Restaurant Service / Tipping Question

[michygoomy]

For some of you folks who over tip, what is your description of "exceptional" or "above and beyond" service?

Back to the original quesiton, I won't touch everything in between.

Last year at Coral Reef, our server was exceptional. Not only was she completely on top of the normal stuff (filling drinks, asking if everything was OK, bringing food, explaining the menu, etc.), but she went out of the way to make sure our toddler was entertained--bringing her toys, crackers, etc. She hardly came to our table without bringing something new for the toddler.

Not only did we add an extra tip (we were on DDP), but my son took the magna doodle she had brought for the toddler and wrote, "Thanks for the great service" on it before we left. I hoped she noticed it.

 

[AKLforever]

I still think it is ridiculous that the waiter who brings a plate of salad gets tipped $4 less than the waiter who brought out a plate with steak on it. They've done the same job. Provided the same service. However, that is the way the tipping system currently works so there you go.

Ah, heres where I think you may agree with me.
When I go to a place, order a steak for say 50$, the waiter is great all the way around with everything, then the tip would most likely be 8$ at the least, or more.
Now, just the other day, I went to a cheap place to eat, like the all day breakfast places (dennys, and so on)
I got a a total of 11$ worth of stuff, and still tipped high, 5$ Because I know they live on tips, and Im not evil.
And the service was great there too.
But my point is, the higher the price of the place, the more apt I am to tip minimum. The cheaper the place, I give a better % almost all the time (with good to great service that is) So, no, I dont tip low for that salad you keep talking about.

 

[richard_andmel]

Getting back to serving(which I did for 6 years at a handful of chain restaurants), if I'm walking out of a side station, with drinks for 12, and I see a table of two just got sat, I would tell them I'll be with them in a minute. I then have to hand out 12 drinks, and get their food orders. If I then walked back to the table of 2, and he said, "You've already lost $2 for not being here soon enough" I would tell him to **** off. Honestly, there are a lot of people out there who can't open their eyes, and put themselves in someones shoes.

I remember reading about this practice elsewhere on this board. I really hoped that people were not serious. How completely obnoxious and demeaning to another human being.... I despair of peoples manners sometimes... If I owned a restaurant, I would tell the staff to let me know when this happened and I would ask the people to leave.

Not to mention, can you imagine what some servers might do to their food before it gets delivered?

 

[mom2my3kids]

Everyone needs to go out and rent the movie "Waiting", its so funny. The only thing in the movie I have never seen anyone do is mess with someones food.

 

[gina2000]

I tip 20% for good service and well above for great service.

It's easy for me to justify tipping 20% or more for a steak dinner or for a breakfast. I spend considerably more time at a table in a more upscale restaurant and the turnover is minimal compared to a chain or diner. I may be one of 4 or 5 tables a waiter waits on all night. Better restaurants also employ porters as part of the waitstaff and they also need to be compensated. I get more individualized attention at a more expensive restaurant. I am paying for that service by tipping. Waitstaff at expensive restaurants are considered professionals and should be compensated by the patron as such.

 

[AKLforever]

Everyone needs to go out and rent the movie "Waiting", its so funny. The only thing in the movie I have never seen anyone do is mess with someones food.

Well, then you havent been to NY then?
Hehe, trust me, if your mean like that lady was in "waiting" then you will almost 99% of the time have that happen to your food in most normal priced restaurants, like olive garden, outback, smokeybones, fridays and so on.
I know a few people that have worked in those places, and not counting the person I talked about before, they and the people they worked with did that to people who were just plain outright mean to the waiters for no reason what so ever.

 

[wasabi girl]

I nearly always tip extra when using the dining plan. I like to have the servers get about 20-25%. Not because they expect it, or I feel obligated, but they have helped me to have a pleasant meal. I appreciate it and I like to thank them for it. They made my day a little bit nicer so I like to make theirs a little bit nicer too.

If there is a mistake with the food, I do not take it out of the servers tip, maybe it isn't their fault but the fault of the kitchen, so I mention it, and the few times there has been a problem, it has been fixed. Everyone makes mistakes.
If someone is surly, rude and unfriendly...well, they get less of a tip. The only time it happened at Disney was at Tony's in the MK. I was on the Premium Plan at the time, and the server was just a wretched man, mean, rude, unfriendly, treated us like the proverbial outcasts...I could do nothing about his tip as it was included but our whole family voted to forgo dessert so that he wouldn't be tipped that much more from our bill. Petty, I know but...we'd just had enough by that point and wanted to get to the Magic Kingdom (it was our first trip).

