Tipping is a Privilege, Not a right. (rant)

I tip generously (20%) when the service is good and give nothing (0%) when the service is bad. I have only had one bad server who did not get a penny and I told her exactly why she did not get any tip. She "assumed" my hubby was paying and waited on him like he was royalty. She served each of my courses without removing any of my dirty dishes although she did remove hubby's. When she brought the check to my hubby he immediately passed it to me and said thanks for treating honey. You should have seen her face.

Originally Posted by otto

I don't think she is being greedy. Waitresses are very poorly paid, and they rely on tips to make a living. And yes, I tip the waitress at the buffet restaurant. Her job is just as hard as anyone else's. Bus boys, too, usually get a portion of the waitresses tips.

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She is paid just as much as I was paid serving crappy customers in a retail position and accepting any type of tip would have cost me my job. Buffet waitresses are not any more pooly paid than any other minimum wage job.

And we did tell her why she didnt get at tip.

From what I understand the only difference in waitressing is that they dont get as much back in taxes.

If the server is actually acting as a waitress in some capacity - whether or not they bring your food but do the beverages, take your payment etc., then yes, they get a tip.

I would bet dollars to donuts she is getting the usual waitress wage of $2.35/hr. Feel free to tip less for less work.

What's wrong with being generous anyway? I get so annoyed at these threads that treat generousity as a disease. I tip all the time and never complain about it. I consider it part of the bill in whatever capacity it is and gladly do it. I dont get not tipping where tipping is customary - it screams cheap and selfish to me.

We don't tip over here, seems to make life much simpler

Our servers are paid a usual wage ($17 and up depending on age), never $2-3 an hour I'm astounded that's even legal.

Ok folks... here is the answer to the question from Peggy Post, a director of the Emily Post Institute, the authority on proper etiquette.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food...-tipping-oct01

So it would appear that if your buffet cost $30 then a $3 tip would be the proper amount to leave.

It also states that if the service is not good you can leave less and if the service is great, leave more.

Originally Posted by Nekomania

The bottom line is, Tipping is a Privilege that you earn, not a Right that you are entitled to.

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I totally agree!

I've been ticked off for the longest time when it comes to taxi drivers expecting a tip!

Based on my experience most cab drivers simply stop the car to pick you up and stop the car to drop you off. While talking on their cell phones or playing with their booking computer during the entire trip. In my experience few will get out and hold the door or help you with your bags. The odd one might put a bag into the trunk but at the end of the trip they simply load up your arms with packages/bags and don't help you to the door with them.

IMHO that type of service does not warrant a tip!! Yet it's those same drivers that nickle and dime you to death by short changing you when you pay them.

Now if a driver helps me with my door and/or packages, and actually does something to assist me, then yes, I'll tip. And when I tip I generally tip close to 25% of the fare at times.

I know some people will say "but they are providing you a service." My response to that is so is a bus driver, a pilot and a train conductor but you don't tip those people from simply stopping the vehicle to pick you up and drop you off and not doing anything for you other than that. IMHO if a cab driver doesn't do anything but stop the car, there is no reason to tip them.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I know some people will say "but they are providing you a service." My response to that is so is a bus driver, a pilot and a train conductor but you don't tip those people from simply stopping the vehicle to pick you up and drop you off and not doing anything for you other than that. IMHO if a cab driver doesn't do anything but stop the car, there is no reason to tip them.

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But the bus driver doesn't have to pay for a license to drive the bus, doesn't need to pay for insurance, doesn't need to pay the cab company a portion of his daily take. The bus driver goes to work, gets on the bus, does a shift and gets a pretty good pay cheque and goes home. Comparing a bus driver to a taxi is like comparing apples and oranges.

As for taxi drivers, I've never had a taxi in my life that didn't help me if I had packages or baggage.

Ok, now if the restaruant is normally a buffett and the servers are paid minimum wage then I don't think a tip is necessary (but very much appreciated for good service). When I was waitressing our restaruant wasn't a buffet except at lunch but we still got paid waitressing pay of $2.45/hr (I think...around there) whether we were working the lunch shift or dinner shift. And, I'll tell you we ran our butts off! With trying to keep the tables clear, refilling drinks, getting extra napkins, cleaning up after people that bring their 2 yr old in and try to make him eat pizza (which of course ended up on the floor, along with salad bar items that got stomped into the carpet), helping the cooks keep the buffet stocked, keeping the salad bar stocked, etc...it was exhausting! Time flew by though, let me tell you!

Oh, and the giving the change in $1.00 bills is an old waitress trick. Otherwise, we might not have gotten one if we gave change in a flat $10 or $5 if it was a small tab and 15% was only $2 or $3. That's not asking for a tip, it's just being helpful.

My most memorable tip was from a little old lady in her 70's or 80's. She came in by herself, ordered water, and spent 10 minutes trying to decide what she wanted on her personal pan pizza. She finally decided on "just cheese". She was the sweetest little thing and stayed for a good long time just watching the people coming and going. It was a pretty busy lunch but I checked back with her when I could just to make sure everything was ok. When she finally came up to pay she used a credit card. Now, most people will just through a dollar or two on for a tip. She figured it up to the penny what 15% would be, so I got $0.42. The she proceeded to gush to my manager about what a good waitress I was! I would have been insulted if it wasn't so sweet! lol. I figure she was probably treating herself to something special and after all, she DID leave 15%.

Originally Posted by CDubbie

What's wrong with being generous anyway? I get so annoyed at these threads that treat generousity as a disease. I tip all the time and never complain about it. I consider it part of the bill in whatever capacity it is and gladly do it. I dont get not tipping where tipping is customary - it screams cheap and selfish to me.

