Do you always tip well?

[TaylorsDad]

I love to eat and do not mind tipping appropriately (and even extra for exceptional service). I even tip well if meal is subpar and service is great. However, if I have a server who pays little attention to us at dinner, doesn't listen to or follow instructions with orders , or gives impression he/she is doing us a favor by just serving us, I do not tip the standard 18%. I believe the amt of the gratuity should be dependant upon the quality of service received.
My cousin says he always tips the standard amt regardless of service because service employees are dependant upon the tip for their income. I can appreciate this fact but I always thought the gratuity left should be equal to the service one receives, for otherwise the employee and mgt will not likely know improvement is needed. Just wanted to know what everyone else thinks.

 

[Katiebell]

The only time we tip less than 15% is if the service is really awful, and it's without a question the server's fault -- rude, totally ignoring us, etc. That said, it almost never happens. We never dock a server's tip for things beyond their control -- kitchen messed up an order, food was not as good as we hoped it would be, restaurant too cold or other tables not bussed -- those things aren't our server's fault. We tip 15% for adequate service (might have to flag down the waiter for a drink refill, but at least we got one!), 18% for good service, and 20%+ for excellent service.

 

[annie1995]

We were at Great Wolf Lodge a week ago, and our second night eating at their resturant, our waitress 1. Forgot to take our dinner order, she came back about 20-25 minutes after she brought us our drinks and said "did I come get your orders yet?" Uh hello, no 2. messed up our drinks 3. never offered re-fills on our coffee 4. never brought the bread that comes with dinner, we had to remind her twice. She needless to say didn't get the greatest tip. The first night we ate there, our waiter was wonderful! As soon as he saw a half empty drink glass, he was asking for refills, taking plates as needed. Great service, he was tipped well!

 

[simonkodousek]

I love to eat and do not mind tipping appropriately (and even extra for exceptional service). I even tip well if meal is subpar and service is great. However, if I have a server who pays little attention to us at dinner, doesn't listen to or follow instructions with orders , or gives impression he/she is doing us a favor by just serving us, I do not tip the standard 18%. I believe the amt of the gratuity should be dependant upon the quality of service received.
My cousin says he always tips the standard amt regardless of service because service employees are dependant upon the tip for their income. I can appreciate this fact but I always thought the gratuity left should be equal to the service one receives, for otherwise the employee and mgt will not likely know improvement is needed. Just wanted to know what everyone else thinks.

There was only one incident where I didn't leave a tip. Here we go...

Once upon a time our family decided to dine out at Applebee's. We get there, the wait isn't too long and we are seated. Our server comes up to us, asks if we are ready to order our beverages. So, we go around the table telling him what we would like. OK, so he brings all the right drinks back. By this time we are ready to order, so we do...

I ordered a chicken sandwich, DW ordered an oriental salad, and DS's ordered chicken tenders. A few minutes later and...

We get our food. However, DW's salad dressing is not the right kind. She asks the waiter to get her the one for the oriental salad. He comes back with the same dressing. She repeats the question, and yet a second time he comes back with the wrong dressing. She asks him to bring out the different kinds of dressings so she can show him which is the right one. He says...

"Lady, just shut up. It's a salad." and with that he walks away. Next, he comes back and picks up everybody's drinks and meals while we are still in the middle of dinner. Ughh, this got me mad. So, I went to speak to the manager. He refunded us our entire dinner cost, plus a 15% tip we would have left if the server hadn't made that rude remark.

Well, my rant is done.

~Simon

 

[SamSam]

For good service we tip 20%, for average service 15%; for anything below that we tip accordingly and leave a note indicating why the tip is low. I believe in leaving a note so (1)they don't just think we're poor tippers and (2)so that they hopefully look at what they can do different to increase their tips.

 

[twoeeyy]

we leave at least 20% unless they are very very bad then we leave 15%

 

[pbharris4]

I waitressed at 19 and 20. I am a huge customer service person and always was. I would go above and beyond for most anyone. If the cooks undercooked the food, or it was really late, I would give them free dessert or something. Anyway, I always tip. I did stiff a girl once because she was real bad, rude to me, and just didn't deserve anything. I tip very well for good service. And just 10-15% for so so service.

 

[Trentmom]

There was only one incident where I didn't leave a tip. Here we go...

Once upon a time our family decided to dine out at Applebee's. We get there, the wait isn't too long and we are seated. Our server comes up to us, asks if we are ready to order our beverages. So, we go around the table telling him what we would like. OK, so he brings all the right drinks back. By this time we are ready to order, so we do...

