We usually pay by out credit/debit card but I always make sure the server knows that the tip is being left at the register on the card so they don’t think we stiffed 'em!
Sort of unrelated, but I’ve never sent bad/cold/mixed up order food back to the kitchen. Instead, I punish the poor server with a tiny tip. I know… but what else would you do?
Waiters are supposed to make $5.15/hour. Employers are allowed to credit tips against their obligation as long as they pay at least $2.13. In the unlikely event a waiter receives no tips, his (or her) employer must pay the full $5.15 per.
See http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs29.htm to get it straight from the horse’s mouth.
How about sending the food back? My present pet peeve is lukewarm soup, and food not heated all the way through. It’s gotten to the point where I have the waiter stand there while I taste the food, then say Put it in the microwave for 30 seconds - I promise I won’t sue if I burn my mouth.
I don’t punish the waiter with lack of tip - but I do mention the food to the manager.
When the waiter leans over to pick up the card, give him a good shove and he’ll tip nicely.
Send it back and/or complain to the manager. Bad/cold food isn’t the server’s fault, he/she didn’t cook it. A mixed-up order may or may not be; if it is, you might be justified in reducing the tip, depending on how/if the server rectifies the situation and how good/bad the overall service is.
Stupidest tip I ever left was a pizza place that charged $3 delivery fee & I tipped on top of that.
Isn’t the min wage in the USA $5.85 an hour now? Not $5.15-that seems pretty out of date as its 1997, and its been upped twice.