What's your tipping policy?

[albertGQ]

Originally posted by Super-Rye@Feb 8 2005, 02:49 AM
Well if I'm at work, and have a few beers, afterwork of course, and my bill comes to like $6, I'll just give them a $10, they can keep the 4, I don't need no toonie or loonie, I hate change.

I would never pay $10 for a beer. Give me my toonie!

[Table 5]

for that toonie, i know of a place which could get you two more rounds!

[I-Hate-Hulse]

At divey Asian restaurants I never tip more than 10% as it's really not expected. Half the time the service is an inverse function to the quality of food, so anything more is not really warranted.

Like Super Rye, I hate change and will try and use whatever change is available to avoid getting a handful back. Once or twice, I''ve mistaken one of those idiotic tip jars at a fast food place for a "Spare a Penny" container and tried to take a few cents out. Got a nasty reprimand from the cashier from that one.

I can't believe my Starbucks "barista" still wants a tip after charging me $5 for a cup of coffee that cost 50 cents to make. It's like when Cowboy's waitresses still want a tip after a $5 dollar of Bud - to me it's already built in!

I'm one part cheap yes, but to me tips are earned and a simple off off transaction like handing me a coffee / beer isn't worthy of a "tip" for service. Sit down dinners and table service is a different beast all together. 15-20% is my norm there.

[Wookie]

Originally posted by I-Hate-Hulse@Feb 8 2005, 10:51 AM
At divey Asian restaurants I never tip more than 10% as it's really not expected. Half the time the service is an inverse function to the quality of food, so anything more is not really warranted.

Like Super Rye, I hate change and will try and use whatever change is available to avoid getting a handful back. Once or twice, I''ve mistaken one of those idiotic tip jars at a fast food place for a "Spare a Penny" container and tried to take a few cents out. Got a nasty reprimand from the cashier from that one.

I can't believe my Starbucks "barista" still wants a tip after charging me $5 for a cup of coffee that cost 50 cents to make. It's like when Cowboy's waitresses still want a tip after a $5 dollar of Bud - to me it's already built in!

I'm one part cheap yes, but to me tips are earned and a simple off off transaction like handing me a coffee / beer isn't worthy of a "tip" for service. Sit down dinners and table service is a different beast all together. 15-20% is my norm there.

yeah, starting a tab at a bar usually has benifits to avoid the annoying staff expecting a 25 - 50% tip on opening a bottle, although whenever I start a tab it usually ends up costing me more on drinks, or pain the next day..

[Bleeding Red]

Now, for the other side.

I waited tables for 10 years - in a corporate family restaurant and in a sole-proprietorship mom & pop joint.

I like to think that I was good at it and gave reasonable service. There were a few 0 tippers in my time, but like most jobs, there were good days and bad ones.

I think this board reflects most of the public. 10-15% is the norm for regular, kind, service. Also Know that your 10-15% tip is appreciated.

Leaving a penny or a nickel or a dime is rude & petty. If the service was bad, leave nothing and say the service was bad. Here's an idea, if the service starts out bad, try letting your waiter in on it, he/she may try to improve quickly. (I have returned the nuckel to patrons hands saying that they need the money more than I do. Also, I have had patrons who will put a stack of toonies on the table and inform me that they will take away a toonie with each error or minute that they felt I was slow. I told them to keep their money too.)

Remember, your waiter is not responsible for the wait outside for a seat or delays in the kitchen. If the place is busy it busy and you will have to wait. If you want seperate bills, ask before hand. Many places do not have the technology to separate a bill after the order has been put through. In many places the waiter has to tip the cook, busser, dishwasher, bartender, & host (mostly in these places the tip is pooled) so your 10% goes a long way. People who serve booze get paid less than minimum wage because they get tips. In Ontario the min wage is $6.85 for waiters, $7.15 for everyone else.

There is no excuse for rude service!!! (If I could to this job day in and day out with a smile, so can you!) no tip and let the manager in on it!

I leave you with a few more thoughts. 1- Try picturing yourself in the job. 2- remember, they handle your food! I have never spit in anyones food or drink, but I have seen others do it! and wait staff remember - we remember who the good tippers were and who stiffed us.

[Neeper]

Originally posted by CaramonLS@Feb 8 2005, 12:34 AM
FYI guys, most resteraunts like Earls, Joey's all require their waiters/waitresses to tip out 10% of the bill (no matter what you tip) directly to the other areas like bar, hostesses, mgmt, cooks. Just keep that in mind when you give tips.

Sometimes the servers have negitive nights, but its not too often.

Sorry, but that is wrong! 10% off their total ring out? Are you nuts?

It's usually, 3% to kitchen, 1% to support staff (including bartenders), some place you can tip the bartender directly if he's been pouring tons of drink for you. So that's 4% tipped out of GROSS SALES, not tips they received. If they make only 10% that whole day, they take home 6% of their gross sales. So basically if you stiff a server, it would cost them 4% to serve you.

[Gravitykillr]

Originally posted by Bleeding Red@Feb 8 2005, 10:16 AM

Leaving a penny or a nickel or a dime is rude & petty. If the service was bad, leave nothing and say the service was bad.

that's the idea though let them know they did a bad job, I was at a bar once where the waitress made me and my friends 35min. before she even brough us menu's because she was busy doing shots with some older (40-60) at the bar, do you think me telling her that her service sucked would change anything? I don't think so.