I ordered a chicken sandwich, DW ordered an oriental salad, and DS's ordered chicken tenders. A few minutes later and...

We get our food. However, DW's salad dressing is not the right kind. She asks the waiter to get her the one for the oriental salad. He comes back with the same dressing. She repeats the question, and yet a second time he comes back with the wrong dressing. She asks him to bring out the different kinds of dressings so she can show him which is the right one. He says...

"Lady, just shut up. It's a salad." and with that he walks away. Next, he comes back and picks up everybody's drinks and meals while we are still in the middle of dinner. Ughh, this got me mad. So, I went to speak to the manager. He refunded us our entire dinner cost, plus a 15% tip we would have left if the server hadn't made that rude remark.

Well, my rant is done.

~Simon

OMG....I probably would have had to restrain my hubby from clocking him!!!

I bet that was his last night working there....

 

[BellaBuggy]

we leave at least 20% unless they are very very bad then we leave 15%

Ditto. Dh and I were servers/bartenders in college, so we are good tippers because we know how hard they work for their $!

 

[bookgirl2632]

If I have an inattentive server, I tip the minimum 18%. If I have a good but not great server, it's usually 20%. This is the norm. If I have an excellent server, I tip even more.

 

[Forevryoung]

Bet you've never given your waitress's tip to ANOTHER waiter?? We have!

We were out to dinner one night and our waitress came by, took our drink order, took our food order at the same time and then DISAPPEARED. About thirty minutes after not getting our drinks we flagged another waiter down and told him, he said he would find her. He brought us our drinks while he searched. Then he came back with our food (been around 45 minutes). He took care of us and his other tables. So we handed him the tip when we left and my friend left the waitress a penny for our drink order.

We were definitely upset with the service.


DBF's son works at Friday's and my old roommate worked at Lone Star so from their stories we make sure to tip well for effort.

 

[spooky1]

IMO a tip is something the server earns by providing quality service.

Have me as a customer and extraordinary service could get you as much as 25%; do a horrible job and youre getting nada! Overall I usually tip on average about 17.5%; but I have no problem leaving no tip if the service sucked!

 

[TravelinGal]

We were at Great Wolf Lodge a week ago, and our second night eating at their restaurant, our waitress 1. Forgot to take our dinner order, she came back about 20-25 minutes after she brought us our drinks and said "did I come get your orders yet?" Uh hello, no 2. messed up our drinks 3. never offered re-fills on our coffee 4. never brought the bread that comes with dinner, we had to remind her twice. She needless to say didn't get the greatest tip.

This server would have not received a tip (OK - I'd still tip - but it would be 10% or LESS) and I would have looked for a manager to tell they just why that server did not EARN a tip.

Main Entry: gra·tu·ity
Date:1540
: something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service;


I've worked as a waitress and it's hard work! But I never provided sub-par service and I still got stiffed sometimes. Especially from large groups (I'm old, OK! This was before most places did a 'forced' tip for groups of 8 or more) I know what it's like on both sides of the table - and I expect decent service to get a decent tip. You can tell when it's the servers fault - like the inattentiveness - even when the place is almost empty - or the rude comments etc.

ETA - I have also sought out the manager to give kudos to exemplary service too! I figure it goes both ways, right?

 

[WillCAD]

This server would have not received a tip (OK - I'd still tip - but it would be 10% or LESS) and I would have looked for a manager to tell they just why that server did not EARN a tip.

Main Entry: gra·tu·ity
Date:1540
: something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service;


I've worked as a waitress and it's hard work! But I never provided sub-par service and I still got stiffed sometimes. Especially from large groups (I'm old, OK! This was before most places did a 'forced' tip for groups of 8 or more) I know what it's like on both sides of the table - and I expect decent service to get a decent tip. You can tell when it's the servers fault - like the inattentiveness - even when the place is almost empty - or the rude comments etc.

ETA - I have also sought out the manager to give kudos to exemplary service too! I figure it goes both ways, right?

I'll agree with that.

When someone has a tough job like a restaurant server, but excels at it, I am happy to volunteer some extra tip. The better you do your job, the more I will tip.

But having a tough job is no excuse for doing your job poorly, or not getting it done at all. The worse you perform your job, the less I will tip.

