Chili's Server Fired After Facebook Tip Rant

Originally posted by CoolStoryMan

Originally posted by nightstalker78

Originally posted by ForgottenRebel
was a waiter for awhile and i understand why she is so angry. Words are taken all too literally, while actions don't matter at all. She threatened to spit in someones food sure, but i guarantee if she did get that group of people again, she wouldn't spit in their food even if she had the chance to.They tip almost nothing for her service and she gets fired for saying something over the web,just doesn't add up. I've had people be all but a-holes to me no tip for no reason. On the other hand, there are people who will over tip me because they realize that is where most of the money i earn comes from. To all the people that don't tip a dime for any reason, it might be just me but where ever i go i tip, no matter, just for the simple fact that i know that they make the majority of their money through TIPS. Oh your foods cold? well they didn't cook that stuff and they probably had the better judgement not to touch your food to check the temp because a lot of women are germ freaks. That is the cooks fault, and instead of not tipping the waitress, complain about the cook, but for gods sake at least tip the woman a dollar for her time.

I'm not trying to be nasty or mean or anything but I love how waiters/waitresses complain about tips when no one is forcing you to do that job.I'm usually a good tipper and I've never not left a tip.Even if the service is poor I always leave something.She did in fact threaten to spit in food...angry or not who says that? The fact that it even crossed her mind says a lot about her character.And it's not the cooks fault the food is cold...it's called taking your time getting it to the customer.And who's job is that? Hint,not the cooks.....

Hey buddy, ever consider that people have to take the jobs they can get? I sure wish we lived in fairytale land where jobs were available everywhere!

Blaming servers for cold food? that's ridiculous, ever work in a restaraunt before? I can tell you it's usually not their fault, as alot of places have not only servers, but food runners, and expediters, I know it sucks getting cold food, but if you're somewhat polite and ask it to be fixed usually that does the trick, and they'll toss you an extra goodie or a discount of some sort

Yeah I know people take jobs they can get.But don't bitch to me because you aren't making as much as YOU think you should.You take an order.You go off and do your thing while someone else brings me my food.You'll occasionally annoy me while I'm eating and ask how the food is.Or if I need anything.But yet,when I actually need you to come you're nowhere to be found.

I don't worry about cold food..I rarely eat out anymore because the service is that bad.I shouldn't have to wait 40 minutes to get seated..then another 20 until your dimwit waitress is done playing on her phone and realizes she has customers...and than..another 15-35 minutes before my food comes.

What does TIP mean as in restaurant?

TIPS - To Insure Prompt Service. Not sure how far back it started...but you use to TIP before the meal...To Insure Prompt Service.


Read more: wiki.answers.com...

See how the meaning got bastardized over time?
Now its just expected, regardless of the quality of service.

That's the thing. People are so brainwashed. They have no concept what so ever of appreciation of anything at all. So you get a tip and get insulted because you feel it's not enough. That's so sad. What actually happended here. They customer still "tipped". That's what you want. You want tips. Even if it's not the going rate, it's still something. Some tip more some less. It all averages out. It's the ones that don't tip that should tick someone off. But again we're so decident, so entitled, so expectant, that even when something good happens we complain. We're going down hard core. It's not our faults though. We've been brainwashed to think this way.

Classic FB rant - she got what she deserved (fired) and by that attitude, perhaps the correct tip amount, as well.

I tip, but feel ripped off every time I do. It is not my job to pay the restaurant's help. They should pay the waitstaff minimum wage and ban tipping. I pay quite enough for a meal without being blackmailed by the douche that caries it to me. I can walk over and get it myself like I do at Hardee's and Zaxby's. I never tip over $10 no matter how much the meal costs. $10 is huge money for an hour's work split between 5 tables. Hell $10 an hour is huge money no matter what. Wish I could make that much. How this stupid practice came to be baffles me. What makes restaurant owners think they should not have to pay their waitstaff decent wages?
Why should there be a hidden fee not listed on the menu? It makes no sense.

The majority of my tips it no more than $2 on any meal less than $20. 10% is plenty. More than plenty for anyone.

