Poll : Gratuities

[Uncleromulus]

I always start at 15% and most times, we wind up tipping 20%.
I pretty much agree w/ Hallie on this.
I often have said to Mrs. Uncleromulus that I would never, ever get a job as a server. While I would enjoy waiting on folks like me, I have seen all kinds of obnoxious restaurant patrons with whom I wouldn't last one evening.
I think most servers work hard for their money and their tips, and my hat is off to them!!

 

[Erikarate]

I agree with Uncleromulus...

For the record, on a RARE occasion we HAVE tipped a minimal amount (maybe even LESS than 15%), but the service and meal had to have been entirely unacceptable. I also think giving a server only 10% let's say rather than NO tip makes a bigger statement (i.e. if you don't give a tip, there's a chance they'll think you forgot). Also, I still believe that as bad as it may be, they're still providing a service to you and therefore should be paid something.

To all those hard-working waitpersons out there, I do appreciate you. It is often your diligence, patience, and personalities that can make a meal from "good" to "memorable". Thanks.

 

[peachgirl]

if you don't give a tip, there's a chance they'll think you forgot

I know this is the reasoning a lot people use for leaving a small tip when service is unacceptable. But, if the service you received was so horrid that you wouldn't leave a tip, I doubt that the waiter or waitress would be totally oblivious to the fact that they did a bad job and most likely wouldn't be confused as to why there was no tip. If they are so dense as to not know when they give bad service, then I doubt they'd understand a smaller tip either and would just think you're cheap. Besides, if the service was so bad that I didn't leave a tip at all, I most likely would have talked to the manager, leaving no one to doubt why I left no tip.

As for how much to tip, 15% is still the standard, around here at least . For normal, acceptable service that's what I'll tip. I see no need to increase it to 20% for a standard tip. As long as tipping is based on the total tab, servers get a raise every time a restaurant increases their prices, so why increase the percentage of the tip? Frankly, I don't know why we all bought into the raise from 10 to 15, but we did. I don't resent tipping at all, in fact I really enjoy being able to tip generously. I'd much rather have a server that deserves extra than one that deserves nothing!

All that said, I don't see any opinions here on how much and when to tip that I find totally unreasonable. Even though I don't agree with some, I don't think any are out of line with acceptable practices.

 

[raidermatt]

This is the most sensible statement I've read on this thread.

So says you...

Some of us scrimp and save all year,forgoing any other holidays ,dinners,theatres ,entertainment etc...just so we can have the pleasure of one week in paradise!

Very true. But if the only way we can afford to eat in a given restaurant is to go cheap on the tip, we probably should be eating somewhere else.

 

[DeeP]

This topic has come up many times on the boards and it seems as though different areas of the country have different views and standards of what is an appropriate tip. I also always leave 20% tip if I have good service, less for bad service and more for great service. Wait persons are in a tipped position, they depend on tips for their income, plain and simple, no question about it! If you don't want to tip appropriately then eat at counter service places!! I also have to agree with another poster, it is the same where I live if you leave only 15% tip for excellent service that is considered cheap. If you can afford a $100.00 meal then you should be able to afford a $20.00 tip, if not then you should not be eating at that restaurant. Whenever I read threads on tipping I often wonder what do people tip when they go to a bar and get drinks--do they not tip the bartender because he is only giving you about 2 minutes of service for each round of drinks or do they tip the bartender a total of a couple dollars when they have been sitting there for hours with seats tied up that the bartender could be making money off of with patrons that tip accordingly. I am not rich and I do not waste my money but when you get service and it is a tip position then you need to tip accordingly or do not go to a restaurant, bar, use luggage services, valet parking, etc., that requires tips. We just ordered pizza to be delivered the other night, it was pouring raining and the pizza was brought to our door, piping hot and delicious and cost $12.50 with tax, we gave the delivery person $15.00 and told him to keep the change. To us it was well worth the $2.50 tip for the service we got, we got hot, delicious pizza delivered to our door in a timely manner and we did not have to go out in the pouring rain to get it! That is service and that is what tip positions are all about.

