Tipping at restaraunts

If you receive really bad service at a restaraunt, do you leave a smaller tip or none at all? I tend to leave at least something unless the service is abysmally bad.

It rarely happens, but if the service is terrible, yes definitely reduce the tip or don't leave one. Sometimes I think a smaller tip might tend to get the point across more than no tip. I usually tip 15% (more if it is a waitress that we have regularly that is giving phenominal service).

I always leave something. Even if it's just a penny. I also think that leaving a smaller tip gets the point across more than no tip.

Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild

I always leave something. Even if it's just a penny. I also think that leaving a smaller tip gets the point across more than no tip.

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someone once told me if you leave nothing wait staff assume it has been stolen or another waitress/waiter has grabbed it off the table

i usually tip 20% for regular or good service. for bad service i drop it down to 10% and leave a note explaining why. if it's REALLY horrible I speak up during the meal so they have a chance to make things better. sometiems the service is bad because of a factor you don't know ( like the chef has ust set fire to the kitchen) and it's fair to let the management try to make you happy by telling them.

I'll leave a smaller tip if the service is bad..I would only leave nothing if the server was actually rude..Sometimes they are really busy and I wouldn't not leave a tip because of that...

The past two times we have went out we have gotten new servers. These are servers who have really BAD timing. Example appetizers should come out at least 10-15 minutes before the main course. The last two times it's been maybe 5 minutes. We hadn't finished the appetizers yet! And the other night it took the guy 45 minutes to clear off used dishes. We were running out of room! In each instance I did leave a tip but it was only about 8%.

Little things like this make more of an impression for me. Of course the steaks have to be done right (Ours were not) They were really nice though. I think in both instances there had been a recent change in management or staff.

I usually tip 5-20% depending on the service. If it is really bad though then I probably won't leave a tip. If I no one comes around to at least ask how the food is at least 3 times while I'm there then I probably won't tip.

If its poor service we'll call the manager over. Then we leave enough tip if there is a busser and expediter on staff (someone else cleaned the table and someone else brought the food) since I know they get a portion of the servers tip.

Tell a manager if you get bad service and leave it to your discretion as to the tip. We've only not tipped once. If the service is terrible we tell a manager and leave 10%. I was a server for three years, so I try to notice things that make servers job heck. I've had two complaints against me- one for food taking over an hour- which I tried so hard to make happen. I couldn't get any support from management- the kitchen ran out of lasagna and didn't tell anyone. I couldn't even get a manager to come to the table. It was so frustrating, but there was nothing I could do. I got a horrible note, no tip, and a call to corporate. I almost quit. The other time I got sat 8 tables at the same time- this is at the Olive Garden which has a three table max and where the work a server does is substantially more than at most restaurants. The first table complained because it took ten minutes to get their salad and breadsticks. Try getting orders, drinks, preparing salads and sticks, ringing in, stacking plates, and setting up for 20 people with separate checks spread out in 8 tables in under 10 minutes!

I always leave a tip because I have been a server and the mistakes are not always the servers fault.

I will always tip far more then 15% if the food was good, and the service was nice.
If I get treated as if I'm interrupting their day then I either hardly tip or leave nothing at all. Am not a demanding person as far as what I want, I just exepct to be treated decently and my food cooked the way I ordered it. That's all nothing more. I'm not very picky as to how long it takes either, (unless there's hardly anyone in there and my salad is taking 45 mintues, then I ask about it, but not rudely) I know how hard it is to work in a restaurant and I think everyone should be required to work in either fast food for 2 months at least, or some type of restaurant of 2 months so they can understand how the server feels when someone is a donkeys butt about things. I bet then they'd have more respect for restaurant workers after that.

Kind of an amusing story along those lines:

This was related to me by an acquaintance. One of his friends (who was a paramedic) received not only poor service at a restaraunt, but the waitress was rude to him. He had a pair of shears on him (that medical personnel use to cut away clothing, or something to that effect). He actually cut a penny in half and left the waitress a half-cent tip. She followed him out into the parking lot and threw it at him

Originally Posted by Slater

Kind of an amusing story along those lines:

This was related to me by an acquaintance. One of his friends (who was a paramedic) received not only poor service at a restaraunt, but the waitress was rude to him. He had a pair of shears on him (that medical personnel use to cut away clothing, or something to that effect). He actually cut a penny in half and left the waitress a half-cent tip. She followed him out into the parking lot and threw it at him

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Now that's funny! Mean, but funny!

Originally Posted by esrgirl

Tell a manager if you get bad service and leave it to your discretion as to the tip. We've only not tipped once. If the service is terrible we tell a manager and leave 10%. I was a server for three years, so I try to notice things that make servers job heck. I've had two complaints against me- one for food taking over an hour- which I tried so hard to make happen. I couldn't get any support from management- the kitchen ran out of lasagna and didn't tell anyone. I couldn't even get a manager to come to the table. It was so frustrating, but there was nothing I could do. I got a horrible note, no tip, and a call to corporate. I almost quit. The other time I got sat 8 tables at the same time- this is at the Olive Garden which has a three table max and where the work a server does is substantially more than at most restaurants. The first table complained because it took ten minutes to get their salad and breadsticks. Try getting orders, drinks, preparing salads and sticks, ringing in, stacking plates, and setting up for 20 people with separate checks spread out in 8 tables in under 10 minutes!