Several states charge the waitresses/waiters income tax based on the amount of their sales, Oregon is one of them. So she had to claim she received a $20.00 tip on that sale, regardless if she did or not. She lost wages on that meal. Also, many restuarants have a mandated 15% tip on tickets over a certain amount and/or people count. She got screwed. Her reaction was wrong. Some days you're the bug, some the windshield.

It's entirely not my fault that the crappy companies these people work for do not pay them a decent living wage.

I don't have to tip anybody, for anything. Tips are earned not just to be expected and you better give me damn good service if you want more than a 5$ tip.

Clearly with an attitude like that, she did not deserve the 5$ she got.

~Tenth

We only have half the story here. WHY was she tipped so low? We don't know. It's possible, just possible, that her attitude and serving skills were so low that she actually deserved that $5 tip. Given the character she displayed on Facebook, I wouldn't at all be surprised.

Tipping can get weird. My barber charges $18 for a haircut. He spends 15 minutes on my hair, does 4 people an hour, makes, without a tip, $72 an hour. His expenses are nil. He owns his shop and the space next door, which he rents out. Yet it is traditional to tip the barber. I'm not saying he makes $18 x 4 people an hour x 8 hours a day x 250 days a year, but he makes a helluva lot more than you or I do.

Five dollars on a hundred and thirty-eight dollar bill is pathetic. Anything under fifteen percent gratuity on that bill, sucks. If you can't tip, don't go to restaurants. I'm a bartender now, so I actually get a small check every two weeks with the tips I make, but when I was a waitress, I received a big zero on my check, like every server I've ever known. Expecting good service and a smile is fine, but expecting a conversation when we're working, trying to take care of other guests, and keeping up with all the side-work, is just a thoughtless way to judge how you're going to tip. lol rant over.

I would be nice to know what the service was like. At $138, it sounds like more than a couple of people.

Seems lately that many younger servers do not get the idea of giving decent service in order to get a decent tip.

Hey buddy, ever consider that people have to take the jobs they can get? I sure wish we lived in fairytale land where jobs were available everywhere!

reply to post by CoolStoryMan


So?
Are you saying just because they need the money, and that's the only job they can get, it gives them the right to expect a tip, or slack off?


I'm happy to see from the post I have read, that only a few people have that attitude I spoke of.

Bottom line, it has been and remains customary to tip 15-20% when you go out to eat. If you don't have enough money to tip, then perhaps you should NOT go out to eat. Eating out is not a RIGHT, but should, and has always been a traditional "treat". Tips are part of the wage, it pretty much has always been that way. Just like you would not like your boss deducting money from your wages, so then, you should not go out to eat only to stiff your waiter... theft is theft.

reply to post by pityocamptes

Eating out is not a RIGHT

Recieving a tip is not a RIGHT either.

Originally posted by Juggernog
reply to post by pityocamptes

 

Eating out is not a RIGHT

Recieving a tip is not a RIGHT either.

Why not? How would you feel if you wage was $10.00 an hour, and a client (people have more opinions than a$$holes) told your boss that your service was sub par - his opinion being the ONLY factor. So your boss decides to cut your wage for that day to $5.00 an hour. Would you not be pissed? Sub par, or excellent, service is really an opinionated set of circumstances.

Its a "right" in a sense that you went out for a meal and SHOULD have tipped. What I am starting to see and hear as of late is the excuse of people wanting to go out to eat, but then claim that they will NOT offer a tip because these are hard times and people should understand. No, basically these people are cheap skates, wanting a service that they do not want to pay for.

reply to post by pityocamptes


I dont reallly care, its not my problem that they got into the service industry. I pay for the food, not a waiter. If theyre cool and prompt, ill give 15% but if theyre in a pissy mood that day, have the cook set the plate in the kitchen window and I lll get it myself because if they bring it with an attitude, they our SoL for a tip.

Originally posted by Juggernog
reply to post by pityocamptes

 

I dont reallly care, its not my problem that they got into the service industry. I pay for the food, not a waiter. If theyre cool and prompt, ill give 15% but if theyre in a pissy mood that day, have the cook set the plate in the kitchen window and I lll get it myself because if they bring it with an attitude, they our SoL for a tip.

