OT: Tipping

[Ash]

You know, there was a time when I despised the entire idea of tipping.

My dislike for it was further enforced when I saw "Reservoir Dogs" for the first time iin '92 or '93 and watched as Steve Buscemi's character Mr. Pink refused to throw in a buck in the beginning of that film.
In case any of you haven't seen it or have forgotten, here is a bit of what he said...
(I took this directly from the screenplay)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NICE GUY EDDIE
Whaddaya mean you don't tip?

MR. PINK
I don't believe in it.

NICE GUY EDDIE
You don't believe in tipping?

MR. WHITE
(laughing)
I love this kid, he's a madman,
this guy.

MR. BLUE
Do you have any idea what these
ladies make? They make s**t.

MR. PINK
Don't give me that. She don't
make enough money, she can quit.

NICE GUY EDDIE
I don't even know a Jew who'd have
the balls to say that. So let's
get this straight. You never ever
tip?

MR. PINK
I don't tip because society says I
gotta. I tip when somebody
deserves a tip. When somebody
really puts forth an effort, they
deserve a little something extra.
But this tipping automatically,
that s**t's for the birds. As far
as I'm concerned, they're just
doin their job.

MR. BLUE
Our girl was nice.

MR. PINK
Our girl was okay. She didn't do
anything special.

MR. BLUE
What's something special, take ya
in the back and suck your dick?

They all laugh.

NICE GUY EDDIE
I'd go over twelve percent for
that.

MR. PINK
Look, I ordered coffee. Now we've
been here a long f**kin time, and
she's only filled my cup three
times. When I order coffee, I
want it filled six times.

MR. BLUE
What if she's too busy?

MR. PINK
The words "too busy" shouldn't be
in a waitress's vocabulary.

NICE GUY EDDIE
Excuse me, Mr. Pink, but the last
thing you need is another cup of
coffee.

They all laugh again.

MR. PINK
These ladies aren't starvin to
death. They make minimum wage.
When I worked for minimum wage, I
wasn't lucky enough to have a job
that society deemed tipworthy.

MR. BLUE
So you don't care that they're
counting on your tip to live?

Mr. Pink rubs two of his fingers together.

MR. PINK
Do you know what this is? It's
the world's smallest violin,
playing just for the waitresses.

MR. WHITE
You don't have any idea what
you're talking about. These
people bust their ass. This
is a hard job.

MR. PINK
So's working at McDonald's, but
you don't feel the need to tip
them. They're servin ya food, you
should tip em. But no, society
says tip these guys over here, but
not those guys over there. That's
bulls**t.

MR. WHITE
Waitressing is the number one
occupation for female non-college
graduates in this country. It's
the one job basically any woman
can get, and make a living on.
The reason is because of tips.

MR. PINK
f**k all that.

They all laugh.

MR. PINK
Hey, I'm very sorry that the
government taxes their tips.
That's f**ked up. But that ain't
my fault. it would appear that
waitresses are just one of the
many groups the government f**ks
in the ass on a regular basis.
You show me a paper says the
government shouldn't do that, I'll
sign it. Put it to a vote, I'll
vote for it. But what I won't do
is play ball. And this non-
college bulls**t you're telling
me, I got two words for that:
"Learn to f**kin type." Cause if
you're expecting me to help out
with the rent, you're in for a big
f**kin surprise.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well after reading that you can understand why I was against tipping for so long.

But now as I get older I do realize that these people bust their asses and they do deserve tips.

One exception though was just last night (3-6-04) when we went to Ryan's Steak House.
It is a buffet and I go there all the time with my family.  (I wonder...do any of you guys have Ryan's Steak Houses where you live?)
We usually always get an awesome waitress who is attentive to us and our every need and we always tip her accordingly.

Last night however we had THE WORST waitress ever!