Generally speaking, if I go to an restaurant that I like, and intend to return to often, I always over tip alot. Servers remember really good tippers and bad tippers. If you are known to be a good tipper, you will always get good service. It may not be fair, you may not like the system. But that is the way it is. If you tip badly for any reason other than horrible service, the servers will not think that you are making a statement about anything, they will just think that you are cheap. And I've met very few people who think they are bad servers (even if they are).

Oh, and for a really fabulous meal, the chef did divine things...I always tell my server that I'd like to buy a drink for the chef...so he can have it at the end of the night and know that someone appreciated his hard work too.

I always have to put in my two cents on the tipping threads....

 

[jpaulgor]

Ah, heres where I think you may agree with me.
When I go to a place, order a steak for say 50$, the waiter is great all the way around with everything, then the tip would most likely be 8$ at the least, or more.
Now, just the other day, I went to a cheap place to eat, like the all day breakfast places (dennys, and so on)
I got a a total of 11$ worth of stuff, and still tipped high, 5$ Because I know they live on tips, and Im not evil.
And the service was great there too.
But my point is, the higher the price of the place, the more apt I am to tip minimum. The cheaper the place, I give a better % almost all the time (with good to great service that is) So, no, I dont tip low for that salad you keep talking about.

I was about to say the same thing. The wife and I will go out to a cheap Mexican place in town and the bill comes to $17.00, I will tip at least $5.00 no matter what.

While I was in college working at restaurants(back of the house), some friends and I would go to a 24-hour joint after work and get a cup of coffee and an appetizer and I would leave 5 bucks.

When the wife and I go to Outback, on the other hand, we spend $60-70 on a meal including alcohol, I find it hard to pony up the 15-20%. We at least leave 10%. Probably $8 would be a good tip for us to leave. This might not sound like much, but I am not there to pay the guy's rent.

 

[Springs1]

If there is a mistake with the food, I do not take it out of the servers tip, maybe it isn't their fault but the fault of the kitchen, so I mention it, and the few times there has been a problem, it has been fixed.

Think about "WHAT" is actually "THEIR" fault logically. Think about things that are truly common sense. If the SAME server that takes my order brings me out a wrong entree, wrong side dish or things are missing with my food, whether or not they inputted the order into the computer correctly is truly irrelevant. The fact is, my server is supposed to make sure the food is correct as much as possible without having to touch the person's food to see the mistake BEFORE they leave the kitchen with the food OBVIOUSLY wrong. I'll give you an example, which things happen like this A LOT. At Denny's one time, my husband and I's waitress not only took our order, but also brought our food out. You can substitute seasoned fries for 39 cents more instead of onion rings with an entree they have which is called "mini burgers." Anyway, my waitress takes the food to us with the onion rings on top of the miniburgers. Now, common sense would feel what a dumb and lazy waitress not to NOTICE this by REREADING her written down order and comparing it with the plate of food whether it's the cook that messed up or if she put the order in incorrectly to begin with. Anyway, my point is, our WAITRESS was 100% at fault no matter if the cook messed up initially or not, the fact is our waitress DIDN'T have to bring it out wrong. The waitress should take some EFFORT to make sure the most obvious things are correct, because that IS part of WHY we tip. Anyway, instead of at the very least tipping approx. 15% which would have been around $3(which normally I tip 20%-25% for very good service), she got herself 50 cents. Instead of letting me have my burgers and getting another plate to put my onion rings on, she took it all. By the time my food got back to me, she let me have the onion rings for free and my burgers were literally COLD. Needless to say, I did NOT enjoy my food. She at least didn't charge me the 39 cents extra for the fries. If I would have, I would have said something about that considering my order was wrong and my food ended up being cold. I am willing to be she inputted the order into the computer wrong, because it wasn't charged on the check.

 

[Springs1]

Continued:
My point is, if the SAME server takes the order and brings out the food, if there are OBVIOUS things wrong that can be seen WITHOUT having to touch the person's food, the SERVER is at fault for not telling the cook IN THE KITCHEN it is wrong.

