Do you think it is reasonable not to tip your server?

[Ahnehnois]

I don't think I've ever not tipped. The only circumstance where I wouldn't is if the server did something so offensive that I felt the need to walk out and not pay entirely. Thankfully, that hasn't happened.

The notion that staff can be paid less than the (already inhumane) minimum wage and make it up with tips is basically one big scam, but I don't know how that culture can be changed. As it is, the wait staff needs to eat. If I don't have enough money to tip, I don't have enough money to eat out at all.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I have left without tipping, and my tips are based on the same way I get bonuses at work, how well people do. If you do a good job I go between 10 and 15%, but if your rude, or just not nice, or mess up my order... no Im not tipping bad service.

Example: before saterday night game me and my friends go out to eat. One day we had very poor service, we sat for twenty or so mins before we got our drinks, our meals came before our appaatisers, and one of us had to send back our meal it was under cooked.

$90 bill no tip

When i was a kid i worked at a pizza place as a cook/dishwasher and remeber the wait staff howling about tips... every single one of them made more by tips then I did, but they could take breaks when ever well mine where scheduiled. If we messed up they screamed at us, but on a perfect saterday night where they were leaving with a hundred or so in tips, I was still only paid 4.50 an hour and they got 2.75 an hour so it wasnt that far off. So I never felt tipping was fair or needed.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I have left without tipping, and my tips are based on the same way I get bonuses at work, how well people do. If you do a good job I go between 10 and 15%, but if your rude, or just not nice, or mess up my order... no Im not tipping bad service.

Example: before saterday night game me and my friends go out to eat. One day we had very poor service, we sat for twenty or so mins before we got our drinks, our meals came before our appaatisers, and one of us had to send back our meal it was under cooked.

$90 bill no tip

When i was a kid i worked at a pizza place as a cook/dishwasher and remeber the wait staff howling about tips... every single one of them made more by tips then I did, but they could take breaks when ever well mine where scheduiled. If we messed up they screamed at us, but on a perfect saterday night where they were leaving with a hundred or so in tips, I was still only paid 4.50 an hour and they got 2.75 an hour so it wasnt that far off. So I never felt tipping was fair or needed.

The issue is, you were a kid working at a pizza shop. The cooks may also have been underpaid, but that isn't the fault of the wait staff. There are men and women raising families and paying bills working as servers. The minimum wage for servers varies by state, but here in Mass it is 2.63, which is not a living wage. People absolutley rely on tips to pay the bills. How much you make once tips are factored in varies from restaurant to restaurant. You might average 12-13 an hour at a descent restaurant (could be considerably higher at a really great one) or you could barely be scraping by if the restaurant doesn't get a lot of traffic. In Mass, 12-13 an hour still doesn't go very far if you have a family. I think it is just common decency, we all know these peoplecget paid below minimum wage without tips, so you factor in tipping as a cost offgoing out to eat.

If you are truly unhappy with your service, you certainly do not have to tip, but too often i see people blaming servers for things that are outside their control, so they end up paying for other peoples' mistakes. Generally i think its a better course of action to complain to the dining room manager if you are unhappy with your service. I used to be a dining room manager and one of the things they paid me to do was identify the causes of the type of experience you described, so going to the dining room manager will usually help ensure your next experience is better---plus a restaurant that values its reputation will give you a complimentary meal or reduce your bill.

 

[Bedrockgames]

It's something I struggle to remember the customs for when I visit the US. Restaurants not so much - I just never know who else I'm supposed to tip!

That is entirely understandable, and when I worked in restaurants we didn't expect tourists from other countries to be familiar with the tipping standards. When i visited Italy, i had the reverse problem, where servers took it as an insult if you tipped. But it still seemed like you were supposed to sometimes tips, or do so for certain kinds of services, and i had a real struggle figuring it out. Our guidebooks gave some concrete advice, but it still felt wierd because we just were not sure in each instance and often went against our intuition. In the end i just ended up asking people directly, and just trusted what they told me.

 

[HardcoreDandDGirl]

I have left without tipping, and my tips are based on the same way I get bonuses at work, how well people do.

OMG... I get so pissed when I hear, well read, these things. I have in my life been a Pizza delivery driver, a stripper, a bartender, and a waitress.
In fact right now I work 30 hours as a security guard, and 10-18 hours as a bartender. Let me give you some idea here. When I delivered pizza I was paid min wage and had to use my own car and gas. As a Stripper I didn't get paid at all, in fact I had to pay for the right to dance (club fee vary, but trust me if you aren't getting tips you could leave in the hole). I have bartended a few places, and most are min wage or worse. When I waitressed at Friendly's I don't think I ever even one day made more then $8 an hour. Before it closed, the Olive Garden was awesome, I routinely would go home and figure I was making $20+ an hour. I am doing good right now, but I promise you that I tip 20% or more all the time...

