DDP 2008 Tipping

[DiszyDeanette]

Brian,



Again, I am not condoning basing a tip on another criteria, I'm just saying that our tradition of determining an appropriate gratuity because of price is a bit strange.

It is strange. As is the server having to tip out the bussboy/food runner/bartender/whoever based on THEIR total sales. (you buy that $30 steak, they get to tip OUT more as well!) And having to pay taxes on a percentage of their sales. (You made no tips? The IRS won't believe you and your employer will claim income FOR you to avoid a chain-reaction audit) People who think they are so special a server should PAY to wait on them (what actually happens when you stiff your server) are pretty sick in the head if you ask me.

 

[ssawka]

It is strange. As is the server having to tip out the bussboy/food runner/bartender/whoever based on THEIR total sales. (you buy that $30 steak, they get to tip OUT more as well!) And having to pay taxes on a percentage of their sales. (You made no tips? The IRS won't believe you and your employer will claim income FOR you to avoid a chain-reaction audit) People who think they are so special a server should PAY to wait on them (what actually happens when you stiff your server) are pretty sick in the head if you ask me.

As I said in my first message, I am not saying to stiff anyone, nor am I saying not to tip based on the bill. I am just making a rhetorical argument that price is totaly unrelated to the amount of work or the type of service that the waiter/waitress should be providing. I worked as a waiter years ago, I know what it is like. I also know that servers do pretty well compared to other restraunt employees. I think in most cases they deserve it because they are the ones in the face of the customer, and therefore take the blunt of the fire from dissatisfied customers. I also think that if any restaurant owner is going to charge an automatic gratuity, then the prices should increased, servers should be paid a regular salary, and tips (if given) should return to being a gift as they were originally intended. Again, this is a hypothetical and I know it would never happen.

 

[just another guy]

For the 6 of us we would tip about $54 per meal for tip based on 18 % on DDP. This is for about 1 to 1 1/2 hour of service. The server would also have more tables besides ours. I do not see that the service has been that exceptional in the past.

When my Daughter and I go for pizza in a local Italian restaurant, the service is exceptional, our bill is under $15. An 18% tip would be under $3.00.

Making such pointless observations is pretty much useless. The standard is to tip a percentage of the bill.

 

[angelmav]

Making such pointless observations is pretty much useless. The standard is to tip a percentage of the bill.

Well the standard is also NOT 18%. Apparently, if you dont want to leave that $54 tip at the buffet next time (buffet standard being 5-10%) your supposed to do like DiszyDeanette suggests and just eat at McDonalds.
Otherwise your not only a bad person, but quite possibly evil.

 

[just another guy]

Well the standard is also NOT 18%. Apparently, if you dont want to leave that $54 tip at the buffet next time (buffet standard being 5-10%) your supposed to do like DiszyDeanette suggests and just eat at McDonalds.
Otherwise your not only a bad person, but quite possibly evil.

Yes, 15-20% is standard at DISNEY buffets. I'm not saying Golden Corral, or Old Country Buffet.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Yes, 15-20% is standard at DISNEY buffets. I'm not saying Golden Corral, or Old Country Buffet.

I don't think it's right to say that Disney buffets should get a higher percentage just because it's Disney. I always do tip that much, but that's because I do, not because I'm in Disney World.

Except once at 1900 Park Fare when I had horrible service then I only tipped $3.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I just figured out that my meals, if I were paying OOP, would probably add up to be about $1,000, so I'm budgeting $200 for tips.

 

[snow88]

I too totally disagree with an automatic "service charge" (that's what an automatic charge is, not a "gratuity"), however I wanted to comment on the question of what to base a tip on. Having worked as a waiter, I understand that the servers work hard and deserve a reasonable tip, however I alway thought that basing the tip on the prices set by the restaurant is absurd. I mean does it take more effort to bring you a $30 steak versus a $10 piece of chicken? Unfortunatley there is not a better guide, and call it social presure, but I do tip based on the total check.

I also agree that it is absurd to tip 18% for a buffet. Really, is it fair to tip a server at a buffet the same percentage as a server at a full service restaurant?

One final thought... The whole problem with the automatic service charge stems from the government allowing restaurant owners to underpay their wait staff. In this country we have minimum wage law. This minimum wage should be applied to all employees regardless of whether it is customary for customers to tip them. If you look up "gratuity" in the dictionary it says "a gift of money", since when should a "gift" be used as a person's base salary.

Ok, I'm stepping down from my soap box now.