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I so hear you!! I'm a waitress at an Olive Garden right now part time. We do have a lot more to do than servers at most restaurants... people take advantage of the salad and breadsticks thing! Last night, I had someone get five salads... which is fine, but a real pain in the butt when I get triple sat and I'm trying o take care of my other tables too.

I think people should tip according to their service. While I always do my best when I'm at work, and try not to be rude when I'm rushed and such, sometimes my best isn't good enough and I realize that. I try to say it will be a couple minutes when I know my mental to do list has a lot of things on it... I try not to leave my customers in limbo wondering if I forgot about them.

If I'm really busy, sometimes I can't refill drinks exactly on time or the little things they ask for in a moment's notice. In cases like that, I think people should see that I'm busy and not hold it against me too much. Last night, someone took my table's food from the kitchen to the wrong table, and so I had to ask to have it remade. Their dinners ended up coming out 30 minutes after they got there. I guess they thought I was lying about the food. I felt awful, but I did get them a discount and free desserts (that's all this particular manager would go for).. but they still left me nothing!

Most nights I make about 20 percent, but there are some nights when I get a lot of people who just don't seem to know how to tip... we're getting a lot of giftcards lately, and people seem to think they only need to tip off the portion they paid in cash or with their credit card. Or teenagers, who think it's a buffet and leave two bucks on the table after being running my butt off. The clientele in my area isn't the best.

We only make $2.13 an hour... we work for tips. I'd say 15% is for average service, 20% for good service, more if it's exceptional. When someone tips 10% (when I know I provided at least decent service) I always wonder if it's just because they don't have the money and have this unwritten rule that they don't give out more than 5 dollars for tips. In the area I work, it wouldn't surprise me. I think people overanalyze how much they tip anyway.... no one needs to "send me a message." I know when things didn't come out on time or when I didn't get to a refill fast enough... a lot of things are out of my control, and I wish people would realize that. I don't expect 20% all the time, but I think it's silly to only give 10% just because the server was busy or the kitchen messed up something.


If you are taking your time at the table (thus not allowing other people to come in), tip a little more... if you got only salad and breadsticks, tip a little more, especially if you got a few refills.

I like being a waitress... but I think a lot of people just don't understand how complicated it is to make things work. A lot has to do with the kitchen staff. Most things aren't the server's fault unless they just plain forgot something.

I was a server for a few years, and I'll tell you one thing, if you leave a small tip or nothing, the server will assume you are just cheap. If you recieve bad service or are not happy with your food, which 9 times out of ten is NOT the servers fault, then TELL YOUR SERVER or SPEAK TO A MANAGER. Those are the only 2 ways that you can get the situation fixed. Like Godiva said, we know when we are busy and cannot give the kind of service we would like to and most good servers will apologize to that effect, but seriously, you are not our only table, there are a lot of circumstances that are beyond our control, getting triple sat or the kitchen running out of something are 2 good examples. Next time your server doesn't swoop down with a refill as soon as you need one, look around, I'm willing to bet she'll run by with a tray full of food, or is taking an order at another table. Unless she is standing off to the side twirling her hair, she is doing the very best she can, and unless you have ever been a server, you will not understand how difficult that job really is. There is a special level of hell reserved for those folks who tip badly for no reason and are pain in the bootay customers I swear there is, it was in Dante's Inferno

My son works as a waiter at a fairly nice restaurant. His checks are always for 0.00. Servers work for tips. If you aren't getting the service you think you should have look around a bit. If the servers are all off chatting and playing with their cell phones (this really happened to us, only time we didn't tip anything and we talked to management about it afterwards), you have a real complaint. If the server is running around full speed because they have been given too many tables at one time, then try to keep that in mind.

We tip, but if the service is lousy, we tip no more than $2.00. The most we tipped I think was $3.00 or $4.00. No more than that! If we go to a resturant that has a buffet and we get the buffet we leave about a $2.00 tip because we got the food ourselves.

If i get bad service, i wont tip.

if i get good service i tip standard.

if i get exceptional service i tip big.

nothing bothers me more than a server treating me like i am botherng their day, and its happened several times. Or, when your waiting..and waiting..and waiting... and you turn and see your sever standing..and chatting with another one...

I am lax on food times, (unless i get my food cold!) and refills because i do understand sometimes things happen. but when i am in a fairly empty resturant..and someone is dilly dalying chatting it up instead of taking my order... IMO i find that unacceptable.

I walk into a restaurant expecting to leave a 15-20% tip, depending whether I got adequate service or something more. If it's less than adequate but not by much, I'll round down from 15%. If it's exceptional, I'll round up from 20%. And this is the normal range of experience.

It is exceedingly rare -- I think I could probably count the instances on one hand -- that service has been really abysmal, and in that case, it will already be clear to the waitperson that I am not pleased (because there will have been at least one conversation on the subject), when I leave a buck. It's unlikely that I would return to a place where that scenario happens, because I won't be leaving just a buck if there's been any hope of having my displeasure addressed to my satisfaction.