Tipping at buffets

[mom2my3kids]

It gets confusing, there is one Chinese place where we live. You come in the door pay for your meal and they hand you cups. They have a soda fountain where you refill and get your own drinks, then the buffet with the plates. They do have a lady every once in a while come by and get your dirty plates, but they don't refill drinks etc. Do you think you are supposed to tip, even as a server this one confuses me..

 

[just another guy]

It gets confusing, there is one Chinese place where we live. You come in the door pay for your meal and they hand you cups. They have a soda fountain where you refill and get your own drinks, then the buffet with the plates. They do have a lady every once in a while come by and get your dirty plates, but they don't refill drinks etc. Do you think you are supposed to tip, even as a server this one confuses me..

Nothing confusing about that. They don't have servers, they have a $6 an hour person pushing a kart around collecting dishes. Thats not a server, thus don't tip. The buffet servers I've experienced go WAY above and beyond that, and thats why they get 10-25% depending on how well they serve.

 

[dbriggsq]

Nothing confusing about that. They don't have servers, they have a $6 an hour person pushing a kart around collecting dishes. Thats not a server, thus don't tip. The buffet servers I've experienced go WAY above and beyond that, and thats why they get 10-25% depending on how well they serve.

The problem is that as a party of 10 we will have an automatic 18% added to our bill (which works out as paying for an extra 2 meals) so we don't have an option. And what if we get bad service? We would expect to be at a buffet about 1 1/2 hours maximum and have to pay around $55. We don't expect drinks to be refilled constantly because we don't have that in the UK so we'll be paying someone around $36 an hour to take plates away. Hmm where do I sign up . Seriously I think Disney can afford to pay all it's employees a decent wage and put a stop to this condescending practice.

 

[FayeW]

I condone brutal service if there is no tip.


Im not in favor of servers making the correct wage, it would increase bills by 15 percent, which is fine, but it removes the incentive.QUOTE]

Servers are being paid by their employers to do a job. They knew what the compensation for that job was when they accepted the employment. Doing their job properly at all times should be a matter of pride and character. Choosing not to do that job well and to the best of their ability means they are not upholding their contract with their employer, and they should be terminated.

We have many of the same or similar restaurant chains in Canada that you have in the United States. In most provinces, our servers are paid the same minimum hourly wage as everyone else, and some restaurants are unionized so they get regular wage increases as well. I haven't noticed prices being outrageously overpriced to make up the difference in the wages. As a matter of fact, I just checked the price for lasagna at the Olive Garden in Orlando ($12.50) and Edmonton ($13.95). I don't see that as being a big difference. With the difference in exchange rates (usually, not now as our dollar has been extraordinarily high for the last year or so) it almost works out the same.