Oh gosh. I hope you don’t think I was talking about you. I meant the waiter. Sounds like he needs to get his sense of humor retuned.
I have no issue with you tipping him, however. If you’ve been following along, I believe even bad waiters deserve to get paid.
At least up until they canned. 
Do people actually do this? I mean, expect to get unending ‘refills’ which are entirely different drinks?
I can understanding getting a slight variation in a few cases. Perhaps you only allow yourself one cup of regular coffee and then switch to decaf. Or only one glass of regular coke and then shift to diet.
But it sounds like you expect that because you’ve bought a glass of Dr. Pepper, you expect you will also be given glassfuls of coke and Crush and any other soft drink on offer?
Does that extend further? If you’ve had a glass of tea, would you expect follow up cokes? Or vice versa?
And by federal law, they will get paid - the restaurant manager will be responsible for picking up the difference between his tips and minimum wage. And when you are doing the scheduling for the week and need to schedule Tim, who never requires a pay out to make it to minimum and Josie, who often requires a payout to make it to minimum - who gets scheduled?
I’m now leaning the other way - you should stiff a waiter if the service has been REALLY lousy. They will still get paid and it will hit the person ultimately responsible for hiring and supervising them.
I have question for RedRosesForMe.
First of all, as an aside, can i just point out that a lot of this thread is irrelevant to me personally since I’m in the UK and there are different rules and conventions over here. Also, FWIW, wherever I go around the world, from the scummiest diner to the ritiziest restaurants, I generally do sympathize with all the service staff (because I think it’s a hard job) and I try to not just tip averagely generously but also treat them well and make it clear that I appreciate good service.
My question is this. You want to be tipped 15-20% if you give good service. Would you accept me deducting 15-20% from the bill if you had given me bad service?
Or do you want a system where the amount I pay may go up from the amount on the bill/check, but it may never actually go down?
In that case, Dangerosa, why not just stiff all waiters so you can be sure they only get minimum wage and that they pay their taxes on all their income.
Why do we accept, as customers, paying directly for certain business owners’ labor expenses, but not others? Sure, you’re paying it indirectly in the price of goods/services, so why is that not good enough for restauranteurs? What makes them a special class?
I brought this up before but it hasn’t been addressed. I can’t be sure I’m on to anything, but I questioned whether food service employers get a break on payroll taxes based on paying a reduced wage. Again, if they are getting a break on taxes, why? What makes food service businesses a special class and shouldn’t they be paying their fair share of taxes as a part of operating their business? If someone with more understanding of payroll taxes could clarify this, I’d appreciate it.
Except that it won’t work in Minnesota (and Montana) because servers are required to make minimum wage before tips.
RedRosesForMe is just like any casino dealer. They do the same job every night and hope for a big payout when they strike a good customer. There’s nothing wrong with that, but they have to acknowledge that that’s what they do, and that’s why they’re doing that job. It’s no secret.
To blame the customer for her low pay, which is what she’s doing, is totally stupid.
Also I didn’t like the poster who told us that when he orders ice tea he expects the glass to always be full (because he goes through a lot of it). You must be a real peach to live with. Do you sit at home at the dining table furious because you don’t understand why your ice tea glass went empty (hint – you drank it)? Every time you get pissed at what you call lousy service, you’ve turned what could have been a pleasant night out into a problem. That’s your fault.
There is a joy to dining out in expensive restaurants, even in not so expensive restaurants, why not try to enjoy it, instead of bitching about who pays for what and in what percent. It’s childish as well as boorish.
My husband likes his iced tea glass full, too, at restaurants, but he’s not an asshole about it. I doubt that InvisibleWombat is, either. Here’s the thing–at the restaurants we go to, he is rarely disappointed. That makes me think that he’s not so very unusual. The waitperson probably thinks, “Ah, one of those ‘drinks a lot of tea’ guys…better keep it coming.” If he has to wait and wait with an empty glass and gets thirsty enough that he has to take sips out of my drink…yeah, that does kind of put a damper on the evening. Not a “no tip” damper, if that’s all that’s wrong, but perhaps a “not as generous” damper.
And my husband certainly isn’t sitting around at home wondering why his drink glass isn’t being filled! That’s what restaurants are for. And at most restaurants, you can’t just get up and get it yourself. That’s what waiters/waitresses are for! If they don’t like filling drink glasses all the time, they should seriously consider different employment.
1st off, there’s no reason to curse. What is wrong with you that you have such an issue with getting a new glass for a customer? WHY do you sound so LAZY and UNCARING about other people?
I mentioned already some of the differences:
ICE MELTS. No matter what drink you have(not counting water), coke, tea, etc., gets watered down. I HATE WATERED DOWN coke or tea or any type of soft drink.
People that like lemon with their tea, probably will like another slice with each glass they have instead of having their server come by with a pitcher to pour.
