Is it just me or does this topic start even more arguements and louder arguements then even abortion?

I'm of the opinion that tipping is mandatory at least in the US. I dont say you have to tip much for bad service etc... but the cost of someone bringing you your food and drinks is not included in the cost of the food. IMO anytime a waiter serves you you should leave them SOMETHING.

Ooooo..ok..let's get this started then.

I almost always leave a tip...like 96.538% of the time. :-P I refuse to leave a tip when the service was horrible and it was due to a lazy server. NOT because they were busy busting their ass to get all their tables attended to, but because I waited an extra 5-10 mins after my order was up and my waitress was busy texting on her phone or chit chatting at the servers' table. If I'm at a restaurant for an hour and the server doesn't come back to see if I need anything else after she finally serves me my food...then she isn't getting a tip.

I understand that most waiters/waitresses don't even receive minimum wage because it's expected that they'll make up the difference in tips. I take what I see into consideration. If it's obvious that they're just having a bad day or are completely swamped, I'm still gonna leave them a tip. But if they're just being lazy or rude...then they apparently don't want to make that tip.

btw..I'm gonna say that I, personally, would never cut it as a waitress. I'm not that much of a ppl person anymore and refuse to walk around with a fake plastered on smile while kissing ppl's asses.

Tipping is NEAR mandatory, but not actually mandatory. I've left minimal or no tip just a couple times, and they were for extremely bad service. Situations where the restaurant was actually not busy at all and the server still couldn't get his/her fluff together enough to put out at least mediocre service.

However, another thing to consider is, if for some reason you need beyond what would be normal service, and you get it, you should be tipping far above the 15-20% threshold. For instance, if you're a really picky eater and custom order everything, or if you're in a hurry and ask your server to get everything in as quickly as possible.

actually, more often than not restaurants charge a 15% gratuity for parties over like.. 4

so yeah when you take your wife and two kids to dinner and you leave a $10 tip cause the waitress was great and took care of everything you needed before you even needed it and the bill was $50 bucks.. that 20% you paid for a tip was actually 35%

It's not 4. At most places it's 8 or more

Yeah most places I've seen are 8 or more. Some places I've seen 5 or more though.

i don't have to worry about it, i'm not allowed to smoke in restaurants.

It does seem like the cost of the waiters/waitresses should be in the food; and if they give bad service, I will give my vote of dissatisfaction by going to a different establishment.

meh place i work at wont even split tips with cooks. I'd be careful who you tip ;)

And I tip based on quality of service

Tipping is not mandatory at all. Dont care where you are. If they give good service - Service that shows that they take pride in their job and went above and beyond to make sure you - the customer - had a good time then hell yes.. Im gonna tip them. If they dont bother - They dont deserve it.

Damn Americans, set up a working minimum wage and tipping would actually be tipping.

General acceptable services, I'll leave 10% +/-, rounding it up to nearest full dollar. Because I'm lazy and I hate coins, and I like my credit card bill to be neater-er.

But sometimes, you get this waiter who you know is just begging for tips, even though his service isn't bad, it's just that he's TRYING too hard, that it freaking annoys you that he comes by every 5 minutes, with a fake smile, then I don't tip him.

I tip for real service, not fake service.

But if you frequent a place, it's probably best if you get to know the manager / owner then to know the waiter, then the service will always be good~


I once got a waiter fired for 'trying too hard' by sneaking me a pop for free. I had quit drinking soft drinks a long time ago, so I didn't drink it, and at the end, he added it to the bill. The manager wasn't very happy, I wasn't very happy, and turns out, the waiter wasn't very happy after too.



Back to my point of having a valid minimum wage, by having a salary that's enough to survive with, these waiters and waitresses will be themselves, the lazy ones won't get tipped, the fake ones won't get tipped, and the real, the good ones, will get tipped well.


I once tipped $100 for a $20 lunch because the waitress I knew was regularly good, and I overheard that her baby was sick and she couldn't afford the medicine.


Oh and by the way, if your tipping, tip cash TO the waiter. Most restaurants now will take a % of those tip on creditcard bills and keep themselves, a % to the kitchen, and then the rest SHARED amongst all the waiters.

