Did I do something wrong?

[hapandpam]

We are on a somewhat limited buget when we go to WDW, but each trip we treat ourselves to one or two nice, table service dinners. We have gone to Cape May Buffet twice, and enjoyed it, so decided to do it again. Our waitress did not seem overly friendly, but she was efficient. Drinks were refilled and plates were cleaned when we went back to the buffet. About 30 minutes into our meal I asked her if I could get a cup of coffee when she had a chance. I told her there was no rush, and she asked, "How about with desert?" and I told her that would be fine.

About 10 minutes later, while we were still eating from the buffet, my coffee appeared. Then, she smacked the check down with some taffy and said, "I'll take this whenever you are ready." I am sure she was upset because we were taking, in her opinion, too long. There was no other reason for her to be upset with us. We didn't take plate fulls of food and leave them. We simply did not want to wolf down our food. We were polite, said please and thank you every time, and never asked for anything except our initial soft drink and coffee order.

I did wind up tipping her close to 20% but in retrospect, I was wondering if I should have. Her attitude, I thought, was uncalled for. We certainly treated her with a lot more respect than she treated us. Is there a certain time limit on how long you should eat? There were several empty tables in the restaurant.

Thanks for any thoughts/opinions.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong - sounds like she was having a bad day. I'm sorry =( It can put a damper on the fun when someone is cranky - esp when they are working at Disney!

 

[southcarolinagirl]

We had a similar situation at most of the TS we ate at. I felt rushed especially at Cape May. We always tipped well, but wished the servers had a better feel for the flow of the meal.

 

[triplejen]

It sounds like the servers are under pressure to turn over their tables quickly. I doubt she was personally "mad" at you

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Ugh. I hope that is not the trend because I do not tip rude servers. I have been a waitress before and been in customer service for a long time and if I can put on a happy face to serve customers then so can they if they expect me to put my hard earned money in their pockets. If it is the managers/disney that is creating the problem with forcing turnover they need to rethink that plan. TIPS = To Insure Proper Service.

 

[dogodisney]

How was she before that?
Maybe her shift was over? Could be possible that since it wasn't busy she was told her shift was done. She could have been upset about it and needed to get your bill closed out before she left. IDK, I'm just thinkging of possibilities.

 

[Justsyd2]

I don't think that you did anything wrong, nor do I think that this is "the Disney way." Personally, it seems to me that many diners at WDW want to "hurry up and eat" so that they can get back to the fun. There are so many posts on here about how long it takes to eat at TS restaurants. On the other side of that, when the wait staff tries to accommodate those diners, some people think they are being rushed.

 

[Haley]

I have found at some restaurants they just put the bill down when they walk by and say "here if the bill, no rush- let me know if I can get you anything else".

I don't mind because I HATE being finished and sitting there waiting and searching for the waiter because we want to go.

It might be slow and they have the bill finished so they figure why not.

 

[Pumbaa_]

many at disney are in the hurry up and i want to leave mode. i know my dh loves when the check is there when we are done. Especially since it is a buffet and there won't be anything added to the bill. Sounds to me like she was trying to be efficient.

I would not take it personally. I am sure you have put way more thought into this than she has

Let it go, sounds like a misinterpretation of her 'feelings'.

hope you had a great trip

 

[cyclonewriter]

IMHO...Unacceptable at Disney and I would NOT have tipped 20%. People pay big $$ for their vacations...and the servers make good money when it is busy...smile even when you don't want to or go work somewhere else...Just my opinion!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

you didnt do anything wrong...she was a miserable waitress and crappy at her job. you did everything the right way. it shouldnt have taken 10 mins for your coffee and you should have not had to wait until dessert at all. your only mistake would have been giving her 20% sadly I don't have the patience for rude waitresses (I was one for a long time and I know it sucks sometimes but you have to learn to suck it up and not let it show!) and I would have easily said a few choice words to her.

 

[The Hendies]

Also possible...
It was near the end of her shift and she was exhausted. She wanted to stay long enough to get her tip. I tip 20% + for TS but not for buffet, even when I have a great server.

 

[vcgirl925]

IMO, Tip = Quality of service. I wouldn't have tipped her the full amount i typically would.

 

[Shagley]

I wasn't there to hear her tone of voice, but just putting your check down and saying "I'll take this whenever you are ready" isn't rude IMHO. Of course this is probably one of those situations where you had to hear how it was said in order to know if she was rude or not . It doesn't sound like she was trying to rush you, or she would have given you your coffee immediately in order to hurry you out of there.

 

[hapandpam]

Also possible...
It was near the end of her shift and she was exhausted. She wanted to stay long enough to get her tip. I tip 20% + for TS but not for buffet, even when I have a great server.

We had reservations for when they opened, at 5:30, so it wasn't the end of her shift. I appreciate all the responses. For us, going out to eat is a special treat, and I wasn't sure if there was some sort of unwritten rule about the appropriate amount of time you should spend dining. On our previous 2 trips we never felt rushed. I didn't mind the waitress bringing the check early, I just was upset by the way she sort of tossed it down. In retrospect, I probably overtipped for the service we received.

Thanks again.

 

[Tricia1972]

Closing this since this seems to be moving to more of a tipping discussion than a restaurant service discussion.

The Tipping Info Thread can be found here. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2056032