One time I ordered bbq chicken nachos as my entree(it was acutually an appetizer, but I ordered it as my meal). The SAME waiter that wrote down my order brought me a plate of quesadillas. It turns out, he also pressed the wrong button, because that is what he told me. So this waiter not only put the order in wrong, but also looked like a complete idiot bringing out something my husband and I NEVER ordered. My point is, for MOST things, you CAN know "WHO'S" at fault. Now, I know my server can't see if I have a pickle under a bun or if a burrito filling is correct or if a steak is a little undercooked, but the server CAN notice things that can been seen without having to touch the person's food to see the error. Wrong side dishes, wrong entrees, and anything missing such as condiments, CAN be seen if the SAME SERVER that took the order brings out the food.

 

[Springs1]

Continued: So think about this when you dine out. If you can see it obviously wrong and didn't have to touch your food to see the error as well as your server brings you your food, then you know 100% that you server should have taken the effort to make sure they were bringing you the correct things and that nothing was missing. If you ask for a side of ranch with your meal, if your server brings you your food, that side of ranch SHOULD be on the plate. If it's not, DON'T BLAME THE COOK, because that server should have taken the EFFORT to REREAD the order she or he wrote down.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Would you seriously deduct a tip because the server forgot a side of ranch? I mean if you said "Mame you forgot my ranch" and she ran and got it right away?

 

[mom2my3kids]

Think about "WHAT" is actually "THEIR" fault logically. Think about things that are truly common sense. If the SAME server that takes my order brings me out a wrong entree, wrong side dish or things are missing with my food, whether or not they inputted the order into the computer correctly is truly irrelevant. The fact is, my server is supposed to make sure the food is correct as much as possible without having to touch the person's food to see the mistake BEFORE they leave the kitchen with the food OBVIOUSLY wrong. I'll give you an example, which things happen like this A LOT. At Denny's one time, my husband and I's waitress not only took our order, but also brought our food out. You can substitute seasoned fries for 39 cents more instead of onion rings with an entree they have which is called "mini burgers." Anyway, my waitress takes the food to us with the onion rings on top of the miniburgers. Now, common sense would feel what a dumb and lazy waitress not to NOTICE this by REREADING her written down order and comparing it with the plate of food whether it's the cook that messed up or if she put the order in incorrectly to begin with. Anyway, my point is, our WAITRESS was 100% at fault no matter if the cook messed up initially or not, the fact is our waitress DIDN'T have to bring it out wrong. The waitress should take some EFFORT to make sure the most obvious things are correct, because that IS part of WHY we tip. Anyway, instead of at the very least tipping approx. 15% which would have been around $3(which normally I tip 20%-25% for very good service), she got herself 50 cents. Instead of letting me have my burgers and getting another plate to put my onion rings on, she took it all. By the time my food got back to me, she let me have the onion rings for free and my burgers were literally COLD. Needless to say, I did NOT enjoy my food. She at least didn't charge me the 39 cents extra for the fries. If I would have, I would have said something about that considering my order was wrong and my food ended up being cold. I am willing to be she inputted the order into the computer wrong, because it wasn't charged on the check.

I don't work at Denny's but I work at IHOP. I think calling someone dumb and lazy is very rude are you saying this because she is a server? Yes I agree she should of just left you the food, brought you a extra plate to put the onion rings on and had the cooks drop the fries ASAP. I am no perfect server and yes in the 9 years I have waited tables I am sure I have punched the wrong key before. I always let them have the free item plus rush out the right item.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I've always been a pretty good tipper. 15 was my norm, but at inexpensive places (one of my faves is Denny's) I tip in the 18-20% range most of the time.

My mom and I usually hit it on Thursday nights when my Dad works late (we do a little shopping and then dinner - girls night out). We usually get the same one or two servers. One night we had a new guy. Even though the restaurant wasn't busy we got no refills of drinks, he forgot my pancakes,(when I mentioned the pancakes, he says to me, "Are you sure you ordered pancakes with your breakfast?" and then went and got the menu to make sure) and when they did come they had butter on them (I asked for it on the side because I'm not a big fan of butter), he dropped the bill on the table without a word and walked away. Just plain bad service. I left $1.

The next week we came in we were sat by one of our regular servers. She asked us what was wrong last time we were there. I told her. She apologized. I ordered the mini burgers (like the above post) with fries but no mustard on the burgers. I ate my fries but when I got to the burgers, they had mustard on them. The waitress apologized and replaced them. She told me she had requested them with no mustard and she was sincere. There was a family in the same area who kept her running most of the night, she would walk by the table and let us know, "Your food will be just another minute." "I'll grab you a refill as quick as I can." etc. Was service slow, yes. Did she explain, yes. She put the bill on the table while we were still eating and said, "I'm certainly not trying to hurry you or telling you to skip dessert, but things have moved slower than usual and just in case you are in a hurry, I've already prepared your bill." Her tip - 20%.

