We recently covered
holiday tipping, but what about regular old restaurant tipping? I think I'm generally pretty fair, and I try to give 15 to 20 percent with every meal, but I think everyone has their breaking point, some more justified than others.
Here are some of the reasons I sometimes leave a bad tip:
The service sucks.
When my restaurant experience is wanting, I usually try to be understanding—Is the restaurant busy? Did I mumble my order? But if the wait staff makes more than one mistake, or one really bad mistake, it usually shows in my tip. The other night, I went out with my boyfriend, and the restaurant took forever bringing out my soup (although his came on time), brought me the wrong soup, and never brought us water after we asked. I understand waiters rely on tips for much of their earnings, but at a certain point I think you need to hold people accountable for their poor service.
The place is really expensive.Okay, it's one thing to treat yourself to a fancy-schmancy restaurant every once in a while, but when you go to a place that's
senselessly expensive, it might break you. (I'm looking at you, New York.) My mom took me and a friend out to a deli-type restaurant in Times Square, and the food—three lunches dishes, good but unexceptional—came to an astronomical $82. I think my mom, who was treating us, wound up giving a less than 10 percent tip, just because the price seemed so outrageous. At the time it seemed fair, but then I realized that a lot of that money probably goes to hugely high rent costs, or in any event the wait staff probably doesn't see it.
I don't have enough money.This is the worst reason, but I have to admit I sometimes let my laziness/poor planning determine how much I tip. I was at a Thai restaurant recently that offers a 15 percent student discount when you pay cash (as opposed to 10 percent with credit), but when my friend and I pooled our money, we realized we only had enough for a really stingy tip. And, of course, we then tried to justify it to ourselves—the service
was kind of slow, etc. But it really wasn't fair. In the future, I'm going to make sure I have enough cash to fairly compensate the servers, or use credit.
How much do you usually tip? Do you ever leave a bad one?Image Source
We recently covered holiday tipping, but what about regular old restaurant tipping? I think I'm generally pretty fair, and I try to give 15 to 20 percent with every meal, but I think everyone has their breaking point, some more justified than others.
Comments (241)
i wouldn't tip for bad service, i don't care if that makes me an asshole. want your tip? earn it.
i know one woman who waited at a restaurant with her boyfriend and children to be waited on for 45 minutes. yeah, 45 fuckin' minutes. and all the other waitresses stood around and stared, they didn't do anything. they didn't even have water. at that point, i wouldn't even pay for my meal.
The only time I leave a bad tip is for number one. I find it distasteful when waiters and waitresses say that we always have to leave this amount or that amount. I think that if you offer me some shitty service, the shitty tip should be a hint. Nobody says that you have to be waiter or waitress. If you do the extra, I leave you more of a tip. Simple as that. I didn't like the fact that at a restaurant once, I didn't get my drink until an hour later and that gratuity was already added.
It would have to be REALLY bad service, for me to leave a bad tip. One or two mistakes, not that big of a deal. If it's constant mistakes and waits, then I'd consider it. I think *some* people go out of their way, looking for little mistakes the server makes, to justify not leaving much for a tip. THAT I don't think is right. Those are the true butt holes. I know people like that. Either that, or they go out of their way to complain about SOMETHING just to get something free! That's just as bad.
I usually do the first one. It's fine if the kitchen is busy or the restaurant is busy or whatever, that's perfectly understandable. But if you give me crappy service, don't expect a big tip. I don't tip by percentages either, because if I'm happy with the service, I'll leave a pretty big tip and put in a good word to the manager.
I usually eat at fast food type restaurants, so I don't leave tips. When I eat at places like Applebee's and Red Robin, I leave tips unless the service was either really bad or I felt like the staff was being rude to me.
I try to leave a 10% to 15% tip when I tip. Usually that isn't a lot considering my entire meal might have only cost $8 or $9 though.
I used to tip really well. Then I kinda got stingy, but now I tip better in general. I'm pretty understanding with mistakes and such; but there have been a few times when I left a really crappy tip or no tip at all because the service was just absolutely horrendous and inexcusable. But I do also tip extra for those who do an exceptional job.
I usually tip by person. So if my boyfriend and i go out we'll usually leave a $2 tip. When my boyfriend and i go out with another couple we usually leave a $4 tip. If the waitress stands out I might leave an extra .50 a person though. This doesnt always go along with the rule that you tip by the amount of your bill. My boyfriend and I had a $35 meal tonight and at the same place a week ago we had a $20 meal, but we left a lil larger tip at the second one cuz the waitress stood out to me and was just extra friendly. Our waitress tonight did alright except she took forever to get us our check and bring back our change.
