Counter Tipping

[Buff]

There is a chinese food restaurant in Lethbridge that won't let you tip on pickups. Whenever I pay with a debit card they'll quickly bypass the tip option before they give it to me to accept the amount and enter my pin.

[DropIt]

I hate that places like Booster Juice and Bad Ass Jacks have counter tipping?

Its like tipping for McDonalds.....
I try to give them the most resounding 'NO TIP' button press I figure you can on a debit machine

[Engine09]

I was actually wondering about tipping on pickup orders recently, I stop by Ruan Thai so often that everyone calls me by name.

At first I wasn't tipping since I'm driving down, walking up to pay and pick up my food but I forgot about the kitchen staff. Always tack on $3-$4 now.

[Jason14h]

I hate that places like Booster Juice and Bad Ass Jacks have counter tipping?

Its like tipping for McDonalds.....

The thing is, they get paid like crap, and in most cases are working their butts off!

I actually don't mind throwing in my change <$1.00 for these people. In almost all cases this is less then 5-10%, but the extra 15$ each person may get at the end of the day would be well worth it for the terrible work of flipping burgers 8 hrs straight as a 16 year old!

[Starfishy]

I like the "old school" Aussie/NZ way of tipping. This still occurs for the most part in small towns and places where tourism isn't big in NZ, and about 15 years ago was common place even in Auckland. Since then, tipping tourists have corrupted this system. As mentioned by Ducay above, Aussie and NZ still have an "almost" no tipping system.

No tipping. The restaurant manager (usually owner) is also the greeter/maitre d. It is his job to greet patrons on the way in and would ALWAYS have a little chat with the patrons on the way out. "How was your service?", "How was the food?", "Did you notice the new painting above the bar?" etc...

Unlike here where we pay all waitresses the same, in NZ they used to all be paid very differently. Some waitresses would be paid more than double others, if they had been there a long time and the managers knew they were doing an exceptional job.

One of the main reasons this works better than the North American system is because you don't have a waitress dedicating more time to larger tables in an attempt to garner a larger tip. That means that when my wife and I go for a nice dinner just the two of us we won't be ignored because we are sitting beside a table of 16 that is going to generate a huge tip because they don't realize that the 8% tip is not already included in the bill.

Waitresses should be paid for how good they are at there job. They shouldn't be punished if they get 3 straight tables of seniors that tip in 50 cent pieces. They should not be rewarded for landing the table of 4 drunk business men who want to impress there buddies by tipping big.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by DropIt

I hate that places like Booster Juice and Bad Ass Jacks have counter tipping?

Its like tipping for McDonalds.....
I try to give them the most resounding 'NO TIP' button press I figure you can on a debit machine

Please tell me you actually say "No tip!" out loud while you press the button.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Do you guys tip on the price before tax or the price including tax?

0-2x the GST for poor to adequate service.
3x the GST for standard service
4 - 5x the GST for really great service

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

0-2x the GST for poor to adequate service.
3x the GST for standard service
4 - 5x the GST for really great service

This for restaurants

$2-5 for haircuts (only because my barber is a sweet older lady)


$0 for everyone else unless I get spectacular service somewhere, or if work is footing the bill.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Do you guys tip for haircuts? I've been getting my hair buzzed the last couple months and I refuse to tip on a $12 haircut that takes them 6 minutes to do.

Ya I do. Haircut's $14, usually I'll just throw him a $20 and tell him to just give me a loonie back. May be a little much, but he loves me now, its a walk in place and I barely ever have to wait if he's working.

What I hate is places like Booster Juice having the tip option. When I'm using debit and it comes up I always scoff(usually out loud) and skip it.
EDIT: I see DropIt said the same thing earlier in this thread. Haha even the exact same business as an example. Weird.

[IliketoPuck]

Having served at Earl's for two years while going to university, I can tell you that there is alot that goes on behind the scenes that people who haven't worked in the restraunt business most likely don't understand.

- The rumor about tip out on take out is completely true, and it's the same for every single $$ that the server rings through. In our case the tip out was about 5.5%, which meant that if you only tipped 5-6% on your bill, your server got the priviledge of paying for you to eat at the restaurant.

- Bad service can come from a variety of different points. I will be the first to admit that I wasn't the greatest server in the world, and yes I did occasionally screw up orders and miss things, but I would usually try to do my best to make up for the mistake, over the course of the meal. (free drinks, free dessert, 10% off of the bill etc..). If it was my fault I would own up to it and try to make your experience as best as possible. However sometimes the service gets screwed up by something the server can't control (Kitchen, poor seating by the hostess, etc.) not to mention if you were a dick, you got poor service.

- I don't know if you guys are aware, but restaurant shifts are not like a normal job. You work 5 hours on, get an 90 minutes - 2 hours off, and then get to work another 5 hour shift. If you were a closing server like I was, then you would have to be running around sometimes without even the 90 minute break, for 10 hours straight. Lets just say that if you happened to be expecting amazing service after I had been on the job for 8.5 hours non stop with 10 tables, you came to the wrong restaurant.

The money can be great, but it can also be one of the most draining jobs you can do. So let's be honest, if you are ordering takeout from a restaurant, you can afford the 5-6% tip. Open up the vaults!

If service is poor, I agree don't tip. But be considerate and look around, sometimes if your server has 10 tables, you are lucky to get more than 2 minutes of face time.