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There is nothing wrong with being generous in response to good service, but I dont reward my employees for being rude or doing substandard work and I wont reward waitstaff for it either

Originally Posted by Yosemite

As for taxi drivers, I've never had a taxi in my life that didn't help me if I had packages or baggage.

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Lucky you.

I tend to only leave a dollar or two at a buffet if the service was good. I think that most of those places pay minimum wage, so it's not "required". At a regular restaurant I always tip 20% plus rounded up to the nearest dollar (if the tip should be $2.23 I'd leave $3.00) unless the service was bad....and then I still leave a tip (20% rounded down) if it's someplace we frequent.

When I was waiting tables I'd get really frustrated when I would be attentive and polite and people would leave me a crappy tip or no tip at all. That being said I would have NEVER asked a customer why I wasn't tipped.

I don't tip because it's not common practice here in NZ. Our Minimum wage is NZ$12.50 an hour (my pay rate, yay!) - which is like $9.10 US. I've never had a tip and I work as a waitress.

I whole heartedly agree with the original poster. People complain at me all the time when I tell them my opinion about tipping, also. I just find it so annoying when people expect tips when they gave lousy service. A tip is what you deserve, not something I have to give you.

Seeing this thread back up at the top reminded me of something that happened a few years back

We were eating at a local restaurant, one of my faves at the time so we went there regularly, the service and food is always amazing there but this day, we had gone earlier, maybe 3-4pm. It wasnt busy and the waitress had three tables, ours, another couple and a couple with a baby. The waitress was awful, she made comments to other staff about people bringing babies in with them, loud enough that I could hear so the couple with the baby certainly could. We seen our food sitting at the pass through and had to get her attention to get the food before it went cold.

I am not sure what the other couple's issue with her was, but when she brought the biill and asked if he would like his change in change, he said no and asked for a piece of paper. On that he wrote her tip

- try being polite to customers and actually working if you want a tip you can spend

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

- try being polite to customers and actually working if you want a tip you can spend

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Good for him!! I wish I had those kinds of guts sometimes, but most of the time I let rudeness slide because you don't really know what kind of day they are having or what kind of person they really are.



Anyways, you reminded me of one time at Denny's (we used to frequent there in Oregon) and how we always joked with one waitress. We had to pay our bill with our debit card and they always leave a space that says TIP where you can enter the amount of money you want charged.

Being winter time we wrote "Don't Eat Yellow Snow" and returned it to her.

We all had a good laugh at that, even though it was kinda lame.


And we left the last few singles we had on the table for her.

It would certainly take alot for me NOT to tip at all.

If the service is subpar, then I will likely leave less than 15%, but if it is good service, I leave more than 15%.

Not tipping at all, it would have to be a pretty offensive server.

I tip often, and generously. Job or not, I want good service, and I have no doubt I get it because of my tipping practices. I dont have to wait in lineups at a busy local restaurant, and Im not that much of a regular. I get pizza and chinese delivered to me too hot to eat, in half the time they quote me, and I know the drivers come here first when out on multiple deliveries. Taxis arrive at my house before I get downstairs to meet them. This is all for the whopping generosity of $2 I usually give these people. It is a token, but they will recognize you are acknowledging them as more than your servant, and thus will serve you better. In restaurants (buffet included) Ill withhold a tip only if something really bad happened (massive waits with no apology is a big one for me) - because while tipping is a privilege, eating out and having someone else serve on you - regardless of how much work they do or you feel they do - is also a privilege and not a right. I think if you do not want to tip service providers, you should not use their service, pure and simple. I even give our animal room tech a card with a coffee gift card in it a couple times a yr (Christmas, Lab animal Tech week) - and it is very easy to see that our cages are cleaned a little more frequently, I am notified a little more quickly about things, I am let "in the loop" with animal facility issues etc.
So I will always tip, and tip well, because the only thing it has ever gotten me is better service. Not tipping, is a good way to burn a bridge with someone/someplace that you might actually want to go back to, and thus youll never get the level of service you think you deserve.
Bad service sucks, but so do bad customers, and playing the chicken or the egg argument, only makes everyone lose out - especially yourself where you should be enjoying yourself.

The difference is, the two times I have not tipped, the circumstances were such that I would never go back there. Both times I complained and was given giftcards to apologise, and both went to the shelter to use as prizes because they had put me off their restaurants that badly.

Any wait person who depends on tips needs to remember one thing.

If your establishment is paying you $2.50/hour, and you expect to make $10+/hr, you need to remember that you are not working for the establishment, you're working for the customer who is going to tip you. That means that if the customer makes a reasonable request, you fulfill it. If the customer complains about the food, you take it back...and you watch it, to be sure it doesn't get adulterated. If the customer has a reasonable complaint, you bring the manager and you support the customer. YOU are the customer's representative, and you would like him to pay you for that.

I've been in restaurants where I had real problems with the kitchen, but the wait person helped me out. They got a tip, in spite of the bad experience. And I've seen the problem only get worse when the wait person copped an attitude. They didn't get a tip. They're lucky I paid the bill when it came.

Me and my hubbys opinion on this whole tipping situation is:

1. Tips are earned and not required.
2. The amount of the tip is based off of quality of service not amount of the bill. What does the kid at the burger place do any different that the girl at the steak place? They both bring my plate and drink and take it away. SAME JOB SAME TIP!!! If I am spending $20 on a plate of food versus $5, why should the person who HAPPENED to get the job at the fancier place get more of a tip? They SHOULDN'T!
3. If you choose not to leave a tip based off service, they shouldn't complain, they should fix their service!

And I've been a waitress and I am speaking from experience, I am not just being rude.

That's my opinion.