Pastor to waitress: I GIVE GOD 10% WHY SHOULD I GIVE YOU 18%?

in more and more places it is law for the company to make up the difference if the employee doesn't get enough in tips to meet the state min wage. I have always hated the fact you have to give a tip in the us. Because 90% of the time I do not receive service where i feel like I needed to tip. They take you to your seat, bring you your food and drink that's all. Sounds like 2 bucks an hour is right. Sure they might run around alot but as a customer it is not my problem and it doesn't benefit me to see them running around, well unless i was at hooters. I go in there to get a meal not for someone to try and small talk with me for a big tip.

My opinion

reply to post by Bixxi3


FYI
Typically, waiters do cleaning, restocking,prep work, and work a couple of hours before and after their shift when they are not getting any tips for the $2.00 hr rate. They typically have a couple of hours known as the pop when the tips come into play. so the tips help offset the 2 hr rate for the remainder of their shift after the 2hrs.

In addition restaurants are not to keen on having to pay their employees minimum wage versus the $2-3hr. I have seen a couple waiters get fired for not being able to make above the min wage when I was working as a waiter in college.

So a lot of things are happening behind the scenes besides taking and bringing an order for what’s it worth. I think waiters sometimes get a bad rap although sometimes deserving. I do think everyone should at least work once as a waiter for the experience of dealing with all different types of people.

reply to post by interupt42

I am curious. You mentioned that you owned a restaurant for 5 years. Did you pay your wait staff a cut wage or a full one, and what was your reasoning for whichever?

reply to post by interupt42

I have a few waiter friends and they are telling me alot of places have bus boys that handle that stuff, they just have to worry about counting cash... just what I'm basing my thoughts on and yeah i've told them my views but we don't really talk about it because obviously it pisses them off.

Originally posted by Grimpachi
If you are frequenting the same restaurants and your service is subpar it is because you have the reputation as a subpar customer and that is just how things work. If your service isn’t subpar and you are still tipping the same as you did back in the 80s and early 90s then you are a poor tipper and that is the facts.

You assume I tip poorly, and that is not the case. I tip extremely well and above 20% when service is good. My point is a forced 18% no matter what is wrong, and as a customer I can say that service is not always good or even acceptable. I can even tip 50% many times because the server actually does me a service. I can go to my local watering hole and drink two six dollar beers and tip 10 bucks on top of the 12 dollars,, and I'm well liked to the point that the owner opens a new keg of special beer because I'm heading off to Afghanistan for a few months and I would miss it if she didn't.

With that said you assume that the person of this topic received great service, and wrote a bad comment. Knowing human nature, the vast majority of people who would go to the effort to write a comment like that would not do it unless they felt they were being screwed over. I personally do not like to be forced to pay for a service no matter what, and I do eat at expensive establishments and I don't feel that the server there does some kind of exceptional service to warrant 20% of the bill, just because the food is expensive.

I tend to look at the work involved and if I had a 300 dollar meal and the server provided service no better than my 8 dollar lunch they will most likely get 30 dollar tip (10%) where my server on the 8 dollar lunch will get 5 dollars. Now saying that I had an extremely enjoyable service just recently where my bill was 150 dollars and I left 50 dollar tip.

Just don't automatically add 18% or I might leave a comment like the pastor, and never go back to that place again. I'm the customer...I'm always right.... and if you don't agree with that then run a business into the ground as people decide to go elsewhere.

If the pastor received good service and she was just an A-hole then that is the risk of the occupation, and should be shrugged off.

On a side note...if there is an 18% added tip to my bill then guess what, that is what you get no matter what...


Also please expain to me why in the 90s 15% was the norm and 20% is the norm today? If cost has increased then so has the tip, so why do I "need" to pay 20% today, that 20 years ago was not the norm. I'm not asking this to argue, I really would like to know. If in 20 years should we be tipping 30% as a norm for a meal that is double todays cost too?

Originally posted by Montana
reply to post by interupt42

 

I am curious. You mentioned that you owned a restaurant for 5 years. Did you pay your wait staff a cut wage or a full one, and what was your reasoning for whichever?

