When Did "Tips" (Gratuities) Become So High?

[Scout101]

Another tipping thread! Awesome! I love these!

Let me preface this by saying: I ALWAYS tip. Even when I get mediocre or average service (which is most of the time). The main reason is that servers won't hesitate to drop their balls in your food if they recognize you as a bad tipper.

I HATE this argument, and you see it come up all the time in threads like these. About on par with suggesting to do something to 'get even' with someone that's dumped you, cheated on you, whatever.

Honestly, first time I even suspected someone had done that to me in a restaurant, I'd file charges against them. Forget if Assault is the appropriate one or not, but either way, you'd be screwed and I'd likely own a restaurant now.

You didn't even say NO tips, just suggested that people assault a customer for not providing tips at a level THEY feel is appropriate. I think you did a crap job, you just feel you had a bad day, or felt that whatever you did was enough. Your solution is to assault me?



Good luck with that. The kind of childish bullshit that likely has people like that working dead-end service jobs in the first place...

The "revenge" trope is funny on TV and in the movies, but in real life, you're going to jail for that shit. Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" is a fun song on an emotional level, but the chick in that song would be doing hard time in real life. She even signed her work

 

[Pingfah]

I worked in loads of restaurants when I was younger, and I honestly never came across anybody that would do anything like that, and it was never even suggested to my recollection.

 

[Ryan8bit]

I knew a guy who did something like that. He was already pretty mental, and the cooks were really busy, and someone sent a steak back saying it was medium when it should have been medium well. He went apeshit, threw the steak on the floor and stepped on it. After coming back to reality, he put it back on the grill and then sent it out when it was done. Apparently the customer gave the cook a kudos because it was great afterward. He wasn't fired.

These kinds of things do happen, but they're more rare than people might think.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I don't owe my servers a god damn thing. Period. I am obligated to pay what is on the bill. That is all.

Now, that being said, I tip, and try to tip well when it is deserved. If you keep my glass filled, get my food out to me quickly, and give me generally good service, you're getting a decent tip. If you neglect me, if I sit with an empty glass for a very long time, if you act rude or indifferent, then you are getting very little or jack squat. That's the way it works. Tips are a reward for good service. They are not an obligation.

 

[Pingfah]

I knew a guy who did something like that. He was already pretty mental, and the cooks were really busy, and someone sent a steak back saying it was medium when it should have been medium well. He went apeshit, threw the steak on the floor and stepped on it. After coming back to reality, he put it back on the grill and then sent it out when it was done. Apparently the customer gave the cook a kudos because it was great afterward. He wasn't fired.

These kinds of things do happen, but they're more rare than people might think.

That's not quite on the same level as teabagging his food though.

 

[Saga]

I don't owe my servers a god damn thing. Period. I am obligated to pay what is on the bill. That is all.

Now, that being said, I tip, and try to tip well when it is deserved. If you keep my glass filled, get my food out to me quickly, and give me generally good service, you're getting a decent tip. If you neglect me, if I sit with an empty glass for a very long time, if you act rude or indifferent, then you are getting very little or jack squat. That's the way it works. Tips are a reward for good service. They are not an obligation.

completely agreed. this is how i do tips as well.

 

[BillJ]

I don't owe my servers a god damn thing. Period. I am obligated to pay what is on the bill. That is all.

Now, that being said, I tip, and try to tip well when it is deserved. If you keep my glass filled, get my food out to me quickly, and give me generally good service, you're getting a decent tip. If you neglect me, if I sit with an empty glass for a very long time, if you act rude or indifferent, then you are getting very little or jack squat. That's the way it works. Tips are a reward for good service. They are not an obligation.

This.

 

[doubleohfive]

I don't owe my servers a god damn thing. Period. I am obligated to pay what is on the bill. That is all.

Now, that being said, I tip, and try to tip well when it is deserved. If you keep my glass filled, get my food out to me quickly, and give me generally good service, you're getting a decent tip. If you neglect me, if I sit with an empty glass for a very long time, if you act rude or indifferent, then you are getting very little or jack squat. That's the way it works. Tips are a reward for good service. They are not an obligation.

completely agreed. this is how i do tips as well.

