Hey real simple – They’ll go get another job – real fast – and then you can serve your own self . Sound good ? Because without us serving you ( weather or not you need to tell me how shitty my job is or not or that we should get another job) you’d be doing it yourself . Who the fucks going to serve your lazy ass if it isn’t a service worker?
—Someone who likes being served
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2009.
sure, I love buffet! no tips for you.
It seriously feels like being double-taxed.
I was actually talking about this just last week… when a colleague of mine told me how it works in india….
rather than percentage of what you get, you pay basic flat rates…
so 0-50 rupees if you thought they could have done better
50-100 for average service
100-200 for exemplary service, and
anything over 200 gets you strange looks as if you pity them and feel they need some assistance.
I mean, 30 bucks tip on a 200 cheque?
what did you do above and beyond that would warrant that kinda tip?!?!?
what would you have done differently had I only ordered $40 bucks worth of pizza to split amongst us? likely nothing… you pick up food and place it in front of me and refill my drinks regardless of what said food item actually is.
Sorry if the lowly customer has offended you while you graciously give up you free time to serve us, OP. Sheesh!
Get over yourself! Your job is not important and customers have every right to complain if they get bad service.
I order a very simple coffee on a daily basis. It is friggin astounding how often it is screwed up by the apparently highly skilled and important coffee shop cashier. If I could just get it myself I bloody well would!
I once worked New Years Day many years ago, and due to an oversight, no other server was scheduled. I had to serve the entire restaurant as well as the adjoining banquet room. By the time I finished, I had made close to $500 in tips. Sounds pretty sweet, huh? Nope, it wasn’t. I would never, ever want to repeat that day. Although it was buffet, it was absolutely crazy. Wine service, drinks, special requests, clearing, entertaining (didn’t have much time for this that day), bills…hell, just coffee alone over and over…it was impossible. If it wasn’t for not wanting to screw the customers and my bus person working his ass off, I would have walked out. The tips meant so little by the end of day, I gave him $60 above what was required. But, I must say, the customers enjoyed themselves, were generous (both in patience and tips) and there were no complaints. I had nightmares about this for a year (having to serve an waiting autotorium full of people but not being able to get the food ordered).
That said, some servers make dining out a pleasure and some throw food your way. As a person who’s been there, done that and would never willingly do it again, my tip reflects the quality of service that I receive. If you can’t make the effort to be pleasant and helpful, I can’t make the effort to dig deep into my pockets.
I serve myself….that way I don’t have to tip.
I have great respect for most “service” workers (actually, anyone who works is performing a service so I don’t really like that term.) I understand that it is a tough job, and that the public can be brutal. Most people have worked in some form of customer service in their lives and know how hard it is.
But it works both ways. When a customer is paying for a service, they have a right to expect that the worker will try to do their best—that they will do their job professionally, that they will try to find out things they don’t know, that they will be polite—not fawning, just courteous and respectful.
I find I rarely face truly “bad” or “incompetent” service most days, but there are times when the service at a store or a restaurant can be extremely awkward and uncomfortable—like that whole issue about presuming you don’t need your change, or a waiter acting like you are insane when you ask a basic, reasonable question about something on the menu.
There is an “art” to good customer service, and that is in the smoothing out of potentially embarrassing situations. When it is done well, both parties get what they need and hopefully both have a pleasant or at least reasonable, human interaction.
So dear OP, no one has the right to treat you badly just because of your job, but you have to be willing to meet the customer halfway. I make an effort to be a decent customer, who shops and dines in a normal, low-maintainence, easy-going manner. But when I rely on you to complete the transaction or allow me to enjoy my meal, I expect you to be able to step up and be the professional that you are.
There is a restaurant in the north end that has the best team of servers I have ever had the pleasure to meet. We go there ALL THE TIME because of this (and the food) and we bring other people and recommend it to people who haven’t yet gone. It matters to us that we can always count on having an enjoyable dinner there.
So, OP, I know dealing with customers is a tough job, but the ones who do it well earn a great deal of respect, and the tips aren’t too shabby either.
Well if I want something done right…I will do it myself. If it’s that easy go get that other job and shut-it
The way the service industry has been going lately, I’d rather serve myself!
Thanks!!!
