and then I stumble across this little gem:
Apparently this just isn’t the case in my state, and elsewhere I’ve always tipped 15-20 too. I was never in a situation where someone complained or I was otherwise forced to know this.
Sure they are. That’s why I don’t do it. But not everyone’s like that. You chose your career; if you don’t like the inherent risk, find a salaried job.
I think this is the best approach. On average, you’re bound to make more if you always do your best. Some customers forget to tip, and some tip less during a recession. Just keep on plugging away.
(By the way, I tried to urge my waitress ex-girlfriend to try it your way, but it just made her mad. Mad at me, mad at cheap customers. Come to think of it, she was just angry a lot. 
(snip)
I agree with this. Usually I’m a good tipper, and you will get 20 % from me so long as you do an adequate job. Poor service gets deducted. Good service will get you a compliment to the manager.
Considering that many people are worried about their jobs and cutting back, I’m not surprised to see more frugality. The problem is that as the bill goes up, the tip amount goes way up in terms of what it actually means. For example on a 40.00 bill the tip of 8.oo isn’t that big a deal, but on a 100.00 bill it becomes 20.00. That’s quarter of my grocery bill you are asking me to hand out to you for doing the same job as the 40.00 server. On a 200.00 bill, (let’s say for a party of four), That becomes 40.00!
The important part is not the anecdotal evidence, but the data. In other words, what do you AVERAGE in tips? Don’t tell us what this guy or that guy tipped. Are you averaging 10% 15% 20%? Which is it? You’re always going to have outliers, and those will stick in your head… whether they are the Canadians from the Maritime province (that don’t tip for shit), the folks who don’t like you, or those that are just plain bad at math. Likewise, you will remember the guy that left you $5 on a $10 lunch. You need to factor those out and look at what you are really making.
Also, and I speak from experience having served tables on Clearwater Beach, are you serving locals or tourists? You’re going to get a lot of fluctuation from tourists, but probably you’ll make it up in volume.
Also also, the economy sucks, and you’re going to be serving people who really can’t afford to get out for a meal. That sucks, but you have a job, and hopefully a steady income, and probably make more than the averarge schmoe, at least after taxes – you do claim ALL of your tips and NOT just the IRS minimum, right?
In other words, yes, it sucks, some people are cretins. If you’re making under 15% then you might look for a new place to work or a new line of work.
I honestly did not know until I was out of college (2003) that the standard for tipping was no longer 10%. That was the figure I’d always heard growing up. (My mother’s formula was 10% or a dollar per person, whichever was more.) It may have been here on the SDMB that I first heard otherwise. I felt really bad thinking of all the severs who must have felt they got a lousy tip from me, although at least as a student I wasn’t eating out very often.
I can easily believe that a lot of people still think 10% is a normal amount to tip.
I don’t see why it’s the server’s fault that you decided to treat yourself and spend your grocery money at a restaurant you can’t really afford.
People who say “Oh, it’s the economy” are trying to rationalize their poor behavior. I’ve been “in the money” and I’ve been so broke that I’ve scrounged for sofa change to eat.
And when I was broke, I didn’t go out and “save money” by tipping badly. If you can afford to go out, you can afford to tip; if you can’t, stay home. It’s just rude to do otherwise.
This is true, BUT… when I worked as a server, we made 15%… now the expectation seems to be 20% or more. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Since the cost of eating out has gone up quite a bit, what’s wrong with 15% for those who can’t afford to get out that often?
The alternative is fewer turns and less gross. I’d take 15% of $1000 a night versus 25% of $500 a night any time.
