To the waitress who served my wife and I in the Dartmouth chinese restaurant. Great food, but your service was deplorable. The third time I asked for a refill for coffee, you actually said, “Last coffee for you. Come back tomorrow!” As if that weren’t bad enough, you spilled that last top up on my plate, and me. Then you had the nerve to say I was rude when I didn’t give you a tip. We paid nearly forty bucks for dinner, so why so stingy with the coffee?? You reminded me of the soup nazi on Senifeld. We didn’t even get a fortune cookie, but here’s yours: Good service equals good tip. Won’t be back.
—Lefty Jim.
This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2009.
I’m not sure why people think they’re entitled to free coffee and pop refills. As for rude service, that’s a different kettle of fish.
Isn’t that stupid! Losing a customer complaining about what amounts to a nickle in cost on a $40 tab.
Some folk can’t see the customers through the crowd.
Pity.
Not all restaurants give free coffee refills. If this was the policy of this particular restaurant then you were lucky to get any refills at all.
good tip equals better service, dude
Fuck off with the tips bullshit, folks. Your job is in service and not supplementary revenue! If you wish to work in hospitality and serving, then do it because you enjoy that type of business and NOT because you “get tips”.
Fact is you only get tips if your service is good and, please get this through your hair nets, ITS NOT MANDATORY! You get it if and only if the customer/client feels that the server has earned it. If not, don’t bitch that you didn’t get something that is not your entitlement.
You don’t tip before service; that’s a deposit. That’s NOT what hospitality and the service industry is about. Its about providing excellent service which is your job, not a supplementary action after the customer has given you $100 for merely bringing them a bowl of soup or mixing a White Russian.
When I’m faced with poor service from a perceived lack-of-tip, I request to speak to the manager. I then explain to the manager that the service is attrocious and that the server is expecting or even demanding a tip and is basically refusing me service because I’m not wetting their beak. The manager can and will state that they work for tips, but I retort with, “No, they work for the establishment and their job is to generate revenue for YOUR establishment. They are not doing this which means they are NOT doing their job and simply discriminating against me for a very lame personal reason.” Often the manager sees my point and apologizes for the lack of service and attempts to make improvements.
I am sick and tired of these self-entitled tipsters who think that their sole job is to earn as much supplementary income as possible. My doctor works a lot harder than any waiter/waitress and he never gets tips for doing his job.
Grow up, tipsters. If you get into hospitality for tips then you’re setting yourself up for a major downfall. Just do your fucking job and maybe you’ll get the tips you feel you deserve. Until then, stop crying about your job and just do it!
I never presume refills are free; I always assume they will be added to the bill. (I rarely order refills anyway.)
And if that’s the case, I think it would be in the interest of the restaurant and staff to keep offering, as long as a person wasn’t tying up a table too long while new customers were waiting.
Would it be too much trouble to print the refill policy in the menuin places where there might be a tendency to presume otherwise?
It seems to me the art of good service is in the timing—ie don’t bring the bill until you are sure the customer isn’t going to order anything else.
If the server brings the bill (after the customer requests), and THEN the customer orders excessive refills, well I think it’s fair to point out that a person is over their limit for the freebies.
Call me a cheap-ass, but I almost always assume when dining in North America drinking drip coffee that the refills will be free. Seriously, how much does that shit coffee really cost? Especially consider that you usually pay at least $2.00 for a mug of the stuff. Just like tipping is considered customary here, I think free refills are too.
caffeine binge much? 3 coffees at one meal seems excessive to me and I’m a long time addict.
perhaps if they’d read the fortune cookie; “no refills, ur fucked”
Hey, morons, i was the coffee nazi who served you. this is a chinese restaurant. we don’t drink coffee. everyone knows coffee in chinese restaurants is bizarre. why should i give you a fortune cookie when you didn’t tip me? Huh? if you can’t tip, then stay home. your wife was ugly anyway.
I’ve dined at many Chinese restaurants and coffee was always an option – just like tipping.
This is Canada, Fong. Tips aren’t mandatory.