Gratuities and Tipping !

[TiggerDad3]

just like your health insurance does not pay as much to the doctors office that you would be charged if paying the bill yourself, I suspect that this type of system was also in place for the dining plan when the gratuity was included, I am not suggesting disney was pocketing anything. There was no breakdown in the bill to say this much was charged for gratuities, they were just included.

 

[KorieDWnut]

"I think the service charge route would lead to a decline in service quality"

Why is that exactly? Would you perform your job duties better if you had to work for a tip? Are you saying you don't give something your all when you're guaranteed a paycheck?
I tend to think most servers would bring a better attitude to work if they could stop worrying about those pesky things like groceries and doctors visits for the kids.

Not really. I don't get how it would work. What would they pay per hour for this type of job? 8? 10 dollars an hour?
Right now I make normally between 120-150 dollars per shift...I don't see how I could possibly gain anything by getting paid hourly.

 

[IloveDMB]

The fact is that there are families out there who might go out to eat to a reasonably priced restaurant and can really not afford to be there, but go for the sake of the well being of their family members. If they do not tip, then they should not be judged, nor should they be denied service.

Can you explain that to me? If the family can not afford to go out to eat, what well being are they looking out for if they are spending money on something they can't afford. You can certainly make a healthy substantial meal at home for less then a meal at a reasonably priced restaurant.

Why on earth would you raise wages to 15$ an hour? My gf with the college degree doesn't even make that much money.

We should move to paying servers minimum wage, and raise prices in the menu to cover this new overhead.

Because I dare you to find a good server that would go from making between $10 and $15 an hour to making minimum wage. That's like taking practically a 50% pay cut. Would you take a pay cut that big?

Here's the thing. I loved serving tables. I had a lot of regulars and it was fun to me to serve people's meals, make their days a little easier. It was nice to get to know some great people over the years, all while having fun doing it.

And as a former server, if you left a bad tip and then came back, I'd usually give them a second chance. But after 2 shots, you're out. You are most likely not to get the same service as you did before. Not only that, we would warn fellow servers about habitual bad tippers. The unwritten rule is "Why waste time on a table that will not reward you for good service, when you could be spending it on a table you know will pay you for your service?"

I think that's why people feel okay about tipping bad at WDW. It's the anonymity of it. The servers see so many customers during the day, they are most likely not to remember you. Therefore, I'm sure some people think "If I leave a bad tip, who cares? She doesn't know me."

 

[KorieDWnut]

I think that this is the only context in which I could be viewed as a walking dollar sign. That said, I love how you bluntly stated the server-customer relationship.

I know it probably sounds awful and blunt and all that, but being a waitress is not a whole lot different than any other sales jobs. It is mostly an act. Of course I care about whether my customers are happy, satisfied and enjoying themselves. I want them to have everything they need and are comfortable...because they are giving me money, and I want it. That is the only reason I care. I want them to continue to come back to give me money for more days to come.

 

[pigletto]

"Right now I make normally between 120-150 dollars per shift...I don't see how I could possibly gain anything by getting paid hourly"

In your situation it doesn't work then. And as I stated.. I have worked in situations where I was quite happy with what was making. But working in a busy tourist mecca was a far different thing. The servers in and around where I worked were ALWAYS part time.. paid enormous tip outs (that a large amount of went to management and owners) and very frequently given very poor tips because where we were working charged ridiculously inflated prices.
To give an example the TGIF's across the street charged 17.99 for their cheeseburger platter.
So no in your case and in some of the places I worked it worked out very well. And in other places servers were getting seriously taken advantage of. It's not a system that works for everyone.

 

[KorieDWnut]

"Right now I make normally between 120-150 dollars per shift...I don't see how I could possibly gain anything by getting paid hourly"

In your situation it doesn't work then. And as I stated.. I have worked in situations where I was quite happy with what was making. But working in a busy tourist mecca was a far different thing. The servers in and around where I worked were ALWAYS part time.. paid enormous tip outs (that a large amount of went to management and owners) and very frequently given very poor tips because where we were working charged ridiculously inflated prices.
To give an example the TGIF's across the street charged 17.99 for their cheeseburger platter.
So no in your case and in some of the places I worked it worked out very well. And in other places servers were getting seriously taken advantage of. It's not a system that works for everyone.

You are right. I worked at chains for a long time. I finally got sick of pitiful 3 table stations and tipping other people out. Also, when you work at large places then you also deal with hostesses playing favorites and all that. There was one place I worked at where I was lucky to walk out after a lunch shift with 30 dollars in my pocket...and that was after an hour and a half of sidework. No thanks.
I finally looked elsewhere, to family owned places. I work at a small 13 table place now, breakfast and lunch..soo much better.