I used to be a waitress so i understand what they go through and what they have to do. I was horrible at it too so I try to be understanding.The only time I never leave tips is at a buffet. I dont really feel like the waitress does anything. She might bring us our drinks and refill it once but thats it. And i happen to know that the buffet in my town pays over minimum wage, so I dont feel there is a need for a tip anyway.
In my humble opinion, I think this writer is way off. For one, you should NEVER dine at a restaurant without factoring a 20% tip as part of your experience. 20% is standard these days. If the prices are too steep for you, then do not dine there. I have so many thoughts on the matter (as I work in the restaurant industry), but think it wise to direct you to my favorite video blog right now - a waiter on YouTube who says what so many of us in the industry think and feel.
http://www.youtube.com/user/YourDailyTip
He teaches people how to be better customers (for which this writer can learn a few things), and what to look out for when they are dining. He's funny, nice, angry, cute, bitter, and charming!
I've seen his channel grow in a matter of months from 20 subscribers to almost 850... but I would like to see it grow even more. He deserves it, I think!
it'd have to be pretty bad service for me to leave a stingy tip. if they were rude, minus one. slowwwww service during lazy hours? uh-oh. wrong items? most likely.. stuff like that.
I tip 15% if I have good service. I realize that the tips are largely what make up the difference for the wait staff, however I feel that they need to earn their money just like anyone else. If they do a poor job, then they just aren't going to get a good tip from me. Or any tip. Depending on how bad the service is.
I don't think I've gone somewhere that I didn't have enough money to tip what I thought the wait staff deserved from me. Very rarely do I have service from wait staff, however, that is bad enough to warrant a reduced (or none at all!) tip.
the worst tip i'd ever leave is like 15%, im a server, and i know how it is... but my biggest pet peeve is when people dont realize how much they spent on their meal and then short me, after i just gave me them awesome service... if you cant afford to tip, dont go out to eat... servers live solely off tips, i make $2.13 an hour...and then tips....and that $2.13 goes to taxes... so i get paychecks with $0.00
15%- not too great service
20%- good service (standard)
25%- really good service
The only time I leave a bad tip is bad service, which is hardly ever. The worst tip I ever left was 25 cents, because I saw my waitress once. We got seated, we waited 15-20 minutes for the waitress. The manager had to go get her. She took our order. 20 or so minutes later a different waitress brought out our food and tried to leave without filling our drinks, but I finally got her to. And we had to call the manager over to get our ticket. Yeah, I left a 25 cent tip for 2 steak dinners.
As a waitress at a country club, I find that people need to learn how to be good customers. My clientele are extremely picky and snobby (they really do think they are better than you). Many don't say please or thank you...PLEASE say please and thank you, it's quite the moral booster!! If I do ONE thing that isn't perfect, my tips are lousy. At the country club, regulars do come in, and I seriously have to learn as many last names and titles as possible (one guy is seriously offended if I call him sir instead of doctor, and one lady's husband has yelled at me before for putting ice in her water, ever since that day, whenever she's in, I let all of my coworkers know not to put ice in her water...how was I supposed to know??) But I feel that if I can remember your last name and profession out of a good 60 regulars...I feel like I should get at least a high five let alone a tip instead of snobbery.
Last year, everyone tipped pretty well, but now, I get huge tables and $150 tables where I bust my ass to make sure everyone is well...then I'm given $10...people...that's less than 10% and I can't live off that.
So, this is what I wish customers did.
~Say please and thank you. I bend over backwards and give you respect, these three words keep us going.
~Acknowledge the server when they come to your table instead of talking to your girlfriend for another ten minutes...and then don't complain when you don't have your drink because the server came to your table but you couldn't mutually respect someone who's trying to make sure your being taken care of.
~Be mindful of the standard utensil-on-plate rules so I know when to take your plate or leave it.
~15% is no longer livable. 20% is the new standard. Please tip...I know that I certainly tip at least 20% when I go out unless I find something horribly wrong.
I've heard from many friends that are waiters/waitresses that it says a lot more to leave a really crappy tip (like, 50 cents) instead of no tip at all. Many people simply forget to tip, so it actually says something about the service if you leave hardly anything.
