How do you tip at WDW buffet restaurants?

[PatriciaH]

Originally posted by luckytso
I hear you. They are not cheap tippers othewise. However, they strongly feel that since you get your own food and the servers do little, they feel $1-$2 is adequate. So I started wondering if we have been tipping too much all along.

Sorry, but I still think they are being cheap! I have found that waiters at buffets work HARDER. They are are clearing plates the whole time you are eating.

 

[hucifer]

I tend to tip less at a buffet...around 10 to 15%, depending upon service.

Why? I typically take only one plate at a buffet, therefore only having one plate to clear (same as sit-down), I don't think that is the same level of service than at a sit-down establishment because they aren't bustling back and forth to bring our food. If our buffet server was at our table as often as at a "regular" restaurant, I would reflect that with the tip. I am not cheap. But I can (and do) recognize the frequency of my server's attentiveness. And I tip accordingly.

And in the case of DrTomorrow, if my server had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on me, I may tip as high as 17.9%.

 

[erikthewise]

We tip 10% base, 15% for excellent service, less for poor service. As at least one other poster pointed out, this is usually around $2 per person anyway.

This topic always brings out the BSDL, "Buffet Servers Defense League", who see themselves as saviors of this oppressed class. Personally I suspect WDW buffet servers do just fine as food service jobs go. (If not, there are a lot of other places in Orlando to work!) Their tips are inflated by the high prices at Disney buffets. No doubt they earn their tips, but there are many others who work hard and don't do nearly so well, and I'll reserve my sympathy for them. Such as the servers at our local Golden Corral (also has units in Orlando), where I eat lunch for $6 (+$1 tip) and our whole family eats dinner for $25.

 

[caitycaity]

This topic always brings out the BSDL, "Buffet Servers Defense League", who see themselves as saviors of this oppressed class.

 

[MHopkins2]

We just feel that it's not that much money to leave an extra few bucks and it may make someone's day a little better.

MTE.

On the flip side, if we have horrible service then we leave next to nothing. Don't get me wrong, it takes a lot to get to that point but I don't believe in tipping if it is not deserved.

I agree with this as well, with the extra proviso that if it's bad enough to deserve a very small (or no) tip, I will almost always ask to speak to the manager. Not to ask for free stuff, but because they deserve to know if one of their employees is giving such poor service - it can really impact the restaurant.

 

[suzannews]

Oh my...who are the two people who said they don't tip at all? (not that I think they would raise their hand and yell me, me but to me thats just uncalled for)

 

[MHopkins2]

Amen, Suzan!!!! (I wondered the same thing, but didn't really WANT to know and so didn't ask.)

 

[ducklite]

I'm with you both. I figured why bother to ask because I'm sure they won't step forward. I'm hoping they are people who are either on a dining plan that includes the tip, or made a mistake and clicked the wrong button

Anne

 

[suzannews]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks that's alittle odd.

 

[nataliesdaddy]

20% if I am in a really good mood 25% to 30%

if the service is utterly abysmal I will adjust downward...

In disney no one got less then a 20% tip - I hope they split it with the characters - that would be a tough job.

the valet was six a day and I paid two as a tip to the guy who got the car

the guys who carry the bags? 1 to 2 dollars per bag

the guy from the rental car agency that returned to the airport to give my little one her little pink bag back... after having dropped us off at the airport? 5 dollars

depending on where one is on the economic ladder typing is more or less difficult to do...

but I have been extremely destitute before so I pony up a minimum of 20% I know what making squat for living can be like. People deserve a break in life and deserve to be appreciated...if I tip less then 20% it is because I really cannot stand the person in the least

 

[Eeyore1954]

Originally posted by ducklite
I'm with you both. I figured why bother to ask because I'm sure they won't step forward. I'm hoping they are people who are either on a dining plan that includes the tip, or made a mistake and clicked the wrong button

Anne

You can make that 3 people now and I am sitting here with one hand raised (gotta have 1 to type with). Didn't click the wrong button and don't do dining plans (usually a big waste of $$$). Gotta run and put on my flame-retardant underroos!

 

[MHopkins2]

Originally posted by Eeyore1954
You can make that 3 people now and I am sitting here with one hand raised (gotta have 1 to type with). Didn't click the wrong button and don't do dining plans (usually a big waste of $$$). Gotta run and put on my flame-retardant underroos!

