Poll: Have you ever left NO tip?

[Disney_luvin_family]

DH and I have left NO tip twice. ONLY because we knew it was DEFINATELY the servers fault. We truely believe that a tip is something to be earned. DH and I will leave as much as a 25% tip at times if we know the server has really done a good job. Our average is around 20% for a well done job.

People who expect tips for crappy service are idiots. A tip is something that needs to be earned by good service!!! The one time we didn't leave a tip, was when the waitress coughed on our food and she was very rude. The second time was when we watched our waiter flirting with three females for several minutes while our food was sitting up on the counter ready to be brought to our table...he messed up our order and then he over charged us. When we spoke to the manager we found out that the waiter had worked there for over a year and the manager said that this man was having an "off night"...when a person is working as a waiter or waitress, they should not expect tips for doing nothing...here's a tip "get a different job if you can't do the one you have"

 

[honeymom]

Just once. The waitress was a nutjob. I forget the exact circumstances, but she actually got to the point where she physically threatened me once I reported her to the Manager because of her rudeness. I did tip the busboy that night though. He was the saving grace of the evening. He stepped in and essentially took over what she was supposed to be doing, plus he was gracious.

It was such a bad experience that I never ate at that restaurant again.

 

[PatsMom]

I've only not left a tip once that I can think of. Lots of times when I eat out it is just me and DD. So I tend to tip extra (25% to 30%) to make up for the fact that we don't eat that much. Especially when she was younger and ordered child's meals. Even now that she is 16, our favorite meal is breakfast at a local place and the servers like us because I tip over 25% and I get great service! So I am normally a decent tipper.

One time when DD was 7 or 8 we went to an Olive Garden. I could see the look on the waiter's face when we were seated - a woman and a child, he figured he was going to get a lousy tip and couldn't be bothered with us. We ordered (after waiting 25 minutes while he chatted with other tables, other servers, the bartender, etc). He never did bring the salad and breadsticks that are included with meals at Olive Garden. I had to ask for my salad when he delivered my cold entree. I also had to beg for a refill of my water glass - that I never got. I finally walked over to the bar and asked for a refill of my water glass. After that the waiter did show up to ask if we would like anything else. I replied that I wanted the check quickly please. It took another 20 minutes for him to deliver that. I had near the correct change for the bill but would need to wait if I wanted change for a tip. At that point I left enough to cover the check on the table with a note saying that I couldn't wait another 20 minutes for him to bring me change for a tip. So he wasn't getting one. I was absolutely furious at the service I got and did mention to the manager on the way out that the service was unacceptable.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Leaving nothing makes it too easy for them to assume you forgot and not take it as a comment on the service/food/both. Leaving a miniscule amount lets them know you did NOT forget but were NOT happy.

Exactly, I have coffee every mornng in the restuarant in my building at work. I'm friendly with my waitress. Some mornings I would tease her that I'm not going to leave her a tip and then she told me that if you are unhappy with your server, leave a penny. They'll get the message real quick.

 

[simonkodousek]

I've not left a tip on only one occasion. We were at Applebee's, and had the worst waiter I've ever had. He was prompt in taking our drink orders, however they came to our table 20 minutes later. I had an iced tea and used Splenda to sweeten it. I left the wrapper by my plate. He actually leaned across the table without warning, grabbed the wrapper, and left. 5 minutes later he did it again. By the end of the meal I believe he rudely leaned across the table 6 or 7 times. I had an Asian Chicken salad for an entree, and he brought ranch dressing. I asked for the ginger dressing that is supposed to come with it, and he came with Italian. I told him that it was the ginger dressing that is supposed to come with it. He came back with ranch...

 

[TisBit]

It is an extremely rare occurrence, I can only think of twice. Once I was planning on leaving a tip, but the waitress took our bill and money, but never brought our change back or asked us if we wanted change. It was like a $33 bill and we had two $20's in the folder to pay.

I actually had to go track her down to get our change, and I was done at that point! Other time was a horrible girl that was too busy flirting with the table behind us to actually serve us. She only had two tables, ours and theirs and just pretty much ignored us the whole time. She got a quarter I think....lol

I was a waiter, so I really hesitate to take a tip out on a server, but if they are the problem it will affect their tip. I don't take kitchen problems out on the server, unless they just don't care and don't try to fix the issues.

 

[LVSWL]

I checked "no" in the poll because as a former waitress I always try to treat our servers fairly, but there was one time at the Sci-Fi in MGM that I really was tempted to leave zero for a tip. Our waitress was abrasive from the beginning, wanted the entire order as soon as we sat down (and no we weren't on the Dining Plan) where they do sometimes take the drink and app. order right off the bat. She messed up the drink orders, and when we asked her to correct it, she argued with us, but finally took the wrong drink away(a vanilla shake to change for a chocolate one) and took our entree order. She then brought our entree, with no extra plate for the person who was sharing with their mom or silverware for them, still no correct shake, and NEVER returned to the table. We finally had to get up and go to the back where all of the other servers were and ask for a plate and utensils and a shake. She didn't show up again until we had "hitchhikers" put in our car for her to serve and she dropped off our check. Even the other server who finally brought the correct shake said that he didn't know where she was. I tipped her 5%, and it actually bugged me to do that.