However right you guys think you are, its entirely pretentious and unnecessarily self-righteous.

 

[horatio83]

I don't owe my servers a god damn thing. Period. I am obligated to pay what is on the bill. That is all.

Now, that being said, I tip, and try to tip well when it is deserved. If you keep my glass filled, get my food out to me quickly, and give me generally good service, you're getting a decent tip. If you neglect me, if I sit with an empty glass for a very long time, if you act rude or indifferent, then you are getting very little or jack squat. That's the way it works. Tips are a reward for good service. They are not an obligation.

completely agreed. this is how i do tips as well.

However right you guys think you are, its entirely pretentious and unnecessarily self-righteous.

Unlike you they understand the purpose of tips.

 

[Scout101]

^How so?

 

[Amaris]

I don't owe my servers a god damn thing. Period. I am obligated to pay what is on the bill. That is all.

Now, that being said, I tip, and try to tip well when it is deserved. If you keep my glass filled, get my food out to me quickly, and give me generally good service, you're getting a decent tip. If you neglect me, if I sit with an empty glass for a very long time, if you act rude or indifferent, then you are getting very little or jack squat. That's the way it works. Tips are a reward for good service. They are not an obligation.

completely agreed. this is how i do tips as well.

However right you guys think you are, its entirely pretentious and unnecessarily self-righteous.

I think it comes down to what people think justifies a "tip". Is it just a reward for good service? Or is it an obligation on the part of the customer to see that their server is well compensated for their service in general? I can understand both points of view. Most customers, I think, see it as the former, while most servers, I believe, see it as the latter.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Or is it an obligation on the part of the customer to see that their server is well compensated for their service in general?

But if the server does a shitty job, then they've provided substandard service, so why should they be tipped for service that they did not, in effect, give?

If they give you bad service, but you still tip them at the full rate that you would have tipped a good server, then you're rewarding bad service, aren't you?

 

[Trekker4747]

If a server offers sub-standard service then, sure, I see the "need" to deduct from their tip. But to only tip for above-standard service is just silly. In American dining culture tipping is pretty much the standard, set base-line amount you're willing to tip and then add/deduct from there as you see fit based on the quality of service you get. I would also argue giving servers a "handicap" in some situations.

I was at a restaurant a few weeks ago during a big local March Madness game and the sports-themed restaurant was a packed madhouse, my server was as attentive as she could be given the customer volume they had. My drink was kept full and I was given my attention but I was given around "standard" service. Given the situation I gave the poor girl a break and gave her a hearty tip considering she had a very busy section and was running her ass off.

(And yes, she got the "Hottie Bonus" on her tip as well.)

 

[doubleohfive]

I'll just say this: given the ever increasing number of petty, overcompensating assholes that seem to populate the world today, I am very relieved my income is not directly related to their judgment and every whim.

This isn't school. None of us are in positions where we should be "grading" the performance of our waiters and waitresses. They do their work. They should be paid. Whether or not they are penalized for doing a substandard job should not be determined by the tip they receive but by the employers who manage them.

Anyone who uses the situation of the current tipping system to "punish" their servers is just being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole.

Like I said before, stop being an asshole.

 

[Amaris]

Or is it an obligation on the part of the customer to see that their server is well compensated for their service in general?

But if the server does a shitty job, then they've provided substandard service, so why should they be tipped for service that they did not, in effect, give?

If they give you bad service, but you still tip them at the full rate that you would have tipped a good server, then you're rewarding bad service, aren't you?

I think a low tip works better than no tip. Give a server nothing for their bad service, and they'll likely think you're just a stiff. Give them a little tip for bad service, and they'll likely question themselves on their own performance. So just give a tip that is commensurate with the level of service. If they brought you your food and drinks, give them a tip. If they did it poorly, give them a poor tip. You're still paying them for bringing your food to you, but not for the bad service afterward.

The only time I don't tip is when a server treats me or my friends poorly. Being belligerent to your customers is a fast way to be broke.