Nice... actually, by going out to eat you are paying for the service and meal, you cannot differentiate the two.

Let's see...we have people saying she got what she deserves, others saying that tipping is unnecessary, it's not their responsibility to tip, get another job, and even someone calling us servers "douche". What a wonderful group of people in this thread! To all those people, please stay here on the Internet, because we really don't need you to be where we work. Thank you

As someone who works in the industry, I would like to share a few thoughts on the situation.

Ranting about your job on Facebook to begin with is a big no no. I'm not sure what people are thinking, but Facebook is not your private little area to share what's on your mind. It is public, and people will see it. Regardless, complaining about a crappy tip is one thing, but to threaten a guest at any establishment will most likely result in the loss of one's job.

While I prefer not to dine at low end corporate cesspools like Chili's, I do not know the details on how the business operates but I can say safely that whether the server did a good job or not with her table, she did work her little butt of for that $100+ sale. Considering Chili's is a low end restaurant and has a great chance of attracting undesirable guests that will stiff you on a tip no matter how big or small the check is, we can never say for sure if she gave ideal service or not. But places like that force the server to make all their tip money off table turn overs, not quality of dining experience. So she was probably running around like a mad women with her big sale, plus the 3 to 5 other tables she might have also been taking care of.

Also, in the United States, servers make an extremely low wage that is rarely ever above $3/hour. They make all their money off tips, that's just how it is. Other countries pay servers more money and tips are seen as a bonus, but not here in America. If you don't tip, the server basically doesn't get paid. And working a low end corporate restaurant that caters to undesirables and forces table turn overs, it can be a very frustrating and low rewarding job experience.

As for the tip itself, yes, the server has to pay taxes on it. Now depending on how the restaurant operates, she might not only had to pay taxes on that $5, but tip out other employees based off the sale. For example, she might have had to tip out 2% of the sale to the Server Assistant, which would have been over $2 for the table. Another 1% might go to a food runner which would have been over $1. If there were alcohol sales, she would also have to tip out the bartender as well which could have been at least $1 if not more. So on that $5 tip our poor server paid taxes on that $5, tipped out the SA, food runner, and bartender and was left with maybe $0.50 cents from her tip. Add in her $3 hourly wage and she made a total of $3.50 catering to the table minus whatever the taxes might be. Not worth it at all!

While I agree that she should have been fired for her comments, I also understand her frustrations. She made less that minimum wage for that hour or so that she waited on the table and had to pay taxes on more money than she actually put in her pocket. She got totally screwed. Whether the customer, her, or both were at fault, we will never know. But I think her getting fired from Chili's was the best thing that could happen to her. Now she is forced to find a job that will pay her better.

What really amazes me here is the entitlement mentality of servers. If you want to enforce a tip, put it on the bill like you do for "parties of six or more." Make it a policy up front. Then I can choose to eat at your establishment or not. By making it a tip you are making it AT MY DISCRETION, not yours. And because the tip and amount thereof are AT MY DISCRETION, not yours, I will judge your performance and tip accordingly. If you've got attitude, or if you don't pay a reasonable amount of attention, or if my experience sucks because of your performance, then I am going to retaliate for your poor service.

On the other hand, if I make your life difficult because the grandkids are acting out, or if I seem to need some extra attention from you that is above and beyond what is normal, then I will gladly tip 25 or even 30%, far more than what is considered normal.

The point is that it is MY CHOICE and you need to get over it because I really don't care what you think about the issue. If you are not smart enough to get a good tip, it's your fault.

Originally posted by pityocamptes
Bottom line, it has been and remains customary to tip 15-20% when you go out to eat. If you don't have enough money to tip, then perhaps you should NOT go out to eat. Eating out is not a RIGHT, but should, and has always been a traditional "treat". Tips are part of the wage, it pretty much has always been that way. Just like you would not like your boss deducting money from your wages, so then, you should not go out to eat only to stiff your waiter... theft is theft.

Eating out may not be a "right" but neither is giving/receiving a tip.

Choice.

Choice to go out. Choice to tip. Choice to work in an industry.