Tipping is bullshit rant.

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Here's a tip: 20% is the new 15% - MSN Money

20%....What the fuck is this bullshit.

lets say we go to applebees and there are 4 of us. The tab totals $50. Just to simplify math, the tip is $10. we are there for 45 minutes. Lets say the waiter ONLY serve 4 tables during the shift. If they are constantly full, on a 6 hour shift, they can serve 8 groups of 4 per table. 8 groups times 4 tables is 32 tables at an average of $10/table. That means, they can make $320 on tips alone in a 6 hour shift. That is $54/hour. Lets say they only work 4 days a week. That is 1280/week. That equates to over $61,000/year only working 24 hours a week!!! This isn't even including the hourly wage. With the hourly, they could make $80k/year. Should I be considered a tightass if little college whorebag Molly doesn't get my $10 for not tipping her. 20% is fucking nuts. What is the world coming to.

Now every time I go into any store, quiznos, jamba juice or starbucks, there is a tip cup to. Should I really tip on a $5 cup of Joe? What a fucking rip off. what the hell happened to people just being happy they got an hourly wage? I know there is a difference between being a waiter and getting paid shit hourly and putting any little change jar just to get a free handout.

This alone makes me not want to eat out. Ever. This is fucking stupid that someone can work like that and make more money than our military, teachers, and community servants.

*GASP* Bah fuck it, I'm fucking staying home.
 
I tip according to service, bill size and party size. If myself an 2 of my friends are getting drinks and desert at Uno's, we usually settle on 10-14%. If theres 6 of us, full dinners - and the service is excellent I will sometimes go up to 20%, but rarely.


The only thing you have to remember is not everyone tips at 20, or even 15% these days. The tiniest of things can cause people to tip poorly, or not even tip at all. One of my ex-GF's was a waitress at Ruby Tuesdays, and she would tell me people would stiff her out of a tip because the kitchen screwed up a special request. Not all people realize the waiter/kitchen responsibilities.

Gratuity should be included at a fixed 10 or 12% rate, IMHO and employers should adjust the wages accordingly.
 
:werd:^ ....

my brother was a waiter for a couple months ...and if people were tipping even 15% he would have made more money than he did ... but either way he made more a week in tips then i did in 2 weeks at whataburger ... bullshit ... minimum wage sucks. If you ask me its the fast food service industry that needs to be getting paid more.
 
i can't say anything about waitressing, but as for the change cups...

i used to work at dunkin donuts barely making $6 an hour, which meant my paycheck for 40 hours, after taxes, was just under $200. that sucks ass. we had change cups out and i used to get maybe $10 a day in tips, which helped me get through the week until i got paid.

it wasn't anywhere near 20%, obviously. usually just some change from their order and a couple dollars here and there, but it helps.
 
tip matches service

shitty service shitty tip (less than 10%)

good service good tip (15-20%)

great service great tip (25% and higher)


i have no problem tipping 50% or more for really good service... hell back when you could still smoke inside in CT it wasnt uncommon for waitresses at the diner all of my friends went to to get a tip that was bigger than the bill

on that same note i have tipped $0.47 on a $60 check for really shity service

i do always leave something though... mostly because if the service sucked ass i want them to know that i was unhappy with it, as opposed to thinking i forgot to tip or something
 
tip matches service

shitty service shitty tip (less than 10%)

good service good tip (15-20%)

great service great tip (25% and higher)


i have no problem tipping 50% or more for really good service... hell back when you could still smoke inside in CT it wasnt uncommon for waitresses at the diner all of my friends went to to get a tip that was bigger than the bill

on that same note i have tipped $0.47 on a $60 check for really shity service

i do always leave something though... mostly because if the service sucked ass i want them to know that i was unhappy with it, as opposed to thinking i forgot to tip or something

Werd. I was a busboy and waiter for a few years and I understand the dynamics of this particular occupation.
 
i agree that shitty service should get shitty tips.

i went to some restaurant around here that used to be nice....the waitress was extremely rude and the food was ice cold in the middle.

her tip was a note on one of the napkins that said "tip: cook the food before you serve it, and be nicer to customers and you get better tips that this", or something along those lines. can't really remember, i'm halfway through a case of miller. ^_^
 
wah wah wah.

You dont want to tip. Don't go out to eat. They have carry out for the people who don't want to tip.


As far as the $320.00 haha you're math is way off. I've spent 8 years in the restaurant field. Most people who work at Applebees make on AVG $70-80 for a normal non closing shift, if they're closing that shift, maybe $80-120

You had a $50.00 check, but many other tables will only have a $20-30 check. Also just because it says 20% is the new doesn't mean it happens. $20 checks could see a 2-3 dollar tip, they could also sit around and take up that table

Lets not forget about side work and other bs servers have to put up with, oh and also the $3.00 an hour pay, oh and taxes. I have $800.00+ taken out of my paycheck every 2 weeks. Most of that is to cover tips.

EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS that means $1600.00 goes straight to taxes a month.

Most good servers who make good tips make - paychecks, they end up having to pay at the end of the year due to taxes. AVG servers see $20-30 dollar paychecks. $40-50+ if they work mad hours.

As far as making $320 a night, that only happens at really high end joints. Applebees? hahahha not even close.
 
Haha @ 32 tables.

I think the most I've ever taken in an entire day was 17. I've seen people do 21 tables in like 10-12hours day, if they're 2 tops and the kitchen is moving smoothly.

Also, you're not earning 20% on every tip because some people don't tip 15% pretax. So your math and logic is quite flawed. If you're working at a quick-serve chain restaurant like Applebees you can expect to walk with $50-$150 depending on the day.

