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The tipping thread - Page 2

post #31 of 40
9/24/06 at 11:58pm
Tipping is part of a person's income, and an unfair business practice on the part of the restaurants towards people who for the most part, have no power to do anything about it. If the restaurant is bad, if the food is bad, if the restaurant has the policy of not paying the staff well and they have to depend on tips, this is not the waiter's fault.
i always tip well, and never leave even an obnoxious waiter without a tip, because probably he's obnoxious to me because he has to deal with even more obnoxious people in the back room, his boss, the cooks, who knows, not to mention lots of obnoxious customers who think it makes them "big" to push waiters around.
I tip a larger percentage to people working in places where i know they earn less and work a whole lot more, dealing with people who are, for the most part, not on their best behavior (as they might be ina ritzy place) and can be really awful to the waiters. Not only, but running back and forth with coffee and pie and sandwiches is lots of work, but the coffee and sandwiches and pie don;t cost much, so if they jsut get percentages, they don't earn enough for their efforts. Yeah there;s more turnover, but it still doesn;t add up enough.
Think, always, what would you want if you were working there, all night on your feet running back and forth being yelled at at both ends? Then tip accordingly. Tip as if it were you, or your daughter or son working there. Or your mother or father.
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post #32 of 40
9/25/06 at 8:41am
If the food is bad and the restaurant is bad, it most certainly is the waiter's fault. It is the waiter, after all, who has chosen to work in such a place. If he's a good waiter, then he can work in a better restaurant and get better tips. If he's a bad waiter, then he will remain stuck in bad restaurants and with bad tips. His tips are a reflection of his skill.

At the end of the day, a waiter is a salesperson making commission. If you want to sell well, you have to have confidence in the quality of your product.
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post #33 of 40
9/25/06 at 11:17pm
I find this kind of thinking offensive. Many people have no choice where they work, they may have lots of ability, lots of skill, but no experience so can't yet get the jobs they would like to get (do you really think anyone likes to work in a crappy restaurant?), and also they are probably working their butts off to take care of snobby people who vent their arrogance and frustration for the quality of the restaurant on the weakest link of the chain, the person who has to interface with the customer. Will a lousy restaurant give a good recommendation to a waiter who wants to better himself to go somewhere else? Probably not, since they probably have a hard time finding people to work for them, or just don't care. If a restaurant owner is a jerk, he won;t care about the quality of his food, or the well-being of the people who work for him - just one more way of cutting corners. Take it out on the guys in the back room, not on the person who has to deal with them all the time.
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post #34 of 40
9/27/06 at 9:20am
Unless a person is a slave, he does have a choice about where he works. References? Who cares. Why rely on someone else to push you up through the system? Offer to show your skill to a good restaurant and, if you're good, they'll be glad to have you. Why reward behavior that keeps a crappy restaurant in business? Good waiters should ditch such places and leave them to their misery.
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post #35 of 40
9/27/06 at 11:55pm
Well, I guess you live in a different world than i live in, miost people i know do NOT have much choice where they work, are stuck in bad jobs and feel lucky to get them. I know very qualified young people with degrees who can't get work, or paid work, or work that will give them any kind of independence. Most of the waiters are at the bottom of the food chain (so to speak) and have even less choice. The situation here in italy is particularly bad, but friends of mine in the states have told me stories of similar conditions - hard-working people hired for 39 hours a week so they don;t have to be paid benefits, fired without reason and new ones hired, even if they made money for the company, just to avoid having to raise their pay or pay them through a brief slow period. People with money and security already, CAN certainly pick and choose, but many can't.
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post #36 of 40
9/28/06 at 8:42am
We're getting off the "tipping" aspect, but here goes. People do have choice, but they're often too afraid to exercise it. From your comments, you know people who are afraid to leave rotten jobs because then they think they'll have nothing. My grandfather used to say, "A kick in the pants is often a kick in the right direction." Were these people to have the bravery to leave the rotten job, a better one could be had. While in the rotten job, one has little hope of finding something better. Mejor solo que mal acompañado type of idea. If people would leave the rotten jobs, then those employers would learn their lesson because they wouldn't have the employees to abuse.

I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said that you cannot have both freedom and security. Anyway, good luck to those you know who are suffering in rotten jobs and may they one day have the bravery to leave them.
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post #37 of 40
9/28/06 at 10:03am
as i say, you live in a very different world. Where i live there is a major unemployment problem. I know people who are unable to get a paying job and will take one after another non-paying job just to gather work experience so they eventually can get an underpayed job. Sure, plenty of people are afraid to leave bad jobs, where the job market is good. Surelyit's much better in the states than here. But the number if people i know on both sides of the ocean who have looked and looked and remained unemployed is startling. And they were willing to take anything, though of course, they would have liked something good. Who wouldn't.
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post #38 of 40
10/5/06 at 4:51pm
Almost all waitstaff can expect 20% out of me almost always. Unless they just really suck. Then I cut it down as I see fit for the offense(s). And if they sit down next to me to take my order I will politely tell them not to do that. I will tip them more if they do not do that. If they don't listen then to heck with them. I'll stiff them after I eat.
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post #39 of 40
10/31/06 at 11:58am
I usually tip arounmd 25-30% because I know what its like to be a server, no matter what the restuarant is. Sometimes if they are really fantastic or it looks like they have a bad day I will tip them like 35-40%.

I used to be a server, I know how it feels when you get a bad tip !
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post #40 of 40
11/2/06 at 1:48pm
I'm in Sacramento, CA- just east of Jock. Here the "standard" is 15% but is optional unless you have a large group (8 or more) then the restaurants add it to the bill. But I tip based on service- if you get a server that is attentive and pleasant- of course, they have earned a higher tip!
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