If I'm to follow your logic:

1. Their "career choice" is only worth a few dollars an hour to you? OK, so they all quit and WDW as we know it is without thousands of fantastic CM's because outsiders think they aren't worth enough to actually pay their bills.

2. "Exemplary service" is based not upon attitude, attentiveness, and atmosphere created by the servers, but instead based ONLY on how many times they walk between my table and the kitchen?!

Still is not adding up for me....

 

[dqpowell]

what you said is that you feel that since everyone else is tipping the proper amount (15-20%), you won't be guilt tripped into tipping what is deemed the standard amount that should be tipped. i just don't know how you justify going to WDW (a place that is expensive) and being so cheap.

Let's try this again, because you still didn't understand what I wrote.

1. I never said that I tip less at buffets "since everyone else is tipping 15-20%." I said I tip less at buffets because I am doing half of the work. The waiter at a buffet does not take my order, bring my food, etc. If I'm doing half the work, they're getting half the tip. Very simple.

2. There is no such thing as "the standard tip." Tips are at the customer's discretion. Standard etiquette for tipping suggests 15-20% for full-service (non-buffet) restaurants. I may tip more or less at my discretion. Standard etiquette for tipping suggests 10% for buffets. See:

http://www.findalink.net/tippingetiquette.php

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/...07/13/tipping/

3. I am not being "cheap." I actually take the situation into consideration and tip accordingly. I do not tip based on the total cost of a meal if some of the entrees were free due to a promotion or coupon offer... I tip based on what the meal would have cost without the promotion. I have family members that have worked as table servers in restaurants and I know what their reasonable expectations were for reasonable service.

4. You might want to look back through the thread again and take note of those people who have worked as wait staff in the past, and what their opinions on this matter are. You'll see that even they agree that 10% at a buffet is fair.

David

 

[doctorhead]

I'm sorry, but you are way off here. A server is not going to have ten tables at a time per hour. They are going to probably have a max of 4 or 5 at a time, and the customers will take longer than an hour for their meal. Tip 10% if you like, but don't try to justify by unrealistic math.

seriously! when i waited tables, we were only allowed 3 tables at a time. this was to ensure better customer service. and if someone thinks that people only take an hour to eat, they are crazy. i've had people camp at my table for over 3 hours and still leave around 10%. they don't realize that they are pretty much taking money out of my pocket by doing that.

 

[dqpowell]

1. Their "career choice" is only worth a few dollars an hour to you?

I'll try again. I am not responsible for the wait staff's fiscal well-being. I am responsible to tip fairly based on how well they handle the job of waiting on my party. What we're doing here is quibbling over whether 10% is a fair tip for somebody (a buffet server) who does half the work for my party that somebody else (a non-buffet server) does for my party. Understand? If the buffet server doesn't believe he or she is being fairly compensated for the work they're doing, they may choose to find a job elsewhere. I am not responsible for their career choices. Remember, I said I have relatives that used to work as wait staff. When they were unhappy with their compensation, they found other jobs.

OK, so they all quit and WDW as we know it is without thousands of fantastic CM's because outsiders think they aren't worth enough to actually pay their bills.

I disagree with the implicit assumption you're making that 10% tips for buffet servers won't allow them to "pay their bills." Besides the fact that I am not responsible for paying their bills, I believe that if everybody only ever tipped 10%, they would still make plenty of money working at a Disney buffet.

2. "Exemplary service" is based not upon attitude, attentiveness, and atmosphere created by the servers, but instead based ONLY on how many times they walk between my table and the kitchen?!

Who said that? I sure didn't. As I explained previously, I will tip more or less based on how happy I am with the service I received. But the fact remains that I "start" at 10% at buffets, and add or subtract from there. At non-buffet restaurants, I start at 18% or so, and add or subtract from there. I believe that policy is both fair and reasonable, given the differing amounts of work each server is responsible for. When a buffet server asks the people in my party what we want to eat, walks to the buffet line and plates the food for everybody, then brings it to my table, I will tip that server 18% or more.

David

 

[wendy46001]

seriously! when i waited tables, we were only allowed 3 tables at a time. this was to ensure better customer service. and if someone thinks that people only take an hour to eat, they are crazy. i've had people camp at my table for over 3 hours and still leave around 10%. they don't realize that they are pretty much taking money out of my pocket by doing that.

Ouch ...I don’t know what to say about that...
Hopefully your guests don’t get that vibe ... because you'd defiantly be getting only 10% if i got that feeling from the wait staff

 

[doctorhead]

Ouch ...I don’t know what to say about that...
Hopefully your guests don’t get that vibe ... because you'd defiantly be getting only 10% if i got that feeling from the wait staff

no, you never let the guests know that you're upset by what they're doing. any server should know how to put on a smile and pretend like everything is fine. at the same time, any server will also know that when they go back in the kitchen out of view, they can vent and complain. i just find it rude on the customers' part to occupy a table for hours on end when there is already over an hour wait just to be seated.

