Tipping at a buffet?

[Dawnflower]

Can anyone tell me about how much you tip at the buffets? I tip 10-20+% at sit downs depending on service but at a buffet, the only service is drinks. I am just not sure how much this should be. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ducklite]

Buffet workers work as hard as any other server. I have a friend who is a server at the YC. During Hurricane Frances they did buffet only. He says he worked as hard, if not harder doing teh buffet service, and the tips were less than half.

So 15-20% for buffet is appropriate.

Anne

 

[dalt01]

i give 15% at sit down regardless, you never know when someone is new and are not yet as good as they will be, besides they may have kids to feed, at most buffets i give 10% unless they are really working me hard and then i will give 15% for personality. i dont think you should ever stiff or give very little, i always think what if my boss gave me half my pay and told me it was because he didnt like the way it did my job last week.

 

[DeniseD]

People are very mistaken that since its a buffet they don't have to tip as much. It drives me crazy!! Think about it!! The only thing that a server at a buffet doesn't do is take your order and bring your meal to you. They still bring your drinks(at Disney buffets) and the biggest thing is they prebus your dirty dishes. You all probabally have a lot more dirty dishes in a buffet.

My brother in law did this on our recent trip to the World (very loudly I might add).

I am in the restaurant business. 15% tips are way out dated!! 20% is average. I usually get more because my service is impecable!!

The extra dollar or two probabally won't hurt your wallets. It makes a world of difference at the end of a shift for servers who work their tailfeathers off. It is much harder than it looks. Trust me on that!!

 

[dalt01]

i applaud you for defending your profession however i dont agree that 20% should be the norm. 15% cant be outdated it is inflation proof because as meal prices rise so does the amount you recieve in other words 15% of 60.00 is more than 15% of 40.00.

 

[Dawnflower]

I do not want to stir up a hornets nest here but I thought that tipping was a customers way of showing appreciation for a job well done. Something above and beyond correctly taking and delivering my order and keeping my drink reasonably filled.

As far as percentage of the tip, isn't that up to the customer? I understand that prices go up, its inflation. The price of the meal goes up, the price of the tip goes up.

This all being said...I want to do the right thing, I don't want anyone in a service industry to feel that they have been short tipped by myself. However, I don't want to feel that regardless of quality of service, I have an obligation to pay someone a gratuity whether it was earned or not. A salary is what is earned for doing the minimum for the job requirements. A gratuity is the bonus in my opinion.


\Gra*tu"i*ty\, n. 1. Something given freely or without recompense; a free gift; a present. --Swift.

 

[dalt01]

tipping is not a bonus, tipped employees do not fall under the federal minimum wage act and get only 1.75 to 2.00 per hour in most cases. also some places make the staff pool the tips and split them and some make the staff tip the bus boys and the bartenders out of their tips, how wierd is that

 

[Dawnflower]

I missued the word bonus!! sorry I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that I thought gratuity was just that, a gift for service above and beyond what is expected.

 

[sugermouse]

I tip the same as they actually have to work harder at a buffet.

 

[DeniseD]

By no means should you tip excessively if you receive poor service. But, your tip is their salary. I don't know what the minimum wage in your state is but in PA it is $2.83 an hour for tipped employees. My paycheck is usually between $0-$15 for two weeks work. I claim everything I make so it may be different for some people. Our paychecks usually only cover taxes that we pay on our tips. Some of my coworkers get voided checks every week because they have benefits through the restaurant.

If you receive poor service I would say do not give a good tip and that person should not be in the restaurant business. For those of us who do provide excellent service, we do deserve an excellent tip. We not only serve your food and clean up afterwards, we also make the entire dining experience more enjoyable.

You all would be amazed at the number of people who chose not to tip at all. Tipping is never mandatory but excellent service should be awarded with an excellent tip. I've never in all my Disney dining experiences experienced anything but excellence. Buffet or not.

 

[LisaZoe]

While I generally tip 15-20% for buffet or table service, I have to admit that I'm annoyed that the employers can pay such low wages because it is assumed the diners will be supplimenting the server's pay with a tip. I think the government should eliminate the law that allows restaurants to pay such low wages so that tips can return to being a way to reward exceptional service rather than as an expected "surcharge" for the meal.

 

[shellybaxter]

Originally posted by LisaZoe
While I generally tip 15-20% for buffet or table service, I have to admit that I'm annoyed that the employers can pay such low wages because it is assumed the diners will be supplimenting the server's pay with a tip. I think the government should eliminate the law that allows restaurants to pay such low wages so that tips can return to being a way to reward exceptional service rather than as an expected "surcharge" for the meal.

I completely agree!!

First I tip the same at buffets as sit downs, but the tip is usually less, because the buffet don't tend to cost as much as sit downs for us.

Second, Amen that the government should eliminte that law. It shouldn't really even raise the price of food in order to raise the wages, because most of us are already "paying the wages" of the staff as it is.

I get upset when I see servers who demand tips because they do their jobs. I am a VERY generous tipper (been known to leave $6.00 on a $20.00 check) when I get even decent service, but I feel that its my choice to decide how much and whether or not to tip. I know the servers work hard, but so do other professions, and I am not "obligated" to help pay their salary.

I am the Director of a Preschool, and have worked in the Child Care industry my whole life. If anyone deserves to be tipped for a job well done, it's child care workers. They take care of people's most prized posessions, for minimum wage, or less if they are in home providers, with no benefits or vacation time, or sick leave and the recognition is horrible. They are considered "just babysitters". They would be happy to receive a couple of bucks at the end of a day from a parent as a tip, but they would never expect it, or chastise people for not providing it.

Shelly

 

[Amberle3]

This is what I don't understand about tipping and US wages:

For chains that are in the US and Canada, there's usually not that big a difference in the price of the menu items. However in the US the restaurants can pay their staff less than minimum wage, and in Canada they can't.

So how is is that the US restaurants "need" to pay less and have their servers rely in tips, and yet other countries don't seem to have this problem?

Sure we still tip in Canada, but it seen more as an actual TIP and not a requirement to help pay the server's salary.