Any restaurant servers here? Question ~

When Jake and I go to a restaurant and we dont have cash on us, we pay via debit and add the tip onto the check - I was wondering, do the servers actually get the money when you add the tip onto the check? I just wanted to make sure that they are actually getting it. If not, I will feel so guilty!

Gee Kellye, I've never thought about that. I just assume where it says TIP that our server would get it........hummmmmmmm

Yessma'am they do! Been a waitress!

Whew! Glad to hear it!

Originally Posted by Kiwideus

When Jake and I go to a restaurant and we dont have cash on us, we pay via debit and add the tip onto the check - I was wondering, do the servers actually get the money when you add the tip onto the check? I just wanted to make sure that they are actually getting it. If not, I will feel so guilty!

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Well I can not speak for all Restaurants..... But I work at an AUTHENTIC mexican restaurant her in Missouri... and I mean AUTHENTIC not TEX_MEX.
The waiters get ALL of their hard earned tips. I work as hostess and my husband is the manager and we are who close the restaurant in the night and we add up each waiters tips from credit or debit cards and pay them their total. None less. We also made little boxes w/ each waiters numbers labeled on one box each and say if the customer doesnt have change and they come to me for change but then they dont feel like walking all the way back to leave it on their table... the customers can just leave it in their waiters box.
Hope this helps you feel a little better about leaving tips on your debit card. But like I said .... I cant speak for all restaurants.
But it does hurt my feelings when people ask me if their waiter will get the tip that they have left... it makes me feel like they think I would steal it or something. But I also understand.

At the restaurant i worked in, i wasnt allowed to keep the tip

Originally Posted by fwan

At the restaurant i worked in, i wasnt allowed to keep the tip

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AWWW. thats sad. Also greedy on their part. And unfair to you and the other waiters.

there were no other waiters,
WHen i started my boss taught me the stuff and then she got really sick and couldnt work
For 2 and a half weeks, i was the waitress, it was only me, the chef in the kitchen and the kitchen helper.
I ended up just leaving coz it was too much of my time, i didnt have any free time except to sleep. I left on bad terms but they were putting pressure on me and lowering my wage.... they were really mean and unfair!
But now each time i go to a restaurant i always have to check everything and im alot more qualified and trained than some waiters around here..

But anyway i worked in a 4 star restaurant and the restaurants around my area are about 2 star

Originally Posted by fwan

there were no other waiters,
WHen i started my boss taught me the stuff and then she got really sick and couldnt work
For 2 and a half weeks, i was the waitress, it was only me, the chef in the kitchen and the kitchen helper.
I ended up just leaving coz it was too much of my time, i didnt have any free time except to sleep. I left on bad terms but they were putting pressure on me and lowering my wage.... they were really mean and unfair!
But now each time i go to a restaurant i always have to check everything and im alot more qualified and trained than some waiters around here..

But anyway i worked in a 4 star restaurant and the restaurants around my area are about 2 star

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Aww I would say that was a horrible expirience!!!! Our guys (waiters) work alot. 6 days a week from 10 am till 10 pm (with a 2 hour break at lunch). But they are all happy. That is what is important. If there ever comes a time when they are not happy... they know they can let us know w/o getting "in trouble". Great communication and happiness in every worker is part of what makes a great restaurant!! ohh also honesty!!!

Yep, this is how it works at the Olive Garden at least- the credit tip is automatically reported. It shows up on a separtate section of our reports that we turn in at the end of the night. If we have credit card tips the system subtracts that amount from the cash amount we owe the store. So If I have $300 on me from my cash sales and I made $30 in cash tips and $30 in credit tips I will turn in $240.

Big-Cat-Fan, your waiters get a two hour lunch break?? We get no lunch break, even if we work a 12 hour shift, which is often. I've heard of other OG's that do offer lunch break, but unfortunately mine does not. Those guys are lucky!

I have worked in many restaurants in the past. I have always received the credit/debit tips I was due; however, one restaurant paid every 2 weeks and credit card tips were paid at that time. For some servers it can be a hardship if most of your tables use a card. If you are concerned about that, you always pay for the meal with the card and leave a cash tip. When I do that I write "cash tip" in the space for the tip and bring the total down.

BTW, ALWAYS total your own ticket. If you were to get a dishonest server, it is too easy for them to add a number in front of the tip you wrote in.

i;ve worked as a server at several places and always got the tips!

Most servers aren't fans of credit card tips because they have to declare all of that money as income.

We don't tip here in NZ it's not 'expected' like it is in the States.

I was a casino cafe cashier and the servers put their orders in, using a "swipe" card. When I rang up their checks and a tip was added to the credit card total, it was saved into the computer. The servers could have me swipe their card through my register, get a tip total and either opt to take the cash or leave it as a kind of "savings account". They could pull their tips at any time.

With our restaurant, the customer can not put the tip charge on to his card, so my servers lose out on tips, but as a brand (Brewers Fayre) we do not get many tips compared to other brands owned by the same Company (Beefeater, Out & Out etc) We think it is because the customer has to come up to the till point to order, and therefore pays before the meal is served.
My team pool the tips they do get, and have a night out together every 6 months

Angie