I am a very understanding person when I judge a servers job performance. I don't need to have a server asking me, "Everything okay here?" every 5 minutes, I don't need a server to kiss my butt, treat me like royalty, or chat me up like I'm their best friend. All I want is reasonably prompt service, basic politeness, and for the server to show some interest in their job. Oh, and never let me see the bottom of my soda glass!

I also feel an obligation to do my part in the transaction. I am polite no matter what, I organize my thoughts before ordering so that I won't confuse them, I never leave a mess on the table, and I always say please and thank you.

 

[Katiebell]

I heard somewhere once that perfect service is "attentive without being obtrusive". I expect a server to smile and be pleasant. Take our order -- and get it right. If the kitchen messes it up, get it fixed. After we start eating, check once to make sure the food's ok and if we need anything. Make sure our drinks are kept full. Before bringing the bill, check to see if we were happy with the meal, and if we'd like dessert or coffee or anything else.

Do that, and they'll get a great tip!

 

[GrumpyOne]

It depends but having worked in the industry when I was younger I try to tip well.

If a service charge is automatically added to my bill, I don't leave a tip unless the service was outstanding. If there isn't a service charge, the amount I tip varies on the service received and the amount with an average amount of 20% or so.

Here in the third world, 100% tips aren't uncommon but the scale of costs is different.

 

[mom2my3kids]

I am a server and I tip very well, and I seem to give a server the benefit of the doubt. For instance if they are not right on the drinks, I always tell my kids to take the lid off their drinks and sit them to the end of the table that way the server can see they need a refill. And don't always assume the server forgot to put your order in if their was a mistake with the kitchen. There have been numerous times our cooks have lost the ticket and we have to tell our customers why it has taken so long. But I always get the ticket taken care of or a big discount. Anyway there was once in the past few years I did not tip and it was bad. I even felt bad for not tipping but I was so mad and the server did not even care. We went to Daytona beach and went to the pier to eat dinner at crabby joes. Our server came over to us took our drinks order, brought us a tiny glass of stale pop. She took our order and we never seen her again. Someone else brought our food out, we had to go to the bar to get a refill on our stale pop. I even had to go to the bar for ketchup etc, so when we left (had to go to the bar again to pay), I explained that I was a server back home and why she was not getting a tip. The lady's mouth dropped and said I am sorry.. No need we will never go back there, the food and service sucked.

 

[simonkodousek]

OMG....I probably would have had to restrain my hubby from clocking him!!!

I bet that was his last night working there....

Yes, I was very mad also.

And, since I have never ventured back to the Applebee's, I'm not sure if he still works there.

~Simon

 

[WillCAD]

I am a server and I tip very well, and I seem to give a server the benefit of the doubt. For instance if they are not right on the drinks, I always tell my kids to take the lid off their drinks and sit them to the end of the table that way the server can see they need a refill. And don't always assume the server forgot to put your order in if their was a mistake with the kitchen. There have been numerous times our cooks have lost the ticket and we have to tell our customers why it has taken so long. But I always get the ticket taken care of or a big discount. Anyway there was once in the past few years I did not tip and it was bad. I even felt bad for not tipping but I was so mad and the server did not even care. We went to Daytona beach and went to the pier to eat dinner at crabby joes. Our server came over to us took our drinks order, brought us a tiny glass of stale pop. She took our order and we never seen her again. Someone else brought our food out, we had to go to the bar to get a refill on our stale pop. I even had to go to the bar for ketchup etc, so when we left (had to go to the bar again to pay), I explained that I was a server back home and why she was not getting a tip. The lady's mouth dropped and said I am sorry.. No need we will never go back there, the food and service sucked.

I always give my servers the bennefit of the doubt, too.

For instance, if every table in the restaurant is full, I expect the server to be very busy and everything to take longer.

If the food comes out of the kitchen with something wrong, that's not the servers fault, it's the kitchens fault, and it won't affect the tip (unless it's something the server did like getting the order totally wrong).

My two biggest peeves with servers are

1) Don't dissapear for long periods of time for no reason (it's easy to tell if they are taking orders from another table, handling a check, getting an order from the bar, or in the kitchen assembling a food order)

2) At least pretend that you don't hate your job and everything about it. You don't have to be the flair guy from Office Space, but don't act like I just oozed under the front door when you take my order.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We always tip 20%, even on buffets but ONLY if the service is good. If we are ignored, drinks not refilled or our service forgets things we have asked for we tip 15%. If service is really bad that DH gets ticked off it goes to 10%.

I can say for the last 15 years that we have been going to WDW we have only received horrible service once, at H&V.