 

[Bedrockgames]

OMG... I get so pissed when I hear, well read, these things. I have in my life been a Pizza delivery driver, a stripper, a bartender, and a waitress.
In fact right now I work 30 hours as a security guard, and 10-18 hours as a bartender. Let me give you some idea here. When I delivered pizza I was paid min wage and had to use my own car and gas. As a Stripper I didn't get paid at all, in fact I had to pay for the right to dance (club fee vary, but trust me if you aren't getting tips you could leave in the hole). I have bartended a few places, and most are min wage or worse. When I waitressed at Friendly's I don't think I ever even one day made more then $8 an hour. Before it closed, the Olive Garden was awesome, I routinely would go home and figure I was making $20+ an hour. I am doing good right now, but I promise you that I tip 20% or more all the time...

delivery also drives your car into the ground. I actually really enjoyed delivery driving, but it is hard work and the days can be so mixed (some days you would do pretty good, but a bad day could be really bad in terms of how much you made for hours of work). There also isn't any real standard for tipping delivery people. I've seen a lot of articles online advising people to tip restaurants rates, but around here when i was doing it, the drivers expected 3 bucks per delivery as a standard tip (it didn't really make a difference to us how expensive for your order was). 1 buck was considered a bad tip. Five dollars was considered a good tip. The only time we expected more than five was if the order was large enough to require more than one trip to the car or was for some kind of event. But expectations might be different outside where i was delivering.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

The issue is, you were a kid working at a pizza shop. The cooks may also have been underpaid, but that isn't the fault of the wait staff.

no but what sucks is that everyone was under paid, AND a small portion got tips that gave them MORE MONEY, and that small amount of people would complain to people making LESS money about it when we messed up but when we did good not even a thank you. Remember it is a big team bringing the food to the table (Wait staff, cook, dish washer, bus boy, greater, front register.) Out of those 6 roles, the person getting that tip does sometimes only 1/6 but at most 4/6 of that.

There are men and women raising families and paying bills working as servers. The minimum wage for servers varies by state, but here in Mass it is 2.63, which is not a living wage.

I can't live on my wage either, it is why I need roommates and to cut corners... can I get extra money?

People absolutley rely on tips to pay the bills. How much you make once tips are factored in varies from restaurant to restaurant. You might average 12-13 an hour at a descent restaurant (could be considerably higher at a really great one) or you could barely be scraping by if the restaurant doesn't get a lot of traffic. In Mass, 12-13 an hour still doesn't go very far if you have a family. I think it is just common decency, we all know these peoplecget paid below minimum wage without tips, so you factor in tipping as a cost offgoing out to eat.

BS plain and simple. In my state min wage is less then $9 an hour and MANY jobs that no one tips makes that. Many servers take home after tips MORE then that. I have seen people make $20+ waiting tables at good places, and I have worked for $8.22 an hour on my feet (Macy's store for the holidays) and on black Friday work 14 hour day with only a half hour non paid break... no one tips me for helping get you what you want or ringing the regester. If the argument is that crappy pay equal mandatory tips I should have LOTS of TIPS...

If you are truly unhappy with your service, you certainly do not have to tip, but too often i see people blaming servers for things that are outside their control, so they end up paying for other peoples' mistakes.

Those other people are also working for crap pay and when they do great they don't get bonuses.



If you see a single mom working part time at Mcdonalds do you tip her? If a guy is on his feet all day loading and unloading trucks do you tip him? If you ask a question to an employee at walmart do you tip them? I bet the answer is no...even though all of them make un livable wages.

I do tip, but not if I didn't get good service.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

OMG... I get so pissed when I hear, well read, these things. I have in my life been a Pizza delivery driver, a stripper, a bartender, and a waitress.

You want to compare crappy pay jobs, that's fine. But don't pretend I'm cheap because I only tip GOOD Service.

When I waitressed at Friendly's I don't think I ever even one day made more then $8 an hour. Before it closed, the Olive Garden was awesome, I routinely would go home and figure I was making $20+ an hour. I am doing good right now, but I promise you that I tip 20% or more all the time...

Ok, Friendly's I know pays min wage to there cooks and even there managers barely make a living wage. When you got good tips because they loved the food (cook did a good job) or when the manager came over to check on the table and they liked that, did you give them any of that great tip? I bet you didn't.

 

[Bedrockgames]

no but what sucks is that everyone was under paid, AND a small portion got tips that gave them MORE MONEY, and that small amount of people would complain to people making LESS money about it when we messed up but when we did good not even a thank you. Remember it is a big team bringing the food to the table (Wait staff, cook, dish washer, bus boy, greater, front register.) Out of those 6 roles, the person getting that tip does sometimes only 1/6 but at most 4/6 of that.

I can't live on my wage either, it is why I need roommates and to cut corners... can I get extra money?