The other night I went to IHOP with a bunch of friends. The waitress was slow, we were constantly having to ask for refills, the food wasn't as good as it usually is, and we could see her through a partition talking to a huge group of people who seemed to be throwing a party. We left her a 94 cents tip and I left her a note saying, "here's your real tip: pay more attention to your customers."
If you are relying on tips for most of your income, you better damn well be trying to earn those tips. I'm not obligated to tip you just because I sat down at a table you're waitressing.
I would say you're a nice person who has a high tolerance level of bad service. In my dining experiences, if a waiter/waitress forgets to bring me something and I have to ask again, I only tip 10%. If service is slow, I give less than 10 and I just give them whatever change I have.
Once I was at a Vietnamese restaurant which sold cheap and delicious food. I was with a friend, and she and I had a lot of catching up to do so we stayed in the restaurant even after we finished our food. We stayed, what, 45 minutes at most? We asked for a refill of tea and they wouldn't give it to us, cuz we were already finished eating. When we went to pay at the counter, the lady shot my friend a snide look and had a really bad attitude when my friend asked "how much again?". The poor attitude was due to the fact that we drank more tea than they wanted to give us. So, that pissed me off, so I gave less than 10%.
I'll admit, I'm kind of a hoity-toity customer, but if the service is spectacular I'm more than willing to tip 15%, even if it's a fine dining establishment that charges more for food.
@MsKittyCatty@xanga - Thank you! I tip the same way, and after reading so many harsh comments it was nice to read one I liked!
@the_world_is_on_fire@xanga - Well, I've been a server at 3 different resturaunts, so that helps with my knowledge of what's an appropriate tip! I'm glad you agree too! At least I'm not the only one. Some of these comments are a shame...
if they make a pretty rookie mistake, no tip. simple enough. for example, i went somewhere on friday and asked the waitress for a description of "malay curry" (seriously, I have malaysian blood in me, love malaysian food and what is this?!) and all she could say was "curry from malaysia i guess" ...well duh, thank you for your ignorance? but that alone woudlnt have cut her tip...it was that, and the fact that she did not think to bring a plastic bag with our takeout orders (seriously, were we supposed to put it in our purses? i mean even if you charge for plastic bags, you should at least ASK!) and then, and this is what did it, she made us wait for 10 minutes, for our change...and only brought it after those 10 minutes when we ASKED for it...it was like she was hoping for a $10.00 tip on a $10.00 meal and MAYBE we would just leave and she should keep the money....fat chance...
if you're awesome you'll get a tip =) you just have to earn it. as in...be nice, and competent =)
ALSO! if i know that the restaurant POOLS their tips, and its not the specific waiter/waitress that will get the tip, i usually don't tip very well since if they're not going to see it, why bother, and why should i tip the waitress who just stood there WAITING for something to do, instead of going around and checking up on people or something!
I usually tip around 15% of the total bill.
I remember this one time when the waiter spilled soup on me. I only left him a penny on that day.@MsKittyCatty@xanga - I have never worked in a restaurant, but I have always tipped that way. I think I am over compensating because my parents used to be such lousy tippers and it made me mad.
I tip based on grace if the service is bad, and generously if it is good.
If the waitstaff gives bad service they won't be around long anyway. I tip a minimum of $3 or at least 20-25% of the total. They work hard for their money, and a lot of people don't tip well.
We gave a horrible tip at dinner last night
Bill was $160
We gave $165
& my whole group of friends just walked out like that
The place is really expensive.
I think it's unfair to leave little tip just because your bill was expensive. Yes it sucks that you paid a ridiculous amount of money for your food, but didn't you know that ahead of time? Don't shorten someone out just because you chose a senselessly expensive restaurant.
I never tipped well until I met my husband. These people live from your tips. Can't/won't tip? Then don't go out to eat. Even if it's bad service, 15% of your bill is making it possible for someone to feed their child. Maybe there are more things than just you as a customer that are distracting them. Keeping that in mind, it's hard to be mad. Tip your servers, peoples.
I'm a server, and if you don't have enough money to tip your wait staff, you have no business going out. It's infuriating and rude for the people who are working for your cash. Generally the server cannot control how fast or slow your food comes out, so I try not to let "ticket time" influence my tip. The only time I tip poorly is when my server has a bad attitude or is rude.
P.S. 15% isn't considered an average/appropriate tip anymore.