 

[clkelley]

I have only not tipped twice that I can recall. Both times were at WDW.

Once was at Kona Cafe. We dropped in there late for appetizers (and possibly dessert and drinks, but the server didn't give us that chance). He appeared miffed that we weren't ordering a full meal and spent lots of time with the table next to us with a large party. We ordered our appetizers, they were brought promptly, AND our check was brought at the same time and then he dissappeared. We made it very clear that we weren't happy by putting a big fat "0" on the tip line. We were there to relax, have a snack, desert, and possibly a couple of drinks, which probably would have equaled those kids meals on the table next to us, but the server couldn't be bothered with that.

The other was at Rainforest Cafe in Disney about 10 years ago and it wasn't the poor servers fault and I felt really bad about that.

There was some mixup with our credit card. (They accepted Diners Club at the time whereas Disney did not). We decided to use the Diners Club there instead of the resort ID and due to a computer glitch, they had to confiscate the card. I was so flustrated at the time when they told us this, that I just plopped our resort ID and signed it. Rainforest has to calculate the tip BEFORE charging the resort ID and we didn't have any cash on us that evening.

 

[Pixeldust Fairy]

I am always a good tipper, but one time I had the worst service ever and I left with out leaving a tip. We ordered chips and queso and were running out of chips, so we asked for more. Instead of leaving what was left in the bowl there, he took the bowl of chips which left us with nothing to eat our queso. Our drinks were never re filled, and the clincher was when I had only eaten half of my food on my plate when I got a phone call. I turned around to reach into my purse to get my phone and answer, and when I turned back my plate was gone. My family said he came by dropped the check off and grabbed my plate and was gone before I even saw that he was there. So no tip for him that day.

 

[mom2my3kids]

I have once and I am a server. It was at Crabby Joes on the Pier at Daytona Beach. The lady took our order, dropped off some tiny drinks and left never came back until our food was ready. We asked for refills, never got them and had to go to the bar to get more refills. She never returned had to get another lady to get the bill and even paid her for the meal. I told her that she would of gotten a good tip if she had only tried to serve us instead of talking to another group for over a hour. And I am one to always give the person the benefit of the doubt and this was to much. Today at work was a bad day, we were short handed, out of everything and slammed beyond busy. I still managed to keep my customers glasses filled, now I can't say they didn't have a wait a few extra minutes for their food, bill, or to be cashed out but they all seemed pretty content. I always try to let them know ahead of time that the kitchen is behind and approximately how long its been taking.

 

[soontobewed07]

Only once and it was when the bill was thrown at us. I had to call the manager over and everything. The server was angry that we didnt order alcohol in the bar area what did he expect I was 8 months pregnant?

 

[happygirl]

I'm a server so I could never leave without tipping

 

[sandym718]

Only once. I normally tip 20%, that's our standard. In Disney, we were on the DDP, and tipped extra a few times. For poor service, I usually tip 10% or so.

The one time was a LONG time ago!! REally long time - it was after my 8th grade graduation. Several groups of us, after the dance, went to the local pizza\pasta joint within walking distance. I was with about 6 people, there was another table of our classmates, about 10 of them in the same room. We were not There with them, they were not friends of ours. Most of them had parents picking them up from the restaurant, my group was walking to my house (just 2 blocks away) when we were done. Well, that other table of 10 - 9(!) of them got up, went to the bathroom or whatever, and LEFT. Left the one guy at the table with the WHOLE bill. Now, this guy was sort of a friend, we felt bad for him. He had just enough money on him for his OWN meal. Not everyone elses. He had to wait for his dad to come get him and pay the bill (boy, would I be pissed as a parent!!) Anyways, they would not let ANY OTHER students in that restaurant leave until that dad came and paid!! We had paid our entire bill and just had to sit there!! Why?? Because we went to the same school?? How asinine! This was before cell phones, I was about to ask for a phone to call my parents and tell them Why we were going to be late when the dad showed up and paid. Good thing for that restaurant, cause believe me, if I had called MY dad and told him we were basically being held hostage, there would have been HELL to pay!! Anyways, they "allowed" us to leave then and we did not leave a tip. Now I guess this wasn't all the servers fault (the manager got involved, too) but it was the same server for both tables and SHE was the one who insisted we couldn't leave. And we were 13, so that's how we thought best to handle it.

Of course, now, as an adult, I would've walked out after paying and what would they do? Lay a hand on me and I'll call the police. Or what? They'd call the police and say what, I paid and couldn't leave? The whole thing was ridiculous, they were just taking advantage of the fact we were young and they could get away with it. Don't know what good we were going to do - we didn't have much more $$ anyways, LOL!

Other than being held hostage in a restaurant, I always leave some tip, LOL!

