Will expected tip amounts ever get this high?

[ronandannette]

I don't know what you are trying to prove with this statement?

Guess what: if a restaurant owner encouraged people to come to his restaurant and not tip, who you think is going to be serving all the meals? He will!

Because no server will work there.

Fine by me, and I imagine an owner would resort to that before (s)he would see the business fail. Heck, they might even start paying the help more if they had to.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

All of your drinks are under $5? What are you drinking?

This certain place I go to on Friday nights has $5 martini's. And before we go we leave some extra money on the bar. Not much but it ends up being more than 20%.

The only time I get a free shot or drinks is if a random guy buys it lol But most of the time if it's a girls night out a female bartender isn't worried about female patrons IME. They are trying to be more flirty with male parties and getting their tips from them. There have actually been times where our group has been without a new drink for 45 minutes while the bartenders are giving their full attention to groups of men at the bar. It's usually two bartenders to one huge area.

 

[angierae]

how often do you go out for dinner ?

Look at it this way. If you have a young child or a grand kid and lets say you take them out for dinner once a week . You can give that 5% to a stranger or put that 5% in a college fund for the kid. I would prefer the college fund. $2 a dinner over the course of a year is an extra $104 over the course of 16 years is 1,664 before any type of interest. At a community college that is 3 classes at 3 credits a piece of 9 credits. That's not a bad deal for your kid or grandkid

And that's just a cheap dinner and if you only go out once a week for dinner. Raise the price of the dinner and you an go from $2 to $10 to $20 and raise the frequency and it can become a lot of money. My gf and I go out twice a week or so. If we tipped 20% or more forget it. We could pay a mortgage payment each year with the money.

My money is budgeted just fine. I'm not spending money on meals out I need to spend elsewhere. Also, we don't go out to eat every week, because I think that's wasteful. I go out when I want to, and I can afford to tip what I want when I do so.

 

[TwoMisfits]

We tip 20% for good, friendly, normal service (25% for awesome service, 15% for subpar, grouchy service with REALLY bad service getting between 5-10% - have only not tipped 3x in my entire life, and all were memorable, well deserved skips, and have probably only tipped 10% or less 5-10 other times)...if you are gonna eat out, you have to add in the tip into the calculus of whether you want to do so or not...to do otherwise is to be really cheap and unfair to your waitstaff...and yes, you pay more for pricey restaurant service - they are serving you much better than low-end restaurants (where else do they arrive in tuxes, scrape the crumbs off your table, pull out your chair, etc)...

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

Went out to eat the other night and got the bill and and filled in the tip area for 18%. No big deal. But I had to figure it because all they had on the bill was a total tip for 15, 20 and 25%. 25% really!!!! How long will it be before a total acceptable tip is 25-35%?

I have given 25% or more for truly exceptional service. I don't see what the big deal is having it there in case people want to reward a job truly well done. I almost always tip 20% as long as the person has done a decent job, so 25% is the next logical step up for someone who goes above and beyond.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

I never tip based on a percentage of my bill. It takes the same effort to serve my group if we have a $30 meal as it does a $130 meal. The difference in a 20% tip would be $6.00 and $26.00 based on those food amounts. A server does not "earn" an extra $20 in tip just because I order more expensive food. I tip a flat amount based on the service received and its usually $5 to $10 for a party of 2 or 4 respectively. For larger groups I'd tip more but it works out to about $2.50 a head. I was a waitress for 4 years. Most of the time we had 10 tables each. They are not always full and some days I'd work 13 hour shifts and get $30 in tips. Other days I'd work 4 hour shifts and make over $100 in tips. Being a waiter is not a job to expect to get rich on. Its a job. Thats it. If a restaurant requires a "percentage" tip, I simply don't eat there.

Well that's just ridiculous in my opinion. It is standard in the United States to tip a minimum of 15% on your bill. In my personal experience, I have found that pricier restaurants often have better, more well-informed staff, and that is because those people have a reasonable expectation of a higher tip based on the higher food prices. I would personally be ashamed to tip less than 15-20% unless my service were simply awful. I would rather not go out to eat at all.

 

[Miskey]

This is the first (and last) tipping thread I've ever read on the DIS. I had a feeling, so I've always avoided them, but I really never thought it would be THIS bad. I am completely and totally disgusted by some of the attitudes displayed on this thread. Shame on you.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

Yowza. I didn't realize that. However, it seems the system needs to be changed, not the tipping amount. I don't understand why the onus is on the diners to supplement the incomes of staff because the employers won't give them a fair wage. I feel the same way about hotel staff. We (general public who can afford to dine out or go on vacation) are always being made to feel the burden of guilt for employees not receiving fair wages and make up for that with tips. It's one more cost that falls predominantly on the middle class.

