chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 28,017
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Post by chazraps on May 27, 2011 21:13:01 GMT -5
Can everyone just post what country they're representing with their opinions? It's a big difference maker in this thread. I always tip, and almost always tip well. That said, I think the ' if you can't tip X amount, you shouldn't go out to eat' is a lil presumptuous, and a lil much. That's a bit of a sense of entitlement that's exactly what those that aren't tipping at all are showing. OK, how about "if you can't tip X amount, go to the kitchen and get the food yourself?"
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TheDieselTrain
Fry's dog Seymour
Chicks Dig Hootie.
Is Stone Cold gonna have to smack a bitch?? WHAT!!!?????
Posts: 23,724
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Post by TheDieselTrain on May 27, 2011 21:56:04 GMT -5
Upon re-reading the original post, Diesel, I'm not sure what was going on. You ordered your drink, meandered away for a moment, and then came back and she said this? If that's the case, then I need to retract my earlier statement. If you hadn't paid for the drink, why would you tip? Haha funny but no. I ordered and she took another order and then she just up and left the bar for a few min we both were like okay....... I'm not posting this to try to save face or anything but I guess I should have added that in the past they used to add tax. Instead of charging just $2 so I could at least tip them with the change from that but then I usually dont carry change on me. So basically they want me to pay $3 for a $2 beer. That and I dont tip till i'm done for the night as thats when you're supposed to tip anyways.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 28,017
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Post by chazraps on May 27, 2011 21:59:14 GMT -5
That and I dont tip till i'm done for the night as thats when you're supposed to tip anyways. Unless you're paying with a credit card, I have NEVER heard of waiting until the end of the night to tip AT THE BAR.
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Post by Perpetual Nirvana on May 27, 2011 22:11:49 GMT -5
I'm from the UK where tipping is rare. But I hate hit when it has happened. And I'll tell you why.
Most of the jobs I've had were as "Kitchen Porter" which is a fancy name for kitchen dogsbody. For minimum wage I'd do things like scrub the pits and pans and peel potatos and chop like a ton of parsley to be used as garnishs, stuff like that. I'd be stuck in the kitchen doing this while the serving stuff, who for some reason got paid more than I did, received tips for carrying the food all of a dozen feet. There were some jobs that pooled the tips and divided them up amongst all the staff at the end of the week but those jobs were a rarity.
As others have noted, what's so special about service staff that warrants them a "bonus"? I work harder for less money and I get nothing. How is that fair?
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Post by The Booty Disciple on May 27, 2011 22:52:46 GMT -5
I'm not about to debate who works "harder" in a restaurant. It's pointless, and in the United States, at least, the dish dog, expediter, cooks, hosts, bartenders, barbacks, and doormen all make better than the servers. Even as a manager on duty, if I was taking tables, I was only making $3.50 an hour.
But we were always good about tipping out the other staff as well. I generally gave 10% of my tips to the bar staff, and 10% to the host/bus/expo staff. The cooks would usually wind up hanging out with me after work, and since I cooked on occasion too, I'd buy them a drink, and all was well.
And Diesel, yeah, unless you're running a tab with a credit/debit card, that's the first time I've heard of tipping at the end of the night. You tip when you pay, because the staff doesn't know if you'll go wobbling off into the night or not. At least when they have your card, they can add gratuity.
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Post by Brandon Walsh is Insane. on May 28, 2011 2:20:27 GMT -5
I don't know... being forced to pay someone a tip because they chose a job waiting at a restaurant is a lil' out there for me. I like to tip well, and compensate people that go above and beyond, but telling people that don't have enough money to tip to not even go out... I mean, it's not my responsibility as a patron of an establishment to pay someone's wages -- isn't that what the business or restaurant is for? It's a loophole, I feel, to be able to hire people at that low of a wage. Not everyone has enough disposable income to eat out, yet people shouldn't be shunned because they cannot afford an extra 5 bucks here and there. I don't. I just get a 'high and mighty' feel out of this thread about tipping, and it's rubbing me the wrong way. As for the OP... If they raised the prices, then they raised the prices. It's inflation, my man. It's everywhere. Doesn't mean you can't tip. As for the three minutes... being a guy, it's hard to even get the bartender to notice you and take your order within 3 minutes, so I don't get the argument there. BTW, did someone say... THREE MINUTES?!
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The Line
Patti Mayonnaise
Real Name: Bumkiss. Stanley Bumkiss.
Peanut Butter & JAAAAAMMMM!
