REALLY, REALLY crappy service still= tip???

[mykidsand_i]

Ok, we were in a restaurant this last weekend (just my husband and I- we were out of town for our anniversary)...We got HORRIBLE service at a certain 'steak type' restaurant- think outback/lonestar/texas roadhouse type. The place was definately not busy and from what we saw our waitress had two tables (ours and one table with 3 people right next to us). So, we were seated, given menus and we waited and waited and waited. FINALLY, she came to get our drink order. She went to the table next to us and took their drink order and brought out the drinks fairly quickly. She then took a seat at a stool at the bar area and started talking to the bar tender. Both my DH and I completely drank ALL of our pop before she came back to take our food order- and we didn't guzzle it down, nor drink it quickly at all.

She took our order, then the other tables order, then went back to sit at the stool at the bar again...

She forgot to bring us our pop re-fills, so my husband walked over to the bar to get them refilled...she didn't move or offer to help- the bartender filled them as those two continued talking.

After a while, the other table saw that their food was ready, sitting in the warming window- and they pretty much went to tell our waitress that they wanted their food before it was cold. She went and got it for them. They ordered AFTER us, she brought their food and went to sit on the stool again..

My husband went to find the manager, who said that he was sorry and he brought our food out without even saying a word to our waitress who was still sitting at the bar. (he obviously wasn't managing properly)...

He brought it and that was the last we saw of anyone until we were done. The other table made a comment to us about the horrible service and that they weren't leaving a tip- since they too had to go get their own refills on pop/water/what ever and they had to request their food be brought to them.

They didn't leave a tip at all. The waitress came to their table to collect their payment- then, came back to get the receipt or what ever and she was PISSED off that she didn't get a tip from them. She was very rudely talking to the bar tender loudly about getting no tip.

I've waitressed before. That's how I had money while I was in college. I HATE when people don't tip- so we did give her a tip- 50cents. She almost came running out the door after us to make sure 'we knew' that she wasn't making much per hour and she relied on her tips to get money.

OK...If you are relying on tips for income, then do your job! I KNOW how it is being a waitress! BUT, back when I worked as a waitress, I KNEW THAT I HAD TO EARN my tips- I did not just expect them!

I hate not leaving tip- But I HATE it more when I get crappy service because the waiter/waitress just thinks she's gaurenteed a tip just because she's working. In my opinion- TIPS ARE AN EARNED INCOME- NOT A 'RIGHT'...

I understand- if it's busy, if you're working your tail off and people have to wait for their food/drinks- that's totally understandable to me...if the kitchen screws up on the order, that's understandable to me- it's not always the waitresses fault. IF YOU'RE SITTING AT THE BAR talking to the bartender and laughing, cussing and giggling- not doing your job- then I don't think that a tip is earned.

 

[happygirl]

Ok, we were in a restaurant this last weekend (just my husband and I- we were out of town for our anniversary)...We got HORRIBLE service at a certain 'steak type' restaurant- think outback/lonestar/texas roadhouse type. The place was definately not busy and from what we saw our waitress had two tables (ours and one table with 3 people right next to us). So, we were seated, given menus and we waited and waited and waited. FINALLY, she came to get our drink order. She went to the table next to us and took their drink order and brought out the drinks fairly quickly. She then took a seat at a stool at the bar area and started talking to the bar tender. Both my DH and I completely drank ALL of our pop before she came back to take our food order- and we didn't guzzle it down, nor drink it quickly at all.

She took our order, then the other tables order, then went back to sit at the stool at the bar again...

She forgot to bring us our pop re-fills, so my husband walked over to the bar to get them refilled...she didn't move or offer to help- the bartender filled them as those two continued talking.

After a while, the other table saw that their food was ready, sitting in the warming window- and they pretty much went to tell our waitress that they wanted their food before it was cold. She went and got it for them. They ordered AFTER us, she brought their food and went to sit on the stool again..

My husband went to find the manager, who said that he was sorry and he brought our food out without even saying a word to our waitress who was still sitting at the bar. (he obviously wasn't managing properly)...

He brought it and that was the last we saw of anyone until we were done. The other table made a comment to us about the horrible service and that they weren't leaving a tip- since they too had to go get their own refills on pop/water/what ever and they had to request their food be brought to them.

They didn't leave a tip at all. The waitress came to their table to collect their payment- then, came back to get the receipt or what ever and she was PISSED off that she didn't get a tip from them. She was very rudely talking to the bar tender loudly about getting no tip.

I've waitressed before. That's how I had money while I was in college. I HATE when people don't tip- so we did give her a tip- 50cents. She almost came running out the door after us to make sure 'we knew' that she wasn't making much per hour and she relied on her tips to get money.

