I served this table of 4. Two parents, two kids. They ordered 2 pizzas, one was for the parents to share, the other was for the children. Mistakes happen in restaurants, and it so happened that the children’s pizza got partly stuck to the pan. However it was still salvageable, except for one piece. This was the only thing that went wrong.
Most servers at my workplace just replace the entire thing (throw the ruined pizza out or let the staff eat it) and nothing more. However, I decided it wouldn’t be fair to have the kids wait there, hungry, while their parents ate. (The kids couldn’t just munch on their parents’ pizza because they didn’t like mushrooms, as their mom stated earlier). So I brought both pizzas down to the table and told them exactly what happened. AND on top of that I informed them the replacement pizza was coming, free of charge. So basically they were practically getting a whole pizza for free. They were so happy. “Oh thank you!” The mom said. The rest of their experience went perfectly fine, as I was very attentive.
To the mom (who paid the bill): How could you have the nerve to still not leave a cent for me after all of that??? Yeah, you paid debit and skipped the tip option, and then as I go back to clean your table I realized nothing was there either (not even a dollar or two, REALLY?)! Thanks so much for stiffing me after I got you a free pizza! All I had to do was get the kitchen to remake the pizza and make your kids wait an extra 10 minutes or so. But you know what? I didn’t! I gave a little extra and you stiffing me was a fucking slap in the face! And yes, you can afford to leave a few bucks, honey, if you can afford designer sunglasses and two of the most expensive pizzas on the menu!
I’ve been reading LTWWB for quite a while now and I know you people hate tipping bitches and I’m gonna get comments such as “Wah wah! Poor little self-entitled server didn’t get her tip!”. For the record, I do not in any way think I deserve a tip if I give shitty service; for example, I don’t expect a tip if I fuck up an order and don’t compensate the customer for it. I work for my tips because I know I have to!
I am a damn good server, and this is just one of the times I’ve went above and beyond. So lady, next time your cheap ass comes in (and I know you will because you came in quite a few times, and other people served you) and I have the pleasure of serving you again, you are getting NOTHING extra! If it just so happens that your pizza gets stuck again (and has to get remade), you’re fucking waiting for the remake and the staff or the compost bin is getting your original one! —Server who got screwed
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2010.
Expectations are planned disappointments.
I tip when deserved. BUT…Tipping is optional. NOT mandatory. You didn’t get stiffed she paid the bill. Maybe she didn’t have money to tip…hence sharing a pizza. You may have done a great job serving, but that doesn’t mean people have over and above to tip you. Sometimes a person may just have enough to go out and enjoy a pizza.
I went above and beyond at every single one of my jobs everyday and did I get tipped? Nope! Shut up.
Tipping is NOT mandatory. That’s the point the Mom is probably making, and I commend her. As for your rant: you chose to be a server, no one forced you, you serve, that’s it. Your boss pays your wage, don’t expect customers to supplement it. I hope she does come in again, and you end up being her server. If anything does not meet her expectations, she can complain and then guess what, the ENTIRE meal will be free. If you don’t like not getting a tip, change jobs.
Tipping IS optional. So is exemplary service. So ,unfortunately, is character. Mistakes happen. Personally, if I had a server who was upfront, apologetic and did me a solid, like you clearly did, I’d willingly duke them a little extra, just out of appreciation. It’s not a case of entitlement OP. You did everything right both personally and as the representative of a business. You just had the bad luck to encounter a cupid stunt. Sorry.
You sound like a nice server. Maybe the customer just forgot? Often I’ve rejected the tip option on debit to leave a cash tip, but once about a month ago I was distracted and so forgot to return to the table and leave it. I felt bad, but by the time I realized my slip it was too late to return.
I don’t know about anyone else but when I get free food, I leave a tip for sure.
(well unless it’s something like complimentary cow tongue or something bizarre/vile)
that definitely exemplifies the ‘above and beyond’ I think we’re all looking for.
shame the mom’s cheap…
Dude, I used to work in a kitchen where the servers were getting 200 dollars in tips per individual on a bad night. Did the ones who cooked the food, in a much more stressful and strenuous work setting, that the customers enjoyed so much that the left awesome tips get any of it? Nope.
I’m not really bitter about it or anything, but tips aren’t mandatory, and if you are going out of your way for your customers JUST because of the tips, IMO you don’t deserve them.
You don’t deserve a tip at all, this is the point you are missing here, and why people get fucking pissed off. Wah, I didn’t get a tip for serving pizza. Who the fuck cares? Lots of people who work harder than you get shit nothing. Suck it the fuck up, do your best job no matter who it is, and be thankful for the extra money you get.
don’t you just love ignorant fucks like that. sort of what ha[ppened to me two years back with sicillian pizza in fairview. ordered pizza,driver came,tripped and dropped box, stay closedbut shit all over the place inside. rang buzzer, came up and told me what happened. no sweat says i,it all gets to same place,and mixed up going down anyway. said he would bring back another one, told him no was cool. paid him, gave him 2 buck tip, sat down and enjoyed pizza. 20 minutes later, buzzer sounds and here he is again with another pizza, gratis, i give him 5 bucks as tip, and have never had such good service in mylife, even when i worked at a pizza joint delivering.tip of hat to sicillian pizza here people.anytime they hear my number, they know just how i like my pizza too.
