Should I Tip For Bad Service? Mint Answers
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Should you leave a tip if you’ve had terrible service at a restaurant? What about getting take-out: do you tip if you pick it up yourself? What’s a good tipping policy, anyway?
Ah, the perennial tipping quandary. It isn’t mandatory, for sure, but everyone knows that here in the U.S., the wait staff at restaurants makes a living largely thanks to the generosity of their customers. Tipping is customary, we know that much. But there really are few, if any black-and-white rules built into that custom. The result: most of us have, at one time or another, had a tipping-related question.
In this week’s round-up of Q&A activity on Mint Answers, we feature three such questions, along with some of the suggestions shared by the Mint community.
To read more answers or to chime in with your response, click on the links below.
What’s a good tipping policy?
Many people say you should tip 15% of the bill when it comes to tipping. Others are more cautious about whether the waiter earns commission or not. What is the best tipping policy when it comes to eating out?
1. I’m probably not the best to answer this as my wife says I’m “stingy” or “cheap”. But, thinking about this, I’ve come up with this formula that basically sums my thinking:
Rmax = Maximum tip amount, based on restaurant.
Twait = Time, in minutes, waiting for service.
Ttotal = Total time, in minutes, where service is expected (table seating).
TIP = Tip Percentage
Rmax x (Ttotal – Twait) / Ttotal = TIP
Also, my Rmax (maximum tip) varies with the establishment. For example, my Rmax is ~18% at a normal chain restaurant (Friday’s, Applebees, etc.). My Rmax at a quality establishment goes to ~25% (Fine Dining).
Here’s my thinking using this method:
I’m at Applebee’s and I have waited a total of 8 minutes during service for my water to be refilled. We stayed at the restaurant for 55 minutes.
18% x 47 / 55 = 15.38%
As I said, this answer probably isn’t the best 
More answers to this question>>
Should you still tip 20% for bad service?
Whenever a server does a poor job at a restaurant, I never want to tip them, but I feel I should give them something. What would be an acceptable tip for bad service?
1. Of course! But you never come back…and you write a very negative review on Yelp. Satisfaction at last.
2. A good friend of mine, who is a waitress, gave me this advice: for great service, leave a tip plus a penny. This lets the waiter/waitress know that you thought their service was good/great.
For bad service: leave a penny. The waiter/waitress will be aware that you did not forget to leave a tip and that their service was unsatisfactory.
When asked if this was applicable in any eating establishment, she responded that any professional waiter/waitress would know EXACTLY what was meant by the leaving of a penny.
3. I am a waitress, and you should always tip at least 15%. If you do not, the server is PAYING TO SERVE YOU. 99% of the time they have to tip out to other people in the restaurant (bartenders, hosts, bussers, food runners, managers, etc.) so by not tipping them, they are paying for you to sit there and eat your meal. Also, what a lot of people don’t realize is that it may not be the servers fault, kitchens/chefs mess up orders a lot of the time.
If you have a problem with something, ask to speak with a manager and complain about what was wrong to them.
4. When I get terrible service, I always leave a tip under 15% AND a short note saying why. The note is always written compassionately (because you never know what kind of suffering in that person’s life caused them to perform that way) and gives a solution instead of just complaining. This lets the server know what went wrong so that they can do something about it and so that this won’t happen again!
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Are you supposed to tip when you pick up take out at a restaurant?
When I go to a restaurant to pick up take out I’m given a credit card receipt with a space for a tip. They didn’t serve the meal and the tip given when you eat at the restaurant isn’t for the cook, right?
1. I don’t know the proper etiquette answer to this question, but I often find myself tipping 10% or so out of sheer guilt. I guess I just don’t want to hand back the receipt with the tip space empty.
More answers to this question>>
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75 Comments so far
leave a commentBad service? 0% tip. It’s just that simple.
Really, and i’d like to hear what you consider bad service? To stiff a server is inexcusable in most cases. Personally I’m a server my actual pay checks are $0, I don’t think I have ever left less than 20%, anywhere. If you have ever worked at a restaurant you would know ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that can go wrong will go wrong.
Agreed. bad service = no tip.
20% is if I get awesome service and a happy ending.
15% is if the waiter does his job as it should be done. On time and no mistakes.
10% is if something goes wrong the waiter could have prevented
0% is for a waiter who doesn’t take responsibility or gives attitude
Unless you work at a michelin star restaurant, being a waiter is unskilled labor. It should pay unskilled wages.
If you don’t like it… get a more skilled job.
30% for an awesome experience
20% for a good to average experience
15% for a decent but too much waiting experience
10% & note for a poor experience
5% & note for a bad experience
0% & note for a horrible experience
(9 times out of 10 I tip 20%)
In this economy it should be:
A high five for an awesome experience
A punch in the waiter/waitress’s face for bad service
0% For everything in between
Leave a penny for a tip and on someones last day it will get hurled at you; do you really want put that kind of negativity out into the world?