BS plain and simple. In my state min wage is less then $9 an hour and MANY jobs that no one tips makes that. Many servers take home after tips MORE then that. I have seen people make $20+ waiting tables at good places, and I have worked for $8.22 an hour on my feet (Macy's store for the holidays) and on black Friday work 14 hour day with only a half hour non paid break... no one tips me for helping get you what you want or ringing the regester. If the argument is that crappy pay equal mandatory tips I should have LOTS of TIPS...

Those other people are also working for crap pay and when they do great they don't get bonuses.



If you see a single mom working part time at Mcdonalds do you tip her? If a guy is on his feet all day loading and unloading trucks do you tip him? If you ask a question to an employee at walmart do you tip them? I bet the answer is no...even though all of them make un livable wages.

I do tip, but not if I didn't get good service.

There is a lot there, but i am not going to waste time debating the reasons to tip with you. The point is, without tips these folks get below minimum wage. It isn't just crap pay, it is below minumum wage unless they get tips. And other jobs getting terrible wages isn't an excuse not to tip.

and the 12-13 dollars was an average for good restaurants. And yes, in mass, that is okay it doesn't go very far if you have a family. Plent of people wait tables and barely hit the minimum wage mark (some don't even hit it). It all depends on where you are working. And lots of struggling parents count on tipping to get that to pay the bills.

regading macy's, that is still above minimum wage, and you can get raises or promotion (my sister works at a department store and sales commission is huge for her being able to cover costs).

 

[GMforPowergamers]

There is a lot there, but i am not going to waste time debating the reasons to tip with you. The point is, without tips these folks get below minimum wage. It isn't just crap pay, it is below minumum wage unless they get tips. And other jobs getting terrible wages isn't an excuse not to tip.

sure it is, it disputes the idea that YOUR pay is what determains tips, and makes it YOUR ACTOINS

and the 12-13 dollars was an average for good restaurants. And yes, in mass, that is okay it doesn't go very far if you have a family. Plent of people wait tables and barely hit the minimum wage mark (some don't even hit it). It all depends on where you are working. And lots of struggling parents count on tipping to get that to pay the bills.

And that sucks, I feel for them, but that doesn't equal I should give them money for nothing...

regading macy's, that is still above minimum wage, and you can get raises or promotion (my sister works at a department store and sales commission is huge for her being able to cover costs).

I wasn't on commison, and for the record neaither were any of the other TEN PEOPLE IN MY TRAINING CLASS... we were on our feet working every bit as hard as waitstaff, and had 0 chance of making more then min wage but were making min wage... Yes the server could work for $2 an hour, but if they do well they make much more... no matter how well I worked I was capped.

by the way since you brought up commission, most people give commission people a hard time, they only get paid at allif they sell. I had that job too. Try working a week with 0 income because no one bough tanything, and worse instead of a thank you tip you got called names, hung up on and where told to stop bugging you.

A big reason I dislike 'mandatory tipping' is because it is always shoved down our throats 'they make so little' but so do other people.

1st min wage... it's a joke. Here in my state even a crappy run down slum is $600-$800 a month... nothing included, add $100 a month in electric, another $120 for cable/internet/phone... half a tank of gas a week is $120 a month. Even if your really cheap and only spend $65 a week on grocery's that $260 a month, so with no car payment, no insurance and no going out and never replacing clothing you are at $1,200- $1,500 a month.
Lets say you work 40 hours, at $10 an hour that is $1,200 Before taxes... and again the min wage in my stat is $8 and change.

2nd there is a amount of BS involved in being asked for something. If I tip a good server, and a bad server equaly then it isn't a tip, it is a bill.

3rd It is abratry that it is set at 15% or 20%, if I order a $35 steak is it harder for her to get it to me then a $9 cheese burger? What if I order a Beer $7 then a second beer $7 or get a Soda with refills $2.50 why tip $5.25 on the stake and $1.35 for the burger... it is the same work? Worse If I drink the 2 beers that is $14 so tip $2.10 for two trips, but 5 refills of the soda is $0.40?? Lets take my fav example. I go to fridays and order a 2 for $12, and water I get an appatiser of fried mozzerella, and drink a whole glass of water with it, then I get my burger and drink a glass with it. Me and my friends hang out for a bit and I drink another. So 3 trips for drinks, a trip with an appatiser, a trip with the burger and most likely a trip to bring me mustard for the burger... $12 + $1.80 tip, I round up and give $14 keep the change no one bats an eyelash. However if I order a Steak (14.95) and salad (4.95) and a Beer that I will nurse the whole meal (6.95) she is doing LESS work for my meal, and my meal is $26.85 if I tip the same $2 that is considered rude... why, was the steak order so much harder? But now I am supposed to tip $4.03 brining it up to $30.88. Now if I round it down to $30 is that still rude? Or do you think I should pay $31??