Posts: 36,698
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Post by The Line on May 28, 2011 2:45:46 GMT -5
only 3 minutes to get a beer? You ever been to a college bar on a Friday or Saturday night.
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CaptainFall
Samurai Cop
'Fascinating is the word of the day'
Posts: 2,151
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Post by CaptainFall on May 28, 2011 3:38:55 GMT -5
Restaurants I'll always tip unless it's been completely crap but never more than 10%. Always in cash too, never on one of the machines if you're paying with card because the waiter/waitress will never ever see that money.
Taxi's and hairdressers too but again it's about 10% and not always, depends how friendly I'm feeling.
Bars and pubs, no way. All they did was pull a pint or fetched a bottle. Same goes for people who deliver you stuff or porters in hotels.
I really subscribe to the theory that the place of business should be providing adequate wages to their employees and tips should be given if they've done a really good job as opposed to just expecting it for doing what they're employed for.
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Post by Ishmeal Loves Kaseyhausen on May 28, 2011 6:14:49 GMT -5
First off, I'm from the U.S. to get that out of the way.
I've always found it helpful to plan ahead. If I'm going to be having a few drinks, I usually tip ahead like 5 bucks. I do this for two reasons:
1) So I don't forget to tip after a few drinks.
2) It gives the bartender/server a reason to serve me faster, as that's probably not the end of the tips if I have more to drink.
This may not work for everyone, but it does for me.
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Full of IT.
ALF
If you wanna win............. make it a win.
Posts: 1,072
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Post by Full of IT. on May 28, 2011 7:06:38 GMT -5
I'd like to vote for Diesel as the boards most socially awkward. Reading about his tales out in the real world is pretty hilarious.
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Post by heyguesswhatidid on May 28, 2011 7:18:10 GMT -5
This is why I always open a tab in a bar, that way Im not expected to tip until the end of the night and usually at Bars I tip a dollar a drink, not sure if that's good.
Restaurants I double the tax and then even it out, like if tax is 8.85 it would probably tip between 18 and 20 depending on the service. I feel thats more than adequate because I can honestly say I've never had great service in a restaurant but I've also never had terrible service. Always seems to be middle of the road.
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Jiren
Patti Mayonnaise
Hearts Bayformers
Posts: 35,163
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Post by Jiren on May 28, 2011 7:41:33 GMT -5
It's always different with me
If I have the same Waiter/Waitress the whole time then I'll leave a tip but 9 times out of 10 it's different people bringing us food/Drinks (I'm in the UK BTW).
When I was in the US I always left a tip
Also we're talking about tipping I HAVE to post this
(Language)
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Post by Red Impact on May 28, 2011 8:01:29 GMT -5
I'm from the UK where tipping is rare. But I hate hit when it has happened. And I'll tell you why. Most of the jobs I've had were as "Kitchen Porter" which is a fancy name for kitchen dogsbody. For minimum wage I'd do things like scrub the pits and pans and peel potatos and chop like a ton of parsley to be used as garnishs, stuff like that. I'd be stuck in the kitchen doing this while the serving stuff, who for some reason got paid more than I did, received tips for carrying the food all of a dozen feet. There were some jobs that pooled the tips and divided them up amongst all the staff at the end of the week but those jobs were a rarity. As others have noted, what's so special about service staff that warrants them a "bonus"? I work harder for less money and I get nothing. How is that fair? I've been on both ends in restaurants and in other jobs and I'd say that I would always prefer a job in the back versus a job in the front. Not because it's necessarily easier, but because jobs in the back don't have to deal with customers. Nothing ever pissed me off worse than having bad, entitled customers who felt they could treat you like crap because they were paying. That's why I usually tip pretty well, because I know just how shitty customers can be.
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h
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 5,734
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Post by h on May 28, 2011 10:35:14 GMT -5
There seem to be quite a few factors that we're not taking into account here. Yes, I get paid better than a restaurant server. To get to this position, I took out loans and did seven years in university. The servers didn't. If we assume that a server can make $10/hour, that's $20,000 per year. Already, the server is $140,000 up on me. Then we factor in the amount I spent on university. At a conservative estimate of $10,000 per year, that's another $70,000. By the time I get into the workforce, the server has collected $210,000. Now I'm being told that I need to subsidize the server's wages because they chose a career path that doesn't make a lot of money. To that, I have to point out that the path I took was certainly open.
Yeah, it's a tough reality, but when I'm told that I'm scum for tipping 15% and deserve to have crappy service and someone spitting in my food if I have the audacity to even leave my house without the intention of tipping 20-25% or more, that's the sort of reaction you have to come to expect.