OK...If you are relying on tips for income, then do your job! I KNOW how it is being a waitress! BUT, back when I worked as a waitress, I KNEW THAT I HAD TO EARN my tips- I did not just expect them!

I hate not leaving tip- But I HATE it more when I get crappy service because the waiter/waitress just thinks she's gaurenteed a tip just because she's working. In my opinion- TIPS ARE AN EARNED INCOME- NOT A 'RIGHT'...

I understand- if it's busy, if you're working your tail off and people have to wait for their food/drinks- that's totally understandable to me...if the kitchen screws up on the order, that's understandable to me- it's not always the waitresses fault. IF YOU'RE SITTING AT THE BAR talking to the bartender and laughing, cussing and giggling- not doing your job- then I don't think that a tip is earned.

It sounds like you had bad service but you never know what was going on with her. I always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I will always leave atleast 15%. at the minium. If you had just left me 50 cents I would have assumed you were just cheap. It's so funny people don't understand that even if you don't leave a tip for whatever reason, The server still has to claim her amount of total sales for the shift, if people don't leave enough tip she has to make up the difference. So not only you don't tip her she still has to claim the sales at the end of the night and make up the difference out of her pocket.

 

[dislaney]

Ok, we were in a restaurant this last weekend (just my husband and I- we were out of town for our anniversary)...We got HORRIBLE service at a certain 'steak type' restaurant- think outback/lonestar/texas roadhouse type. The place was definately not busy and from what we saw our waitress had two tables (ours and one table with 3 people right next to us). So, we were seated, given menus and we waited and waited and waited. FINALLY, she came to get our drink order. She went to the table next to us and took their drink order and brought out the drinks fairly quickly. She then took a seat at a stool at the bar area and started talking to the bar tender. Both my DH and I completely drank ALL of our pop before she came back to take our food order- and we didn't guzzle it down, nor drink it quickly at all.

She took our order, then the other tables order, then went back to sit at the stool at the bar again...

She forgot to bring us our pop re-fills, so my husband walked over to the bar to get them refilled...she didn't move or offer to help- the bartender filled them as those two continued talking.

After a while, the other table saw that their food was ready, sitting in the warming window- and they pretty much went to tell our waitress that they wanted their food before it was cold. She went and got it for them. They ordered AFTER us, she brought their food and went to sit on the stool again..

My husband went to find the manager, who said that he was sorry and he brought our food out without even saying a word to our waitress who was still sitting at the bar. (he obviously wasn't managing properly)...

He brought it and that was the last we saw of anyone until we were done. The other table made a comment to us about the horrible service and that they weren't leaving a tip- since they too had to go get their own refills on pop/water/what ever and they had to request their food be brought to them.

They didn't leave a tip at all. The waitress came to their table to collect their payment- then, came back to get the receipt or what ever and she was PISSED off that she didn't get a tip from them. She was very rudely talking to the bar tender loudly about getting no tip.

I've waitressed before. That's how I had money while I was in college. I HATE when people don't tip- so we did give her a tip- 50cents. She almost came running out the door after us to make sure 'we knew' that she wasn't making much per hour and she relied on her tips to get money.

OK...If you are relying on tips for income, then do your job! I KNOW how it is being a waitress! BUT, back when I worked as a waitress, I KNEW THAT I HAD TO EARN my tips- I did not just expect them!

I hate not leaving tip- But I HATE it more when I get crappy service because the waiter/waitress just thinks she's gaurenteed a tip just because she's working. In my opinion- TIPS ARE AN EARNED INCOME- NOT A 'RIGHT'...

I understand- if it's busy, if you're working your tail off and people have to wait for their food/drinks- that's totally understandable to me...if the kitchen screws up on the order, that's understandable to me- it's not always the waitresses fault. IF YOU'RE SITTING AT THE BAR talking to the bartender and laughing, cussing and giggling- not doing your job- then I don't think that a tip is earned.

I almost always leave a tip but in this case I think you left 49cents too much.

 

[mykidsand_i]

It sounds like you had bad service but you never know what was going on with her. I always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I will always leave atleast 15%. at the minium. If you had just left me 50 cents I would have assumed you were just cheap. It's so funny people don't understand that even if you don't leave a tip for whatever reason a server still has to pay taxes on there sales.

Then, that server needs to do a better job. There are thousands of people who can't even GET a job no matter how hard they try in todays poor economy- There would be people who would actually be willing to work while doing her job!