Slow service, wrong food but the bit of time it took our server to explain meant the difference between me thinking "bad service/didn't care" and "busy server / bad night".

Oh, and back to the original question. We received service "above and beyond" at the Coral Reef.

What did our server do that was so special?

She:
- brought all four of us those little plastic dolphins for our drinks when my cousin noticed a couple of kids next to us had them.
- refilled our drinks before they were empty.
- stood there and asked my mom to cut into her steak while she waited because she wanted to make sure the steak was well done to my mother's taste but not burned.
- made comments and suggestions about what we ordered (including suggesting substitutions when my father indicated not really liking something).
- brought extra salad dressing on the side for my cousin (because the server felt that the salad generally didn't contain enough dressing).
- brought butter for my dad's potatoes "just in case" since we had been joking about him eating more butter than bread.
- insisted on packing up my mom's leftovers (we usually just ask to do it ourselves but the server said, "you're on vacation, leave the work to me".
- explained that on our oop expenses (1 drink and 2 light up ice cubes) an additional tip was already added - 18% - so all I need to do was sign for our room charge - I should just cross over the tip spot.
- she was very pleasant and talked to us through out the meal about more than just the food.

Over and above the 18% tip on the DDP items and the oop items, I left an additonal $10.

 

[Springs1]

Would you seriously deduct a tip because the server forgot a side of ranch? I mean if you said "Mame you forgot my ranch" and she ran and got it right away?

I have not stiffed for that, but I DEFINATELY have took off tip points for it like let's say 15% is average service, if I don't get an apology, the tip will be 13% or so. Average service means no mistakes, but getting apologizes. I do tip 25% or more at times, because I appreciate the ones that actually CARE if you get your order JUST AS YOU ORDERED IT! Do you understand you are NOT supposed to have to tell your order again to the server when the food has arrived and that it's the SERVER'S responsiblity to make sure EVERYTHING is on the plate. It's called "Comparing the written order with the plate of food." They can bring the condiments BEFORE the meal arrives, which I have had literally since 2003, 5 servers VOLUNTEER to bring the condiments I ordered BEFORE my meal arrived, because they actually CARED if I was happy or not as well as they cared about their tip a lot.

Burger-Check
fries-Check
1 side of mayo-check
1 side of mustard-check
1 side of ranch-NO

See how EASY that was?

You don't seem to understand that when you have your food in front of you, you can't eat it the WAY you enjoy it, so it sits there until your condiment or condiments you ordered are there. These condiments MAKE THE MEAL and WHY I am eating the food in the first place. If I didn't want condiments, I'd order a pasta dish or may have not gone out to eat at all then. I go through this SO MUCH that a lot of times I will ask my server just to bring the condiments BEFORE my meal. I am truly SICK of having to remind them when they WROTE DOWN THE ORDER, so it's NOT like they have to remember it from memory or something, they have a "cheat sheet" to KNOW they need that condiment or condiments on the plate. I have had an appetizer lots of times delivered without the ranch I ordered with it from the SAME server that took my order. That just shows they don't give a damn if you are happy. I mean ONE plate of food and they can't take ANY EFFORT to make sure the ranch is on the plate, but then they want that big tip. That just shows how LAZY they are as well as they don't give a damn about if the customer is happy or not. Also, I am nice about it when they forgot my condiments. I just tell them "I ordered a side of ranch." So I am just reminding them. I don't yell or be mean about it. Instead of telling me they are SORRY, they just go to get it. Sometimes it's enough time, my husband has already eaten 2 of the 8 things that are in the appetizer. Do you like it when the other person is already eating and because you happen to enjoy it with the ranch, you can't start eating WITH the person you are dining with. I enjoy the food ONLY with the condiments, NOT by itself. The entire reasoning I want that item is because of the dipping sauce or sauces to dip it in. I've already waited sometimes 5 minutes or more to get condiments at times. The ranch is sometimes the reason WHY I CHOSE to eat at that restaurant. Do you understand that the CONDIMENTS make the meal for some customers? For instance, I like tartar sauce normally with shrimp, but I absolutely cannot stand Outback's tartar sauce. Condiments are just as important as a wrong side dish. I am being NICE enough to order it all at once so my server won't have to make an extra trip, then they don't even try to help themselves by checking the plate of food to see if something is missing. ONLY ONCE did I tip 20% for missing ranch and it was because the server said "I'm so sorry about that." Normally I NEVER get a "sorry", much less a "so sorry" for a minor mistake. She was NICE about it, so I tipped her 20% anyways. Servers need to learn to be nice enough to say they are sorry when they make ANY mistake, because people will be more likely to not count off for the mistake in the tip. So honestly, I have truly given up that my order with have my condiments, so 99% of the time, I have been asking the servers to make extra trips for me, because I am so sick of them not caring if I have what I ordered. I ask if they can bring the condiments BEFORE my meal arrives, which I hate to do that, but I CAN'T trust that my food will come out correctly no matter if it's them that takes me my food or if it's another server that does. ANYTHING MISSING CAN BE NOTICED IF THEY GAVE IT A TRY. They just "serve-n-run. They don't actually LOOK to see if the things are correct or not half the time.