 

[dqpowell]

no, you never let the guests know that you're upset by what they're doing. any server should know how to put on a smile and pretend like everything is fine. at the same time, any server will also know that when they go back in the kitchen out of view, they can vent and complain. i just find it rude on the customers' part to occupy a table for hours on end when there is already over an hour wait just to be seated.

See that? We agree on something. I too think it's rude for a customer to linger over dinner when there are lots of hungry people waiting to be seated.

On the other hand, I also think it's rude for customers to be rushed through a meal. Two of my children are very slow eaters. Slow and steady, but that's just the way they are. I will not force them to wolf down their food. The first time an impatient server asks if they can clear away my kids' places when they are clearly still eating from the plates, I mentally subtract 2% from the tip and explain (politely) that my children are still eating, and we'll let them know when they are finished. The second time they do it, sometimes leaning forward as if to grab the plate before they can answer, I mentally subtract another 4% from the tip. They may have started at 18% at a non-buffet restaurant, but they're already down to 12%. Strangely, this happens less often at buffets, but on the rare occasions it does, they've just knocked the 10% tip down to 4%.

I should note that if it's not obvious my children are still eating when the server asks if they can clear the plate, I don't subtract anything from the tip, but still give the explanation and tell them we'll let them know when the kids are finished.

David

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

We tip 20% if it is a buffet or a sit down.

 

[erikthewise]

It's good to see the BSDL (Buffet Servers Defense League) is out in force this week!

If anyone out there other than the OP is actually looking for guidance, be advised that it is neither illegal nor immoral to tip 10% at a buffet. At Disney buffets a table of four is going to spend between $60 and $120, resulting in a tip of $6 to $12. Assuming they are working at least two tables, they will be be making well over the minimum wage in tips alone. Because most people tip on a percentage basis and WDW prices are generally higher than offsite, WDW servers generally do alright.

On the other hand it is also neither illegal nor immoral to tip more than 10%. When I get more attention then a hello, a drink refill, and a check from a buffet server, I (either consciously or subconsciously) tend to forget it's a buffet and tip them like any other server. And on occasion that does mean 20%, for exceptional service. The most recent example was at Biergarten, when our server spent some time talking to us and the others at our table about her home in Germany, humoring our occasional German phrases and replying in kind. She was enthusiastic about her job and a joy to have for a server.

 

[dameodie]

10% at a buffet is fine, if it's somewhere like Old Country Buffet where you have to get your own food and your own drinks.

But anywhere else, including buffets, my tip starts at 15%. If I'm happy I leave that. If I'm not happy I leave closer to 10. If I'm really happy I'll figure out the 15% and add a few bucks on from there, probably rounding the tip up to the next $5 increment.

Also, how do you 10% tippers treat a family style "buffet" like Garden Grill, the Norway princess breakfast, or LTT? Is that considered full service, even though they don't take your order?

 

[dqpowell]

Also, how do you 10% tippers treat a family style "buffet" like Garden Grill, the Norway princess breakfast, or LTT? Is that considered full service, even though they don't take your order?

Family style is not a buffet. It's closer to regular table service. I "start" at 18% and adjust from there with a traditional table service meal. With family style I start at 15% and adjust as necessary. The point is that with a buffet, I and everyone in my party is required to do the work of gathering, plating, and delivering the food to the table. With family style and traditional table service, the guests are not required to do any of that. (Well, technically the guests are plating their own food with family style, but that's relatively minor and doesn't involve the guest transporting food around the restaurant.)

David

 

[disneyfan2kids]

OK. Let's take some of these numbers and crunch them. (I'm aware we're guessing here...but humor me.)

Someone mentioned that they average 3 tables a piece. Someone else mentioned that a 4 person table might be 60-120 total. (Let's use the average of $90.) That's 3 times a $9 tip (10% tip on $90) and it equals $27 per seating. I would venture a guess that each table averages 1 1/2 hours between families (remember, we're including cleanup and reseat.) Also - remember that the first hour of someones shift involves setup. The last is typically a breakdown and prep for tomorrow. So work 8 hours. Have 6 hours worth of tables which breaks out to 4 "seatings" of 3 tables. That's 4 times $27 which equals $108 dollars per shift. They have to pay the IRS typically 15% of that which leaves them with @ $91/change. (Assuming they have to "tip out" some bussers to, it could be even less.) So they are averaging a bit over $11/hour. Now, is this a "bad" wage... no. Do they deserve "more"? In my opinion "yes" they do. I pay thousands to go to WDW and one reason is BECAUSE of the superior CM's there. Coming into contact with the fantastic CM's is a HUGE reason why I love this place. And remember many of them must pay dues and healthcare out of that money too.