They also forgot to mention all you CHEAPIES out there with your verbal tips. You know, when you had a fantastic experience, smile, thank, and shake the waiter’s hand while walking out the door. Only to completely stiff the waiter.
I’m gonna see you again someday…
-Long time waiter
20% of my bill because you… what? held my food and didn’t break any Health & Safety laws? wooooow. good for you. should I give you a 5 dollar bonus for showing up on time, too?
there are more important jobs being performed by smarter, more important people and they don’t get tips.
stop being such a whiner.
If the food is especially good, I will tip the kitchen workers.
Kitchen workers are IMHO grossly underpaid compared to waiters/waitresses… and they are the ones primarily responsible for the food!
excellent service 20% plus i tell the manager
good service 15%
bad service with reason eg. understaffed, kitchen problems ,stuff that isn’t the servers fault 15%
bad service…..0% plain and simple.
Servers do rely a lot on their tips, which is why they should strive for 100% customer satisfaction. Tips are not a guaranteed thing, if you are a crappy server, you should make crappy tips.
Sadly in the real world, if you are female, good looking and showing lots of cleavage, how good of a server you are doesn’t really matter, to men anyways.
Doesn’t TIPS mean To Insure Proper Service. Perhaps we should be putting the tip on the table before we are served and just deduct for bad service as we dine. I feel like this gets the message of what is proper service and what isn’t. I never actually do this but wouldn’t it be great?
The little paper credit card receipt doesn’t say TIPS, it says “Tip” which would stand for To Insure Proper. So your point is silly. Also, do you tip the gas station attendant that fills up your tank? Do you tip your accountant? The kid at Burger King that serves you? How about the “teachers” at your kid’s day-care? If not these people, some of whom make less than waiters & waitresses, then what’s the criteria for tipping? Bellhops get tips, bartenders too. Clearly it doesn’t have to do with food?
No and Yes, respectively
I tend to tip around 15% for many reasons. One, I’m a college student who doesn’t have a lot of money but still likes to eat out at places with good tasting food and appreciates decent service. Two, I don’t believe that being at a nicer place with higher priced food should be the reason for tipping a larger amount when a waiter does the same job as one at a cheaper establishment. The world may not be fair but I can be. Three, I like purchases to be in whole dollars, no cents. Unfortunately, I recently had one of the worst experiences of my life and honestly felt like my waiter did not deserve a tip for the service he provided. So I gave a 12 cent tip, in the words of Eminem…Here’s my ten cents, my two cents for free.
“PAYING TO SERVE YOU.”
This is bull. Even with tip out, you cannot owe your employer money for working there. You may make less in tips than you expect, but you cannot owe money to your employer. And if your hourly wage plus tips do not equal to minimum wage, the employer is legally bound to cover the difference. You aren’t entitled to tips, they are there to be an incentive for good service. But like all incentive plans, the recipients have found a way to feel entitled to the incentive and feel wronged when they don’t receive the maximum amount and have redefined the previous maximum as the standard and slowly creep the maximum and standards ever higher.
Agreed, this is such an easily demonstrable lie. Particularly as stated in the article, where magically at the 15% threshold the server goes from paid to paying.
I don’t know what you have been told but waitress usually make anywhere from $2 to $3 and hour. So yeah tipping is very important. People that tip well at restaurants help that restaurant keep good staff. Overhead in the restaurant industry is extremely high and this system enables said restaurants to keep their prices reasonable. So it may have started out differently but tipping is now very essential to all those involved, including you as the customer.
In most states, servers minimum wage is $2.13, except in some states like California which enforce a higher minimum wage.
Servers must declare at least some tips for the businesses to not be hassled by the IRS, typically 7% being a maximum low. If with that 7-10% that is “declared” to the IRS the servers still do not make 7.25, then the employer makes up the difference.
I do payroll analysis for restaurants, and most casual dining servers can make $10-15 / hr during a shift, making upwards of $20/hr if they just work peak hours. This is based strictly on what they declare to the IRS, with another $5-10 per hour tax free. Servers at high-end restaurants typically do much better, though since credit cards are much more common don’t get as much money tax-free.
You do NOT need to tip for bad service. However, keep in mind that if you are a regular, the server will remember you. But do NOT feel sorry for the server, and feel obligated. If they are good and work at a busy establishment, they easily make $25+/hr.
true they don’t owe the actual restaurant, but they do indeed owe the bartender who made your drinks, the food runners who helped make sure your dishes are correctly brought out to the table, as well as the bussers who have to clean up after you and your sloppy children. therefore it is possible for the server to lose money if the cheap customer is having a bad day and decides to take it out on someone else and not tip.
For takeout orders: time spent taking your order, ensuring it is correct and properly prepared, putting together the package and utensils, matching it to your ticket, perhaps chasing it down at the pass, dealing with you twice and giving you change–possibly out of their own bank.