I was raised in a house where it was considered extremely inappropriate and exceptionally rude to tip, so to me the only reason you should never get a tip (even if it’s a penny) is if you were out and out awful. Not that I’m saying you were, OP! But, I actually agree with you. Sorry that not a lot of people here will. I’m not saying it’s mandatory, but it does make you seem quite rude.
Also, fallingangels, I don’t know where you worked, but most places I’ve heard of, kitchen staff and bus boys get tipped out.
Gah, sorry! I meant to say it was considered rude and inappropriate to NOT tip. My bad!
LS raises a very good point. Spread the green, don’t be a dick, and being a regular customer, you get the unofficial VIP treatment. It pays.
did you just say “LS raises a very good point”????
save us all…..
I know I wouldn’t be eating much of a pizza some guy sumo-smashed…. or certainly not paying for it and saying “it’s cool” … but I guess you’re a bigger man than I.
Enjoy your incredibly-extra-thin-crust, floor pizza.
Be careful what you say, zZz — calling LS a bigger man than you, might go to his head…and not the one on top of his neck…OH GOD I JSUT WENT THERE.
Anyway, tips aren’t required (blahblah yah yah you know), and while I loathe entitlement such as this bitch seethes, I would have tipped you, OP.
Will you guys stop kissing LS’s ass? I do agree with what he said though and remember – The people who do tip make up for the people who don’t.
I worked at a pub that sponsored our slo=pitch team, we used to drink there after games, every so often I’d grab a 24 and bring it to the games, I told people that this was bought out of my tip money. There were 2 team mates who NEVER tipped me, EVER! Of course being an adult I did give them a beer, but then on they tipped, they both told me tipping was something they either couldn’t always afford to do and I said supplying free beer wasn’t something I could alwayd do either.
i am an over-tipper having toiled in the kitchens for years, but i receive good service and give it back in kind
I work in customer service myself. Everyday I am expected to go above and beyond for every single one of my people. All of them deserve the same level of great service. They are, afterall, paying for service. I do not get tipped. In the past year and a half I can probably count on one hand the number of times I received a tip, the grand total probably comes to around $9.46.
I have served. I have served tables that didn’t tip. Perhaps some people just choose not to. Perhaps some people can’t afford the extra for a tip.
Tipping is NEVER mandatory nor should be expected, however should be appreciated when received.
Too many servers out there think they’re entitled to it. I will tip you if I feel I want to. If I don’t, oh well. If I do, great. I have heard different servers I know say they refuse to server certain people because they aren’t great tippers. Are you serious? Perhaps they don’t tip you well because you aren’t giving them outstanding service to warrant it.
In short: you should never expect a tip. Ever. If you get one, appreciate it. If not, move on to your next guests.
“I work in customer service myself. Everyday I am expected to go above and beyond for every single one of my people. All of them deserve the same level of great service. They are, afterall, paying for service. I do not get tipped. In the past year and a half I can probably count on one hand the number of times I received a tip, the grand total probably comes to around $9.46. “
so ambiguously precise….
no wonder people aren’t going to tip you when you’re charging 200 an hour…
and grapes/toys are extra…
I worked as a server for years, and I got stiffed every so often…but I just shrugged it off. The responses on LTWWB, IMO, stems from the fact that servers get stiffed on ONE table and they come here to bitch about it. I’m sure you served plenty of tables that night that actually left a tip, and some more than 15%. Get over it.
I always tip for good service, and frequently over-tip people who go above and beyond. A mistake wouldn’t be enough to deter me from tipping, because we all make mistakes, and you seem to have handled the situation very well. I would have tipped, for sure.
..That said, not everyone thinks this way, and we probably shouldn’t expect them to. *shrugs*
Oddly, a few of my favorite customers are people who I’ve never seen leave a tip, so it’s not something that I take personally or expect from everyone.
If your restaurant cooked the pizza right the first time, would this be such an issue? Servers get people to come back, and get people to tell their friend about the place. Your good actions were noticed. That doesn’t mean she now has to pay you for a mistake your kitchen made.
Do your job well and people will continue to come in and your chances of getting tips increases. Stop being an entitled bitch.
Btw, I don’t see many “thanks for the tip” in the love section.
All you did was bring a pizza to their table and tell them of something that happened. Big fucking deal.
Servers in the over-saturated restaurant market that is Halifax are lucky to have a job, much less deserve a tip.
Do you think if you go to a restaurant in the US you don’t have to tip? In the US servers’ bosses rely on tips to pay their wages, often paying their servers only a little more than $2.00 an hour. Guess that goes to show why the customer service is better there…they are working for their tips, not expecting them.
My BF was in Oklahoma for military training and the places he went to, already added 15% tip into the price…like, the prices in the menu were 15% more!
I might tip if I think the waitress is attractive.
Wear something provocative if your dress code permits and I’ll tip you.