[Ice]

I am not a stingy tipper at all. I base my tip on a number of things, mainly that I'm a fairly picky eater and modify almost any menu item. I feel if my food comes the way I requested, my server and the cook did a really good job and deserve to be tipped for that. I also try to keep in mind how long I tie up one of their tables. I went to ESPN Zone before a concert at Staples last week with some friends. Two were late and we had monopolized that table for almost three hours. I'm sure he would've rather turned that table around one or two more times while we were there, but kept refilling our drinks (sodas, so not even racking up a bigger bill) and never tried to rush us out of there. His tip was 50% of our bill. I think if you linger at a table, you should be prepared to increase your tip. As long as your sitting there after you finish eating, your server is missing the opportunity to serve another group and earn another tip.

When it comes to counter tipping, I almost always ignore it. I am not leaving extra money for someone who scoops ice cream, or making a Subway sandwich. I always tip for delivery, haircuts, and take out. I just can't bring myself to tip for putting a bagel in a bag and giving me an empty cup to fill with diet coke myself. The tip cups have gotten ridiculous. I actually saw tip cup at the local movie theater. Seriously? You charge me 12 bucks for a Diet Coke and popcorn and now you want a tip? Not going to happen.

[IliketoPuck]

I like your view on tipping ^, and I agree completely with the table turnover point.

[You Need a Thneed]

Tipping is a reward for good service. Cooks and the like should get paid from the cost of whatever it is you bought. So, I never tip when picking up. I don't tip for haricuts, but then again, I do my own haircuts now.

Counter tipping when the server is watching is a littel nerveracking, but to be honest, it should be more nerveracking for the server.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Tipping is a reward for good service. Cooks and the like should get paid from the cost of whatever it is you bought. So, I never tip when picking up. I don't tip for haricuts, but then again, I do my own haircuts now.

Counter tipping when the server is watching is a littel nerveracking, but to be honest, it should be more nerveracking for the server.

What cooks, bartenders, hostesses' should get paid for, and how they are actually compensated is completely different. The reality of the restaurant business is that the server takes the brunt of any dissatisfactions from the customer, and has to pay the kitchen, bar staff, hostess, leader etc, regardless of if they don't get tipped. So say the hostess seats you when I have a full section, and the kitchen screwed up my order for one of my tables, and the bar staff messed up the drinks. Well it's damage control time for that table, and guess what you are sitting their P/O'd because you aren't getting served, when in reality you shouldn't have been seated at all. After all is said an done, two tables leave pissed at their server for poor service, when the server has nothing to do with the end outcome. And guess what? The only person that pays for the screw ups is the server, because the kitchen, bar, etc. still get the exact same % no matter how badly they fata the server.

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

In our case the tip out was about 5.5%, which meant that if you only tipped 5-6% on your bill, your server got the priviledge of paying for you to eat at the restaurant.

- Bad service can come from a variety of different points.

You're one of the experienced one, here's the dilemma I face. If it's the fault of the kitchen: cold food, not fully cooked, etc is there a way I can ensure that you - as my server who was prompt, ensured my order was fixed, alerted the manager, maybe got my order comped - gets the tip and it doesn't end up with going to the kitchen?

Similarly, if the server is unfriendly, forgetful, and downright horrible but the food is good can I get the full tip to the kitchen? (I guess in the poor service scenario I just tip 5%)

I'd really like some sort of tip process where I can direct my tip to the people I want.

[Ruttiger]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

The thing is, they get paid like crap, and in most cases are working their butts off!

I actually don't mind throwing in my change <$1.00 for these people. In almost all cases this is less then 5-10%, but the extra 15$ each person may get at the end of the day would be well worth it for the terrible work of flipping burgers 8 hrs straight as a 16 year old!

So do something else - no-one is putting a gun to these kids' head telling them they have no alternatives. I worked as a lifeguard at that age - more responsibility and more standards to keep resulted in a higher paycheque, with no need or expectation for a tip.

[IliketoPuck]

Sadly no, your tip is broken down regardless of who screws up your experience.

My suggestion would be to always try to tip in cash, as that gives the server the biggest leeway in compensating for situations like you mentioned. In most places, if you pay by debit or credit, the restaurant will take extra off from the server as a fee for the credit/debit useage.....server's get hosed in my opinion. The best way is to simply tip in cash, if the kitchen was particularly good during service, I would kick them an extra couple bucks from my pocket. If they were bad, I would keep the money to myself. At the end of the night ideally your server wants a ton of cash tips, and flat credit card/debit card statements, since it makes it easier to tip out etc..

But to be honest, it is an imperfect system, and the reality is that the server is the face of the restaurant, if your service is bad, for whatever reason (kitchen, drinks, poor server, etc.) the only one that pays at the end of the day is the server, everyone else gets their money regardless.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

The thing is, they get paid like crap, and in most cases are working their butts off!

I actually don't mind throwing in my change <$1.00 for these people. In almost all cases this is less then 5-10%, but the extra 15$ each person may get at the end of the day would be well worth it for the terrible work of flipping burgers 8 hrs straight as a 16 year old!

A crappy job with little pay is part of growing up and learning the realities of real life. It's the best incentive for higher education.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

But to be honest, it is an imperfect system, and the reality is that the server is the face of the restaurant, if your service is bad, for whatever reason (kitchen, drinks, poor server, etc.) the only one that pays at the end of the day is the server, everyone else gets their money regardless.

While that's true, a good server can really smooth over those things. A poor one won't really care.

If things are going badly for the bartender or the kitchen for example, being told what's happened, why and what's being done to fix it makes a world of difference. An apology does wonders. Having a server that offers to take things off the bill always helps. If one (or all) of those things happen, I wouldn't kill you on the tip. If none of those happen... well, the kitchen may have had the original screw up but the service sucked so I don't feel at all bad leaving you holding the bag on the kitchen staff's tip out, etc. In fact, now that I know more about the process, it gives me a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by Table 5

A crappy job with little pay is part of growing up and learning the realities of real life. It's the best incentive for higher education.

Yep. Business degree for the win.