 

[travelitis]

Tips means To Insure Prompt Service. That about says it all for me. I think this thread illustrates what Miss Manners said about tipping being very personal.

What I don't like is going into a Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins and finding a tip cup on their counter. Please! They are fast food workers, and tipping fast food workers is not customary.

 

[wee-haggis]

Tips means To Insure Prompt Service.

Very interesting comment.
I did'nt know thats what it meant.
I think this explanation says it all in that the tip is a reward for good or prompt service.It is NOT mandatory or indeed expected everywhere you go.
I don't mind tipping for good service and generally speaking that turns out to be the case the majority of the time.
Its when some service personnel think that its their god given right to expect a tip from each and every person for each and every service.......that what annoys me.
I'll finish with an example from two weeks ago.
After arriving at our hotel on a airport bus, my wife and i lifted our suitcases off of the bus an onto the sidewalk. As we are exiting the back door of the bus, the driver rushes forward with hand extended. I just looked at him and said "For what".While at the same time other passengers are handing him $5 bills (even although their bags are also on the sidewalk).
Unfortunately these drivers are trying to take advantage of the tipping process and perhaps spoiling it for the genuine folk who deserve it .The $5 tippers are only encouraging them to do so with their actions !

 

[calgarygary]

Tips are always to be earned and rewarding stupidity

If they are so dense as to not know when they give bad service, then I doubt they'd understand a smaller tip either and would just think you're cheap

is going to lead to poor service. Folks, lets look at the economics from the other end. Chances are, a waiter or waitress in the world is doing two turns minimum per evening (the number of times the table is turned over to new customers). If they have a 20 seat section at an average bill of $30./seat then their nightly sales are apx. $1200. Is a waiter or waitress position really worth $240 + wages per night. Now it was mentioned that the IRS (Revenue Canada up here in snowy Calgary) gets their percentage - the fact is very few waiting staff claim 100% of their gratuities. Depending upon their honesty, a waiter or waitress may be "taking home" the equal of a person earning $60k per year. Don't ever tip because you think the poor waiter or waitress needs the income. I worked 10 years as a manager in a quality chain here in Canada and never earned what my waiting staff did - not sour grapes just the facts. You'll notice that minster22 went from managing to waiting! So when it comes to the amount - I say pay them what they earned. If the service was poor nothing, and if the service was great, what you can afford.

One last thing, if the quality of the food was poor, a good waiter or waitress will insure a satisfactory resolution by bringing your problem to the attention of management.

 

[robinb]

Did I miss something? Have the WDW restaurants instituted an automatic 15% gratuity? If so, then I'm 100% in favor of it. I usually tip 15-20% and an automatic gratuity would be "no muss, no fuss" for me.

 

[gina2000]

I like the tipping system and believe in it.

If I go to an upscale restaurant with upscale service, I tip accordingly. I get great service and a great meal. It's worth it to me to tip 20% or more for that service. Also, keep in mind that in a better restaurant, tables don't turn over nearly as often as in a mid-priced restaurant. The waitstaff generally has less tables and more time to devote to your table. AND LESS TURNOVER. So if you are complaining about tipping in a fine restaurant, then don't go there. These people are trained to perform a job flawlessly and their expertise should be recognized and rewarded accordingly. It's the standard in THIS country regardless of what happens around the world.

Which brings me to my next point. I've had some pretty lax service in MANY parts of the world. Sometimes that built in tip doesn't exactly create an eager waitstaff. So don't count on acceptable service just because the service charge is already paid up front.

If you don't want to tip, or tip well, don't . It's your prerogative. And that's what it's all about. Choice.

But don't be surprised at the reactions you get.

 

[Captain Crook]

We start at 20% and go from there. Downward to 15-18% for mediocre-poorer service and up to 22-25% for excellent service. We once left nothing after a rude waiter actually argued with me (and I am a very easy going, non-confrontational person).