You feel I shouldn't deduct for a side of ranch, but that's only because it's NOT important to "YOU" enjoying your meal. I am willing to bet you'd still enjoy eating something without the condiment or condiments. I happen to ONLY enjoy the food with the condiments and I DON'T care for it without them. It's just like if my fries weren't with my burger I ordered. It's nice to have the items you ordered WHEN your food arrives and not have to baby-sit the server because they were too damn LAZY to *REREAD* the written order. How hard is it to REREAD? It's not like trying to remember it from memory. I would NEVER EXPECT a server to just remember orders by memory. Heck, I couldn't just remember orders by memory alone, so I wouldn't expect them to. I DO expect them not to be lazy enough that they can't REREAD the written order they wrote down though. I don't think that should be unreasonable.

 

[Springs1]

I don't work at Denny's but I work at IHOP. I think calling someone dumb and lazy is very rude are you saying this because she is a server?

Do you understand I am NOT calling her "LAZY" or "DUMB", because she is a server? There are a LOT of servers that are smart. What I am saying is, ANYONE that takes an order and brings out OBVIOUS things that are wrong on the plate to someone is TOO LAZY TO "COMPARE THE PLATE OF FOOD WITH THE WRITTEN ORDER." WHY is that so hard? It wasn't even busy at the time or anything. As far as calling her "DUMB", well I think it's dumb to WANT GOOD TIP, but aren't willing to take steps to make sure you do get a good tip. I mean really, all she had to do was once she saw the plate of food with the onion rings IN THE KITCHEN AREA(no matter if it was HER that inputted the order into the computer wrong or if the cook messed up), a SMART waitress that had some "COMMON SENSE" would NOT take that plate of food out to the customer with onion rings ON TOP OF THE BURGERS. She would have taken the written order and compared it with the plate of food.

6 miniburgers-Check
Seasoned Fries-NO
2 sides of mayo-Check
1 side of mustard-Check
1 side of ranch-Check

See, any server that has "COMMON SENSE" KNOWS that mistakes affect their tips, so if she was SMART, she would have told the cook: "This order is supposed to have SEASONED FRIES, NOT ONION RINGS." The cook would have kept our orders warm and the cook would have immediately put some seasoned fries in the fryer. Then when the fries were done, our food would have came out correctly. The onion rings would have stayed in the kitchen, possibly eaten by the staff or thrown away. So when I say "dumb" it refers to having a little COMMON SENSE NOT TO BRING OUT FOOD WRONG THAT IS SO OBVIOUS IT'S WRONG.

You can SEE the difference between onion rings and fries. There's NEVER an excuse not to make sure the food is correct. It was ONLY 2 entrees to verify and mine was the most complicated out the 2. So there are SOME servers out there that lack COMMON SENSE and she is ONE OF THEM. SHE WAS STUPID TO BRING ME ONION RINGS WHEN I ORDERED FRIES, because her income depends on trying not to make mistakes by preventing such an OBVIOUS mistake from happening.