She was unfriendly right from the beginning and she never smiled...not once.
Her appearance was slovenly and unkempt.  
She had countless stains on her clothing.  She herself looked like she hadn't bathed or showered in a couple of days.  (While I do forgive the stains, her physical appearance was no excuse.  If I were her manager I would've sent her home for the night)

She did not appear to be very busy (we observed her standing around a lot talking to co-workers) and it was us who had to constantly flag her down to ask for refills on our drinks or extra plates (these are things that, as a good server, she should've noticed and had them there and ready for us BEFORE we had to ask)...remember in a buffet you have to use a different plate each time you approach the smorgasboard.
When she did bring us our plates she slapped them down onto the table loudly causing all of us to look first at each other and then at her.

We were all thinking, "Whoa!  What's her deal?"

When we asked for the free special warm rolls with the delicious honey butter that comes with them, she put the rolls in their basket down on the table fine enough but when she gave us the butter, she half-assed let the 6 or 7 of them fall out of her hand and when they hit the table they went in various directions causing us all to again look at each other and then to her.  
My dad had to grab one quickly to avoid letting it fall off the table!
She then walked away.

At a buffet, a person is required to use many plates as I stated before.  
I went through 4 of them myself.
My family & I literally had a pile of 8-10 used plates, some with uneaten food still on them stacked up at the corner of the table and there they sat for almost 45 minutes before she happened to notice them and take them away.

Needless to say, this woman DID NOT get a tip.

Halfway through our dinner my mother said, "Our waitress sucks!"
I totally agreed and said to my dad, "Don't you dare give her a tip!"  "She is without a doubt the worst waitress I think we've ever had here and she has done absolutely NOTHING to deserve a tip."

He evidently agreed.
He left no tip for her.

As we all got up to leave, she was cleaning off the table behind us and I noticed her quickly glance around at us.
Her eyes went from us and then down to the table....she was scanning it for some green but she didn't find any and I saw her scowl.

I put my coat on and we all left.

Well, it was a lesson to her I hope.
If you give s**tty service to the point that it becomes part of the dinner conversation of the customers you're serving, you ain't getting a tip!

I was, in the past, a non-tipper but now I do feel the need to tip when I, my friends and/or my family receive excellent service.

Many of my friends work in the service industry and they have firmly convinced me of the need to tip accordingly when it is appropriate.

I am now a good tipper!

Go here for an awesome article on tipping at howstuffworks.com  
http://people.howstuffworks.com/tipping.htm

It is a VERY interesting article and goes into the many aspects of tipping such as who and why we tip and who we shouldn't tip.
Also discussed is how this custom was started in the first place & international tipping customs.
Check it out!


My question for you is this....
Do you believe in tipping and if you do, how much do you give and why do you give it?
Have you ever not tipped?
If not....why not?
Do you believe in Mr. Pink's statements in "Reservoir Dogs"?



Post Edited (03-07-04 07:32)

[The Burgomaster]

I do believe in tipping.  Mr. Pink's analysis was wrong for the following reason:

* Waitresses serve people thoroughout the meal, so they should get tipped.

* Counter workers at McDonald's only take your order and hand it to you, so they should not get tipped.

I am a pretty good tipper.  My base is 20% and I go up or down from there.  If I spend a long time in a restaurant, I tip extra because I'm taking up a table that would normally be generating tips from another group of people.  For instance, for my anniversary last year, my wife and I were in the restairant for almost 4 hours.  I told her at the beginning that it was our anniversary and we intended to have a nice, relaxing dinner from appetizers to salads to main courses to dessert.  The waitress was very attentive and did not rush us.  I gave her a nice tip . . . around 35% I think . . . maybe even a bit more.

I have never given $0 tip . . . I don't think I've ever had a waitress who was that bad.  I have probably given tips as low as 10% for slow, unattentive waitresses.  If I give 15% it usually means "okay, but nothing special."  I give about 18% - 20% for above average service and I'll go over 20% if the waitress is excellent.

I was in Detroit once and I heard a waitress talking about a group of people who had just left the restaurant.  There were about 8 of them and they didn't leave a tip.  She was very upset, nearly crying, asking the other waitresses if they thought she did anything wrong that would have angered the customers.  It was obvious that she was a very pleasant young lady.  I felt bad for her and left her an extra $20 to make up for the deadbeats who didn't tip her.

I believe in tipping because I would not have the patience to be a waiter.  I can't imagine all the aggravation they must have to deal with.  They should be tipped for that.

