I will never understand why some people tip for horrible service. I was in a super shuttle on my way from my hotel to the airport when my driver assaulted another motorist by throwing things at his car. That other motorist followed us to the light, threw an open bottle of gatorade through the window and opened his trunk and pulled out a tire iron before the light turned green and we could drive away. I didn’t tip him, and I called the shuttle people and told them what happened. The lady next to me tipped him almost twenty bucks. Seriously, $20 for almost causing us to be road rage fatalities.
Surely that is much slower and less reliable than simply talking to the management? What is the objection to doing that? In what way is it not superior to the “insult tip”?
Maureen, I’m not sure where we’re disagreeing. My point has to do with people who only leave a dime or penny and don’t complain. If you complained, it doesn’t apply to you. You are, however, wrong that servers magically know when a bit of change is meant as an insult to them, by the way. They often just assume the customer didn’t bother to pick up their change. Believe me – it doesn’t work. Even if they realize it was an insult tip, they simply don’t then go ‘Oh my I’ve learned my lesson now, I’d better shape up’. Either they were just having an off day and shrug it off, or (and this seems common in Bad Servers) they’re the kind of jerk who believes everyone who reacts to their jerkitude is the real jerk. Consistently poor real tips are more likely to make a difference, but nothing will ever be as effective as speaking with the management.
shrug I’m not disagreeing, necessarily. I just don’t see why the chef’s tips should suffer because of a bad server. And I don’t believe waiters and waitresses are as ignorant as you’re painting them to be. They don’t have to “magically know.” I’ve known enough servers (and was one) long enough to know that they’re well aware leaving a dime is a direct reflection on their service. Nor do I think there is “only” one way to rectify anything. Who knows? My complaint to the manager may be the final straw for that waiter. Regardless of how bad their service was, I don’t like to be the reason anyone gets deprived of their livelihood. Leaving a dime leaves them an opportunity to improve.
Previously agreed with no tip. And that is a very rare happening. My girlfriend is a waitress which means I usually tip very well. If this had happened to me, I would have stayed for the meal, but left no tip (something I have only done once before), but this [reply quoted above] seems like something much more enjoyable.
Maureen, I specifically complimented you for giving the tip to the chef. I really couldn’t have been more clear that I wasn’t talking about that aspect of your post.
sigh…If that’s all you got out of my response, there’s not much point in explaining yet again. I don’t want to be responsible for turning this into a Pit thread. Let’s just say, you handle it your way, I handle it mine and let it go at that.
I had a similar experience.
At Outback, we got served our entrees before our salads. We told the waitress and she apologized, brought out the salads and gave us two soups to go on the house.
We also asked for A-1 sauce three times and she kept forgetting to bring it. We finally had to get up and ask for some in the kitchen.
But she was nice and apologetic about it all. She also told the manager what was happening so the manager knew and came to talk to us.
We left a decent (not great tip). You see, attitude means more to me than service. The only time I’ve left a couple cents was because the waitress had a snide attitude the whole time. The service wasn’t bad, but her attitude ruined our meal.
On the rare occasions I have left a very low tip or even no tip, I have made a point to tell someone senior to the waiter why I left a poor tip. Management can choose to address the server situation however they deem best.
I know of one case where the waitress was let go, but we were regulars, eating in the restaurant weekly and known for giving good tips at least. 20-25%.
They gave her one more night and at least three more regulars complained. The lady that ran the place told us, they let the waitress go not so much as she provided bad service, but that she claimed she had experience. She figured that if she either she lied or it was hopeless to train her.
Plan B, you made the right decision.
Jim
Maureen, I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about now. A Pit thread? I’m agreeing with you. I have been agreeing with you. I complimented what you did. I said what you did is what everyone should do. Are you even reading my posts?
Is it normal for chefs to get a cut of the tips? If so, what’s the typical take? Just curious, as I’ve only heard of service staff (busboys and seating hosts/hostesses) getting a cut of the waiter/waitress’s tips.
To clarify: I think the right action is letting someone know about your complaint, and that having done so, whatever else you do with the tip is fine. So I have no disagreement with you personally at all, Maureen.
Purely anecdotal: When I was working as a cocktail waitress, it was typical to give the bartender 10%. The food service people ponied up about the same amount to the line lead in the kitchen. My ex (a bartender for several years) got a similar arrangement from the cocktail waitresses, and a chef of our mutual acquaintance receives about the same amount from food servers. I suspect it may have something to do with the level of restaurant (*** or ****)
I’m a server (btw, you seem to have confusion over the term “server” and “waiter”, they are the same thing. At my restaurant, the ones who actually take out the entrees are called “expediters”)
I must say I’m pretty good at it, since it is my bread & butter after all, but occasionally mistakes happen. I will always own up when I make one and I usually still get a decent tip (I’ve spilled a drink on a customer and they still tipped me), but in your story I agree that it was shady of the server to try to cover up his mistake.
I would have given a relatively small tip (a couple dollars - maybe 10%), but never no tip. No tip can actually cost the server money out of his pocket, since he may be expected to tip out to other employees based on his sales, and he is definitley expected to report a minimum of 8-10% of his sales to the IRS for taxes.
No, chefs don’t take tips from anyone. They are not classed as tipped employees, at least at my restaurant nor any other I’ve heard of.
Everyone I know that works in resturants makes plenty of money. More than I did in retail. And if I was as incompetant and that waitstaff was (it seemed like a group effort) I would have been fired on the spot from at least one of the jobs I had. I had a friend that worked in a resturant of about that price range, and he brought home about 45K a year, for working 20 to 25 hours a week, while I was making 15 K working 40 hours a week in retail. Knowing that, I would feel no remorse for not tipping.
I’ve only not tipped once, and the service was abysmall. We never got half of what we ordered, the bill was wrong, the food was cold, the service was so incredibly slow it took 3 hours from ordering to getting to leave, it was horrible. And the waitress followed us out to the parking lot to yell at us. That one got a letter sent to the manager and corporate.