From The Onion:

[weswilson]

10-Percent Tip Teaches Waitress Valuable Lesson

"If he hadn't withheld that 50 cents, I'd make these same mistakes over and over for the rest of my career," she said. "Even at my age, it's amazing to think you can still learn something new about a low-paying, menial-labor job."

Comments

[theinnocence.livejournal.com]

i never understood the concept of paying a waiter a percentage of the price of the food you ate. it makes no sense. it should be the amount of service they give, not the price of the food. and having a % minimum? wtf is that about? i can understand wanting to pay more for better service, but why stop at a minimum if they were shitty? i know they have to make aliving as well, but they should make it because they are good at what they do, not cause they just oughtta get something. if they oughtta just get something, might as well raise their min pay!

this is coming from somebody who used to work in a resturaunt.

[weswilson]

The requirements for working at a restaurant go up as the price of the items go up. While the waitress at Denny's only has to know what side items each dish may get, the waitress at Emeril's has to know what wine goes with which food, what ingredients are in every dish, and how to make a fabulous martini. Additionally, the number of tables a waiter has goes down as the price of hte items go up in order to handle the increased demand that fine-diners require. Paying a straight percentage takes all these things into account.

The reason that there is a "minimum" tip is that waiters don't even get minimum wage. Regardless of whether I got great service, I need to pay for the service that I got. If you are having a large enough problem to where a mimimum tip seems inadequate, you need to ask management for another waiter. Accepting service from someone that you have no intention to pay is not a valid option.

Waiters, for all intents and purposes, are contracted labor. It's is a very good capitalistic model, allowing you to pay for the service you believe that you got. But expecting the house to cover the cost of that contracted labor is not the standard american model right now. YOU pay that contracted labor, directly. Yes, I agree. There should be more income directly derived from the house, but that model isn't going to change any time soon. It's been around for hundreds of years.

[naught.livejournal.com]

In most European countries the tip (19% in Paris for example, 15% in London) is automatically added into your bill - it's the law.

Besides, any one with half a brain wouldn't work in the food industry any ways so they deserve what they get. *runs and hides* ;P

[weswilson]

We automatically add for groups of 8 or more.... well, we CAN... we typically don't. I prefer to give people the chance to be better people. Which is why I've never waited on you.

[slfdstrx.livejournal.com]

I never did work in the industry, and so I just have the greatest appreciation for the work they do. If I get some bad service, I chalk it up to a bad moment/day/whatever. I always leave a good tip regardless, since I haven't been there and don't know what they've had to put up with.

[chris21718.livejournal.com]

I tip well and for me not to give a 20 percent tip, something would have to be really horribly wrong with the server specifically (they'd have to be unfriendly or rude). I don't believe in penalizing a server for something that was the fault of someone in the kitchen. I know that people have bad days and I can often tell when a server is frustrated by things going on. I typically figure 20 percent, then go up to the next amount to make the bill come out to an even dollar, and if the server was really good, or my friend, or possessing some other attribute making me really like them, it may go up another dollar or two or to the 30 or 40 percent range.

[babytndrluv.livejournal.com]

She was probably just going to buy drugs with it anyway.

[weswilson]

TEH CRAK!

[circlek.livejournal.com]

I get the tipping thing, but there are place I am not sure if I am supposed to tip.

Example: At Sonic, the waitress has to bring my food outside. Do you tip for this? If so, what percent?

Also, now that a lot of restraunts have TO GO areas like Chilis To Go, do you tip the person that walks it out to my car. When I pay with a credit card, there is a space for tip. Do you really have to tip just for them to walk it to the car?

[weswilson]

*Sigh*

Sonic has built their work model on the fact that their car hops get tipped. I'm not happy about that and feel it was an unfair trick. It's not like a pizza guy who has to spend 15 minutes trying to get to a delivery spot... and yet, the hops do get tipped. I don't choose to do so, and I'm not sure I'm not a crappy person for doing that.

To Go? It is not expected, but definitely appreciated. I recommend tipping if you find the service excellent.

[seamusmoon.livejournal.com]

I usually tip at Sonic, but I just leave coins. I figure if they get a 50¢ tip from half their customers they're making much more than the poor slobs at Hardees so they should be happy.

[trampoline-girl.livejournal.com]

The scary thing is, there are probably a lot of folks out there that will read that and say "I don't get it." I have eaten too many times with groups of folks when I went ahead and supplemented their tip because they either were feeling cheap, would not be satisfied with anything less of perfection, punished the waiter for stuff beyond their control, or just couldn't multiply by 0.15.

[chris21718.livejournal.com]

Me too. I've been downright embarassed by what some people I've eaten with have done, by being way too picky or too hard on servers, or by not tipping them if very minor things weren't just right. The worst time of all was a time I was at Wings with a group of 5 other guys. We ate there every week for lunch on Tuesday or Thursday (I forget which). One time when we went, it took 10 or 15 minutes longer than usual for our food to come out. The person next to me left a 0 tip and a note about it. The person diagonally across from me did the same. The person across from me left about half the tip he normally would have. I don't know what the other person did -- I think he tipped normally. The one remaining guy, after the others had been fussing about it for a while, said "Don't you think you're carrying this a little far?" and I'm sure he tipped normally. I left my usual 20 percent or more tip on the credit card, and after all of the others left, I put some extra money on the table because the server could have done nothing to get our food out faster. She couldn't bring it until the kitchen got it done. The money I left brought her tip back to what it normally would have been from the table.

[trampoline-girl.livejournal.com]

Good for you! That was quite generous of you with a group of 6.

[beenabutterfly.livejournal.com]

too too funny!

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

The piece was quite amusing in the Onion's typically sarcastic style, but there were some valuable lessons in there for patrons and servers. Tipping isn't really that complex a concept, and is based solely on service. I wouldn't tip a server less because I waited a long time to get into the restaurant, for example, or because I didn't like the quality of the food; that's not their responsibility. However, if the server's attitude is poor, or they're unresponsive (allowing for the fact that a place can get very busy; I'm a NYC native!), then a reduced tip is quite appropriate.

However, too many people still don't recognize that tipping is an important component of a server's income, and adequate service should be rewarded with at least the standard 15%. Good service should get more (we seldom tip less than 20% for decent service, and sometimes much higher for excellent service and smaller checks).

It's not that complicated, really. If you want to save money, go grocery shopping and cook your own meal. If you want to relax and be served, pay your way.

[dunce-at-large.livejournal.com]

Synchronicity: I immediately copied that piece and took it to work. Of course, there's the classic Reservoir Dogs opening scene about tipping. I've delivered to dopers waiting for their next deal to come in to pay for $40 worth of pizza (nearly a week's worth of home-cooked food) that will last them just a single night.
Baristas and counter servers get my spare change (never pennies or nickles). Maybe a buck if they are harried. For full service tablecloth restaurants, 20% automatically at least, unless the server is nasty or neglectful.
Delivery drivers: 'bout three bucks, unless it's a big order, or a holiday or inclemement weather. Shivering in icy rain sucks, algthough I would rather suffer nature's insults than some penny-ante crackhead and/or redneck yahoo any day.
I love to cook, and I miss waiting tables (with a classy clientele). I have, of late, been offered both drugs and sex for pizza. I remain convinved that I have been better off keeping the damn pizzas.