I know the feeling of not wanting to throw away money, but I always tip 10% at least for takeout orders.
From the other POV, when someone doesn’t tip, it seems like I was robbed of time and energy when I could have been more productive.
Well … I fake a British or French accent and then low-ball the tip.
Sometimes it is helpful to have a tip application … see…
http://www.mimvi.com/search/?q=tip+calculator&submit=Mimvi+Search
Saying a waiter or waitress should always be tipped 20% even if they don’t provide a satisfactory level of service is like saying a salesman should be paid a regular commission on every potential sale whether they close the deal or not. Their job is to provide outstanding service, and when they do their job they deserve the tip.
As for a waiter/waitress paying for my privilege to take up a table, baloney. It is not my fault they have to tip out other people, and if it was the cook’s fault, then they can withhold their tip from the cook. Plus if my order is wrong, and the waiter/waitress is apologetic and makes it right, that doesn’t count as bad service, mistakes happen. Not stopping by my table to make sure everything is OK and to refill my water on a reasonable schedule is where they’ll start to lose the tip.
The waiter/waitress took the job with the full knowledge that they were going to be paid a negligible direct salary and they would make up the difference (and then some if they’re good) with tips. If they can’t handle the fact that their effort and attitude has a direct impact on the money they make, they need to be looking for another line of work.
Just for reference, my wife and I are generally generous tippers and it is very very rare for us to leave a small tip. My wife has worked in food service, and we’ve both worked in commissioned sales. We’ve been on the receiving end of our performance directly controlling our take-home pay. My whole point is that it is crazy for people to expect a tip when they didn’t do the work to deserve it. Now don’t get me started on restaurants requiring a minimum tip on a party of 8 or more…
I used to work in fast food as a teenager. We worked just as hard or even harder than your average restaurant waiter or waitress yet made far less money and no tips. I say stop all the tipping. If the servers want more money they should get it from the manager, not from the customer, even if that means high food prices. Stop hiding behind the “They don’t make much money so they depend on their tips” and get some education and a better paying job. Or work hard an get a raise and stop extorting money from the customers just because you walked their food from the kitchen to the table that’s only 20 feet away. If I want to go to the kitchen and get my own food do I get to charge the server 20%? Of course not. Tipping is ridiculous! Leave them Monopoly money instead.
I agree with you adam. Why should the customer be responsible for paying the staff? I say increase the price of food as needed to pay servers toserve the food and eliminate all tipping.
The wait staff is not responsible for food quality or preparation. I always tip at least 20% but if the food is bad I tell them and never return.
You know who ELSE isn’t responsible for bad food quality? the CUSTOMER. Sorry, but watiers are doing a job that could LITERALLY be done by a trained monkey. If they don’t want to be subject to making less due to someone else, then they should better their career skills so they can get a job where the salary is based solely on their own merits.If you can’t bring anything to an employer that a moneky can’t, then you should not expect to go through life with an iPhone, a big screen HD TV, and a new car.
Yeah Lakawak sounds like you’ve never worked in the service industry. Give it a whirl then see if you still think it’s so easy a monkey could do it.
You don’t even need a monkey. Asimo, the robot developed by Honda, is able to serve food.
In the link below, it serves tea. I’d much rather have this thing serving me food and getting my order correct than having to tip (which I never do) some high school drop out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmwU5ojczvQ&feature=related
To #3 of “Should you still tip 20% for bad service?” You pay arrangement, how the tips are split and who is to blame are all things that are not my problem. As a customer I’m paying good money for good service and good food.
If my food comes out cold or wrong I’ll complain and I’ll tip less, don’t like it? well perhaps as someone on the delivery side of the transaction you can work the prevent such things from happening in the future. All I know is my dinning experience has been harmed by someones carelessness. If you don’t want me to tip less you better volunteer a discount or some other compensation before I get around to filling in the tip field. When it comes time to tip, I’ve already spent extra time in your restaurant for by no desire of my own and as such I’m not going to wait around to complain.
I feel 15% is a good starting point, if I’m satisfied with the experience: 15% if I’m surprised you’ll see 20+% if I’m disappointed it’ll be 10 or less.
Here’s a question, what to do with over priced food and drinks. High end food costs more, I get that and expect that so the tip stays 15% but what about someplace that charges $12 for a beer that the pub next door charges $4 for? Should I really be expected to pay 15% ontop of that? Does the bar tender at least kiss me after…
my understanding is that you pay 15-25% on the food total and $1-2 on each drink.
My quick 2 cents:
20% good service
15% meh service
10% bad service
10% for takeout orders
10% for buffet
I tip more for happy hour prices more. For instance there are a couple of places that offer dollar beer night. Where you can buy rack up a $20 dollar bar tab which would have generally cost around $50-$60 so I usually tip on what i would have spent have the bar not discounted the drinks.