I'm with raidermatt and a couple others in thinking that if you must scrimp & save to eat a particular locale you must also include the price of the gratuity in that calculation. I like upscale restaurants but I know my 'comfort zone'. At Disney we usually frequent Flying Fish, Jiko, California Grill, Narcoossee's etc. and I know what our family bill will be. Victoria & Alberts & Shula's are a bit above what makes me comfortable in spending so we generally will not go to them, athough we'd certainly like to be able to...

I'm not big on entitlement theory AND I don't want to set myself up for disappointment - that I can't financally or emotionlly afford the meal (as in, what if that REALLY EXPENSIVE meal isn't that good & yet I still must leave the tip). I don't want to walk out of a restaurant feeling I just blew big bucks, therefore I know what my comfort zone is.

It's like my philoophy about big boys toys. You shouldn't generally purchase something that you can't afford to use. Like an expensive boat. Me, I could comfortably afford to buy, maintain & run a 20 footer probably. My bank account says I could scrimp and buy a 30 footer, so I do. Soon it becomes apparant that the maintenace and operation of that boat is more costly than the 20 footer and after a while of pouring big bucks into an already expensive boat the JOY of boating is long gone. On the other hand, my neighbor, who could also afford the 20 footer, bought an 18 footer and has minimal operating/maintenance costs and a whole lot less into the initial investment, he continues to enjoy his boating while I'm back on the couch watching tv...

Sorry for the length.

Oh, one more thing. 20% is now the generally accepted gratuity standard.

 

[anniet]

I worked ONE NIGHT in a restaurant when I was sixteen and I quit the next day. I only worked in the kitchen cleaning dishes, but I hated it, and I couldn't believe how hard EVERYBODY worked!

Since then I have almost always tipped 15% for average service and 20% or more for exceptional service, and so far at Disney I have gotten nothing less than exceptional service.

If I get very poor service, I might not leave a tip at all and there was the one time my sister and I went to a local Mexican restaurant and the waitress never brought us plates or utensils, and ignored us when we tried to get her attention. (she did bring the food to the table --we were splitting appetizers but even without utensils I don't know how she thought we were going to eat it)

We finally got a busboy's attention and he apologized profusely and brought us what we needed. He even checked back to make sure we didn't need anything else. I left NO TIP on the table and as we were leaving I walked over to the busboy and handed him a $20 tip (our bill was only $30) and told him I thought he should be the waiter and SHE should be bussing tables.

I think a tip is like a report card. If the service is A+ the tip should reflect that, and if the service is a big fat F, there should be no tip and a complaint to the restaurant manager.

 

[calgarygary]

When I see people saying that they leave 15% for poor service I am amazed. Rewarding mediocrity will insure just that. I would like to mention to gina2000 that I am asked by U.S. customs where my place of residence is, what the purpose of my visit is, where I will be visiting and for how long I will be there not will I tip 20%. Tipping is a custom that Canadians share with Americans, however, it is viewed here as a reward (the original intention) not as a mandated process of dining. Several years ago, I visited the Hard Rock in Niagara Falls under pressure from my children. Our order had obviously been lost when tables that arrived 45 minutes after us received their entres prior to our apps. Despite bringing our concerns to both wait staff and management in a timely and calm manner, our food did not appear. Three of my children actually fell asleep waiting on their meals! Does this service require only a 15% tip - I think NOT, it deserves nothing. And believe me, the waiter knew he earned it. On the other end, yes great service deserves a great gratuity and 20 to 25% is not the limit. My earlier comment about the amounts that a waiter/waitress can earn will apply to fine dining. Yes there are fewer turns - most fine dining rooms expect 1 and a half turns. Yes the waiting staff have fewer tables, typically 4. However the average check is much higher and so are the total gratuities. The best wait staff in the best rooms can easily approach the equivalent of a 6 figure income (it's that tax reporting thing again). But that is not to say they haven't earned it. I just want to emphasize that the motivation behind the tip should not be for the "poor" waiter/waitress but because the quality of service has earned the tip.