Instead of conversation being interrupted from the server pouring at the table, the server can just simply drop off the glass when it’s a soft drink refill just as they do at a lot of chain restaurants such as Chili’s or Outback. It’s QUICKER for the customers not to have to have their server being at their table unnecessarily.
If they take your glass to go refill it, which I have had that done before for soft drinks, I have NO DRINK to drink when I need some while I am eating or if I am not eating, when I want some, but most of the time when servers did that, I would have liked to have kept my old glass in the meantime, even if it’s a small sip of water that melted from the ice or ice to chew on to not feel like I will choke or feel like my mouth is on fire if I am eating something spicy if I take another bite of my food. Sometimes servers may take more than just a minute or so to get you more drink, meanwhile you sit waiting to eat your food, because you don’t have anything to drink. That’s not very thoughtful of a server to do such a thing to take your glass away so you have no glass to drink from while you are eating.
If you just ate ribs and got bbq sauce on the glass, because it’s is messy for example, do you honestly think I want to keep touching that dirty glass when I am eating my dessert? It would be nice to have a CLEAN glass.
If the refill is water, the customer may want more ice, because ice does melt even in water, that they may want a colder glass of water. Also, lots of people like a lemon slice with their glass of water, so coming by with a pitcher of water doesn’t get the customer another slice of lemon, does it?
My MAIN reason is that my drink is WATERED DOWN, even in the time it takes when I get my first drink to the time I get my food, I can 100% TELL THE DIFFERENCE in my coke or tea that some of the ice has melted. I cannot stand watered down drinks like that. It makes it taste more like watery coke or tea than the actual coke or tea I got when I originally got it.
I also think if you drop off a new glass you don’t have to sit there to wait for the server to pour each glass at the table and the conversation you are having will be able to be continued QUICKER, instead of interrupted even more so by having the server take time to pour at the table.
There are many people that would like more lemon as well that like lemon, so I really don’t think that’s an unusual thing to think that a customer would like with EACH REFILL they get of tea or water.
Actually read the menus when you go to most restaurants. They normally don’t list “Coke 2.50, Sprite $2.50, etc.” They may list the soft drinks they have, but it’s included in a CATEGORY. They list “SOFT DRINKS, TEA, LEMONADE” unlimited refills and normally don’t even list the price at a lot of restaurants.
An example:
http://www.tgifridays.com/menus/Menus.aspx
“Free refills on all Fountain Drinks, Iced Teas & Coffee.”
A lot of restaurant menus are just like this one. The menu states you can get ANY of those free. A refill only means to fill again the glass. It has nothing to do with the same exact liquid. I can get a coke, then a dr. pepper. My glass is refilled once again with one of those soft drink options. BOTH are fountain drinks, therefore, if I want to choose a different flavor, I have that right and it’s still free.
It’s NOT “ENTIRELY DIFFERENT” drinks, because coke and dr. pepper, while they may taste entirely different, they ARE still in the category of free refillable drinks and definately are FOUNTAIN DRINKS. So as long as the customer stays within that category, they can pick and choose which ones that want. If they want tea, then coke, they sure can do that, it’s within that category of “FREE REFILLS.”
It sounds like you feel a customer can’t pick and choose what they would like at a restaurant. WHY wouldn’t they be able to? It’s one of those drinks included in the category. Plus, even if I was to want water instead of any of those in the category, unless it’s bottled water, it’s free as well.
Customers should be able to order anything in that category of drinks if they so choose. I have NEVER once been charged for changing drinks, because it’s in the category of free drinks. Non-bottled water is always free in restaurants that I have ever been to.
I have never gone to a restaurant that let you switch your drink for free as part of the free refills offer. Except when it’s a burger joint with publicly accessible drink machines.
Can you list any regional/national places you’ve done this at?
The stiff wouldn’t have been for the mistake, but for being RUDE and wasting my time ONLY if I would have ordered it correctly. You shouldn’t get a tip for being rude if the customer orders correctly that is.
You talk about stiffing. WHY would you think I would “STIFF” someone over a refill? I took points off, maybe a percentage point off, more if I wanted a different drink. You act like I would stiff someone over it. That makes no sense. That’s a small issue. I stiff for horrible service or a rude server.
Question:
If you didn’t, you can’t blame the waiter for YOUR lack of ordering correctly. If you didn’t order it correctly, WHY should you take off ANY points then? I serious here. If YOU didn’t take the EFFORT to TELL your waiter what you wanted no seasoning or your seasoning to be put on the side, WHOSE fault is that? Putting blame on the waiter no matter HOW he acts towards getting if fixed if you didn’t order correctly should be deserved if he acts like a jerk, because you made him send something back that he wouldn’t have had to. That’s irritating.