I remember an episode of 3rd Rock (I know – old) where they go out on a dinner date and when seated, promptly places a stack of $1 bills on the side of the table. For everything that goes well, he adds a dollar to the stack but for everything that is sub-par, he removes one dollar. He lets the waiter know exactly what he is doing which in turn lets the waiter know that they stand to make more for good service and less for bad. I don’t remember the outcome but I thought it was a pretty good idea so that everyone is on the same page from the get go.
Granted, you shouldn’t have to bribe or blackmail your waiter for good service but unfortunately not everyone takes the job serious (students passing through, summer job etc)
My rule of thumb is 18-20% depending on the establishment. However, if the service is bad I will generally cut that in half to send the message. There are exceptions for horrendous service that merit 0% or a comment to the manager.
Should I tip for bad service? If you don’t want to consume something disgusting the next time you show up, the answer is yes. Every time.
I always laugh when reading comments on pages such as this. Usually at the sheer volume of disgusting crap that has been consumed by all you “empowered consumers.”
Doesn’t matter how bad the service was, if you tip less than 15%, the waiter’s going to tell all the staff, and you will be the enemy. No, it’s not fair, but it’s the way it is.
Don’t be a dumbass. Tip like it was part of the bill.
OK, Scott…whatever. LOTS of waiters say that, but few actualy follow through on thewir threats. As if someone working 30 hours a week, seeing hundrds of people a week is going to remmeber you from 2-3 weeks ago.
Here’s the thing…for everyone who says that serving is a lame job that a trained monkey can do – yes, of course a trained monkey can run food. But that’s not what you are paying a tip for. You are paying a server to be provided an experience.
Servers are doing more for you and your table than simply taking an order and running food. They are creating a comfortable atmosphere, they are making you feel special, they are (if they are a good server, and can read the table well) accurately entertaining your group or giving you a quiet/romantic evening. On top of that, they are talking you through the menu, educating you on new food that you might not know about, catering to your requests, making sure the kitchen is making your food correctly according to your requests and making sure everyone is enjoying the evening.
As other comments have posted, yes, restaurants do have tip out policies that require servers to pay a percentage of their sales to the restaurant to be divided among the greeters/bartenders/runners etc. So the tip you are leaving is not even fully going to the server, as you may be expecting.
With all of that in mind, I always feel it a good baseline to tip at is 20% (which goes down to 15-17% for the server, after tip out). If service is below par a bit AND OBVIOUSLY ITS THE SERVERS FAULT, 18%. If your experience is BAD, and you’re unsure if its the servers fault, talk to a manager, then tip accordingly. 12-15% for BAD service AND it was the servers fault. DON”T tip lower if after talking to the manager, you find out it was NOT the server’s fault – how could they have controlled it? Why should they be penalized for anothers mistake? Also though, don’t be scared to go ABOVE 20% is you had an EXCEPTIONAL time. Show them you appreciated it. What is a dollar or 2 above 20% from your pocket? Not much. What is it for a server, who is doing an exceptional job all night, to get a dollar or two from every table? An extra 20 bucks a night. Good for them! They did an exceptional job! They deserve it!
Overall, I like being seen as a good person – even if service is off, if it wasn’t terrible, I will generally tip that extra couple bucks just to make the server’s night a bit better. It’s karma – it will come back around, and I’m not missing that extra 2 bucks. And typically, unless the experience was just terrible, I’ll be back, and by that time the whole staff will know me as the good guy who leaves a good tip – and I’ll be catered to my entire meal.
I think you’re the “dumb ass”. Tipping these people is nothing more than extortion. Somewhere along the line a fairly benign practice has become an entitlement undeserved by most of waitstaff in all kinds of restaurants. I only grudgingly leave 15 – 20% if the service was unobtrusive and exemplary. The wise-ass owners benefit tremendously from this Frankenstein monster that is completely out of control. I’ll tell you the percentage I tip if a waitperson asks me “do I need change?” ZERO!!!
Heh. Being Australian we get in ourselves in all sorts of trouble when we arrive to countries that tip. For about a week any (what I’m sure are not-so-subtle) hints for tips are met with a blank gaze on incomprehension for a few moments. It makes it awkward for all involved.
I have know some people (mostly older) in Aust who would consider it an insult if someone were to try to tip them. I’m not one of them. I work a couple of days a week as a waiter in Australia and every now and then we will get someone who will leave a tip which is a nice surprise. But we don’t expect them.
That’s because you are all on min $15 / hour, (usually more waiting @ fine dining) rather than the $2-3 base rate / hour here in the States. The wage costs are built directly into the price shown on the menu.
What a load of crap…no..waiters don’t OWE money if you don’t leave a tip. It is not as if they have to tip out the bartenders, hosts, etc. a certain amount per table. They give htem a share of their tips. So if you leave them nothing, then they give out nothing. That is typical bullshit spewed by crapy waiters who often get bad tips because they deserve oit.