 

[just another guy]

Can't reall any examples to be honest. I've been on the other end though. Its all how the servers handles it. I was working at Apple Bees several years ago. A big football game got out, and we got extremely busy. In fact, the hosts filled the entire dining room in a short period of time, right before close. With all the others coming in, the chefs can only cook so fast. To top it off, one chefs got mad, and walked out, wuitting right there on the spot. My manager was back there cooking food. It was taking forever to come out. Lucky for me, this only affected one tables. My other tables were just paying and leaving. My one tables waited about 65-70 minutes from the time I rang their order in, until they received it. Since I had nothing to do, I sat down, told them 100% the truth. They were visiting family in town, but were from OH, where I have some family. We got to talking, I stole dad a couple free refills from the bar, and there were fine. I literally was sitting with them, sipping on a coke. Management fully 100% comped their meals, as well as half the restaurant's meals. I told them they had no bill, and dad slipped me a $50 saying I was the best server they had ever had.

 

[jdcthree]

I've never been able to leave no tip at all - just a reduced tip. I'm a really good tipper though so reduced is still a pretty good tip. If I had some of the experiences described in this thread I wouldn't have left a tip either!! What in the world kind of manager tries to make you eat something you didn't order?

 

[tomthebarncat]

I have done this twice, both times when I was living in Hunstville, Al. The first was at Crapplebees (Applebees), we had a nice dinner but the waitress stated three times when we were eating our dessert, that we needed to hurry up as there were other customers waiting for tables. I told her the first time she opened her mouth, that we had waited well over an hour for our table and when we are done, we will leave. Well the third time, I snapped back at her to " Here is your tip! learn to shut your mouth!" I then got up and went to find the manager, I explained to him what had happened and he comped the entire meal. I left absolutely nothing for the waitress, and I told the manager why, he agreed, that she did not earn her tip. The second time was at Chilis, another crappy chain restaurant. We were at a booth and a very large party came in, they set up the tables in the same area where we were. As more people joined the group, they ran out of chairs and the waitress had the gaul to just sit a stranger down at our table! As she ran off, I told her that this was unacceptable, her response " Get over it, they are a big party and are going to leave a big tip". Well my response back was to politely ask the stranger to leave the table, he stated that he wanted to die of embarassment and was shocked that the waitress had done this. He went back to his party and managed to squeeze in. I went and found the manager and told him what had happened, he stated that he was new to this type of work and really didn't know what to do. I wished him well and left a written note on the table stating " here is your TIP! find another profession as you suck at this one!". Harsh, maybe, but I work hard for my money and if someone chooses to wait tables then it is a crap shoot about tips. If the service is great I tip above the expected amount. But as my title states Crappy service= No tip! I live in Germany, where waitstaff are paid well and it is considered a profession. The europeans do not tip and just round up to the nearest euro. The few times that I have tipped due to an exceptional meal the staff has always returned the money, I then politely explain that is for them for great service. Tipping is one aspect of eating out in the states that I can do without!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Absolutely. I can count on one hand how many times I've had to do it, but I leave great tips for great service (25-50 percent of the bill), decent tips for decent service (15-20 percent of the bill), poor tips for poor service (5-10 percent) and no tip for virtually no service.

Unfortunately, this happened to us just this weekend. Our server took our order and NEVER returned. We were trying out a new sports bar and were sitting at a table. There were four or five other tables in our group that were abandoned, as well. Someone from the kitchen brought our food out, but the other tables hadn't been lucky enough to even place their food orders by the time they realized their server was out back, out front, flirting with waitresses and everything else you can do in a restaurant except waiting on customers.

I complained to a manager. We'd been sitting at our table after finishing our meal for a good 20, 30 minutes without our server acknowledging us (or the surrounding tables), offering/bringing us a to-go box (we'd ordered a pizza) and our check. The manager got a box and brought us our check. There were others from our section behind me waiting to speak to the manager/owner at the podium. I gave the manager two bucks to give the guy who brought our food out from the kitchen.

When we got to our car, I saw our waiter hanging out outside talking with people who looked to be his friends right outside of the back door of the kitchen.

Nothing like this has ever happened to us at Disney. But I absolutely will not tip for poor or nonexistent service. I also won't hold a server responsible for kitchen problems. I've worked for tips myself.

 

[DisOrBust]

Once but we didn't know it.

We were out to eat at a local place with my girls who were 6 and 9yo at the time. I swear the waitress was from hell. It was a surreal experience. I left a tip and my 9yo was mortified. I explained that she had bigger problems then me and that she someone"s daughter who was either ill, drunk or medicated( probably not legally,lol!) and needed help.

Driving home in the car my daughter gave me the money I had left for a tip, she had grabbed it off the table as we left. She told me "she didn't deserve it and would never get help if she keeps getting way with bad behavior". My DH and I just looked at each other and were left speechless.

 

[WildernessBride]

There have been many times that I wanted to leave no tip at all, in cases of bad service, but even in the worst dining experiences that we have had we have always tipped. I just can't not tip!!! I feel too guilty about stiffing someone. I definately believe in Karma , not tipping would be creating some bad Karma for me!!!!

 

[druidcat]

Hah! Thanks Druidcat Do I spy a Deadhead?

We dabble..haha Gotta love sirius radio!