Look, all along I’ve been saying “I had no idea.”
Me. I’m the one who didn’t know. It’s my ignorance. I’m the dummy.
That’s cool- I’m not trying to dump on you. But maybe if you re-read some of your posts it may be clearer why it was coming off that way.
Anyway- I’ve expounded more than I thought I ever would on the issue of being offered milk for my tea.
That’s hilarious.
I think you missed my point. They’re getting paid (regular) minimum wage for doing essentially the same thing as an employee in another restaurant that is making less per hour but also getting tips.
Closer, but not quite there as the lines can blur, both ways.
Many of the mid-priced chains have napkin dispensers on the table, along with ketchup, salt & pepper. Another drink? Sure, but that costs more.
I was away last weekend & stopped at a Hardee’s (there’s none near me so maybe the second time in my life in one); I placed my order, they gave me a number, then brought the tray to my table when it was ready. I’ve seen other fast food places give you your tray w/ most of your order, then offer to bring out the ____ when it’s ready.
It’s only “essentially” the same thing in the way that a bus driver and a limo driver are “essentially” the same thing.
You apparently lack reading comprehension because as I clearly outlined, if you have an issue with the preparation or taste of the food the appropriate action is to inform the server or manager of your dissatisfaction and either ask for a replacement item prepared to your liking or a refund. which every restaurant I have ever worked in or had cause to make complaint about will do as a matter of course. The goodwill over satisfying a patron, even one who may never return, is worth the paltry cost of a meal. For the o.p., not only did he presumably pay the cost of his detestable meal, he didn’t even have the satisfaction of knowing that the appropriate party, i.e. the kitchen staff, was made aware of his issue or corrected upon it. If he had informed management and gotten the meal comped, he could have paid the nominal tip and still been ahead financially, save that he wouldn’t have as much to whine about. His misplaced passive-aggression in stiffing the waitperson for issues they were likely not even aware of did no good to anyone, especially himself, and his rushing onto an anonymous message board to boast of his “insult tip” is akin to an infant pleased with smearing shit all over himself.
This has not been my experience but I have only been to a few cities in central and western Canada, and do not pretend expertise in all things Canadian. In any case, whinging about not having milk served up without even making the effort to inquire whether it was available, and by the way not doing some minimum research to understand the differences in culture where is travelling and then being offended because things are different their is the height of the ugly foreign tourist, and as much as Americans are (often correctly) inveighed for this it is apparent that other cultures are equally subceptible.
The kitchen staff does not share in thr tip pool in the vast majority of restaurants and sees no impact on your willingness or reserve in tipping. You can (and should) make the argument that the practice of obligatory tipping is not equitable or clear and should be discouraged, but the use of tipping to penalize the kitchen staff is not effective; even if your presumption is that the waitstaff should correct issues with kitchen performance (which they often attempt to do) they have no real authority and their complaints carry little,weight compared to a single customer complaint to the management which, again, will typically come with a comped meal and will result in very rapid and aggressive correction directly to the cook staff.
Stranger
Uncalled for and rude passive aggression, very nice. How much do I owe you for that, 10%?
He paid his bills, the sheer cheek of him.
It’s okay. You’re excused.
Seriously! “This lobster pasta has no lobster” <> “This tofu dish is missing pennies worth of tofu”.
He paid his bill without letting the management or server know of his disatisfaction (and giving them the opportunity to make good) and then left a miniscule tip from which the waitperson was apparently supposed to read his thoughts. How was that in any way effective other than giving the o.p. something to whine about on a public message board?
Stranger
Not sure if you’re replying to me, but I’m not arguing that tipping should be used to send a message to the kitchen staff.
I’m saying that quality of the good doesn’t play into my tipping choices. Only if the sever tried to help.
I think I get Spiderman’s point though. Why can’t the staff at a sit down restaurant be paid minimum wage like the employees at McDonald’s?
They do that at Carl, Jr.'s, too, which is owned by the same parent company as Hardee’s
The sauce was terrible, and there wasn’t nearly enough of it!
Not only that, but he did it on his way out of town.
That’s a bit like leaving a fart in a crowded elevator.
Quartz: your expectations were unfair and your response was disproportionate. You did a bad thing and you made a person’s day measurably worse as a result.
