CNN Money has an interesting discussion on tipping a waiter/waitress. Specifically, if you receive bad service at a restaurant, are you still obligated to tip 15% (or more) or is the amount of the tip dependent on you getting good service?
Based on past comments I've received when posting on this topic, I'm sure there will be heated opinions on both sides of the issue. So strap on your seal belts. :-)
For me, tipping is a reward for good service. The waiter doesn't have to perform backflips, sing to us, or deliver our food within a minute of placing the order, but he does need to do the basics (get to our table promptly, be friendly/helpful, get the order right, follow up at least once to see if we need anything, respond to requests such as "can I please have some ketchup?" quickly, etc.) to get a good tip from me. I'm not going to reward bad service with a good tip.
If I get poor service, I do usually still tip, but it may be only a dollar or two. For good service, I calculate 15% (it's easy to do -- 10% of the bill, plus half of that again) and then round up to the nearest dollar. So my average tip is in the 15-17% range. For great service, I'll go to 20% plus the round up, but probably not higher than that.
So what do you think? Do you tip only if there's good service or do you think tipping is an obligation that has to be done regardless of how well the waiter does?
BTW, before I get a ga-zillion comments from waiters/waitresses about how much of their jobs is not dependent on them (how long it takes the food to be cooked, if the food is prepared correctly, etc.), let me say that I'm asking here about the factors that waiters CAN influence, some of which I mentioned above.
Tipping is never obligation...no matter what anybody says...it is soley a rewardfor good service.
If there is bad service or in the case of bad food (& waiter doesnt try to fix it),...there should be zero.
Even more so: if a place auto-adds the tip...I go out of my way to make sure there is no tip, even if deserved (except for group or special events).
Posted by: Paul | January 12, 2008 at 11:37 PM
ALso, i almost never tip 15%.
Having spent 10 years as a waiter myself, those who say that tips must be done.. screw u... TIps are soley for reward..
If a waiter can earn the tips he shouldnt be a waiter.
Btw, I often made 10 times my wages in tips.
In fact as a waiter manager I fired waiters/waitress's that were substandard.
Because the place I worked at was a very high quality restaurant and tips were nearly impossible to avoid I actually used it as a performance measure.
Posted by: JHN | January 12, 2008 at 11:41 PM
I have worked in the service industry for nearly ten years (since my fist job at 15). It has provided me with extra cash, money to pay my rent, put me through school, taught me everything I know about patience, integrity, conflict resolution and time-management, and help me build hundreds of relationships with co-workers and customers alike.
I HATE the tipping system!
The issues with the tipping system are extensive. The first of which being that it is absurd that the owners of these establishments are able to pay their employees a mere $2.13/hr (the national required server minimum wage)! It should not be the customers responsibility to pay these restaurants’ employees, and it is unfair to the servers to have to rely on the generosity of their guest.
I have also traveled through Europe and was consistently disappointed with the service. I attribute this to a combination of culture difference and worker indifference. I actually worked in a cafe in England, getting paid minimum wage. I was making far less money than I ever did in an American restaurant, far less was expected of me, and admittedly, I put forth much less effort.
The other issue that many people do not realize is that the tipping system of a restaurant is often not confined to the wait staff. As a server, every shift I must tip the bus boy, the food runner, the shucker (I work in a seafood restaurant) and the bartender. This system is different in every restaurant, but here is an example of how this works for me:
You spend $200 on dinner and leave me a generous $50 tip. I then tip out 5% to my food runner, $2.50; 5% to my bartender, $2.50; 10% to my buss boy, $5, and a small amount to my shucker .50. That leaves me with $39.50. These amounts are generally calculated based on my total tips for the night, and amount to nearly 25% of my income! This is because not only do I get paid a sub-minimum wage, but all of my support staff do as well - a great deal for the payroll department and a real bummer for five people when I get a low tip.
My hourly wage does not even cover my tax withholdings(I shelled out an extra $500 last year), causing me to get void $0 paychecks. I depend solely on my tips to pay my electricity, my rent, my tuition, and feed me.
As far as how much to tip, well that's tough one. Most people in the industry would tell you that the days of 15% are over. If you leave me 15% I will assume that you were unsatisfied. When I go out I have extremely high standards for service, but I never leave less than 20%. If the service is exceptionally bad I will be sure to make my complaints known to the manager, perhaps leave a note for the server on the bill, but I will always leave at least 20%. If you served someone dinner and cleaned up after them would you not want some compensation? The biggest thing is make your complaints known. If you leave less than 20% most servers will simply assume you are cheap - if you make it clear to them that their actions diminished their tip, you are much more likely to get better service the next time around, where as if they think you are simply cheap, you will get WORSE service.
I would love nothing more to get paid a decent hourly wage with tips as a “bonus” for excellent service, but for whatever reason, that’s just not how we do it.
All that being said, I love my job. I love my regular customers and the people I get to meet. I do make a decent living - much better than if I was a secretary or a store clerk, and I truly appreciate people who tip 20%.
It’s a tough business to be in, but it can be extremely rewarding - I just recently finished school (MA in Political Media) and got a full time position in my field, but still work at the restaurant on weekends because my starting salary is about $5,000 less than my average restaurant year. Not to mention that every skill I have that qualifies me for my current salary position and helps me do my job better, I learned in a restaurant, not in a classroom.
Oh, and as far as tipping takeout/counter people, etc., being someone familiar with staff attitudes, I would say that it isn’t necessary, but if the person goes out of their way for you it is a nice gesture. Most people I know that work these jobs see tips as a bonus and would never expect it.
Posted by: Jessica | January 28, 2008 at 03:51 PM
I have a question: If i want to figure out the tip for a dinner.. let say i waisted $70 on one dinner. is this the formula to figure out the tip?
"Cross multiply 20% times 70 divided by 100.
Posted by: marianela | January 29, 2008 at 11:58 PM
"Cross multiply 20%..." ???
If you want to tip 20%, move the decimal one spot to the left, then double it.
So if you start with $70, knock the zero off the end ($7), then double it ($14). That's 20%.
If it's $15.50, move that decimal place to the left ($1.55) and double it ($3.10). That's 20%.
Or, if it works in your brain better: divide by 10, then multiply by 2. That's 20%.
That's usually what I do, plus rounding up a little. Since I'm usually paying with a credit card, that $15.50 above would probably get a $3.50 tip (instead of $3.10) to bring the total up to an even $19.
Posted by: Rich Schmidt | February 01, 2008 at 12:14 PM