The reason for the 50 cents is this- When she was 'complaining loudly' to the bartender so all could hear about the other table NOT tipping at all, she said "no tip, that sucks- I don't get paid enough for the crap I go through. People should earn what they deserve." Well, she definately got the amount of tip she earned from my table...Like I said, I waitressed all through college (4 1/2 years) and no matter HOW CRAPPY of a day I had- I knew and EXPECTED to get NOTHING if I didn't earn it.

 

[C.Ann]

Sounds to me like you handled the situation quite nicely.. The only thing I would have done differently was to leave NO tip at all.. Your waitress spent the entire time clearly in your view, so I find it very hard to believe that there was any valid reason for her not doing her job..

Love your phrase: "Tips an EARNED income - not a RIGHT"..

Too bad your waitress seemed to feel otherwise..

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I am a waitress. When the service is wonderful, I've been known to leave way more than 20%, but in this case, I would have left nothing.

I too, would have asked to speak to a manager and normally, that should have fixed things. Since it didn't, I would have left a note saying something like "Normally, I tip very well being a waitress myself but to call this performance any form of a service would be a lie."

In my experience, leaving a low, terrible or non-existent tip will only piss the person off and make them think you are cheap. Usually this can be fixed by notifying the manager at some point but apparently this didn't work. I don't care if the server is going to lose money on that, clearly she was taking the chance and didn't care.

I'm sorry this happened to you. It's incredibly frustrating because it's happened to me before. Hopefully that will be the last time anyone does that to you.

 

[mykidsand_i]

I almost always leave a tip but in this case I think you left 49cents too much.

Yeah, good point- but I think it was 40 cents too much , not 49 cents. She did take our order...we all know how hard one works to do that correctly.

 

[happygirl]

Then, that server needs to do a better job. There are thousands of people who can't even GET a job no matter how hard they try in todays poor economy-

The reason for the 50 cents is this- When she was 'complaining loudly' to the bartender so all could hear, she said 'no tip, that sucks- I don't get paid enough for the crap I go through here. People should earn what they deserve.' Well, she definately got the amount of tip she earned from my table...Like I said, I waitressed all through college (4 1/2 years) and no matter HOW CRAPPY of a day I had- I knew and EXPECTED to get NOTHING if I didn't earn it.

Wow, I totally disagree with you.
I have had bad days and I can understand how they can affect you. So when I get a server who is having a bad day I can understand and relate. If I feel like a server is doing a bad job then I leave 15% and for me that is almost like leaving 50.cents. I have never understood. Would you want your boss to dock your pay if you had a bad day?

 

[teacherforhi]

It sounds like you had bad service but you never know what was going on with her. I always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I will always leave atleast 15%. at the minium. If you had just left me 50 cents I would have assumed you were just cheap. It's so funny people don't understand that even if you don't leave a tip for whatever reason, The server still has to claim her amount of total sales for the shift, if people don't leave enough tip she has to make up the difference. So not only you don't tip her she still has to claim the sales at the end of the night and make up the difference out of her pocket.

Seriously? It's okay for your server to ignore you and chit chat with the bartender if he or she is having a bad day?

According to the OP, she wasn't even apologetic about it and didn't even equate 'no tip' with the crappy service she had been providing. In this particular case, I honestly don't care what she has to declare on her taxes. Maybe it will be a wake-up call (although I doubt it).

 

[srferson]

gra·tu·i·ty (grə-tōō'ĭ-tē, -tyōō'-)
n. pl. gra·tu·i·ties
A favor or gift, usually in the form of money, given in return for service.

Sad to say this, but based on how the OP described things, it seems to me like there was about 50 cents worth of service there, so a 50 cent tip makes sense to me. I don't think I've ever had service that bad, but I have to say, if I did, it would pretty much ruin my meal because I would feel stressed about the situation the entire time.

 

[teacherforhi]

Wow, I totally disagree with you.
I have had bad days and I can understand how they can affect you. So when I get a server who is having a bad day I can understand and relate. If I feel like a server is doing a bad job then I leave 15% and for me that is almost like leaving 50.cents. I have never understood. Would you want your boss to dock your pay if you had a bad day?

She wasn't having a bad day. She wasn't doing her job--period.

I'm going back to work tomorrow after being out for a week with a herniated disc. By this server's example, if I wake up in the morning and my back hurts, I'll just go to work and do nothing. Or maybe I can just hand out worksheets and have the kids figure it out for themselves. After all, I'm having a bad day. However, in reality, I'll go slow, take it easy, and while I won't have the best day ever (I'm sure), I'm going to give it all I've got. That's definitely not what the server did.