Gary

 

[wee-haggis]

If I get very poor service, I might not leave a tip at all


The strange thing about this poll I started is that the majority (like the above post) seem to think that although they don't mind tipping (and normally do so quite generously),the leading poll item for folk who "Don't mind paying the 15% gratuity" is ahead?

The concensus seems to be that the customer should have the right to decide whether (and by how much) he or she decides is suitable for a tip for the server.
For the restaurants to automaticaly tack on 15% removes the incentive for the servers to do a good job.
Let the people decide!

 

[gina2000]

LOL, calgarygary, I never once said that a tip was mandatory. What I did say was that a tip, when deserved, follows a protocol and a standard set by the prevailing country or area of the country you are in.

If I receive shoddy service, the waitress receives a shoddy tip based on norms. However, I will never rant over the prevailing standards society has set for tipping when a job is well done just because I don't like the standard or think it's unfair. I factor that cost into my dinner as well as my entire vacation. I don't consider the standard ridiculous and make up my own standards. Overall it's up to me to determine the appropriate amount of money based on the service rendered reflecting the standard of the part of the country I am in, not what I can afford or what I am used to.

In the situation you described, I would have left a minimal tip and complained to the manager on the way out IF the problem was the waitstaff. If the problem occurred in the kitchen, I probably would leave more. Not all disasters are the fault of the waitstaff. As long as they are making a consciencious effort to try to resolve the situation, I won't penalize them.

As far as waitstaff and their IRS reporting, that's not something I care about. If they make 6 figures, they're good at what they do. Not my business.

 

[Jasmine13]

About 5 or 7 years ago it crept up to 15% (probably egged on by the restaurants who started to make it mandatory in their bills).

I beg to differ... I waited tables back in the early 80's and standard tip at that time was no less than 15%... it is time to get with the times. 20% is not too much to tip for good service!

 

[Jasmine13]

Wee Hagis asked for opinions, and now is shooting down everyone with an opinion that differs from his. Should this thread not be more appropriately placed on the debate board?

 

[WDW2002]

Being a bookkeeper in the food industry, I know that the servers do not report more then they have to (at least in our restaurant), so I tend to start my tip at just that the 8% that the Federal Government will mandate as "allocated tips." I will go up from there depending on service and if the service stinks I will leave NOTHING!! Those that tip minimum 15% regardless of service will make up for my no tip.

edited to add
Also in California servers make minimum wage of $6.75 an hour. The same as Fast Food workers who often work just as hard as a sever but recieve no tips. So IMO the servers need to EARN their tip, not just get it for "doing their job."

 

[Captain Crook]

I tend to agree Jasmine...

Don't tip if you don't want to but don't rationalize the reasons. It doesn't matter what you think tipping 'should' be , the fact is that waitstaff receive very minimal salaries and make their living from tips. 15% is not enough in this day and age for good or even average service. Further, as was eloquently stated above, it may not be the waitstaff's fault that problems arise or that the food is bad. It isn't right to make the waiter/waitress the scapegoat for all wrongs you may encounter at a restaurant or the object of your displeasure if the issue was out of his or her control (poor food for example).

I don't think anyone has said that if anyone were to receive very poor service that you need to leave 20% or 15% or even 10%...But the reason for stiffing the waitstaff should be due to tbeir specific performance lapses rather than your individual personal justifiation...

 

[tonilea]

If tipping is added into the bill as a gratuity, then they should just add it into the cost of the dinner and pay the waitstaff accordingly. It is exactly the same as the STUPID fuel surcharge the airlines added last year. If you want $100, then charge $100, not $75 and a $25 gratuity. I am not really anti-tipping, I simply think tipping should be based on service.

I also think that the poll results are misleading, as items 2 and 4 are very similar and I had difficulty deciding which to choose.