Actually it is. Most tip out policies require that you tip out a certain percentage of your SALES for the evening (typically around 5% in the restaurants i worked in but this is almost 10yers ago at this point so it may have changed.). This is based on the assumption that people know the way it works and that a typical server will make 15% on average. If a server waited on a single table, got stiffed, and then cashed out, they would need to cover the difference.
What I don’t understand is people saying servers ‘know what they are getting into’. If you eat in a restaurant, then you have no excuse not to tip because YOU know what you are getting into. In the USA, tipping is the way its done. Don’t like it, make your food at home. It’ll be cheaper and probably healthier too.
They don’t technically owe money, idiot. Waiters make BELOW minimum wage, so when they make tips they are required to claim the tips(hard to lie when most people now pay with credit cards). So the government takes a certain percent out of their ridiculously low paycheck. So if someone makes a ton of bad tips in one night, the paycheck doesn’t make up for it.
No, it’s not a load of crap. I was a waitress for years while in school and worked for a few different restaurants. They all made the servers tip out a percentage of their total sales to cover people like bus boys, bartenders, etc. So if you leave $0 for a $50 bill, your server still has to come out of pocket to pay the rest of the staff.
Here is the deal, I worked as a waiter for 5 summers during college. Its not an easy job due to the stress of having too many customers at once and not enough time.
If I get bad service, I tip 15%. Its easy for a waiter to go into the weeds, which means they simply do not have enough time due to a time crunch. The only time I will lower that amount is if the server is rude or disrespectful.
If I get great service, I tip 20%-25% depending on the food.
No tip for bad service
For take out – tips not necessary
For good wait service 10% is reasonable
I was a waiter in my former life and here’s how I tip now. First of all, remember that waiters have to LIVE on these tips, so please consider the fact that things can go wrong in the kitchen that has nothing to do with the waiter. Also, waiters have other tables that can cause them real problems, which then spill over into the attention they are able to give you, you cheap bastard. For great service I leave a little over 20%. That’s to show that they really did a great job. Good service gets 20%. Basic service gets 15%. Bad service also gets 15%, depending on how the service was bad. For instance, if your food took a long time to make it to your table, then it could be the kitchen’s fault. Hey, why the hell do they care? They’re not living on tips. Maybe they decided to go smoke a doob in the alley and the eggs burned and now they have to cook them again. It happens.
The only time I will leave a bad tip (ie: less than 15, more like 10% or less) is because the waiter was openly rude to you, or when you asked why it took so long for your food to arrive they treat you like they’re putting you out. Some waiters have crappy personalities. Suck it up. They’re not there to entertain you and hear stories about your lame family or whatever you feel like talking to them about. Most times people are looking for a reason to leave a bad tip because they’re cheap. You can always find some reason to leave a bad tip. If you can afford or don’t want to afford to eat at a sit-down restaurant, drag your sorry ass to Burger King, you cheapo. Cheers.
Also, please don’t go to a restaurant, dominate a table for two hours while you drink a cup of coffee and then think you’re not being a jerk by leaving a 15% tip. You basically just robbed that waiter of $20 or more in tips. Go to a Starbucks, you stupid yuppie. Remember these waiters’ bills aren’t going to pay themselves and waiting tables is a tough job. People are petty crybabies and treat waiters like crap because they’re hypoglycemic and never learned to cook for themselves. Too much ice. Too little ice. Not hot enough. Not cold enough. I want crackers for my kid so they can have a blast throwing them all over your section. Jerks. Being a waiter is like working at the DMV. You have to deal with every walk of life known to man. Please treat the waiters with compassion, unless they are openly rude to you. Then screw ‘em.
I like to pay with a credit card and write “On the table” on the “tip” line of the receipt and not actually leave any money on the table. It always makes me laugh.
Restaurant food is overpriced anyway, I’m not going to pay extra just because some loser walked my food from the kitchen to the table. They didn’t even cook the food!!!
If someone stops you and asks why there’s no money on the table you just say, “Someone must have taken it”. Ha ha ha!!!
I can tell that if I were to be confronted with a ‘neer-do-well such as yourself that seems to have absolutely no respect for the people that are paying the high tabs in these restaurants you absolutely wouldn’t like me at all! And that’s OK! I won’t be back to your place of employment anytime soon or ever! If I detected an attitude like yours from a server you would receive not a penny, but ZILCH from me. I would look you right straight in the eye and tell you the reason why AND your superior as well. People like you would do well to go into a career where you wouldn’t have to interact with folks
you have nothing but contempt for! Screw you!!