If you did order it without seasoning, then the waiter should have been nicer about it by not being a jerk.
I would NEVER fault a server if they acted that way if I didn’t order correctly. That would be my own damn fault I was too stupid to remember to say what I wanted. I have forgotten to say no red sauce on my chimichunga a couple of times actually in my lifetime, which I didn’t send it back, just ate it even if my mouth was on fire. Through my fault, I wasn’t about to punish the servers for MY STUPIDNESS. I kept the food anyways and didn’t send back my food, because I messed up, so I wasn’t about to punish anyone else except for myself.
I am not saying you didn’t order right, because I don’t know. I am saying if you didn’t, DON’T EVER BLAME YOUR SERVER, NOR SEND THE FOOD BACK! The customer should suffer for their own mess ups and not punish the server over that. I think if you would send the food back if you didn’t order your food correctly, you should tip 30% or more even to thank the server for making them have more work that was 100% your fault, NO MATTER HOW they react or even if they refuse to take it back, can you blame them? You would be a jerk first to try to send something back that YOU didn’t order correctly. That’s being selfish.
We went to Buffalo Wild Wings last night, and my daughter ordered one of their flavored lemonades. When she got a refill, the waitress asked if she would like to try one of the other flavors. So, looks like they don’t really have a problem with it if they even offered to do it!
I would actually think that most places wouldn’t have a big issue with it, especially since they usually bring new glasses anyway. You would need to speak up, though, because I think it is kind of unusual.
Just about all chain restaurants:
I also have done it at MANY other local restaurants as well.
As long as there is a category for certain drinks that are free refills, you can do it at any restaurants. They cannot “LEGALLY” charge you for changing those type of drinks, because they are within that CATEGORY of free refills. Think about it. Coke is the same price as Dr. pepper. The time that my husband switched from coffee to diet coke at a LOCAL chain(only 2 locations, but it is a mexican chain restaurant), the waitress charged him for the coffee price, NOT both coffee and diet coke. Legally, she could have charged him the higher priced item, the diet coke, but honestly couldn’t have charged him for BOTH, since both are in the SAME CATEGORY of FREE REFILLABLE DRINKS, even if one is a different priced item than the other. For coke and dr. pepper or usually even tea, those are ALL priced the same under normal circumstances. Definately coke wouldn’t be higher or lower than dr. pepper. That would make no sense.
You act like the restaurant wouldn’t “let you” is absurd when it’s within the category of drinks. If I order a glass of milk, that would NOT be in the refillable category, therefore I would be charged for a coke let’s say the first time as well as a milk.
Do you get that there’s no reason the restaurant could legally not let you switch the drinks in the refillable categofy if the menu has the drinks in categories of “REFILLABLE DRINKS” like that? They couldn’t legally charge me for a coke and a dr. pepper unless the restaurant charges for refills, which is VERY RARE today to see, but they do still have restaurants that charge for their refills.
Switch. To. Decaf.
And while this practice may be more accepted than I had assumed (I only remember testing it once, at Applebee’s, and being charged for the second drink), saying there’s some kind of LEGALITY behind it is probably going too far.
I don’t really remember the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of multiple flavors of Coke at a restaurant in the Constitution.
It’s definitely not a legal issue. They could charge you for switching just because they consider it to be a pain, and it would be within your rights to not switch drinks. I don’t get this “I have a right to switch drinks and still get free refills” thing.
I NEVER have gotten charged. I live in Louisiana just to let you know.
As far as saying there’s some kind of legality about it, is NOT going to far. Is it legally for me to order a coke and not pay that part of my bill that has the coke? Of course not, so how can you say it’s legal for the restaurant to charge for a “FREE REFILLABLE DRINK” twice?
If a server EVER would, I would bring it up and ask to see a manager, because they cannot legally charge you. That’s intentionally overcharging you.
The only way they could LEGALLY charge you is if the restaurant has no free refills or you order a drink not in that particular category of free refillable drinks.
I cannot believe you didn’t CONTEST the charge. I sure as hell would. NO WAY I would let them charge me for a free refillable drink twice.
When you pay $2.50 let’s say that’s the norm now-a-days or so for a soft drink, if I change the soft drink at a restaurant that has free refills on soft drinks, I shouldn’t have to pay another $2.50 just because I want coke instead of dr. pepper, that’s absurd. If it’s a soft drink, it doesn’t matter which one I choose. Just yesterday, my husband and I tried a new restaurant. He didn’t particularly care for the tea, so on his third refill, he switched to diet coke. Our waitress didn’t charge us for 3 drinks, just the 2 we orignally ordered. If it’s within that category of free drinks, there’s no way possible you could be legally charged for switching within that category for both. You may be charged a higher price such as the coke vs. coffee issue, that my husband’s diet coke was a higher price than the coffee, but our waitress couldn’t have legally charged us for both since those drinks were within the free refillable category.