I've worked as a waitress at a hotel in another country. We had a 15% gratuity added to meals and drinks (if wasn't paid by cash) which was shared among all the hotel staff. This was supossed to be a gift but like you said it was made to be part of our salary. I wonder how the Disney employees grats are shared up. If it was like ours, it worked out to between 1.00-3.00 per hour in grats. We don't have a minimum wage. Does minimum wage not apply to salaries for wait staff in the US? I also worked a buffett and it seems like less work but then we didn't have bus boys. We did everything.

 

[just another guy]

I wonder how the Disney employees grats are shared up.

All weekly grat is added to the servers pay check, thus fully taxed(as in the more grat they make, the more the govt takes away) and they then get whats left over on pay day.

Does minimum wage not apply to salaries for wait staff in the US?

There are a few states that are exceptions, but most states have the minimum wage set around $6-7, yet around $3 for servers.

 

[TLSnell1981]

There are a few states that are exceptions, but most states have the minimum wage set around $6-7, yet around $3 for servers.

I'm sure Disney would be more than happy to make waitstaff minimum wage employees....they wouldn't have to worry about "gratuities"....and then, the servers would stop complaining about making $3 per hour.

 

[just another guy]

I'm sure Disney would be more than happy to make waitstaff minimum wage employees....they wouldn't have to worry about "gratuities"....and then, the servers would stop complaining about making $3 per hour.

Um, I don't know where that came from, but where do you see disney servers complaining about their $3 an hour?

 

[TLSnell1981]

Um, I don't know where that came from, but where do you see disney servers complaining about their $3 an hour?

Actually, I read on this board...all the time....that the "poor" servers only make $2.13 an hour. They give this as the reason we now have auto "grat". Otherwise, they would never make minimum wage because of all the guests that "stiff" them or don't tip the "standard".

 

[JimMIA]

All weekly grat is added to the servers pay check, thus fully taxed(as in the more grat they make, the more the govt takes away) and they then get whats left over on pay day.

You're probably not going to believe this...but a LOT of us have that same problem with our income!

 

[gohogs34]

realistic gartuity and based on service.

 

[DiszyDeanette]

There are a few states that are exceptions, but most states have the minimum wage set around $6-7, yet around $3 for servers.

Try $2.13.

 

[TLSnell1981]

You're probably not going to believe this...but a LOT of us have that same problem with our income!

That's amazing! I thought it was just me!

 

[Noleball]

I am sure it has been covered in this thread or another but I intend to tip based on service. At first I was a bit miffed they took the tips out of the DDP but then, after some thought, I decided that this was probably a good thing.

I sat down and looked at the menus and determined that we would be money ahead still using the plan and paying tips out of pocket. Then I tried to recall the restaurants we dined in the last two years. I have decided that if a waiter/waitress knows that we have control over the tip amount, the service will probably be better from now on.

Our meal at Le Cellier was atrocious two years ago ... not due to the food but due to the waitress. We only received one refill in over an hour and a half and the food was borderline cold (still good though). People around us were coming and going and yet we were stuck. Why should the waitress care? She knew we were on the DDP and she knew she was getting her tip whether we were pleased with her service or not. The same experience was had at at least two of the buffets as well.

I like having some control. Having been a waiter, I expected 15-20% because I tried to be a good waiter. When the tips are included, the waitstaff has no reason to be good, they just have to be there.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Try $2.13.

Yep in Indiana its 2.13 a hour once they tax all of your income, reported and your 2.13 a hour my check says a big fat 0000000..I am not saying this for anyone to feel so sorry for me I am telling you the truth. The tips I pull from my tables is what I bring home I don't get a paycheck every week, I get it every day in tips.

 

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

The norm, give or take, is 15%-20% at table service restaurants and 10%-15% at buffet restaurants. Tip is based on work and effort - at buffets you are doing a fair share of that work, and the staffing levels do reflect this. In short, if a buffet restaurant had wait staff that came to our table and asked us what we wanted, went and filled the plate and brought it back, then we're talking 15%-20%.

 

[JimMIA]

Yep in Indiana its 2.13 a hour once they tax all of your income, reported and your 2.13 a hour my check says a big fat 0000000..I am not saying this for anyone to feel so sorry for me I am telling you the truth. The tips I pull from my tables is what I bring home I don't get a paycheck every week, I get it every day in tips.

$2.13 is the national minimum wage for tipped employees, although I'm pretty sure I saw $1.59 for Kansas. (Don't know how they get away with that.)

In Florida, the minimum wage for tipped employees is $3.65. Obviously employees in a particular restaurant, or individual employees could receive higher, but that's the bottom.

Regardless of what the minimum is, nobody is going to get rich waiting tables and they work very hard for their money.

Anyone can have a bad day, and there are hundreds of anecdotal "I had a horrible server" stories, but I think those are the exception rather than the rule...especially at Disney.