[Susan]

Rule #1, never eat the rolls they give you at a buffet. These are used so you fill up on rolls and make less trips to the buffet. They save on food and in their pocket. That's why they refill drinks constantly as well. Cheaper to buy soda than steak. but thats' off topic

 I do know waiters/waitresses earn very little - often below minimum wage since they rely heavily on tipping. That's why I also tip around 20%, usually 15-20.  I have certain criteria I judge service on:

1. Speed - where they quick to get my refills or other requests?
2. Attentiveness - Did they notice I was flagging them down or low on a drink? Or that I needed napkins etc etc
3. Quietness - I really hate chatty waiters, particularly when you are in a conversation with someone and they interrupt loudly. I think as a waiter you should notice if there is a conversation and step in and wait a second for you to stop. Also I hate it when they come to your table every 3 minutes to ask "how is everything? Can I get you dessert or blah blah blah". Do it once, slip away quietly. maybe that's just me but I hate the guys named Todd who practically squat in your lap to be your best buddy. Overdoing it makes me want to tip less...because it becomes intrusive
4. Friendliness. They don't have to be my best friend, but I have had many an experience with very rude waiters. Why the hell are you in a customer relations job if you hate customers?

Among things I have had happen with a restaurant worker that I've summoned a manager on:

-  At Ryans steakhouse (which I also love..hehe) A waiter began vaccuming the floor. The whole floor in one area which wasn't dirty. I suspect he was just finding something to do, he began to vacuum directly underneath my table..repeatedly knocking my feet while i'm eating. I'm imagining all these nasty dust particles and debri flying around so I got the manager.

- Again at Ryans, I suspect it WAS the manager who noticed I wanted mashed potatoes. He got on the microphone (mind you this was right after 9-11) and yelled "I have thelma and louise over here holding a GUN TO MY HEAD. They want mashed potatoes or they're going to open fire". Ok that was really inappropriate and half the patrons turned around in horror. I didn't go back for months and when I did - he no longer worked there.

Remember the commercial where the guy said he didn't want mayo on his sandwhich and the waitress scrapes it off on the edge of the table? I had a waitress like that where everything i ordered was on a seperately plate..I swear i had like 10 plates that wouldn't fit on the table. I called her over thinking it was ridiculous and I think they should be put on just 1-2 plates (mind you i also have a sense of humor and wans't rude at all about it). She threw me a nasty look and jerked up each plate one at a time and scraped the contents onto one plate. Oh hell do you didn't just do that in front of me. The manager profusely apologized and said he's had complaints on her before and gave me the meal free.

And yes - there have been a couple occasions where i didn't tip anything. If I have service that was so horrible, tipping only rewards it. I don't do it often - someone really has to do something bad for this. I also overtip, if I have really great service i'll over over 20%...sometiems i'll leave a nice note on the napkin



Post Edited (03-07-04 10:39)

[Neon Noodle]

usually I will tip 15 to 20% - and I make sure to tip well with any trainee that serves me because I know they are hoping everyone will tip them.

However, there was one time where I went with a bunch of coworkers to a Don Pablos (sorry, no Ryan's Steakhouses near me) and we all threw in for the bill. One of the girls with us only had a $20 and her meal (with tip) was $6.00

However, the change that was returned to our table was only $4.00!!!

We did the math over again, and we knew that $10 was missing. When we called the waitress on it, she pulled a $10 from under 5 receipts in her hand and said "Oh, I was wondering why I had this...."

Needless to say, the next time our group had this waitress serve us, we made our tip the spare change and we put it in a random soup bowl so she had to hunt for it.

 Funny thing, she doesn't volunteer to serve us when we go anymore...

[AndyC]

I still like to save the tip for a reward, but almost always tip (at least when going out for a proper sit-down meal). If the service is average, I think 10-12% is fine. If I'm impressed with the service, I give more, and if the service is bad (bad attitude, slow service, mistakes, or a waitress I actually have to go look for) I give nothing.

The excecption would be for a buffet, since all they do is show me to a table and get me a drink. Even then, I might sometimes leave something if I really enjoyed the meal.

