To the customers who sit in restaurants for three hours, receive attentive service and then leave a terrible tip—just stay home. I am a firm believer that you have the right to tip whatever you want when at a restaurant, but if you have been served for three hours and are even told there’s no rush when you’re the only table left, you could at least throw the server a bone. If you have the money to pay for a three-course dinner for you and your date, you should have the courtesy to take care of the person who took care of you. -Cheap Asses Stay Home
This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2014.
Choosing not to tip after receiving exemplary service is a cuntish choice to be sure, but the operative word is “choice” Choosing to stay home means that your employer goes out of business, leaving you to fall back on the “actress” half of your Actress/Waitress skill set. How’s that been working for you ?
Glad you are a firm believer we have the right to tip whatever we want. We tip nothing you shut the fuck up and clear the table. Simple.
Unfortunately the ‘expected’ tip is not the ‘Absolutely Has To ‘ tip.
While it has been the way waitstaff have managed to survive for many many years. Its not the law that you must tip, like it is enshrined in law you must pay your bill.
What’s even worse (& IMO should be illegal) is work places who make wait staff pay a percentage of what they sell into the ‘tips’ split for all the other staff, bus persons, kitchen workers, cooks etc.
Particularly when a wait staff is on the receiving end of a large bill paid, but little or no tip , & they get tipped out !
Places like Florida actually have laws where wait staff are allowed to be paid at 50% under minimum wage , because of “tips” which is outrageous
SO OB, it sucks , but there is nothing you can do about it , except bitch & get pissed off of course.
Since when has tipping become mandatory?
I agree that it’s crappy to not tip at least 15%, but it’s not a requirement and the more servers expect it, the more people are going to want to NOT tip you guys.
I always tip well. I tipped 30% during the last summit, in fact, but you know what? The servers who have served me have always at least thanked me. That’s gone a long way to making me want to continue to tip well. A simple thanks and a lack of entitlement goes a long way.
First I echo Ivan’s and PK’s sentiment. At the summit I calculated about 35% tip for excellent service. I tip well as I am in a tip oriented business. The expectation for tips isn’t there but for those who do tip it gives me euphoria for a job well done and that I exceeded their expectation of service standards.
I love to over-tip anyone who gives great service. It is just the right thing to do. That said, did anyone else notice that the bitcher’s acronym spells out, CASH? How ironic!
What kind of a moron says “I am a firm believer that you have the right to tip whatever you want when at a restaurant” and then throws in a “but”? A moron who is a waitress, that’s who.
TFB, honey/garcon, I tip well, when appropriate.
Where do you work? I won’t stay home, I just won’t bother going to your place of employment. You can bide the time polishing the silverware.
I do not tip based on custom nor because I think you’re hot (well, you might get a big one if that was the case… with good service, of course)…
A tip is based on service received, not the length of time I spend at the table – nor you permitting” me to do so.
It is I who decides if the service was worthy of a tip, not you.
My decision is based on my perspective of your performance which is then contrasted with service I have received before and or elsewhere, by you or someone else.
If you received a shitty tip, maybe reflect on how you did or better, what others do better…?!
call me crazy but i agree with the op. of course it depends on the restaurant and the price of the food but i tip well and because of that i always get good service
I fully agree, Painy — it`s important to reward great service… I have family in the service industry and I know they work hard for their tips (and live off of them – in Ontario you can be paid less than min wage if you make tips, which is disgusting).
I just have a problem with the entitlement (which very few servers do have — at least to their customers’ faces). I’ve always had great service and I know servers (well most of them, anyway) work hard for their tips. But you know what helps get you great service? Not being a douche bag customer. It’s easier to get great service if you treat the person serving you with a little respect. Then again, my mother taught me well.
I am happy to leave a tip just so long as it’s not treated like some god-given right by some snotty server (or hairstylist, or taxi driver, etc…). No one has the right to my money… except the government, but that’s another bitch for another day.
if you always go to the same place and tip well, they will remember you and know that you tip well, but at a new place, they will not know ahead of time that you tip well, so it will not ensure good service. (unless you put the tip out front?? some people do)
i have never had such bad service from the server that i wouldn’t tip, although one place there were so many problems from the badda bing kitchen that i was unhappy. server was mortified. not his fault. but like others here, i like to tip very very well for very very good service. if it is just adequate, i tip standard 15. that doesn’t happen too often. most servers are pretty good at what they do.
plus me and good dog have magic hands and can cook anything
hahahaha pg
i read your pre-edit version, and was about to chime in that using my woo-woo for bad always magnifies the blow-back. hence my crappy knees.
and i can’t make a decent cake from scratch.
magic hands should always be used for good not evil^^
Yeah, its great to say that you tip big to ensure prompt service but this bitch was complaining about someone she never saw before in her life. If you’re a regular it makes sense to nurture the server/client relationship via cash reward I but don’t think this was the case in this instance.
i’m also curious how much the tip actually was, i rarely go to restaurants because my cooking is better plus i’m frugal
Being raised mostly in the US, I’ve never really understood the whole gratuity thing going on here.