Tips are no longer a compliment for good service, they are becoming more like extortion. 25%? A quarter of the bill? Not reasonable. I am still reeling from now paying 20%; my sympathies to those wait people who are underpaid, but tip expectations are getting extreme. It just feels like another tax, and a hefty one.

But don't you realize that either way, you would probably be paying the same amount? If the wages go up and tips are no longer considered standard custom, the restaurants will charge more for the meals to make up for the new hike in wages. So either way, you would end up paying around the same for your total meal bill anyway and servers would not have as much of an incentive to go above and beyond in their duties.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

Sorry, there will never be a time when my tip is based on anything other than "my entire experience". Blame the management of your store - not the customer. My tip is a reflection on my satisfaction with the entire operation. Loud, disruptive table sitting next to me? Lower tip. Run out of the special? Lower tip. Food comes out wrong or takes way too long? Lower tip. And if the server is directly discourteous or incompetent - maybe no tip at all.

Are you serious? You would lower a tip because you have jerks sitting next to you or they don't have the special?! Those have absolutely nothing to do with service, and a tip is for service. Your server has no control over those elements. Only the last two things you mentioned have to do with service.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

This.

And tips should never, under any circumstances, be mandatory. As a former waitress, I can tell you that a tip is something to be appreciated. It lets you know you did your job well. If I were a waitress now I'd be put off by mandatory tips being charged to my customers. I have no incentive to take care of them at that point because I know I'm getting paid either way. I'd rather take my chances on getting a tip and know that if I got one, it was because the customer felt I deserved it. I guess Im old fashioned but I'd be embarrassed to hand my customer their check with a mandatory tip field on there.

I had 10 tables at one place. You can figure (on non peak times) at least half would be full. If each table left $2 tp thats $10 in tips plus my (then) $2.13 an hour. Thats $12.13 an hour. Many people don't make that slaving in a hot warehouse all day long. Me taking someone a plate of food is a lot less work and I'm in an air conditioned environment.

Most of my tips are $3 to $5 and I'm not ashamed of it at all (most of our meals range $20-$40). Can't remember the last time I left a $10 tip. In April me and 2 friends dined for $91 and change. I gave her a $100 bill and told her to keep the change. So her tip was $8 and change. That was MORE than fair.

These Disney servers are making a killing, with tables always being full and people paying these large tips. Not me though. I'll tip the way I always do and its certainly not going to be a percentage of my meal price.

$8 on a $90 bill?!? That's less than ten percent.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

I've been amazed at how high the 'suggested tip' is - but it's the buffet pricing that gets to me. A buffet is a whole other tipping level, especially at a WDW buffet which is, to say the least, out of the norm on buffet pricing. Family of four with two 'normal' adults, one ten-year-old pseudo-adult-according-to-Disney who will eat 12 ounces of food at full adult Disney price, and one child - all eating at the Cape May Seafood Buffet ends up costing about $150. Tables in Wonderland adds the 18% tip which means I'm tipping almost $30.00 for a buffet. That's insanity. And watching my daughter (age 10, adult price) eat almost nothing makes my heart hurt LOL.

We went to Cape May for Mother's day. 5 adults one 13 year old Disney adult and one 4 year old. It was right around $350 or so and the 13 year old at oyster crackers and a cookie. THAT hurt!

 

[gljvd]

$8 on a $90 bill?!? That's less than ten percent.

Yet greater than minimum wage.

All for brining your food to you and fililng your drinks. Seems like a good amount of money

 

[kamik86]

Are you serious? You would lower a tip because you have jerks sitting next to you or they don't have the special?! Those have absolutely nothing to do with service, and a tip is for service. Your server has no control over those elements. Only the last two things you mentioned have to do with service.

I agree. The only possible kitchen issues I take out on a server are:
1) if an item doesn't show up or doesn't show up (Like at Unos when I ordered an app and pizza to share and my pizza arrives and we never got the wings) If I have to remind the server that I had an app that is an issue.
2) if the order is so obviously wrong they should have noticed. Example one time I ordered a well done steak and there was blood on the plate before I even cut it. I mentioned that and sent it back before it even touched the table. I think servers should do at least a cursory check before they leave.

 

[Lewisc]

Servers know before they start the job the hourly rate. They chose to take the job, knowing the wage they would be paid. It isn't the public's responsibility to ensure they are making minimum wage.