[Anyone want to take bets on how long it will take this thread to get moved to the DB?? ]

Please do share your rationale, my friend!

 

[Eeyore1954]

Originally posted by MHopkins2
[Anyone want to take bets on how long it will take this thread to get moved to the DB?? ]

Please do share your rationale, my friend!

Wow, dear friend, you are getting SLOW! Over 1 hour to respond!

OK, my bet is this will get LOCKED before it gets moved to the DB.

Rationale? I'm serving myself, so if anyone should be tipped, it should be ME. At most buffets, I've see the "wait staff" bring a couple of drinks and pick up a couple of empty dishes. Just doesn't seem like a lot of effort deserving of a tip. Well, maybe a buck or two, but nothing along the lines of 15 - 20%. That's more along the lines of extortion!

 

[MHopkins2]

Just doesn't seem like a lot of effort deserving of a tip.

Are you aware that their employer disagrees? That they make the same less-than-minimum-wage as "regular" servers, with the same expectation that they will be tipped?

I am slightly encouraged by this, however...

Well, maybe a buck or two,

We may just convert you yet!!

 

[hucifer]

Since WDW buffets are not cafeteria-style, 100% self-serve, like your typical counter meals, I think that at least a small tip is deserved. The server is, after all, bringing drinks and taking plates. Nothing like a full-service restaurant, I admit, but they are waiting tables.

 

[Eeyore1954]

Originally posted by MHopkins2
Are you aware that their employer disagrees?

Maybe their employer should be aware that some people disagree with them? What a boring world it would be if everyone agreed on everything!

That they make the same less-than-minimum-wage as "regular" servers, with the same expectation that they will be tipped?

Well, I expect to win the lottery each time I play, but that doesn't necessarily mean I will. I remember something my father always told me when I said I expected something... "Don't get your hopes up too high."

I am slightly encouraged by this, however... We may just convert you yet!!

Don't hold your breath, dear friend!

 

[MHopkins2]

What a boring world it would be if everyone agreed on everything!

And what a horrible world it would be if people decided to stop paying for service received. Which is what you are doing when you knowingly frequent a restaurant where servers work for tips and then don't tip them (barring extraordinarily poor service of course). I just can't understand how you can rationalize this to yourself.

ETA that I do admire you for being willing to raise your hand on this one.

 

[Eeyore1954]

Originally posted by MHopkins2
And what a horrible world it would be if people decided to stop paying for service received. Which is what you are doing when you knowingly frequent a restaurant where servers work for tips and then don't tip them (barring extraordinarily poor service of course). I just can't understand how you can rationalize this to yourself.

ETA that I do admire you for being willing to raise your hand on this one.

"Paying for service received..." Please forgive me for yawning, dear friend, but here we go again. My rationalization in a nutshell:

1. By patronizing the restaurant, I am contributing to the server's salary.
2. The server's salary is their guaranteed remuneration. Tips are additional income, which, while they may be expected, are never guaranteed.
3. At a buffet, I am doing the overwhelming majority of the work to serve myself. At most, a server may bring a couple of soft drinks and take away an empty plate or two. I just do not see the necessity to tip for walking to/from my table a couple of times maximum.

Now lest people misunderstand, at full-service restaurants I normally tip 15 - 20% or more, depending on service. There the servers are truly doing some service worthy of a gratuity. Dropping off 2 soft drinks and picking up a couple of plates -- not even in the same ballpark.

Finally, let it never be said that I've ever shied away from throwing gasoline on a live fire! (In response to your ETA comment.)

 

[erikthewise]

I imagine the overtippers and undertippers will cancel each other out.
Of course if nobody tipped, the servers would disappear overnight. Then it really would be 100% self-service.

 

[MHopkins2]

There the servers are truly doing some service worthy of a gratuity. Dropping off 2 soft drinks and picking up a couple of plates -- not even in the same ballpark.

But when you know that the restaurant treats those two servers interchangeably - and that your tips like it or not are part of their wages - you are accepting their service without paying for it. Why can you understand that concept for "regular" servers and not buffet? I could see a reduced rate, but reduced to nothing? Come on.