You are missing my point. It doesn’t matter whether or not I can afford to give away the money or not, it’s WHAT that amount can buy at a normal market rate. In the example I gave, the “standard” tip at the expensive place was half the total bill at a more reasonable establishment. The servers however, did the exact same job. THe problem is that there isn’t an objective standard hourly wage for servers to measure such against. The point being that at the less expensive reataurant, the server has to do two and a bit more tables an hour to equal the “expected” tip that one table gives at the higher priced establishment. My question is what exactly did the server at the expensive place do differently to warrant an hourly rate of over 80.00 an hour?(assuming the same number of tables)
I take careful note of bad tippers and I drop them as friends. Same thing for group bill sharing. If you don’t pony up your fair share or ask to borrow it, that is if you try to avoid making note that you don’t have money that day and will pay me back later, but rather try to sneak in for under your share, that’s a good sign of an asshole.
The server at the expensive restaurant probably doesn’t have as many tables. Nicer places will have a higher server/table ratio so that service can be more attentive and less rushed. Plus, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes. The server at the pricey place probably needs to buy a more expensive uniform or better work clothes. That server may have to memorize daily specials and extensive food descriptions to recite to the table upon request. Living up to customer expectations is important, too. Honestly, you expect more from a waitress at a fancy restaurant than at a Steak 'N Shake, even if you don’t realize it.
I worked as a server this past summer, and it was a mid-range place. Dinner for two could be $40 if you didn’t get appetizers/alcohol/dessert. It could also be twice that, if you wanted to go all out. There’s a lot of hard work and coordination that goes on behind the kitchen doors–stuff that your average diner waitstaff doesn’t have to worry about. There’s a careful balance of timing and knowing when and where for hot/vs cold appetizers and salads and soups…not everything gets done at the same time or comes from the same place. And I had to make drinks sometimes, depending on whether we were busy enough to have a bartender in that day. There’s a whole lot of knowledge that you have to build up before you can be really good.
I am 45 years old and I don’t remember a time when 10% was customary. 15% was the standard for many years, as I recall, and the started to inch up to 20%. Which is great, because it’s easier to figure out in your head.
(snip) I know it can be a difficult and skillful job, what would you honestly estimate your hourly pay ought to be?
Is that right? I ask because I make it a point to leave tips in cash so there’s no actual transaction record to be traced.
Is this a west vs. east thing? I grew up in Montana, and I remember my dad telling me how to figure 10%. By the time I was an adult and living in Minnesota, I know that I knew it was 15%. This was in the mid-90’s. So, when did that change, and why? And now I’m a “bad tipper” if I don’t give 20%?
Default on my “e-z tip calculator” on my phone is still 15%. Phone is 3 years old.
Looks like Minnesota waitstaff have to make at least minimum wage. Does the tip rate depend on the state? Or is it tied to the fact that minimum wage didn’t go up for so long?
They still appreciate it, of course, but with so many people using debit cards for just about everything, they seem to expect it a lot less.
I’ve never heard of this 20% being the standard tip thing, and I say nuts to that. You have to earn a 20% tip from me with exceptional service. Standard service earns you 15%, and if it’s bad service I start making deductions (unless you appologize and maybe buy me a drink or a dessert or something to make up for the kitchen being slow, something along those lines will earn you bonuses). Many of my friends back home are waiters and bartenders and they all have no problem with my tipping formula. Also, because I have so many friends in food service, I make sure I’m not a hassle to my waiter/waitress unless i have a truly legitimate complaint. I’m not one of those asshats that eats his entire steak than complains it was overcooked and demands another one, that’s just stupid.
The only time I had truly terrible service was at a japanese restaurant during lunch. My friend and I would go there on our lunch break every friday, but one time this waitress forgot half our order, brought the food out at completely random times, made us wait forever, etc. It was awful. But she comp’d a few items off the bill and bought us some banana tempura, so we left her a good tip (double tax, which was around 17%). We came back the next friday and had the same waitress, her service was fucking fantastic that time.
I should also point out that you always tip on what the bill SHOULD be, not what it is, like if you get comp’d some stuff (which again cause I have friends in the food service industry used to happen a lot. I’d get a free beer or free fries or something, and always made sure I included that in my tip calculations and tipped well for it, cause I appreciate that kinda stuff).