 

[happygirl]

I don't see tipping as optional with that I'm out. I have done the tipping debate on here more then once, I'm tired of doing it. Good night all

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

We had similar service in a Bone Fish in Ft. Lauderdale area recently.

Our tip? "Next time pay attention to your customers."

We did speak to the manager and told her why we weren't leaving a tip.

Any time I don't tip, I make sure I speak with a manager and fully explain why there is no tip. I fortunately, haven't had to do anything like that too often.

That waitress, bad day or no, wasn't doing her job. When you work with people you have to suck it up and get on with it, regardless of your mood, or your day. If your day was that bad, then stay home and don't subject customers to your bad self. Nonsense.

Tips are for service. No service. No tip.

 

[mykidsand_i]

If she was having a bad day, it sure didn't show. She was laughing and talking about some party she'd been to with the bartender the night before.

Like I said- i've been a waitress. When I got my job I was told STRAIGHT OUT that Tips were EARNED (I worked at Olive G.). Our managers told people that I worked with on more than one occasion that TIPS ARE EARNED. It was fully understood. And when there is an application list of 10-20 people who could REPLACE you in a heartbeat, people should worry about doing the best they can do at a job and less about 'getting something for nothing'...A lot of people work on commision. Car salesmen, some mechanics, some hair dressers, lots of people. If they don't do THEIR JOB, they don't make money.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Wow, I totally disagree with you.
I have had bad days and I can understand how they can affect you. So when I get a server who is having a bad day I can understand and relate. If I feel like a server is doing a bad job then I leave 15% and for me that is almost like leaving 50.cents. I have never understood. Would you want your boss to dock your pay if you had a bad day?

I have bad days, I have preoccupied days, I have days that I just don't care what any customer says but I can still screw on that smile and act as if nothing is wrong. It's not the customer's fault I'm having a bad day so my attitude toward them shouldn't reflect it. Even if it is their fault I'm currently p-d off, it still shouldn't show.

 

[N.Bailey]

I too waited tables MANY years ago and I will give the caveat that I have never in my life, NOT left a tip. In all honesty, I can't even say that I ever had bad service. Sure, I've had waiters/waitresses that have been amazing. I've had them where they've been so busy that I knew they were doing the best they could, but I have never had bad service. Had that been me, I wouldn't have left a tip either.

I'd have probably said something as she was complaining about the other table not leaving something too. I wouldn't have just listened to that without speaking up. Then, to have her literally chasing you down to berate you for what you did leave? She's trash and should seek employment elsewhere. This IS never acceptable, IMO. You might not like it when you don't get a tip (I didn't like it either when it happened), but it does go with the territory, EVEN when you're doing the job you were hired to do. I would have told her exactly why she got nothing (because I wouldn't have even left $0.50), and I most definitely wouldn't have given her ANY benefit of any doubt. NO WAY!

 

[C.Ann]

I have bad days, I have preoccupied days, I have days that I just don't care what any customer says but I can still screw on that smile and act as if nothing is wrong. It's not the customer's fault I'm having a bad day so my attitude toward them shouldn't reflect it. Even if it is their fault I'm currently p-d off, it still shouldn't show.

You sound like an excellent waitress - and I'd be willing to bet that your tips reflect that..

 

[mykidsand_i]

You sound like an excellent waitress - and I'd be willing to bet that your tips reflect that..

Exactly what i was going to say...I wish more waitresses were like you! Although, I've had some really good ones and can't complain about the service that I get usually! This was a very 'rare' occasion for us. I, too, have never even thought about leaving without leaving AT LEAST a 15% tip- until I had this woman/girl for a waitress. Then, it just seemed like I'd be encouraging her to continue with her 'everyone tips no matter what' theory she had going for her...

If anything, maybe she gave the people who came in AFTER us better service? Maybe??? Well, I can hope!

 

[ZuZugal]

To the OP - you did the right thing. People can quibble about the amount but you got your point across. I wouldn't have stopped there. I would have complained (respectfully) to the manager as well.

It sounds like you had bad service but you never know what was going on with her. I always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. .

All I have to say to this is...the waitress just plain wasn't working. Doesn't sound at all from the OP's story that she was "having a bad day". And even if I am having a bad day at work I don't "let it show" to those in the public. Guess I basically expect people to do their jobs and do the work they are paid for - not just the work they want to do.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

I probably would have put some money on the table to cover the drinks, and then walked out before she moseyed on over to take my food order. For experiences where the service is only "ehhh" but I still got my food and drinks in a somewhat timely manner, then I would tip about 15% if I'm using a credit card and possibly lower if I'm leaving cash.