Some things I don’t think people consider are how busy the establishment is, and whether or not management staffed enough waitstaff. A situation like this may get a great server a smaller tip, simply because they are overstreched and cannot get to every table at the same time. Unless you’ve worked in the service industry, you have no idea what that’s like. Getting double sat or even triple sat can throw your whole routine off, and unfortunately that’s something that can’t be controlled. On the flip side. You may be an awesome server and go all out for a customer and still get shafted. There are a bunch of cheap people out there, and many guests are very rude without realizing or caring. There is also the group of folks that loves to complain no matter what you do. This makes it hard to go all out knowing you probably won’t get a good tip anyway. For whoever said a trained monkey could do the job of a server, you’ve obviously never been in the service industry.
Well looking at all the comments above. I have to say this… If the waiter/waitress boss paid them what they should you would not have to tip. Food mark up at most places is 300%, so why don’t wait staff get paid properly? Another thing that makes me mad is to find out that the wait staff have to tip out. If I give you a tip it is intended for you. These are the reasons I am glad that I live in Europe. most of the time a tip is not expected and when you do tip you are remembered on your next visit.
Stop tipping servers for bad service! YOU are the reason my server is a jerk when I go out for an anniversary dinner. Because you still tipped him when he was rude to you, so now he’s rude to me still expecting a tip. Instead, tip 0 to jerk servers, and tip double to the few good ones. You will improve the restaurant and the server.
Also, don’t believe the lie that paying the server is somehow your responsibility. The restaurant management would love for you to believe that you are responsible for paying their salaries out- that’s ridiculous. They need to pay their people. Two eggs and a slice of bacon does not really cost $9, but they’ll claim labor is over 40% of that $9. If you work as a server and accept a job for $3.75 an hour + tips, you have a commission based system where your ability to not-be-a-punk offers the chance to make good money. Either be nice and make good money, or get a different job.
Well first off the waitress should be makeing atleast minimum wage NOT waitress pay. Then they get tipped off of that. I think its tottal BS that they get paid $3.00 and have to get tips. ITS A TIP a thing u give some1 for doing a good job. So if they get paid Minimum wage and you give them a tip that to me is considered a tip…. If they get $3.00 a hour and you give them a tip ..That to me should not be called a tip but more like a paycheck
Tips are a bonus if someone does a good job. Do you reward your child if they have been bad? NO you discipline them. Do you reward someone at work if they did a bad job? NO they get fired. Do you reward someone who was rude, forgot to serve you for an hour, messed up what you ordered? NO.
Tips are not required, they are a reward for GOOD service.
It does suck though that america pays servers $3.00 an hour for their job. They should not have to rely on rewards for their livelyhood.
Noway will I leave a tip for bad service, and you should not either.
Generally I tip this way:
20% or better for great service
15% for normal service
10% for bad service
0% for rudeness by the server
*None of my tips are affected by the kitchen
I used to be a cook in a bar & grill and I understand that servers do rely upon the tip to make ends meet. A large effect of the Tip system is that the server has to work for their tip. If the do a bad job they get a bad tip and vise-versa. Plain and simple
Reading a few of these comments it seems that some of the servers believe/feel that the customer should conform to the server and accept what happens to them. This is not true. The service industry is purely based on customer service. You can’t get around that. So if you are a server and you aren’t so good at customer service you shouldn’t just expect that you will make the same as someone who is awesome at customer service. All industries are affected by customer service and the perception the customer has on them. In fact the customer’s perception is only getting more and more focus because it can make or break a company. The thing is the customer isn’t always right but they are the one giving you money. You should do your best to learn what type of person they are and cater to their needs. Then as a server you should be getting a lot better tips.
Tipping should be banned in the US. Why don’t the restaurants/services just pay a fair wage to the staff.
I’m Australian and I visit the US frequently and there is nothing more annoying that this petty form of extortion for every basic transaction.
I’m paying for a meal which I expect to arrive within a reasonable time and to be edible and I can assure you that the quality of food and service in Asia and Australia (where there is no institutionalized tipped) is far superior than in the US.
It is simply begging by stealth and it has so ingrained American society it becomes a real disincentive to vacation there.
I’m so with you on this, icepick!
I live in Europe. Same deal – fair pay here for waitstaff.
Tipping is great – its a good way to incentivize good service.
However, its become an entitlement issue with tip-creep. it used to be 15%, now its 20%.
For any waiter on this forum: fuck you if you expect 20%. You’re a self-entitled american prick who doesn’t understand that being a waiter outside of a michelin restaurant is a menial unskilled job.
If you say “try it for a day” – I have. I also worked in grocery stores as a bag boy on my feet for 8 hour shifts. It takes no brains and only physical effort to be a waiter. Want more money? study engineering. or law. or become a machine-operator. Get over your entitled ass.
Is 20% not a bit much? Or do waiters in the U.S. only serve 1 table at the time. Otherwise, if you serve only 3 tables, with an average of $50 per table in an hour, you would make like $30 an hour on tips.