You make it sound like giving some to the kitchen is bad -_-

And thats quite nice of you with the tip

isn't it required that if the waiter/waitress doesn't make minimum wage with their hourly wage + tips that the employer makes up the difference? i thot i read that somewhere on one of those rights of employee thingys at my workplace.

i fluffing HATE tipping delivery boys.

in a restaurant/bar i tip very well. (long as the service doesn't suck) usually 20-25%. My wife and I both worked restaurants for a time so I know how it can suck.

but if all u do is walk from your car to my door, wtf should i have to tip you? the company should be paying you. Also, (at least in canada) waiters/waitresses dont even make min wage in most places because they get tipped. which is horse fluff cause that makes your tip part of the wage and not a tip and that is retarded. But delivery boys/girls get a standard wage for that kinda job (usually min where I'm from)

forgotten, 10% isn't the general accepted tip, its 15% u cheap ass lol :P

oh, and as a guy that worked in a kitchen for a few years that didn't tip out to the kitchen, i have to say that not tipping the people that MAKE and HANDLE your food, but tipping the one that walks it to you is just retarded. buy my view is bias. ><

but Pop...you were being paid at least minimum wage working in the kitchen...The wait staff is not. The money that pays your wages is included in the price of the food.

If a server were to receive a particularly nice tip and decided to share it with the ppl that cooked it...then that's great, but I certainly don't believe it should be expected or required...and YES..I've worked in food service before...I was a KP cook...I prepared all the food that the line cooks used. I was never tipped. If I did my job well...I would get a raise. *shrug*

your GM was a nicer man then mine.
i got a "raise" when the government raised min wage lol

because according to him the restaurant hardly made any $$ paying for labor at min wage. which is funny, cause i moved to Alberta, (got a diff factory job) but the company i use to work for paid OVER 2x as much for the same job and still turned a profit. managers just get bonuses for keeping labor cost down.

not saying kitchen staff HAVE to be tipped, cause at least u make a min wage, where as servers are far far under that. just seems backwards that the ppl who make and handle and ensure your food is how u want, and cooked enough ect, dont get tipped but the person who walks it to you does lol

I see where you're coming from with that, but at least ya didn't have to directly deal with all the asshole customers. I've said it before..and I'll say it again...I wouldn't be able to cut it as a server..I just don't have the patience anymore lol

It sucks that your boss was such a tightwad. I always hated it when I would receive like a 10-15 cent raise...seriously? A WHOLE extra $6 a week if I'm busting my ass for you for 40hrs a week? Thanks for that slap in the face...Guess it was better than nothing at all though..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsR9Uq_TF1Q

i was once given 5c raise , and i told him to keep it cause he needed it more then i did lol

also, this is true, customers suck ass and are retarded 95% of the time.
my wife was a server for a while, then a manager for a long time. the stupidity of the common person is overwhelming

why exactly are y'all complaining about having to work for diddly-squat, when you don't have to?

I no longer work for diddly-squat...I make 3x what I was making as a corrections officer.

but she is still very handy with the cuffs

and a little too quick to apply the blind fold IMO

and really what is the deal with the body cavity search every time I come visit? I mean hey I like searching your body cavity, but when I come over for 2 minutes to borrow a cup of sugar I am just looking to get in and get out, if you know what I mean...

and if kemo finds out it could end up costing extra...

You seemed to enjoy the cuffs though, Abbadon :-/ And as for the cavity search...I just couldn't help myself when ya bent over to tie your shoe.

And yes...if Kemo finds this out...he isn't gonna be very happy about the non-payment.

I gave him bushels and named a country in his honor... What else does the guy need??

And thank you by the way for the shoe tying assistance. I had never seen that particular type of knot before.

You're certainly welcome ;-)

I don't think those bushels are gonna make his jeep payment..

LOL hmm so I guess I better try and get as many "sugar" trips in as possible before he finds out and then hide for a while...

Oddly enough I am good with that. ;)

heh ;-P

back when I was in school, I was a delivery guy for Jimmy johns, I made $7 an hour and probably burned atleast $20 in gas a shift, not to mention the added ware and tear on my car. What you said in that post is just ignorant. Ur paying for a service, ur too last to go get the food urself and someone brings it to you. The place I worked at didn't charge a delivery fee really, all they did was round everything up to the nearest $.50 to make change easier.

So tell me again why you shouldn't tip the guy bring you ur food a few bucks?

Also, I worked the campus area, and while I had some good times and was given more bong hits and shots and beers than I can remember, students are generally really shifty tippers unless they are wasted. Also hospital staff are fluffing crap tippers for some reason, I took a $150 order to em once and got a $2 tip, WTF is that fluff?

If you work a tip job, ur outlook will change on the matter

Just like I tell all my potential clients when the subject of tipping whoever their DJ happens to be - gratuity isn't required, but it is very much appreciated if they feel it is earned.

If the guy does a bang up job, and they have a little bit better time at their event because he went the extra mile for them, about 75% of our clients feel it's appropriate. But they still get paid a good wage for the other 25%.