I paid them a cut wage since that was the industry standard. I also worked often with them during rush hour in taking orders, running food , cleaning table,etc in order to to avoid having to hire additional staff that they would have to compete for tips. It would have been easier for me to have more waiters and busser on the floor but I knew the value of keeping happy employees. They also got to enjoy the easiest prep work in the industry and they got to create their own schedule.

I also found that having them share the tips worked best instead of having sections. That way each waiter was tentative to each customer regardless of the section they were in.

reply to post by xedocodex


OMG the NON-sense you people are spilling is hilarious!!!

" teenagers are very common as waiters. "


WHERE are teenagers waitressing??? PLEASE tell me? Here in PA, 20 years ago even, you have to be at least 18 but you most likely won't get hired as a server until you are 21!!

Originally posted by Bixxi3
reply to post by interupt42

 

I have a few waiter friends and they are telling me alot of places have bus boys that handle that stuff, they just have to worry about counting cash... just what I'm basing my thoughts on and yeah i've told them my views but we don't really talk about it because obviously it pisses them off.

LOL, if the bus boys do it all for them then the only cash they are counting is the payout to the busboy. BTW that wasn't uncommon , if you had to leave early after the POP you could pay out the busser or the food runner to do your prep work at the end of the shift. It just cost you

Originally posted by interupt42

So a lot of things are happening behind the scenes besides taking and bringing an order for what’s it worth. I think waiters sometimes get a bad rap although sometimes deserving. I do think everyone should at least work once as a waiter for the experience of dealing with all different types of people.

So you are saying that a cheap ass employer and what society allows comes down to the customer making the difference. In Portland you cannot pump your own gas, I typically tip 2 dollars on the thought that if everyone tipped 2 dollars than the attendant would be making 50 bucks an hour to pump gas. When I go to Costco, or Safeway the gas attendant will tell you they can't except tips...

It seems to me the problem is not the customer but the employer.

reply to post by interupt42


OK, sounds like you were at least a very involved employer. That right there makes you better than 75% of the ones I have known. I was hoping to hear some reasoning that made the cut rate acceptable from an employer's point of view.

I'm sure you will not be surprised that I really hate the "industry standard" thing. Industry standard doesn't make it right OR wrong. And usually it isn't industry standard because this is a great big country with very few "standards" that apply everywhere.

Originally posted by Xtrozero

Originally posted by interupt42

So a lot of things are happening behind the scenes besides taking and bringing an order for what’s it worth. I think waiters sometimes get a bad rap although sometimes deserving. I do think everyone should at least work once as a waiter for the experience of dealing with all different types of people.

So you are saying that a cheap ass employer and what society allows comes down to the customer making the difference. In Portland you cannot pump your own gas, I typically tip 2 dollars on the thought that if everyone tipped 2 dollars than the attendant would be making 50 bucks an hour to pump gas. When I go to Costco, or Safeway the gas attendant will tell you they can't except tips...

It seems to me the problem is not the customer but the employer.

Its the system and how we Americans expect it to work. The waiter expects to get 15%, most customers expect to pay 15% for good service, the employer and the government uses that 15% as part of the waiters compensation.

however yes some employers are more greedy than others and expect to use waiters to do more work because of their below minimum wage hourly cost.

reply to post by MidnightSunshine


My daughter is a waitress, she is 16. My son was a "server" when he was 17. I would agree teenagers are very common as waiters...

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
reply to post by camaro68ss

 

I just don’t understand why you give 10% because someone is doing the job they are paid for.

Makes no sense to me.

Because the business model that has been set up says people working in restaurants can be paid significantly less, and instead they'll tip. Restaurant owners claim this keeps the prices on their menu lower because they're not paying as much in labor costs. Whether you agree with tipping or not, you have to recognize that if people don't tip, restaurants aren't a sustainable business unless they pay their employees more. Waiters can't make a living on $2.15 an hour without tips adding to their wages.

Rather than not tip which only hurts the server you should boycot the business. The server is still hurt which sucks for them, but it means you're not supporting the practice of tipping.

Originally posted by destination now
reply to post by tamusan

 

Yes, I agree, but I am paying for the service in the cost of the meal, so I do still pay whether the service is good or not, the only time I would refuse would be if the food were not of a good standard, at which point I would speak to whoever is in charge, tell them to take the food back and just leave.