The only problem with tips as a reward these days is that a lot of restaurants pool them and distribute them among the entire staff, based on their hours. I suppose this is more fair to the cooks and dishwashers, but it also means the best waitresses aren't getting the reward they've earned.

I'd probably leave bigger tips if I could afford it, but for some of us, just having a night out at a nice restaurant can be enough of a luxury without adding gratuities. I hope waitresses consider that if they think the tip is a little low. I can say that if they do a real bang-up job, we'll go out of our way to leave a good tip.

I wasn't always so thrifty of course. Back when I was, oh, 18 to 21, my friends and I used to be big tippers for any waitress we thought was cute. I can recall one time we threw in a five each, plus whatever pocket change we had, for a meal that wasn't all that expensive. It was just that the waitress was really attractive and very friendly. I don't remember exactly, but the tip had to be more than 50%. We'd even do that at places we weren't likely to return to. Seems pretty stupid in hindsight.

[Brian Ringler]

I usually tip fairly good.  Last week my wife and I didn't leave this guy at Ruby Tuesdays a tip since there were only three table there (early weekday afternoon) and all he did was flirt with this table of girl's and not even do anything for us.  My wife figured that he made up for our no tip from the girls he was giving the extra attention to.

One idea I had would be to put up a digital scoreboard at each table starting at whatever percent you want it to tip.  Then the waitress would know where they stand and could do things to improve it.  Each good thing...add a percent, each bad thing...drop a percent.  My sister (who waitresses currently while in college) said too many people would give up on the table if it hit zero but I still think it's a fun idea and might work good in a sports bar atmosphere where a scoreboard setup would fit it.

[Lee]

Yeah I'm a tipper to. I ussually tip around 15-20%. I tip most of the time, only when service is unbelievably bad do I not tip, around here it's good most of the time.

[JohnL]

Reminds me of the story on the news a week or two ago. Some businessman asked his waitress what a good tip would be and she jokingly said "A car." His meeting went well, so he bought her a car!

[jmc]

When in doubt, I usually tip...even in buffet situations where I get my own drinks I usually tip the bus person especially if they've been good about clearing empty plates.   Usually in buffets where the waiter brings your drinks it's best to tip about a buck per person.  

If you get bad service it's usually better to tip a insultingly small amount than to leave nothing, just so they get the message that the service was bad.  

I tip around 15-20 percent.  I will sometimes tip a dollar even in situations where there is no wait person to tip [like at subway or some place like that, usually at burrito joints] if the staff really hustles.  

What I really hate is that my in-laws are awful to wait on, but they are also poor tippers.  I'm almost embarrassed to go out with them sometimes.    

In Neon Noodle's situation they might have had a service charge for a large group.  

There are some great websites out there with stories by waitpersons on which famous people are lousy tippers, but I can't remember any offhand...I think one might be bitterwaitress.com or something like that.

[FearlessFreep]

If you're getting life and social advice from character diatribes in movies I suspect that your problems run much deeper than 'what percent to tip'

[Dunners]

I alwasy make sure to tip. I've never had really bad service but I do notice when a waiter is really good. so I try to tip as well as I can.

[Brother Ragnarok]

I thought this thread was going to be about cow tipping.  Imagine my disappointment.

Brother R

[Ash]

Dude!
How did I somehow know that you would pipe in talking about cow tipping!?

Hehe!

I must be psychic!

[Brother Ragnarok]

I suck at head math, even something as simple as calculating 15% of a bill.  But I estimate that since I usually don't get that much expensive stuff, my tip is rarely  over $3.  Also I = broke-ass college kid who can't afford to be giving waiters all my money.  Once I forgot to leave a tip, and I felt awful.  A good way to let a waiter/waitress know he/she sucked is not to leave no tip (because it could seem like you just forgot), but to leave just a couple of pennies.  That way they know you didn't like 'em.

Brother R

[Evil Matt]

Damn right.  I once gave a s**tty waitress at Applebee's twenty six cents.  I figure that if you only give them twenty six cents, they know exactly how much they suck, rather than being able to justify their suckiness by saying "I'm sure they just forgot" or "That a***ole is a bad tipper".  A figure like twenty six cents is way too premeditated to be a coincidence.