I do agree that if tipping 15% is going to break your bank you can’t afford to eat out so you shouldn’t do it, or should eat somewhere cheap.
OK let me see if I can address all the issues that have been raised.
I walk at the end of the night with almost exactly 15% of my sales, which means if you take into account my 3% tip-out, I average 18%. I take that to be fairly normal. However, that basically means that for every 25% tip I get because I did an outstanding job, there’s some schlub leaving only 10% regardless of my level of service.
Let me add this, though. On especially busy nights, I don’t get mad if my tips are a little lower than usual. I don’t expect someone to tip me 20% if I didn’t actually do a good job. I just get upset when I know I did my best with a table and they leave me what I see as an insulting tip.
I do try my best with each table. If I feel I’m not giving them the level of service they require, I apologize. Many times, I have apologized for being slow to get a refill/bring the check/etc, and my tables have given me a “huh?” look and said it was no problem. I have high standards for myself, so if I screw something up I do feel bad, not because of the tip, but because it’s my job. It’s my job to keep your drink refilled and make sure your food is great and all that. I take it pretty seriously.
To address Acid Lamp specifically: you seem to think that the level of service for a $100 check is the same as for a $200 check. Unless it’s a case of choosing between a $20 entree and a $40 entree, as the dollar amount goes up, so does the amount of work (within the same restaurant). Most likely, the things that will make a $100 check into a $200 check are alcohol, appetizers, and desserts. So, if you get an appetizer, that’s 2 more trips to the table (one to bring it, one to bus the plates), and more food I have to expedite in the kitchen (at my restaurant, the servers are responsible for any dressings, garnishes, etc with each plate). If you drink several glasses of wine, that’s more trips to and from the kitchen. If you get a dessert, that’s another trip plus more food I have to garnish. So it is a lot more work.
Let’s take an example from tonight. I had a party of 6 1/2 (toddler). They ordered an appetizer and 6 mid-priced entrees. I had to make 3 trips to the table to get drinks (not everyone arrived at once), a trip to bring out their appetizer, a trip to bus the plates, a trip to bring their food, 3 trips to bus plates, 6 trips to get refills/check on them, a trip to bring to go boxes, a trip to bring the check, and a trip to drop off the change. In addition, I had to make each of their side dishes (except for fries, the servers get everything else from the salad bar) so that was 8 side dishes. I also had to put together a take out order for them. That’s a hell of a lot more work than the couple that only required 1 refill and 2 side dishes.
That’s another place where you get stiffed a lot- bigger parties/checks. We can’t add gratuity unless it’s 8 or more, so in a lot of cases like the one I mentioned above, where the check came to $98 but it’s not enough people to automatically grat, many people will balk at paying the server $15-20. So you end up running your ass off for a table to leave you $8 on $92 (actual example from one of my coworkers tonight).
Also, as RealityChuck brings up, I hate hate hate people that tip based on the discounted bill. The other night I had 3 adults come in and share 2 entrees. Then they had a coupon for a free entree. So 3 people ate for the price of one, and they tipped me on the discounted price, so I served 3 people with all of the extra work, while getting tipped as if I had served only one.
And someone asked if the money was good or bad since servers seem to say contradictory things. In any given week I tend to average about $12 an hour in tips. I work at a family-oriented low- to mid-priced restaurant. On a good Friday or Saturday I may make $25 an hour, but then I work Tuesday afternoon and it totally screws up my average (on slower weekday afternoons it’s not entirely unusual for there to be no tables at all between 2:30 and 4:30. And we’re one of the few restaurants in the area that’s able to stay in business!)
To make it more interesting, businesses with less than $110,000 in annual sales don’t have to pay a Minimum Wage. The Applebees waitress makes minimum wage plus tips, Judy at the local coffee shop might not.
Mr. Pink would like to have a word with you.