I'll just say this: given the ever increasing number of petty, overcompensating assholes that seem to populate the world today, I am very relieved my income is not directly related to their judgment and every whim.

This isn't school. None of us are in positions where we should be "grading" the performance of our waiters and waitresses. They do their work. They should be paid. Whether or not they are penalized for doing a substandard job should not be determined by the tip they receive but by the employers who manage them.

Anyone who uses the situation of the current tipping system to "punish" their servers is just being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole.

Like I said before, stop being an asshole.

Of course the performance is graded. If someone paints your house and misses half the porch, you don't give them their full asking price. That's silly. Don't pay good money for bad service. It's not punishment, it's business.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

I think I was misunderstood. For me, standard service gets a standard tip. Great service gets a better one, and poor service gets worse.

As for this not being school, if I'm determining how much extra of my money I'm going to give someone, you had better freaking believe I'm grading them.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ And a server is paid to interact directly with customers. To give personal service to them. So why should they not be 'graded'?

 

[Trekker4747]

I'll just say this: given the ever increasing number of petty, overcompensating assholes that seem to populate the world today, I am very relieved my income is not directly related to their judgment and every whim.

This isn't school. None of us are in positions where we should be "grading" the performance of our waiters and waitresses. They do their work. They should be paid. Whether or not they are penalized for doing a substandard job should not be determined by the tip they receive but by the employers who manage them.

Anyone who uses the situation of the current tipping system to "punish" their servers is just being an asshole for the sake of being an asshole.

Like I said before, stop being an asshole.

To my own defense, it's pretty rare that I undertip mostly because my standards of service are pretty low. I really can't remember the last time I went under my base line of "$5 or 20% whichever is higher but also lower than the bill itself."

A server would have to go out of their way to piss me off enough to under-tip.

 

[The Lady Eve]

This guy left two Canadian cents and a dickish note.

Look. Tip your server - most are busting their butts. It's a hard job. If, however, the service is terrible, have a quiet word with the manager. He/she wants to know.

 

[Amaris]

I think I was misunderstood. For me, standard service gets a standard tip. Great service gets a better one, and poor service gets worse.

As for this not being school, if I'm determining how much extra of my money I'm going to give someone, you had better freaking believe I'm grading them.

Agreed, and it's not as if I do what some people do (and this IS assholish), where they put 5 dollars on the table and tell the server this will be your tip, but I'm taking a dollar away each time I think your service is poor". I couldn't stand those people. Now THAT is judgmental, and it's a terrible thing to do to somebody. Servers aren't rats in a maze, but I am going to grade their service when all is said and done.

It just makes more sense than "Hey, guy, you never once refilled our drinks, you treated my friend here like a pariah, and let our food get cold while you stood by the kitchen and talked to your friend! Here, have a 15% tip!"

Plus, while there is a chance for a smaller tip, I am always generous with money when I'm tipping, and the better the service, the better the tip. I doubt anyone complaining about being graded would say no to a $20 tip on a $30 meal. I've tipped that before, because the service was great, the server was very polite, and by the end of my meal I was happy and things went very well.

This guy left two Canadian cents and a dickish note.

Look. Tip your server - most are busting their butts. It's a hard job. If, however, the service is terrible, have a quiet word with the manager. He/she wants to know.

That's a good point, and yeah, it's a dick thing to do. Having been a server, it is a pain in the ass. You try to treat your customers well, you make sure they're fed, and their drinks refilled, you give them a polite smile and make them feel welcome. A server makes the experience for a restaurant. A good one brings people back. A bad one keeps them away. Servers are important, and I believe when they do their jobs, they deserve compensation, but I will base that compensation on the service rendered, rather than the fact that there is a service at all.

Plus, it's very, very rare for me to never leave a tip. It takes some seriously bad service to make it happen. I can tell when someone has jitters, I can tell when someone's in a bad mood, I easily forgive mistakes, if I want a drink refill, and the server hasn't filled it, I'll find him or her, smile and wave, and usually I'll get a nod and a smile in return, and that makes things just fine again, because I know he or she is aware of something I need and will be along to address it. I don't make servers work for my money, but I do reward them for good work.