3. I am a waitress, and you should always tip at least 15%. If you do not, the server is PAYING TO SERVE YOU. 99% of the time they have to tip out to other people in the restaurant (bartenders, hosts, bussers, food runners, managers, etc.) so by not tipping them, they are paying for you to sit there and eat your meal. Also, what a lot of people don’t realize is that it may not be the servers fault, kitchens/chefs mess up orders a lot of the time.
NOT MY PROBLEM. your payment method your wage amounts and the agreements you make with your fellow employees IS NOT MY PROBLEM OR MY CONCERN.
Just like what my boss pays me is not your concern or problem.
Here is my rant from digg
Your guys logic is really screwed up. Here is how you tip.
YOU DON’T. EVER. NEVER give a tip……
unless you WANT TO.
a tip is not pay. a tip is not a wage (which is why it should be illegal to tax it and illegal to count it as income to validate less than minimum wage pay which is pure THEFT)
a tip is a GIFT a present from ME to YOU the server if I damned well feel like it.
You don’t tip for service. you don’t tip for decent service. you don’t tip for normal as expected service.
you tip for EXCEPTIONAL service above and beyond. that is what a tip is for.
When 5 or 6 of us enter and we never have to ask for refills and plates are taken away promptly and the server has to really hustle THAT is exceptional service.
TIPS ARE A GIFT a PRESENT. that is it. they are not required not mandatory (I walk out of any place with “mandatory” gratuity who the HELL are you to tell me I MUST TIP)
its NOT MY GOD DAMNED JOB TO PAY YOUR SERVERS.
this disgusting practice this OUTRIGHT CRIMINAL practice we have of paying servers LESS than minimum wage is disgusting and uncivilized and IT IS THEFT.
IF you agree to do a job for $100. as your doing that job joe smoe random customer says hey nice job like your smile here is a $20 tip.
When it comes time to pay you I say ok we agreed to $100 but you got a $20 tip so I am only going to pay you $80 and I am going to STEAL that $20 tip right out of your pocket and “give it back to you” as part of your pay so I can pay you less.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE HERE FOLKS?
that person just STOLE $20 right out of your pocket no different than putting a GUN to your head and saying give me $20.
and then using that as part of your pay.
how is this not a CRIME?
pay the god damned servers fairly. tips are GIFTS not WAGES and you don’t just give a gift to ANYONE.
I feel for servers not being paid properly and I can not recall one time NOT tipping (been fortunate to never get an ass for a server) but IT IS NOT MY JOB IT IS NOT MY DUTY.
and it is NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY TO PAY YOU FOR YOUR JOB.
My question is: what kind of a weakling character feels GUILTED into tipping?
Do you tip the person bringing you your food at Carl’s Jr.?
Yes , Yes , Yes… tip on to go orders. Especially when the restaurant is busy. We servers go out of our way to prepare your to go order on time . Most of the time were already super busy with many tables. More work goes into putting a to go order together than you think. Depending on the restaurant of course.
I think taking tipping advice from waiters is unwise.
I tip 15% for GOOD or better service in a decent restaurant. I’ll tip 20% for EXCELLENT or better service in finer restaurants, but I expect more for my money. I’ll tip a lot less for either if service is under par.
Now, the quandary: I tip based on overall experience, which is, unfortunately, not always about the waiter. For example, I’ve had incredibly bad service from the folks who are supposed to seat you (specifically I still have pretty strong recollections of my third anniversary, reservation for 6pm, finally got seated at about 7:15 (they weren’t even busy, just incompetent), got seated out in the middle of nowhere, and after 20 more minutes I finally went out and tracked down a waiter.
Not the waiters fault, but still, horrible experience, and that reflected pretty strongly in my tip. Yeah, you could say complain to the manager, however I know a lot of managers that just don’t care, are fine with telling you how sorry they are and how terrible that is, and forgetting you even existed five minutes later. My only real vote is with my wallet, and, well, the waiter takes the hit for that. I’ve tried explaining the situation to the waiter, but none of them are particularly happy with “dude, I’d tip you but…”
I’d be interested in hearing a better solution.
I’m sorry but people who complain about tipping always seem cheap to me. On a fifty dollar tab, the difference between 15 and 20 percent is $2.50. Just hook a server up with an extra 3 bucks. The difference probably makes the server’s day just a tad better. As for bad service, leave 2-3 dollars, regardless of tab. That will cover any tip out the server pays, and make sure the you alert the manager to your issues.
Icepick is right.
Why aren’t the employers paying the employees?
The customer pays the restaurant (or any establishment which provides service to a customer) which should be responsible for the entire experience the customer receives. Both goods and services. The restaurant then pays its employees.
Simple as that.