;
RUBBISH--Servers don't take the job expecting to make sub minimum wage. The government understands servers income isn't sub minimum wage and will tax servers on imputed tips. Servers take the job knowing they'll make around 15% of sales, assuming good service.

Customers can't possibly think servers are working for sub minimum wage. Customers understand, before they enter the restaurant, tips are the form of compensation.. Customers understand their responsibility to tip, for good service. Customers who don't tip. assuming good service, are expecting the server to pay (via taxes) for the "privilege" of serving them.

how often do you go out for dinner ?

Look at it this way. If you have a young child or a grand kid and lets say you take them out for dinner once a week . You can give that 5% to a stranger or put that 5% in a college fund for the kid. I would prefer the college fund. $2 a dinner over the course of a year is an extra $104 over the course of 16 years is 1,664 before any type of interest. At a community college that is 3 classes at 3 credits a piece of 9 credits. That's not a bad deal for your kid or grandkid

And that's just a cheap dinner and if you only go out once a week for dinner. Raise the price of the dinner and you an go from $2 to $10 to $20 and raise the frequency and it can become a lot of money. My gf and I go out twice a week or so. If we tipped 20% or more forget it. We could pay a mortgage payment each year with the money.

There is some validity to your point. 15% is a reasonable tip. Suggestion. There are times service is exceptional, and warrants more then 15%. There are times service is poor and deserves a low tip. They should balance out. This doesn't apply to you....JMO but people who consistently find a reason to tip low, and never tip high, are looking to justify being cheap OR need to find better places to eat.

Fine by me, and I imagine an owner would resort to that before (s)he would see the business fail. Heck, they might even start paying the help more if they had to.

Your point? Your asking the wrong question. Ask an owner if he cares if none of his customers tip. Automatic tips for larger parties answers that question. Zero tips means menu prices go up and/or an automatic service charge is added to checks. When we get our car repaired we generally get a labor and parts breakdown.

Does the owner car if a party of two doesn't planning on tipping. The answer is irrelevant. There isn't any honest reason why that couple should be tipping. That couple isn't "special".

Restaurants with customers from parts of the country, or world, where tips aren't common sometimes apply automatic service fees.

To answer the OPs question. I suspect many people look at the guidelines as minimum, medium and maximum. Listing 15-20-25% as the options suggests the middle number, 20% is appropriate for reasonably good service, 15% for OK service and 25% for exceptional service.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Goodness. As a server I hope I never have to serve some of you. Luckily my tips average out to be about 18-22%, I couldn't live if I was getting what some of you tip.

Good thing I don't have to and I make quite a bit of money, working full time where I do.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

And servers know ahead of time what their hourly wage will be. It's immoral to tack on such a fee to a buffet meal, whether I know about it ahead of time or no. Honestly, I don't understand why servers feel like they are more deserving than any other service industry worker. They make out a whole lot better than others who don't get tips, that's for sure.

Servers know before they start the job the hourly rate. They chose to take the job, knowing the wage they would be paid. It isn't the public's responsibility to ensure they are making minimum wage.

Oh for goodness sake, I am so sick of hearing people say that "servers knew what they were getting into." Yes, they did. They knew they were getting into a job where the hourly rate is far below minimum wage but also knew that they could reasonably expect tips to balance that lower wage out because that is the way it is done in our country. I don't understand how people in good conscience can say, well that server knew they would only get $2-4 an hour, so oh well, it is their fault. It is understood when you take a waitstaff job that you will be making more than that due to America's tipping system.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

Yet greater than minimum wage.

All for brining your food to you and fililng your drinks. Seems like a good amount of money

Not to me....

 

[disneymagicgirl]

All I can say to you lousy tippers is that what goes around comes around.

 

[eliza61]

All I can say to you lousy tippers is that what goes around comes around.

I'm in a HOA meeting right now because the Pope is coming to Philly in September in the area where I live, people are renting out there houses for up to 4K for the week and the neighborhood block association is trying to prepare the residents of the onslaught of 1 million people (the entire Philadelphia, only has 1 million folks) anyway I'm surfing the net waiting for this thing to start and some one next to me wondered if there was a "tip God" like Charleston Heston in the 10 commandments

"thou shall not tip your server less than 20%"

somehow I doubt there is a Patron saint of tipping sending lightning bolts down on people.
Ok, we're bored and getting punchy.

 

[Enjoying Life]

It all comes down to whether or not you care about how your actions effect other people.

You know if you leave a good tip in a restaurant, the server, (who is a person), will be happy. You know if you leave a bad tip, the server will be unhappy. What do you do?

The only real excuse for tipping poorly is if you truly can't afford it. In that case, I would apologize to the server and explain my situation.