Back in the ’80s, I worked at resort in Stowe, VT most of the year and spent mud season in Amelia Island, FL. The place in Stowe did a lot of business with well heeled Montrealians, and that’s where I first heard the expression ‘what’s the difference between a Canuck and a canoe? A canoe tips!’ Of course, I represented and explained that servers in Canada get the minimum wage, not a small portion like they do here, which was an eye opener for many. Later when I was a manager, I always tipped my wait staff the minimum wage-a whole $2.50 more per hour.
My Canadian family mostly (the Northern Ontario part ha, ha) assures me that tipping is totally voluntary and should be 10-12%.
I do know that servers always love to serve me, because I tip an minimum of 20% -and I round up.
Regarding tipping at the summit…OK, I’ma gonna let you have your moment and all, but who would go to a summit letting the rest of the table to think they’re cheap fuckers? What’s your average leave on a checque?
Secondly, aren’t those breakfast summits? I always overtip at breakfast, too. They work hard for their money on the breakfast shift!
This nonsense again? (sigh)
From a former server to another (yes, you, OP). TIPPING IS NOT MANDATORY. You have probably noticed that some customers tip average, some really well and others not at all. This is the way it is as tipping is not mandatory. It is the nature of the beast. Suck it up buttercup. At the end of the shift you still have a pocketfull of do-re-mi. You can claim as much or little of this as income come tax time. Oh, and you get a paycheck too. So you can bitch about this all you want but that still won’t make people tip you what you have decided you should receive. You are paid by your employer to do your job, which is providing service whether a tip is forth-coming or not. A server does not get to decide how much of my money I will part with over and above what the meal costs. Don’t like it? Then you are in the wrong profession.
I tip well on the rare times I eat out and only if the service is good. However, it is not my responsibility to make up the difference between minimum wage and what you consider a living wage.
Like I’ve always said, expectations are planned disappointments.
I’d prefer to tip(ple) myself into semi-consciousness with a good ol’ homemade maple beef stew.
Yowza!
She probably got 10 – 15 % but feels entitled to more because they were there for a very long time and had to have extra attention (in her mind). Too fucking bad, I say. I was out to a place in New England one time that added a 25% grat onto parties of 6 and over, dunno if it was state policy or not, but that place isn’t in business anymore.
Xeno: most of us pay debit/credit at the summits and have no idea what the others give in tips. Even those of us who pay in cash don’t inspect each others’ bills. I have no idea what the other bitchers tip, all I know is that I typically give $5 or $6 bucks on a ~$20 meal (incl. tax)
Also: servers don’t get min wage in Ontario.
My family has always tipped well. Especially my dad.
I tip 20-25% on average. I used to be a server for over 7 years so I know very well how stressful the job can be. If the service sucks, ok leave little/no tip. But for you fuckers out there who just don’t believe in tipping no matter what, make like the title of this bitch, you cheap cunts.
RSVP
:Pretty ‘MC5000’ Kitty (04/08, 8.08PM)
The last Summit I was at, my meal was $20.38 (tax inc), paid by debit $27.38. $7.00 tip for excellent service for anyone with enquiring minds.
I’ve always been a good tipper, usually 20-25%, but I’ve recently decided, no more. I’m not throwing ridiculous amounts of money away, money I earned that was a) taxed and b) without receiving a tip. If I get good service, I now tip the same amount as the taxes on the receipt. Even at a 15% tip, I have now paid 30% more for my meal than it is actually worth. I’ll be fucked if some entitled server is going to make me feel guilty for not leaving a gigantic tip. They can take my shitty 15% tip and fuck off if they don’t like it.
Let’s start an ‘Eat Home & Save A Bundle’ campaign and start getting healthy again by taking the time to prepare fresh foods. That should solve the mouthy server problem.
Well, Dr Shit, 15% is actually the standard. So I wouldn’t say tipping 15% is a bad tip at all.
I have to say, I had no issue at all tipping 25% at the last summit because the poor server was unemployed the next day, ffs. Thankfully, the restaurant was crowded, so hopefully the staff made a buttload in tips. If anyone deserves it, it’s that restaurant’s staff for putting up with us for three years.
Restaurants should employ foreign workers they’re more appreciative, and if they go back to NK Kim Jong Un puts the flame thrower to them.
Some years ago I strolled into J.J.Rossys bar with a brand new Nova Scotia Liquor ID in my pocket and ordered a Keiths beer.
The server brought it over and knowing nothing of the world I paid for the beer with no tip.
The disgusted server loudly said,
” you want good service you tip for it, or you can pour you own drinks.”
This is how I learned to tip.
Okay, let’s break this down. Servers earn minimum wage, around ten bucks an hour, so about eighty bucks for an average shift. Tips usually exceed this, so let’s add another fifteen bucks an hour, although this may be conservative it usually tops out around twenty-five bucks an hour, not all of which is claimed at tax time, nor is subject to salary deductions. Some of these servers are complaining about tipping. I feel no pity for someone who is earning more than I do for a job that requires no tuition or fantastic skills other than taking order requests and delivering plates and glasses to customers. Even after tipping out that’s still a fair chunk of change.
The more servers bitch about tips, the more I am inclined not to leave any.
I hate nose rings and piercings. If I see them, I don’t tip.
The worst are those huge stretched out earlobes. I gag at just the thought of all that ear cheese that accumulates in those donut holes.