[Bleeding Red]

Originally posted by Gravitykillr+Feb 8 2005, 05:47 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Gravitykillr @ Feb 8 2005, 05:47 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Bleeding Red@Feb 8 2005, 10:16 AM

Leaving a penny or a nickel or a dime is rude & petty. If the service was bad, leave nothing and say the service was bad.

that's the idea though let them know they did a bad job, I was at a bar once where the waitress made me and my friends 35min. before she even brough us menu's because she was busy doing shots with some older (40-60) at the bar, do you think me telling her that her service sucked would change anything? I don't think so. [/b][/quote]
You leave a penny - she just thinks you are a cheap jerk.
You complain to the manager you may get a new server and a freebie.

You may think that leaving a bad tip will communicate to the server that they gave bad service. However, the server just sees it as you being a cheap jerk - not as him/her being a bad waiter. People who do not leave a tip come and go, the jerk who just left a penny will be remembered and may find additions to his meal next time.

If you get bad service, fine, it happens a lot, leave nothing.

[AaronSJ]

Originally posted by Gravitykillr@Feb 8 2005, 12:47 PM
do you think me telling her that her service sucked would change anything? I don't think so.

A friend of mine who is a "career waitress" recently told me that many customers actually write comments on their bill, especially if they use a credit card. These comments will be seen by the manager (or shift manager) as they tally up their credit sales.

Since I pay for almost everything on credit cards, I've started putting comments on most of my bills -- usually something like "Great Service". However, a few times I've left some feedback on the bill in lieu of a tip, with the hopes that both the manager and the server will understand was I was less-than-satisfied.

Anyone else do this?

[Bleeding Red]

Originally posted by AaronSJ+Feb 8 2005, 06:12 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AaronSJ @ Feb 8 2005, 06:12 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Gravitykillr@Feb 8 2005, 12:47 PM
do you think me telling her that her service sucked would change anything? I don't think so.

A friend of mine who is a "career waitress" recently told me that many customers actually write comments on their bill, especially if they use a credit card. These comments will be seen by the manager (or shift manager) as they tally up their credit sales.

Since I pay for almost everything on credit cards, I've started putting comments on most of my bills -- usually something like "Great Service". However, a few times I've left some feedback on the bill in lieu of a tip, with the hopes that both the manager and the server will understand was I was less-than-satisfied.

Anyone else do this? [/b][/quote]
I always thought that no one read comment cards, until my manager pulled me aside for both a good and bad comment card, on the same night.

Good idea.

[Super-Rye]

Originally posted by albertGQ+Feb 8 2005, 09:18 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (albertGQ @ Feb 8 2005, 09:18 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Super-Rye@Feb 8 2005, 02:49 AM
Well if I'm at work, and have a few beers, afterwork of course, and my bill comes to like $6, I'll just give them a $10, they can keep the 4, I don't need no toonie or loonie, I hate change.

I would never pay $10 for a beer. Give me my toonie! [/b][/quote]
A beer? That's like 2 or 3. If I'm getting A beer I'll take a 5er back thank you very much.

[albertGQ]

Originally posted by Super-Rye+Feb 8 2005, 12:35 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Super-Rye @ Feb 8 2005, 12:35 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

I would never pay $10 for a beer. Give me my toonie!

A beer? That's like 2 or 3. If I'm getting A beer I'll take a 5er back thank you very much. [/b][/quote]
Its kind of hard to get a fiver back when a beer is $5.75!!!!

[V]

Originally posted by albertGQ+Feb 8 2005, 01:07 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (albertGQ @ Feb 8 2005, 01:07 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

A beer? That's like 2 or 3. If I'm getting A beer I'll take a 5er back thank you very much.

Its kind of hard to get a fiver back when a beer is $5.75!!!! [/b][/quote]
You know, a beer used to be 4 bucks. So I'd leave a fiver for the waitress. Then it went up to 4.25, then 4.50, then 4.75. I keep leaving the fiver and the only one getting stiffed is the waitress. Another example of restaurants screwing their workers and expecting the public to compensate for it.

[IGGYRULES]

Originally posted by Gravitykillr@Feb 8 2005, 07:46 AM
depends on the service

Delivery of Pizza - always a buck or two unless they are really quick then it's like $4 or $5

Restaraunt - depends on the service, good to great service - $7-15 depending on the bill, descent server $5-$7, bad service $0, horrible service 1 penny just because then they know they didn't serve you well atleast if you tip nothing they'll say your cheap but tip'em a penny and they'll swear about ya for hours

So you tip the pizza guy a buck or two but you tip the waiter/waitress$5-$7. I honestly believe the poor bas**rd that has to pay for fuel, insurance, maintenance... , deal with slippery roads/sidewalks, aggressive dogs, extremely cold temperatures waiting at the door... deserves more than the waiter/waitress. I would much rather work in a resteraunt than deliver pizza's.

[CaramonLS]

I think the Sadest thing is that the people who get the most in tip money are the ones that deserve it the least. Bartenders!

They can easily pull 500 a night, on a fri or sat.