As a customer, I know exactly how much money will be leaving my pocket. If I don’t like what the restaurant provides me I will go elsewhere.
if restaruants paid min. wage for servers your salad would be $12.95
As a long time veteran of the restaurant industry, I can assure all commentators in this column of several things:
1. If you leave less than 8%, your server is paying for part of your meal–this is function of income tax: all tipped restaurant employees must pay income tax, based on the idea that restaurant employees make an average of 15% tips of sales, and have to tip out people they work with. I completely understand if you don’t like tipping; if that is your case, please vote to change this law. This is damaging to people who do not earn minimum wage as a restaurant employee.
2. “Tips” is not an acronym. If it were, it would actually spell “teps.” Please simply Google ensure vs. insure.
3. I hope that everyone who has commented understands that waiting tables can be a very easy job, and it can also be a very difficult job. I work in a restaurant where there is an amount of expertise that is necessary; but my job is no different than the server working at Chili’s or Outback. If you work in this industry, you understand, if you don’t, you don’t. I have no expectations of my guests, yet they (often) expect the world from me. I am the face of the restaurant at their table; my successes at the table are the restaurants’, as are the failures.
I do not live in the U.S., but go there now and then. To leave a tip is obvious to me IF I received good service. To receive the service itself is not enough, I already pay a higher price for the food at the restaurant than if I would cook it at home. To get someone to cook and then serve it to me is included in the higher price. The problem in the U.S. as I see it is that the system puts all the responsibility on the waitress or waiter. Tipping should never be self-evident, tips must be earned. To calculate percent feels not right, leave so much as you think it was worth, If it is a penny or $200 depends entirely on the level of service and your experience on the restaurant. I would easily be able to give 100% if I got the same feeling as when we were kids on Christmas Eve.
I can’t believe how stupid some of you are. You know why food at restaurants is affordable? It is because the companies get to pay us next to nothing for all the hours we work, if they gave us all wages guess what else goes up? You guessed it that chicken Alfredo you love so much just shot up to from $12 to $20 buck. If you cant leave a tip for someone who waits on you hand and food go fuck yourself, we don’t want your business anyway. I’m paying my way through college by being a server. I don’t even get a pay-check. Therefore I depend on the tips you give me to get by.
Always Remember, Don’t Fuck with People who Handle YOUR Food. (Yes It happens)
Mike,
I hope I’m never unlucky enough to dine at the place YOU work! I’d like my salad WITHOUT the spit or worse an asshole like yourself would serve up.
I went to a buffet restauraunt once, and the waitress left OTHER PEOPLE’S dishes on my table. She came back once during the entire meal and still did not pick up the plates. No tip left for her.
Use caution when sending a message with your ‘small’ tips.
I left a dollar once as a ‘signal’ of bad service and left with my family. The waitress actually chased us down outside yelling, crying and screaming waving the dollar in the air, ran to me at my car and threw it at me. It did happen to be mothers day, but the service and experience was just horrible. “I’m overworked, it was so busy, I did my best..”
Reaffirming.
Also it was the first time I prepared myself to punch out a female.
Yes ,tipping is a very personal matter that takes in a lot of different aspects of a persons mindset. Quite often it’s more about the “tipper” than the “tippee” and their relationship with money. Keep an eye on your friends (and your hand on your wallet) next time you dine out together and test their limits. Watch their reactions when you raise the bar when tipping.
I like Donald Trump’s approach by tipping prior to getting service . Test this out as well and see the results. A happier waiter that will make sure you get everything you need. More wine please!
What a terribly written article… Vague, no real explanation, and somewhat confused from the tone of your writing. You need lessons on how to write an article. Total waste of time reading this…
An important point – leaving just a penny for a tip is a HUGE insult. I would personally never leave a penny for a server, but if you absolutely must get your point across strongly, please ensure you only ever do this for the absolute worst service. If the restaurant was empty, and your waiter sat around chatting with coworkers rather than serving you for half an hour, and then the waiter proceeded to be extremely rude to you for the entire meal, then MAYBE a penny would be justified, but I can see very few circumstances where such a massive insult is justified. If you’re unhappy, you’re better off leaving no tip than a tip that essentially translates to a slap across the face.
Also, make sure it’s actually the SERVICE that was the problem. If you’re in a packed restaurant and there’s only two staff working trying to provide adequate service to 30 tables, and service is therefore slow, speak to the management, don’t punish your exhausted server. If your food comes out overcooked or incorrect (ie. you ordered a rare steak and you got well done, or something similar), yes, it is possible your server put the order in wrong, but it’s also possible the kitchen simply made a mistake, which is also not your server’s fault. If you point out the error, your tip should be based more on how the server handles the error, ie. a good tip if they handle the problem efficiently, graciously, and with apologies, and poor tip if they’re rude, slow, or act like you’re inconveniencing them.
And for those who don’t think they should have to tip at all, regardless of service, take it up with the governing body that decided that servers should be paid well below minimum wage and their wages should be supplemented by tips. Servers rely on tips to raise the pitiful salary they’re paid up to the level of minimum wage.