I shook my head when the media was all fired up last year because Robert Pattinson had a $350 meal and was condemned for only leaving a $50 tip (14.3%). I couldn't understand why the backlash wasn't against the server, who decided to complain to the media, actually criticizing a customer by name, rather than happily pocketing $50 from one table. Now I realize that I should consider myself lucky that servers in my city aren't getting together to out me as a worthless 15% tipper in the Letters to the Editor section in the local paper. Unfortunately,this thread has opened my eyes to the fact that the mindset I had as a server ("I take pride in providing you with the best possible service, and I'm grateful for anything extra you can spare.") has gone the way of the dinosaur.
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Post by The Booty Disciple on May 28, 2011 10:55:19 GMT -5
Okay, maybe I should amend my statements. I've never once stated that lousy service deserves a tip, or that it should be expected.
As I stated, in areas where minimum wage (and it really IS minimum...try making ends meet on a $7.25/hour wage...even $10/hour is tough, after taxes), tipping is generally significantly lower. The idea of presenting the mathematical side of tipping 15 percent was to show that logically, if you can afford $30, often you should be able to afford $35. If you choose not to, hey, I'm sure you have your reasons, regardless of whether I agree or not.
And this argument of "they chose that path" has some element of truth, but often, transient jobs like that are taken WHILE attempting to gain higher wage levels. Never heard of a college student working in the restaurant to make ends meet while they're working towards a degree? Unfortunately, this also contributes to some of the lousy service. Transient workers tend to think of it as "just a job to help out" rather than their livelihood, and thus, don't provide the highest level they could. I used to chew servers out daily for never checking up on a patron as soon as they'd closed out the check. They didn't understand that we need to provide an inviting atmosphere and make them feel welcome to relax regardless of whether they've paid out or not. That creates repeat business, whereas driving them out the door to roll over to the next potential tip likely makes the place uninviting and unpleasant.
A very basic principle of the restaurant business is that it's far easier to lose business than it is to keep it. That's often lost on workers who are there for a relatively short period while they're making the extra buck.
Unfortunately, with the influx over the last couple decades of streamlined, cookie-cutter fern restaurants, quality of service and food has gone down marginally in order maximize profit margins. However, their business model relies on bulk, rather than quality, and that creates a marginalized version of service. I don't blame anyone for only tipping adequately in those places, because at best, most times it's simply "adequate" in the whole experience, and unremarkable to boot.
Maybe I have a sense of financial responsibility that goes beyond immediate gratification. Being strapped for cash happens to everyone, but again, if you're that strapped, is eating out, at it's inflated prices, what you should be spending money on?
The long and short of the situation is that in the United States, servers typically do NOT make that much money. Sure, they can pull down a larger wage via tips at an hourly basis, but they often don't work full time, often closer to half time. Given that most places aren't busy all the time (you have usually two to three peak periods in a restaurant, and two to three peak days of the week. Most other times, it's highly likely you'll break even or lose money on the shift), it's REALLY hard to quantify the potential wage with someone who is on a set salary. The same can be said for most hourly employees, but given the unpredictability of tipped wages, it becomes even more difficult.
That being said, I'm a huge advocate for paying tipped employees a standard hourly wage more commensurate with the federal minimum wage. But if/when that happens, expect your restaurant/service experience to become far more expensive. When the wages go up, that cost to the employers will be passed off the patrons. That's the unfortunate reality of the flaws in the legislated side of wages.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on May 28, 2011 11:04:11 GMT -5
Eh, that' nothing. I once went to a really expensive buffet where you were expected to tip. That doesn't make sense to me. I mean isn't that the whole point of a buffet? You get it yourself.
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Post by Brick Killed a Guy on May 28, 2011 13:46:07 GMT -5
Eh, that' nothing. I once went to a really expensive buffet where you were expected to tip. That doesn't make sense to me. I mean isn't that the whole point of a buffet? You get it yourself. Only time I ever tip at a buffet is if someone gets you beverages and/or rolls, etc. If I have to get everything myself, no tip.
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Post by Mr. Emoticon Man, TF Fan on May 28, 2011 14:51:02 GMT -5
Eh, that' nothing. I once went to a really expensive buffet where you were expected to tip. That doesn't make sense to me. I mean isn't that the whole point of a buffet? You get it yourself. Only time I ever tip at a buffet is if someone gets you beverages and/or rolls, etc. If I have to get everything myself, no tip. Same here. I tend to leave good tips whenever I do tip, though.
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