 

[sunkissed4]

So I decided to join today based on this thread so be nice I'm a newbie!! I've been a server at a family chain restaurant for about a year now and it seems that some people will always try to find SOMETHING wrong with their meal or service so they can deduct from the tip. I have always tipped well, probably more than I should for less than average service but oh well. If my server forgets something like mayo or ranch or anything at all I ask politely for it and they get it. Big deal. I would never think about decreasing a tip because they forgot to bring me a side of something. They get really busy sometimes! It may seem "dumb" and "lazy" for them to bring out your food with the wrong side, but seriously... servers sometimes get flustered when they're busy (I see it a lot where I work) and it can be difficult to remember what their table of 10 ordered along with the other 4 tables they have. So you get onion rings instead of fries, I don't see why this is a huge deal. Maybe I'm just laid back or something, but I'd just ask for my fries, get them, and move on. I don't let little things like that ruin my dining experience and I still tip well. I'm a 20 year old college student who only works weekends, so if I can fork over the cash for a decent tip, then everyone else can.

 

[minster22]

Boy....I have worked in the restaurant business for most of my adult life both as a manager and for the last 22 years as a server in a locally owned family restaurant. I take my job seriously and enjoy it as well, it has allowed me to support myself and my son when I was single, and earn a decent income now that I am married. When I read these threads....and they come up from time to time here on the DIS I literally get sick to my stomach reading what some think of my job, the whole tipping "issue" and how to address any mistakes a server may make. I read them most times to see where service can be improved on my part, never want to feel that I cannot improve on my job performance. I can assure you that if the owner of my restaurant ( a local family man with an independent restaurant surrounded by many chains) had to pay more than the $2.65 an hour servers make, he could not stay in business without raising menu prices substantially.As much as I try to control all aspects of the service I provide, there are occasions that something is not right....I do all in my power to make it right....and that happens 99% of the time. I just returned from a 12 days trip to WDW,used the DP and have to say the service was always good and most times great. I know just how many details have to line up for that to happen and truly love to show my appreciation by leaving an additional tip over the 18% gratuity.

 

[Bubbley4Disney]

Do you understand I am NOT calling her "LAZY" or "DUMB", because she is a server? There are a LOT of servers that are smart. What I am saying is, ANYONE that takes an order and brings out OBVIOUS things that are wrong on the plate to someone is TOO LAZY TO "COMPARE THE PLATE OF FOOD WITH THE WRITTEN ORDER." WHY is that so hard? It wasn't even busy at the time or anything. As far as calling her "DUMB", well I think it's dumb to WANT GOOD TIP, but aren't willing to take steps to make sure you do get a good tip. I mean really, all she had to do was once she saw the plate of food with the onion rings IN THE KITCHEN AREA(no matter if it was HER that inputted the order into the computer wrong or if the cook messed up), a SMART waitress that had some "COMMON SENSE" would NOT take that plate of food out to the customer with onion rings ON TOP OF THE BURGERS. She would have taken the written order and compared it with the plate of food.

6 miniburgers-Check
Seasoned Fries-NO
2 sides of mayo-Check
1 side of mustard-Check
1 side of ranch-Check

See, any server that has "COMMON SENSE" KNOWS that mistakes affect their tips, so if she was SMART, she would have told the cook: "This order is supposed to have SEASONED FRIES, NOT ONION RINGS." The cook would have kept our orders warm and the cook would have immediately put some seasoned fries in the fryer. Then when the fries were done, our food would have came out correctly. The onion rings would have stayed in the kitchen, possibly eaten by the staff or thrown away. So when I say "dumb" it refers to having a little COMMON SENSE NOT TO BRING OUT FOOD WRONG THAT IS SO OBVIOUS IT'S WRONG.

You can SEE the difference between onion rings and fries. There's NEVER an excuse not to make sure the food is correct. It was ONLY 2 entrees to verify and mine was the most complicated out the 2. So there are SOME servers out there that lack COMMON SENSE and she is ONE OF THEM. SHE WAS STUPID TO BRING ME ONION RINGS WHEN I ORDERED FRIES, because her income depends on trying not to make mistakes by preventing such an OBVIOUS mistake from happening.

Yes Yes yes!

 

[wildernesslodgelover]

I just skimmed this entire thread (and boy, do I feel like gouging out my eyes right about now, LOL) and I don't think this fact was mentioned....

To the OP, who is complaining about having to tip more for a $40 entree than a $10 entree...I am sure you are aware that the server must pay taxes on their total sales. It has already been mentioned they have to "tip out" on their total sales, too. The busboy, bartender, food runner etc. Just something to consider. Using a percentage of the check is not an arbitrary idea...it is for a reason.

Also, I just want to add that everyone who deducts "a percent for this" and "a percent for that" makes me think they are on a power trip or something. To me, the only reason to tip less that 15% is if the server is rude (and I have gotten those servers before!) But even if someone forgets something, I just can't see punishing them financially for it.