WHY? A customer is ordering from a “CATEGORY” of “FREE REFILLABLE DRINKS”, so they can choose ANY of those from the list and get their glass filled again with a different one. I have switched 3 times before in one sitting, which no extra charges were on our bill.
People have rights to order as they please. If they want coke, then sprite, then dr. pepper, then tea, YES, they have ALL the rights to only be charged for COKE on their bill as long as the restaurant doesn’t charge for refills. The MENU STATES IT!
NO, they cannot. The menu is the GOD OF ORDERING! If the menu states something, there’s WRITTEN LEGAL PROOF THEY CAN’T, unless the restaurant charges for refills or you get a drink that is not within that category.
An example with a coupon issue I fought and WON!
I had a coupon in 2005 at Lonestar for a free appetizer after 4p.m., which we went at around 8p.m. Also, the coupon stated as long as you purchase an entree. The coupon also stated “YOU CHOOSE” in bold letters and listed ALL the appetizers the Lonestar offered as options. The coupon didn’t have like some coupons do such as BENNIGAN’S that state “Of equal or less value” if more than one is ordered. I had ordered a half-rack of ribs which on of the appetizers on the list which was $9.99 and amarillo cheese fries which was $6.99, to make it my meal. I know how to get a bargin. I really wanted the cheese fries and didn’t want the beans in the regular meal anyways, so that’s why I ordered 2 appetizers as my meal. My husband even ordered an expensive entree, a whole rack of ribs instead of something cheap like a burger.
I gave the coupon to the waiter and told him that I wanted the cheese fries as the free appetizer and he said that the manager probably wouldn’t let, so I was like can I see the manager then. The manager was mean. She came to my table already being rude saying “You didn’t want sides or something?” I was like, I ordered 2 appetizers as my meal. She kept saying “It’s Lonestar’s policy to take the lesser one.” I told her NO, I am right and you are wrong. I also told her where on the coupon does it state that. She had only words to go by. Anyway, the general manager ended up comping both through all of that hassle. I reported this to corporate on their website with a letter, because legally, there was NO “EQUAL OR LESS VALUE” on the coupon or anything to state I had to take the lesser one if I ordered more than one and with the coupon having “YOU CHOOSE” in bold letters with the half rack ribs listed on the coupon, well the coupon stated I could have chosen ANY of those.
Turns out, a main corporate guy called me and told me I was exactly right. I knew I was. I did everything the coupon said I had to do. Anyway, the VICE PRESIDENT sent me a letter PROFUSELY APOLOGIZING and was EXTREMELY EMBARRASSED over the incident. They sent a 50 dollar free dinner as well over the mean lady manager wanting to save a few bucks by wanting me to take the lesser one when she had no LEGAL WRITTEN PROOF TO STAND on.
My point is, when it’s WRITTEN ON THE MENU or a COUPON, that has EVERYTHING to do with what they can do legally.
Now they could have refused to take the coupon legally, but she was willing to take it, just for the cheese fries that were cheaper. That’s wrong. I didn’t have to take the cheaper one. It said “YOU CHOOSE” and no “equal or lesser value” like Bennigan’s does, so I could have chosen any of those on the coupon regardless if I had ordered 5 appetizers.
The fact that they were willing to take the coupon, brings in “FALSE ADVERTISING” involved, because that coupon stated I could choose whichever one I wanted to and didn’t state it had to be of equal or lesser value or the cheaper one.
My main point is, what’s on the menu has EVERYTHING to do with what they can LEGALLY charge you or not.
If the price on the menu is under what they charge you on your bill, you have a right to legally contest it and get it fixed. Once at Outback, I ordered baby baby ribs that were $16.99, so when we got the bill, it was $17.29 before any taxes of course. Legally, they had to fix it. They couldn’t have legally argued with me.
Menus and coupons have written proof of what you can or cannot do.
Can we get a CITE for the FREE REFILLABLE DRINK Act of 2009?
I can’t say I’ve ever ordered a FREE REFILLABLE DRINK. I’ve ordered a Coke and gotten a Coke. Or ordered an Iced Tea and gotten an Iced Tea. But I’ve never gone into a place of business and asked for a FREE REFILLABLE DRINK.
I don’t think it appears that way on the bill either, but I can’t say I’m sure. I’m pretty sure it breaks it down to Coffee or Tea or Coke or Sprite or etc etc etc.
You must be a lovely dining companion. I didn’t CONTEST the charge because I asked the server when I asked to change my drink, “Does an Iced Tea count as a free refill for my Coke.” When she replied in the negative I asked for it anyway. There was nothing to contest as I knew the score ahead of time.
And truth be told, I wasn’t expecting it to count as a free refill, I was hoping to pseudo-scam a free drink.