Next time, give your server a chance to make things right. Here are some possibilities.
“Miss? Could I get some milk with this tea? Thanks.”
or
“Miss? Hi. Could I get a little more Hollandaise sauce? Lovely.”
or
“Miss? I’m sorry, these eggs are overdone. No, I don’t have time to wait for a new order, I’m on my way out. I’ll just pay for the tea, thanks.”
or
“Miss? Hi. I’m not detecting any lemon in my Hollandaise sauce. Oh, well, you see, there’s supposed to be just a souciance of lemon. No… no, I wouldn’t like some lemon wedges. Perhaps you could ask the chef to come out? I’d be happy to - no? Ah, well. I’m afraid I’ll have to speak with your manager. Yes, I’ll be happy to wait. I’m quite disappointed. How long have you been waitressing? I have dined in the finest restaurants from here to Morocco and - oh dear, look at the time. I’ve missed my flight.”
I understand. There is no clearly defined line an outsider could use to determine what restaurant falls on what side, and even if there were, many restaurants still will not clearly fall on either side of that line. It’s an arbitrary and inconsistent, confusing, nonsensical system that basically boils down to, “I know it when I see it.” I’m aware this is not a good argument, but still, that’s reality. I honestly can’t blame non-Americans, or other Americans even, for not understanding it.
Inches, feet, pounds are now practically unique to the US. Tipping at restaurants is not. It’s basically the same in Canada and a number of other countries have it though the standard % tends to be lower than the US, especially since the US standard drifted up from 15 to 20% or more over the years.
Still tip the same if the food is bad? Yep, that’s my approach, and I just don’t go back to the place. If I’m travelling and I wouldn’t go back anyway, oh well. Nor do I vary it appreciably. Somebody above said many people don’t like the tipping system. That’s my impression as well and I’m one of them. But I deal with it largely by just giving in almost cases what’s supposed to be the standard and not thinking about it much further. Maybe if some server is a real jerk…but that’s not very common IME.
So, I was a server in a restaurant for about 7 years as I tried to find my way into a career somewhere. I do not think Quartz was out of line for leaving an “insult tip” at a high-end hotel restaurant given the circumstances. Here’s a few reasons:
-
The food is usually overpriced. No, it’s not the server’s fault it’s overpriced BUT by the very fact of it being priced 20 - 50% higher than it should be, the server is getting a larger tip than they would for similar food in an off-premise establishment. Which leads to…
-
On-premise hotel restaurants sell these higher prices – in part – using the service angle. You’re supposed to get stellar service from the staff because the hotel prides itself on its service. Most of the OP’s problems could have been solved immediately if the server was attentive both before the food was served and after. For example, asking how the tea was, if there was anything else that was needed, etc, making sure that the eggs had enough slop on them. I didn’t hear anything in the OP about how nice and attentive the server was, just that they did the bare minimum to be considered a server, especially considering that the place was not crowded.
Whether or not a server is tipped or properly compensated is beside the point. The server knows how the system works, and it should never be “I get 15% automatically and 20% if I smile.” Like it or not, the tip is for the service and if I am not getting quality service, I am not leaving a quality tip.
I have never, not once, seen anyone combine tea and milk IRL. To me, it sounds like a less than pleasant pairing. It is far from “universal”.
I believe it’s order location; order at the counter, no tip; order at your table, tip. Even when the food is the same - burger at one of the ‘upscale’ burger joints like Elevation Burger or Shake Shack vs. a chain like Applebee’s or a local pub (when you’re not drinking). A deli vs. Panera or a diner make virtually the same sandwiches.
There was also a local pizza place that went ‘upscale’; it used to be you’d walk in & order your slice(s) as you walked past the counter, pay at the end, sit & they’d bring it out when heated up. They changed that; you still walk past the counter & sit down, but now a waitress takes your order (for the same two/three slices) & now the price costs more as I have to leave a tip. It’s the exact same route/# of steps, it’s the exact same words out of my mouth, but now it costs ≈ 20% more. We go there less for lunch, too. The pizza is a little better than the place around the corner, but not that much.
Which is why the new ad campaign named the “founder” character Carl Hardee.