Tipping the waiter ... is this an unwritten law. Where does this come from?

originally posted by: Liquesence

originally posted by: TinySickTears

originally posted by: Liquesence

Other times, the waitstaff is so stretched thin that to be "johnny on the spot" is difficult, especially with what some customers expect. "My glass was half empty and it took her X amount of time before she came to top it off" kind of BS.

as far as the staff being stretched too thin. thats not my problem.
maybe the wait staff should band together and take it up with management since it is management causing them to lose tips.
none of that is my problem.

No, it's not your problem. So, you're going to take that out on the employee whose fault it isn't but yet you give the restaurant your business? That's bassackwards logic. "The management sucks so I'm gonna treat the employees like spit?"

It's also not the waitstaff's fault that management decides how many people to hire, so why should they suffer when they might be doing their job to the best of their ability but are met with jerk customers and other things outside their control? Generally the food industry is not a democracy, and there are plenty of people who would do the job without lip or confrontation with management after said employee is fired.

i dont treat the staff like spit. i give them a tip of a few bucks.
that is a far cry from mistreating them.

they shouldnt have to suffer. thats why they should take these issues up with management.
i as a customer shouldnt have to suffer either.
i should not be expected to leave a tip of 15% when they are too busy to keep my drinks filled up for example.

so even though i cam not getting the service i should be(because of management scheduling) i should still have to come out of my pocket for 15%?
i dont think so

I tip my barista and my bartender a lot better than I have ever tipped my waitress. That's not to say I stiff anyone on a tip, I usually calculate 15% and then add whatever is needed to bring the tab to a round number (OCD, anyone?) For instance, if my tab is 25.90, I'll just write $30 in and tip $4.10 (15.8%). Coffee is a different matter. That's usually a more robust tip, often nearly equal to the tab itself. The rationale is that I want my coffee to be made precisely to my specifications. The waitress has very little control over the quality or nature of my food, whereas a pissed off barista or bartender can easily go from handing you a hug in a mug to giving you undrinkable swill.

i guess i actually do tip about the standard. never worked it out in a percentage. 3 bucks just seemed right.
my bill is usually about 23 bucks with soda and i leave 3
i have left 2 but mostly its 3

originally posted by: TinySickTears

i guess i actually do tip about the standard. never worked it out in a percentage. 3 bucks just seemed right.
my bill is usually about 23 bucks with soda and i leave 3
i have left 2 but mostly its 3

That extra dollar to get it over 15% (which is the minimum standard) going to kill you?

a reply to: TinySickTears

No I think that sounds about right!
Sounds like it's about a $15 or so meal and not a lot of anything required on the part of the wait staff...

Sounds good, really...
That would be about 20% so you ARE doing it right!

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

of course it wouldnt kill me.
i use my standard though. and thats 3 bucks

Just as a note, one huge exception to the above is in regards to expensive meals that include wine. One a few special occasions, I have dropped a few hundred bucks on a fine meal with my wife which included a bottle of spendy wine. I'm not paying a waiter $30-$40 extra bucks just for walking a chilled bottle over to the table and pulling the cork out. I have my standards.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
That extra dollar to get it over 15% (which is the minimum standard) going to kill you?

When did this go up from the %10 it was just a decade ago?

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
When did this go up from the %10 it was just a decade ago?

It has been 15-20% much longer than that.

originally posted by: TinySickTears
of course it wouldnt kill me.
i use my standard though. and thats 3 bucks

Do you see three separate ghosts every Christmas?

So it is fair to say, in a city such as Seattle where the law has stated that servers must be paid a living wage directly from the restaurant itself, tipping is no longer needed at all and should not be expected nor accepted.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: TinySickTears
of course it wouldnt kill me.
i use my standard though. and thats 3 bucks

Do you see three separate ghosts every Christmas?

I'm stingy with tipping and the only ghost I see on Christmas are the ghosts of paychecks past and present thanks to buying the wife and kids their gifts... So far no ghost of servers scorned has made an appearance.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

So it is fair to say, in a city such as Seattle where the law has stated that servers must be paid a living wage directly from the restaurant itself, tipping is no longer needed at all and should not be expected nor accepted.

Good point. If I knew the person waiting on me was making $15 an hour I would expect that the cost of paying them is being built into the food and I would most likely not tip which is a big thing for me as I am a chronic over-tipper.

a reply to: zatara

Before you visit the US, get on board with tipping. The wait staff does not get min. wage and depend on tips to make a living.

My stance is this: For crappy service, 10% of the bill. That is the minimum.

For great service, double or triple that percent.

Easy way to figure out the 10% is to double the tax on your bill. If you want to give more....well, you do the math.

Most waiters and waitresses in this country are not likely to want to serve tourists from other countries bc tipping is not a common act abroad.