I'm not saying that 10% is horrible... I just think they deserve more. They work their butts off and make my stay better. If I have the ability to increase my tip to a measly 20% which only means an additional $9 out of my pocket (VERY small in the big scheme of a thousand dollar vacation)... well then I'm gonna do just that!

Also - this is NOT our responsibility and I KNOW that. But it is a REALITY that there are MANY, MANY people that do not tip at all. This is not fair to the servers, so I do what I can to help them out b/c I know they will be ripped off elsewhere. Do I HAVE to? Absolutely not. But I do what I can to keep WDW "happy" and that includes keeping the servers paid well. I think if you have the ability to throw thousands into a vacation...the extra $9 (in this case) will not make that big of a dent in my budget.

(For the record I am NOT a server...but was as a young girl. I have a white collar career now but will NEVER forget how hard I worked back then

 

[dqpowell]

Disneyfan2kids, your numbers are significantly low. One of my relatives worked at a popular restaurant north of Orlando (not Disney, obviously). He told me he was bringing home $200 - $240 in tips alone on a 5-hour dinner shift. Now that's a regular table service restaurant, so let's assume he averaged 20% tips (which is high, but makes the math easy). If he worked at a buffet instead and only averaged 10% tips, that would be $100 - $120 for five hours, or between $20 and $24 an hour. That's a pretty good wage for doing work that doesn't require a college degree. The Disney restaurants are "dinner shift" busy for a lot more than 5 hours a day too, and the meals cost considerably more than most popular Orlando-area restaurants. So I figure even at 10%, a Disney buffet server is going to bring home $150 - $200 in a six-hour "shift."

David

 

[disneyfan2kids]

Disneyfan2kids, your numbers are significantly low. One of my relatives worked at a popular restaurant north of Orlando (not Disney, obviously). He told me he was bringing home $200 - $240 in tips alone on a 5-hour dinner shift. Now that's a regular table service restaurant, so let's assume he averaged 20% tips (which is high, but makes the math easy). If he worked at a buffet instead and only averaged 10% tips, that would be $100 - $120 for five hours, or between $20 and $24 an hour. That's a pretty good wage for doing work that doesn't require a college degree. The Disney restaurants are "dinner shift" busy for a lot more than 5 hours a day too, and the meals cost considerably more than most popular Orlando-area restaurants. So I figure even at 10%, a Disney buffet server is going to bring home $150 - $200 in a six-hour "shift."

David

I'd argue that your numbers are considerably HIGH. I'd love to hear a server confirm that it's the norm to clear $24/hour.

Also - your argument (and EVERYONE's argument in these types of threads) ignores the fact that it is a reality that MANY people do NOT TIP AT ALL. Lots of people tend to act like it doesn't happen...or that it's rare. Believe me it is NOT rare for people to not tip at all or throw down $2 or $3 on the table.

All of these numbers mean nothing without taking into account that there are just way too many people that just don't tip at all.

You need to keep that in your mind. I have the means to "brighten" someone's day at WDW by giving a bit more... hopefully that's my way of giving back to all that WDW has given to me over the years.

 

[gina2000]

The reality is that a restaurant has to be busy for an entire shift for a waitstaff to "make out well." Prior to the DDP, that wouldn't be the case. If it were the case, the DDP wouldn't have come into existance.

I've heard every argument in the book for not tipping well. The reality is that if you don't tip well, you don't want to spend the $$$. Call it anything else you want to, but that's what it is. I personally don't care what you do but justifying it makes me laugh. If you can't afford to tip, don't eat out. Tipping is part of the dining process in the USA regardless of whether you think it's fair or not. And in the USA, regional tipping differs. It is what it is. Some parts of the world, you pay for water on the table. Other parts of the world, there is a breakage fee automatically tacked onto your bill. Our custom is different and whether or not you agree with the custom of the country or region you are in, you do what is expected of you. You go with the flow. That's what dining out is all about.

I've never seen so much controversy over an expected practice.

 

[dqpowell]

Also - your argument (and EVERYONE's argument in these types of threads) ignores the fact that it is a reality that MANY people do NOT TIP AT ALL.

It is not my responsibility to pay an exhorbitant tip to compensate for a random stranger's tip deficiency. Your argument (and EVERYONE's argument in these types of threads) assumes that all servers are struggling to survive and that for some reason beyond my understanding, it is my job to fix it.

David