Above and beyond? Get over yourself. Everyone works and there’s ALOT of jobs that deserve tips more than “what do you want to eat?”
Customers are just people… they don’t deserve special treatment.
I’ve never had that happen “down south”..I’m in VA, NC and NS frequently and never had my tip added, guess that is what different state legislation, etc. is about…I will avoid OK, lol.
I was to a place in vermont and the tip for parties over 6 persons was an automatic 15%.
Of course it’s not mandatory to tip for good service, just like it’s not mandatory to be ignorant and rude, but some people on here choose to be that way….
io has a valid point….if the server is attractive, they’re more likely to give a tip. I prefer to tip cute male servers more than female servers….gotta love being gay.
Yeah but io is probably busted fugly like TTFN’s old co-worker who thought he deserved a gorgeous, tall blonde dream woman.
I work as a server.. I do not expect a tip from every costumer, but if I go above and beyond and meet your special requests, I believe I deserve a tip. Some people may disagree but that’s fine, most don’t.
Anyway, OP.. I believe you handled the situation very well, but the fact that you’re missing is that the family did not ASK for a free pizza. You took that upon yourself before even checking with them. Maybe if you had consulted them beforehand, she would have refused the extra pizza because she knew she was unable/unwilling to tip. You described them to seem very nice and they didn’t bring you any trouble. Appreciate that. The resteraunt messed up, you are not owed anything by these people.
If the woman was a bitch, the father smelly, and the kids loud and messy, and they sent back the food themselves and put you out of your way? Yeah! You would deserve a tip in my opinion. But that wasn’t the case.
But hey, I would have tipped you atleast the price of the pizza.. but that’s because like I said, I’m a server.
I was being facetious. Do you honestly think I would tip? I rarely ever go to restaurants and when I do I order whatever is the cheapest. I try to make and keep more money than spend. No, I’m not fugly. I come from a family of lookers, therefore I’m a good looking chap.
Oh I gotta start reading more slowly, saw “I come from a family of lookers” as “I come from a family of hookers” on the first read and was gonna comment on how you should understand the appreciation of a tip at the end of “services” for that reason.
My bad.
Australia was great – no tipping culture down there at all! Not at restaurants, bars, barbers, nothing! I loved just paying what was shown on the bill, hearing the “cheers mate!” and being able to get out of there without feeling guilty.
Sometimes, I actually don’t like getting really good over the top service because I know when the bill comes, they’re usually going to be expecting a pretty good tip. Stop kissing my ass!
I just got home from Oz….I was serving…making $19.50 an hour……at that wage….no i dont want a tip. Working in NS at a bar… making minimum wage, busting ass for peoples waters….ya…a tip would be greatly appreciated. Not expected……but I will remeber your face and make sure that my apppreciation does not go unnoticed this time or the next time you come in.
To the table of 8 20 year olds I had a couple nights ago. Thank you so much! As per usual, i gave them my usual outstanding service but this time I as pleasntly suprised to see a 25 % tip on a $300 bill. So what did I do…walked up to the bar, made a shot and paid for it myself and gave it to the girl who paid for all of her friends drinks and food. I wanted to show my appreciation and maybe give some of the others at her table a hint hint…Thank you so much!
Now to another table later on that night….you;re at least 30 years old, you came in, acted sober, bought food then threw up everywheres, thank you for not tipping a cent. I stayed late cleaning your vomit over everything. Thankfully my table of suffering students made up for your great maturity and lack of common sense….pick up a cloth and help me clean if your not going to tip cash!
I’m guessing under the table too, MCO:)? It seemed like most serving jobs there paid under the table, and the hours weren’t as good – open “early” until “late,” what the fuck? I also heard that you could make more money in some restaurants in Canada with your tips than Australia with their higher minimum wage but no tips. There’s also some age discrimination since your wage will legally vary depending on how old you are. Anyway, there’s pros and cons to both systems I guess.
As a customer, though, I loved not tipping and the cheap piss! Gimme another VB, mate.
Actually qpmzwonxeibcruv, I had a travel visa for 6 months which let me work LEGALLY for 19.50 an hour….and with people like you, most NS servers don’t make near that an hour. I also worked in Virgina LEGALLY due to my citizenship and there you don’t make a wage, you souly rely on your tips. Every 2 weeks you get a void paystub that states the $2.50 an hour your entitled to goes to taxes. There is never a cheque attached. Customers understand and know this so tips were automatically at least 20%. I could work a whole day scrubbing table bases, chairs, walls, bathrooms and scraping gum under tables and have 3 or 4 people walk in. 11 hours of work and relying on customers gratuities to pay my rent. I love my job, I love talking with customers and enjoy every minute of it, but to the people who believe in dining out and not tipping when the service is beyond satisfactory….Your server will remeber your face and maybe he or she might not give you that extrodinary service next time you walk in.
Better yet, if you do tip well, all of the servers working will remember your face and will be fighting to serve you and jump to ur table…
p.s. pizza girl, you did the right thing…i would have left you a great tip for your consideration in my famished children! 🙂