There's good days, there's bad days, and lunches normally don't generate much money at all. You're basically given a shot at making decent money on Thurs/Fri/Sat nights, but management loads up the floor so much that waiters' sections are small and the actual number of tables taken over the course of the night is fairly small. ~10-12 tables in a busy night. As Jeffie said, there are plenty of ~$25 checks that you see $4 and people have no qualms about sitting and chatting for an unlimited time regardless of the amount of money they spent. Every time the kitchen is slow, or patrons sit for an extended period of time, my ability to generate income is decreasing.

Also you don't see an hourly because its below minimum wage (except in Cali) and all your hourly goes to taxes. When I served I would see $0.00 pay checks. I owed $500 in taxes at the end of last year.

I made about $20k by working nights and weekends, but I would always close and I would always pull the best tips in the restaurant. I think the best I ever did was $250 in a 12hour day without any breaks.
 
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i agree that shitty service should get shitty tips.

i went to some restaurant around here that used to be nice....the waitress was extremely rude and the food was ice cold in the middle.
^_^

I disagree, giving shitty tips = a server thinking you're a jackass, and it will just go on and on till a manager oversees it and steps in.

If you have shitty service ASK FOR A MANAGER! chances are you'll get free food and then if you still leave a shitty tip there's a reason behind it.

her tip was a note on one of the napkins that said "tip: cook the food before you serve it, and be nicer to customers and you get better tips that this", or something along those lines. can't really remember, i'm halfway through a case of miller.
Whos to say the Kitchen didn't hold up the food? sometimes a kitchen will make 2 items for 1 table, one item is made right away while the other one takes longer, bad cooks do this often, it's not uncommon so half the order sits on a table waiting for the rest of the order, also food could be cooked wrong and not heated as listed. Most cold food DOES NOT come from the server. If I had a dollar for how many times I've had to remake food or stop a cook from making food to soon to keep that from happening.

Besides if your server checked to make sure your food was hot, they would have had to put their finger in it. chances are they had no clue.

Remember, everything is always the servers fault..............

As far as the server being an ass, they could have been pissed your food came out in a weird order or they had to wait so long for it. Either way, no reason to take it out on you, thats just not good.

Next time it happens don't be an asshole about it by leaving rude notes for why you feel it was ok to tip like shit, ask for a manager.
 
lol straight from the OP link.

But what if you get lousy service? Post says he caps his tip at 15%, then talks to the manager or maitre d' about the problem. "Not tipping doesn't correct bad service," Post said.
Stiffing is also a bad idea because:
  • The poor service you got may have been beyond the wait staff's control, such as problems in the kitchen or management's failure to have enough workers on the floor.
  • The federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour, so wait staff depend on tips to earn a living wage.
  • Wait staff often must divide their tips with other workers, such as bussers, bartenders and head waiters, so stiffing a bad waitress can end up hurting innocent parties.
 
Jeffie, whatever do you mean cold food not being a server's fault or specialized orders that are made wrong not being the server's fault?

You mean like cooks that are paid hourly and don't care about the quality of their food or if the customer is really happy?

or

Like when food expediters suck and call the food too soon, while that steak has to be cooked to well done and the pasta dish only takes 2 minutes to make? Or the fact that the expo works on an hourly and once again is not overly concerned so long as customers don't complain to the management.

These things happen?
 
Jeffie, whatever do you mean cold food not being a server's fault or specialized orders that are made wrong not being the server's fault?

You mean like cooks that are paid hourly and don't care about the quality of their food or if the customer is really happy?

or

Like when food expediters suck and call the food too soon, while that steak has to be cooked to well done and the pasta dish only takes 2 minutes to make? Or the fact that the expo works on an hourly and once again is not overly concerned so long as customers don't complain to the management.

These things happen?

I kept forgetting its always the servers fault. I love telling customers that. =)
 
I kept forgetting its always the servers fault. I love telling customers that. =)

Management handling customer complaints is always the best. The server points the finger at the cook, the cook points the finger at the server or the fact that he's over-worked and under-paid, and the manager blames it on them all or a natural disaster and promises that they don't know how it could have happened and it will never happen again. :)
 
for normal service i tip 15%, if it was really good, i'll tip 20. but i'm not made of money. and i don't think i've ever tipped less than 10%
 
what the hell happened to people just being happy they got an hourly wage?

Its called cost of living and it keeps raising up too.

80k for a waiting job? I'd take that, but your math is over simplified and doesn't take into account how many times they get stiffed.
 
My girlfriend is a waitress and I have to agree with Jeffie and total. Her actual paycheck from the restaurant is a joke. Also its a job that can be hit or miss sometimes. Some nights she does really well, others are about average, and then there are some slow nights. The tipouts take away from the actual amount she brings home. All in all 20% is really not out the question.
 
when i was a busser i made $1600 a month working 25hrs a week.. i made an average of $50 a day in tips
 
I think the whole system is flawed here. Tips should not be the primary pay that servers get. Its fucking retarded when it is "optional" to tip but when you stiff a waiter they cannot earn a living. IMO have it like in europe where people are paid a decent salary and tips are truly optional instead of inciting a guilt trip to keep a buisness going.
 
alright, i'll admit my numbers are skewed. also, i know that they can't make 80k working less than 40 hours a week. but it is fucked up to feel guilted into tipping 20%. I know the system fucked up and it isn't the servers fault they get paid less than a taiwanese hooker. But having it be necessary that i'm guilted into paying an extra 20% on top of food AND tax annoys me. I really don't like eating out as much as I used to.
 
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