 

[mefordis]

I would say if you are sweating paying 15-20% gratuities on your dxddp meals, you are probably over extending yourself to pay for the dxddp. I mean, if you are cutting it that close in your budget, you probably should not buy such an expensive dining plan. It's a red flag to me. Buy the ddp or pay oop and just do 1 or 2 ts.

 

[Guy Incognito]

I would love to know the answer to this question!! Why they don't just pay a regular salary to their servers, like in other countries.

Instead, for some reason they are given a pay of around $3.00/hour (which gets eaten up by taxes anyways) and say the rest can be made up in tips.

Anyone know why US restaurants decided to do it this way?

short answer: Because they can. It's what the law says they can do.

long answer: from the "Federal Wage System"

'Subchapter S11: Special Wage Rate Schedules:

section 3: Special pay plan for Nonappropriated fund tipped positions classified as waiter/waitress.

a: Coverage: This special pay plan applies to nonappropriated fund (NAF) positions properly classified as Waiter or Waitress.

b: Introduction: The following criteria and definitions govern the setting of pay for NAF employees classified as Waiter or Waitress.

b1: Wage Schedule: All NAF tipped employees will be paid from the regular FWS NAF wage schedule applicable to their duty station.

b2: "Tipped employee" means an employee who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips.

b3: Tip offset:

b3a: Tip offset is the amount of money by which an employer, in meeting the legal minimum wage standard, may reduce a tipped employee's wage in consideration of the receipt of tips. The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 requires a fixed dollar tip offset. A minimum cash amount of $2.13 per hour should be paid to tipped employees. If tips actually received are not sufficient when added to $2.13, to total the minimum wage of $4.75 (as of Oct 1, 1996) or $5.15 (as of Sep 1, 1997), the employer must also pay the additional difference to the tipped employee.'

 

[Beautybelle43]

short answer: Because they can. It's what the law says they can do.

long answer: from the "Federal Wage System"

'Subchapter S11: Special Wage Rate Schedules:

Thank you for that info.
I had been wondering how restaurants were allowed to do that.

 

[Brian Noble]

There are all kinds of little quirks like that.

As another example, if your business is "seasonal" you don't have to pay overtime.

 

[kaytieeldr]

just like your health insurance does not pay as much to the doctors office that you would be charged if paying the bill yourself, I suspect that this type of system was also in place for the dining plan when the gratuity was included, I am not suggesting disney was pocketing anything. There was no breakdown in the bill to say this much was charged for gratuities, they were just included.

You would need to confirm it with Disney Accounting (which likely will NOT reveal the information to you), but, yeah, when the DDP 'covered' the 18% gratuity, Disney PAID 18% of the servers' checks to the servers as the gratuity on their checks.

How do I know? If Disney had paid the servers less than the contracted 18%, or if they had calculated the gratuity on an amount less than the menu prices - which, by the way, is the VALID comparison to the insurance-payment-to-doctor payment - we would have heard about it.

That's not an empty claim. There are servers who post here; there are firends of servers who post here; there are posters who know servers who might not reveal specific information regarding the server but who WOULD have mentioned it here.

 

[TiggerDad3]

You would need to confirm it with Disney Accounting (which likely will NOT reveal the information to you), but, yeah, when the DDP 'covered' the 18% gratuity, Disney PAID 18% of the servers' checks to the servers as the gratuity on their checks.

How do I know? If Disney had paid the servers less than the contracted 18%, or if they had calculated the gratuity on an amount less than the menu prices - which, by the way, is the VALID comparison to the insurance-payment-to-doctor payment - we would have heard about it.

That's not an empty claim. There are servers who post here; there are firends of servers who post here; there are posters who know servers who might not reveal specific information regarding the server but who WOULD have mentioned it here.

Thank you for this answer, it seems very thought out.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

This may have been already discussed ad nauseaum, but have you considered not eating on the Deluxe plan?

I have to tip at least 15%, even if the service was terrible. I normally tip 20% period. I tip 20% at buffets, or anywhere else. That's just me.

But I looked into the Deluxe plan and realized that I couldn't afford it. I simply could not afford the tips for high-end lunches and dinners, (and sometimes breakfast!) The tip jar would be tantamount to a mortgate payment.

So we decided that we could afford the regular DDP. It costs much less than the Deluxe, I would actually EAT all of the food that I paid for, and I would only have to tip for my one daily TS meal!

But the bottom line is what I always tell my kids: if you cannot afford the tip at the end of the meal, you cannot afford the meal.