That's the beauty of being a tipped employee. I'd never bring you a sub-standard dish, I won't drop off anything that isn't up to my standards. AND After dropping it off, you better believe i'm keeping my eye on you for the 3 minutes or so untill you've started and I come back to check. so I have an idea if the meal is to your liking before you can even tell me... And if it isn't to your liking MOST times you'd have no need for management because I'm very skilled at handling these situations. Nine and a half times out of ten you'd still leave smiling...

I could go on and on about the all of your ridiculous comments but I won't.

The one about there being no difference between a grocery clerk and a restaurant sever is pure evidence of the poor state of service in your country... If I made as much money as i did as a server, i'd have to have you and your family have a seat while I ran around the store getting you what you wanted, taking back the things i got wrong or weren't to your liking, I'd bag it up, put it in your car, ride home with you, put it away, and maybe even throw a roast in the oven for ya!!

GET REAL PEOPLE

Originally posted by Montana
reply to post by interupt42

 

OK, sounds like you were at least a very involved employer. That right there makes you better than 75% of the ones I have known. I was hoping to hear some reasoning that made the cut rate acceptable from an employer's point of view.

I'm sure you will not be surprised that I really hate the "industry standard" thing. Industry standard doesn't make it right OR wrong. And usually it isn't industry standard because this is a great big country with very few "standards" that apply everywhere.

I was involved alright. so much so that it was the reason I left the business. Its a tough and demanding business for a small business owner, not to many days off.

I'm not saying that I fully agree with it , but its the industry standard and I had to use it in order to compete. Most people look only at the cost of a sandwich and don't account tips. So if my sandwich cost more than the others they would most likely go to the other place, especially if they assumed that the tip was not included.

If I had to incorporate the waiters cost into the sandwich at a higher rate I would have to raise the price of the sandwich. Not to mention that not many waiters make anything close to minimum wage so if I wanted to acquire good employees I would have to pay them accordingly which would raise the price significantly. Also waiters like the existing model for the most part, and those that are really good who make good money on tips are not easily sold on a reasonable hourly flat rate.

I never had a complain about tipping so if it wasn't broke why fix it. Actually most my staff received 20% or higher tips. So much so ,that although the menu stated "party of 6 or more get a 18% gratuity" they never applied it to the tables, because they had a better chance of getting 20% + versus the 18%.

reply to post by Montana


Na not the norm, sorry. It happens but MOST restaurants won't hire them for positions other than hostess or dishwasher. TOO many labor laws and hour restraints makes it difficult in a position where there is not ending time, your shift is over when your customers leave.

The summer before i turned 15 I worked for two months in a hole in the wall place called "The American Diner and Tibetan Wok" I was the host, server, cashier, busser, and dishwasher....So yes it happens, but it is IN NO WAY the norm...lets be honest people.

reply to post by MidnightSunshine


As I mentioned to another poster, this is a very large country. Don't assume that what happens in one area must also happen in others. Are the majority of wait staff teenagers? No, of course not. Are teenagers common as wait staff? Around here, absolutely.

Get real your own self

reply to post by Montana


So 15 year old minors like your daughter aren't under strict time restrictions according to your state child labor laws that are a huge hassle to the service position? Hmmm. Okay, well then you're right.

I'll stand corrected, but In this state it doesn't work that way and most restaurants do not let non-adults serve.
Not only because of the laws though...most wouldn't be able to handle the job even if the law allowed.

reply to post by MidnightSunshine


My 16 year old you mean.....

See, your first problem is assuming that the waitress job in what I imagine is an urban area of PA is the same as what it is in MT. It's not. My daughter works the dinner rush from 5pm till 9pm 4 days a week. She is, of course still a student so this schedule works quite well for everyone involved. Why are you having such a problem accepting other peoples experiences? Do you think everyone lies to you whenever they speak? What have I ever lied to you about?

reply to post by Xtrozero

for real ???

In Portland you cannot pump your own gas

i haven't had anyone to pump gas (but occupants) for over 25yrs.
heck, i can't even think of one station in 2 counties that has an 'attendant' to pump your gas.
it really is a 'regional' difference eh ?