Be very nice to those that handle your food! Be VERY nice. That's all I can say on the matter. LOL

Watch the movie "Waiting" and you might get a better idea.

I can tell you from experience, if you disrespect me, I'm very likely to do unseemly things to the food you just paid good money for....

Never mess with people that handle the food you are about to eat......EVER!

Here in Japan you couldn't even force a wait staff to accept a tip at gunpoint, leaving American tourist types bemused, the reason being service was received and paid for, and no it's not on your bill unless you are in a bar where they serve you nuts or snacks when you walked in, in foreign type operations we sometimes have a tip jar, which we then use for staff outings or aid for emergencies like an earthquake or something like that.

A personal story, yrs ago when I first came to Japan, I went to a bar and left my wallet on the counter and walked off into the nite, it was a crowded street so I wasn't paying much attention to someone shirking unintelligible Japanese behind me ,then someone touched my shoulders from behind and well out of breath I might add handed me my wallet which had considerable amount of cash plus credit card, she then repeated Sumimasen Sumimasen!! Gomenasai Gomenasai !! translated into excuse me! excuse me I am sorry I am sorry..you forgot your saifu (wallet) trying to be appreciative I tried to offer her a tip for all that running damn near the end of the block and no she wouldn't have it , I thought I was having a miscommunication or something so I followed her back to the bar and spoke to the tensho ( manager ) he also politely refused, sensing my irritation he said please come back we would like you as a customer he gave me his card and from that time forward it became my favorite spot.

a reply to: zatara

I'm sure it's been covered, but i spent most of the 1990's as a waiter/bartender/manager, and as late as 2001, i know the waiter minimum wage was something like $3.09/hr in Illinois,

The majority of people i worked with took their jobs seriously, and averaged over 20% on their tips, but 15% is totally respectable as a tip.

Bars can play a bit differently. In my experience, on both sides of the bar, a good bar tipper will typically earn the rewards of treating a good bartender well by tipping at least a buck per drink. That may put it into 25-30%+ territory, but a patron can sit at a bar all night and possibly only spend $30-40 for 10 pints. $5-6 is too little for the service, attentiveness, camraderie, facilitation of socialization, etc., which a good barkeep provides.

Now... These days, it seems to me, most service is 'meh.' If i have a slow bartender, who lets condensation, spills, etc., sit unwiped, who stares at the tv when things are slow (rather than talk, juggle, sell me a fun and original drink!) I have a bad habit of a 15% floor on my tips. Sure, I know they missed out, but they don't, and they don't realize they just lost a potential regular customer either. But if service is bad, 10% is acceptable; just know it's a way of saying, "you were terrible." IMO (in a bar night as opposed to a dining setting) - if you realize your bartender sucks, leave the 'meh' tip after round 1 or 2 - go somewhere else. The bartender - and the crowd a good bartender carries - IS the bar. Find a good one.

My final point: if you're going to be somewhere several times (like a main dining/drinking spot for the duration), and you hit it off with your waiter/waitress/bartender on the first go, have a good time with them, share an aspect of your social engagement, over-tip, and ask which nights they're working. "We'll be back!" - they'll look forward to you and your crew for the good times, and will take extra good care of you, knowing you're taking care of them. It's a bonus that you're in from another country - makes things more interesting for them.

God I miss bartending! "Real jobs" have never been as much fun.

I will say this, as someone who works both as a bartender, and a server. (and it does vary from state to state, I'm just saying from my experience in the states of WI and PA) If you are just a server, your checks amount to literally 0$. You do get taxed for everything, so the 2.83 you make is all gone. Bartenders can be a bit more lucky, we can get tipped out for drinks that go out through out a restaurant or a bar with tables on the side. It still is typically less than 200$ for two weeks of work. I do believe you should still tip according to your service. I go in knowing these stipulations, and try to my very hardest to provide the best service, the best experience, whatever I can do. It does become frustrating when you can provide that kind of service, and still worry if you'll make ends meet. Most people have no idea, and I can't blame you for that. All I want is more awareness of the importance of it.

Waiters in America live on tips. They only make 2.14 an hour. So they rely on their tips for support. You should tip 10% of the price of your meal. If they ignore you tip them lower or just dont tip them. I always tip well. I have many friends in the food industry. I take care of my bartenders and servers. Im not sure how its legal they only make 2.14 an hour but thats the way it is here. Average wage in America is 12 to 20.00 an hour for the average worker.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan
You can always get cash with you CC at a ATM and pay cash if you are so concerned about the waiter tips. Problem solved.

a reply to: schuyler

McDonalds should drop that to $3.34 an hour and then tell the employees to ask for tips. /sarcasm of course

ETA: a reply to: texasyeti

Why should I pay the companies overhead? Pay your own employees, you leaches!!