 

[KristinAnne]

Can you explain that to me? If the family can not afford to go out to eat, what well being are they looking out for if they are spending money on something they can't afford. You can certainly make a healthy substantial meal at home for less then a meal at a reasonably priced restaurant.

Well being was not the right phrase for me to use. I meant a morale boost. I think we all need a lift sometimes, so if that means going out to eat, and giving 10% instead of 20% tip, then I can understand that. That is only the opinion of a person who has never worked in a tipping situation and has therefore never been stiffed. I am sure if I was there, my opinon would be different.
Also, how anyone would know if my imaginary family who has not adequatly tipped was being cheap or just giving what they could, I have no idea.

 

[ems_mom]

I wonder if the OP understands that serving is hard work; physically, mentally and emotionally. The hours are difficult, the pace is frenetic, and customer interaction (even if its usually mostly positive) can be traumatic... I have never been a server but my DD has and is now a manager for a high end steakhouse. This company bends over backwards to make patrons happy. That said, when they encounter an inconsolable customer (after comp'd food, comp'd drinks) their suggestion is to not come back... To the OP, doesn't the Golden Rule apply to you too...???

 

[pigletto]

Something about this thread hasn't been sitting with me well.
So I'm back just to clarify..
I have had when I served, several customers who were seniors on a fixed income or a young family with kids who really were stretched to be able to give me a tip. I think it's important to clarify that I never ever in a million years would deny them decent service. Often they were a pleasure to talk to. I'm not all about the tip.. I enjoy kind people and good conversation. I would never begrudge them wanting to go out and have an evening. EVER.
I think that is a far cry to be going to Disney.. and on the Deluxe Dining plan and saying you can't afford a tip.
2 totally different things.

 

[Quiksilvr]

I know it probably sounds awful and blunt and all that, but being a waitress is not a whole lot different than any other sales jobs. It is mostly an act. Of course I care about whether my customers are happy, satisfied and enjoying themselves. I want them to have everything they need and are comfortable...because they are giving me money, and I want it. That is the only reason I care. I want them to continue to come back to give me money for more days to come.

I wasn't being sarcastic or facetious; I was entirely serious. I much prefer to look at it that way, so long as the server also understands that I look at them similarly.

 

[dkhillerud]

I am thinking that possibly the OP might have been thinking along these lines.....(correct me if I'm wrong!!!)

Consider the time you spend at a TS meal....about 1.5 hours. So if your meal, as stated in the OP, costs $160 your tip should be $32. That breaks down to about $21.30 an hour. If the average server has 3 tables that is $63.90 an hour!!! That seems like an awful lot of money to me.

I work as a nurse and bring my patients their food, drinks, answer their light.....plus take care of all of the medical reasons that require them to be in a hospital in the first place, and don't make near that an hour.

Seems to me that if a tip was even 10%, so $15 that would result in a hourly wage of $10....from just ONE table, that would be plenty sufficent!!!

Just a few thoughts!! This is not to say that I tip this way, I am just discussing the topic as asked by the OP.

 

[Quiksilvr]

I am thinking that possibly the OP might have been thinking along these lines.....(correct me if I'm wrong!!!)

Consider the time you spend at a TS meal....about 1.5 hours. So if your meal, as stated in the OP, costs $160 your tip should be $32. That breaks down to about $21.30 an hour. If the average server has 3 tables that is $63.90 an hour!!! That seems like an awful lot of money to me.

That doesn't necessarily account for a split of the tip amongst several other individuals, or the fact that Table A tips 10% and Table B tips nothing, or what have you. It also may not account for Table A having four guests and Table C having two, etc. There are a lot of variables that go into the tip the server eventually ends up with.

 

[apostolic4life]

I am thinking that possibly the OP might have been thinking along these lines.....(correct me if I'm wrong!!!)

Consider the time you spend at a TS meal....about 1.5 hours. So if your meal, as stated in the OP, costs $160 your tip should be $32. That breaks down to about $21.30 an hour. If the average server has 3 tables that is $63.90 an hour!!! That seems like an awful lot of money to me.

This is exactly why most servers would never trade in the current compensation system for one in which they receive a static hourly wage. More often than not, servers fare better with the system as it is.

I work as a nurse and bring my patients their food, drinks, answer their light.....plus take care of all of the medical reasons that require them to be in a hospital in the first place, and don't make near that an hour.

I don't begrudge servers who make great tips, but I do have a problem with servers who think the tip should be of the highest percentages no matter how awful the service given happens to be. I hope every one of my servers can leave work with loads of cash in their pockets every night.....this only assures that the customer was happy and will be back again!!!!