It seems the poster doesn’t have a sewrvice job by reading ” they – them” or whatever into it . But i think it’s more a bitch about people who bitch. But i kinda laugh at the posters saying ” easier to do it yourself ” so i take it by that – that your going to go in the kitchen – cook your buffet – serve it to yourself and then do the cash register thing? I know i wouldn’t want to serve myself in that shitty job – shitty service or not – I’ve had both – its easier for rthem to do then me spending a few hours cooking and then having to serve myself and actually have to pay for it too ? No fuckin thanks – i’ll take someone serving me shittily or not rather then do all that myself.
Kitchen jobs SUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKK! Everyone feels sorry for the poor servers, but really think about all the poor cooks and dishwashers stuck in the hot filthy kitchen, usually working much harder and longer hours with less pay and minimal, if any, tips while getting stressed out due to it being constantly busy with everyone screaming at eachother. Weekends, evenings, and holidays mean nothing – if anything, they mean that you’re more likely to work because it’s usually busier those days.
Lord, help me. Please. I’ve already gotten into the reasons and whatnot for my situation and I don’t feel like doing it again so if you’re really curious, just look back through my previous 600 or so comments in order to put the pieces together. And yeah, I know it’s my fault my problem not yours blah blah blah.
Some of my best buds in the city are cooks and NEVER see any part of the tips that customers leave. They’re the ones doing most of the work but its always some little tart who gets the tips. There should be some type of tip pool where cooks get a percentage at least.
My beef is when I’m asked if I’d like any change back. If my dinner and drink costs $15 (give or take a few cents or a buck) I am NOT giving you $4-5 for bringing a plate and glass to the table.
NGF, servers get minimum wage, the cooks get much more (unless they work at a shit place).
As well, this tart is the one that had stand there while the customers went ballistic on her ass after the cook served up:
– onion soup with a pubic hair in it (it was really a beard hair, but the customer had to stop screaming to learn that, and really, either way it was gross;
– a caesar salad with HALF a caterpillar;
– a steak with lint on it (he had obviously dropped it on the floor);
– food that specifically asked for a certain ingredient to be left out due to allergies only to have the client’s throat close over because the cook didn’t listen to or read the order;
– and all the usual shit like bloody steaks that were supposed to be well done; overcooked or burnt food; and on and on.
Only once did I have a customer who marched into the kitchen and started yelling at the cook instead of me.
They still do more work than servers though.
HKM, cooks make maybe a few dollars an hour above minimum wage plus, sometimes, a small tip-out. On most nights, with their tips servers will make far more than your average cook could ever dream of making.
Also, half the time an order gets screwed up or a hair is found in the food, it is the fault of the server, not the cook (though servers love to blame cooks for it anyway). In most places, cooks are required to wear hairnets or hats, while servers are not for obvious reasons.
Also, the main qualification for being a server at most places is to simply look good. Cooking generally doesn’t require that much more skill (hence the relatively low wage) but is a lot more physical, mental, and stressful work. Really though, just about anyone can be a server or a cook with enough training and practice. It’s just that some are better at it than others.
I have been a cook and a server. And, the whole cook vs. server debate is a headache I am glad to have escaped. As well, I never had a beard (hair in soup). Don’t get me wrong, cooking can be a shit job too, but the server is not always right when they argue with a cook, but the customer is always right when they are screaming at the server.
i have been cooking for 30 years on and off in mostly high-end/upscale places and unless your the exec. chef on salary (although they have to work like 60-70 hours/week) your looking at 14.00/hr; aany half decent server is making at least 30.00/hr with tips and 75% of that cash and non taxed if they don’t claim it all; i don’t mind when they at least have some wine/food knowledge but mostly there just good looking and can play the game
I didn’t actually see anything said by poster about tips – i just seen that if you wanna get served you need servers or you’d not be served . I think the OP was more about people bitching about them getting better jobs – as the way i see it – but i can’t read so i quess that counts me out . haha
This bitch tells me you belong at your Mac-Job. Your sorry fucking attitude is what pisses us customers off. I work with the public in a hotel, and I gotta tell you its YOUR job to make the customers happy and YOUR job to shut the fuck up and do you fucking work, you wanna complain? get a fucking education or a better job. I don’t even have my high school diploma, yet I own a house, have a family, working a full time decent job. What’s your excuse? Put up or shut up, WHETHER or not it’s your chosen profession.
martym,
You’re forgetting, servers make excellent money during peak hours, especially if their station turns over, but most hours (and many days), they make virtually no tips, while the cooks can depend on their pay.
Kit, I agree, cook or server or whatever, always do your job the best that you can. Regardless of workplace, your performance is a reflection of your character.