Comments on: Should Restaurants Ban Bad Tippers?

By: Victoria

Victoria — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:34:32 +0000

Servers are doing a service..making sure u can sit and be waited on and get ur food ..and drinks and clean up after u …like we are ur mother…after u leave. I don’t know who in their right mind would think its ok not to tip or tip less then 20 %. U people that make an hourly wage don’t get docked pay based on ur day. Please don’t take it out on a servers tip if everything is not perfect. And please tip at least 18% ..no less. Servers do a hard job ..(if u think everybody could be servers) which they can and would not. We put on a smile and wait on people without knowing if u can pay ur bills from it..so think about that. This is their job..and ur tip is how they make a living. Please don’t tip badly.

By: Kirstin

Kirstin — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:54:24 +0000

Also if you have NEVER worked in the restaurant industry you should not be commenting on this. Everyone should work in the food industry once in their life. If you haven’t you have no clue what you’re talking about.

By: Kirstin

Kirstin — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:52:50 +0000

Sometimes it isn’t even about the service at all it comes down to the person them self. The service could have been perfect and beyond what they person ever experienced but if they tip 15% everywhere they go and they think that is a good tip then they will continue to tip like that. People need to realize that we do not keep the entire tip and what we have to tip out at the end of the night is based on our sales. So if the entire night we were getting $5 on $65 bills we would end up paying for those customers to eat there because we still have to tip our bartenders, bussers, food runners, and door people. So everyone needs to quit saying it is so simple to get good tips if you give good service because that only goes so far.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:15:52 +0000

I have been working in the restaurant industry for 9 years. I don’t know if anyone knows this but in Nevada I get allocated tips from my paycheck the government assumes I get tipped from my guests. So if I make 7 dollars an hour the government assumes I am making 20 and hour assuming I get tipped a certain percentage. after all is said and done my bi weekly paycheck is $160 dollars. That’s after my insurance comes out and all the other taxes I have to pay on top of the government assuming I am meeting there allocation minimum. Not only do I pay taxes on my tips and my paycheck but I also have to tip out a bar tender, busser, stocker, cooking captain and hostess with the money I get tipped out by at the end of the night. If everyone thinks servers make a lot of money..we don’t! we barely make enough to split around between us and if we don’t get tipped a certain percentage by a guest we pretty much worked for free. So if you go out to eat tip what you think is fair. Don’t be rude and stiff a server or leave loose change cause you are probably affecting a lot more people than your waiter.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 02:20:06 +0000

I completely agree. I am a waitress and I have dealt with SO many ridiculously bad tippers. We make not even 3 dollars an hour.. and we make a living with the tips. People who get paid an hourly or salary wage job, gets that constant amount no matter how hard they work, so my point is this; you should ALWAYS ALWAYS atleast tip 10/15% and if the service was amazing..then tip even higher. Our tips is our “salary/hourly” wage. So if you want to go ahead and tip like a cheap ass, then go make yourself some damn mac and cheese at home.

By: A Server

A Server — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:18:55 +0000

I would also like to add that just because it is not your exact server with you the entire time, if somebody filled up your drink, stopped by with bread, brought out your food, doesn’t mean you can tip less. Servers work together as a team. We are trying to take care of you more efficiently. You are still getting good service.
Also, if you are the kind of person who guzzles down three glasses before you even get your salad, understand that it may take a moment for your server to get back to you. That server has other guests that are just as important as you. Slow down or ask for a water with your drink.
If your party is setting at a table for an extended amount of time, throw some extra in for taking up the table time. You are basically renting that table from your server. Servers expect a 30, 45, or 60 minute table turnover and you are taking their ability to make more money when you decide to camp out.
If you have a gift certificate, tip on the total amount, not the discounted amount. Your server never gets gift certificates to give you discounted service.
You would be amazed how far a server will go to make your experience fantastic if you just work with them. I’ve seen servers go to great lengths for their guests and cater the bill and the food to precisely what you want/need as a customer. Tip well, and let your server give you excellent service. Again I’d like to reiterate that you should never mess with people who don’t handle your food. Some of us keep name books, just to remember who you are, what you do, what you like just so we can better serve you, but please believe we remember if you tip badly and we are only happy to share that information with our fellow servers.
Remember that we pay taxes, and we tip out 3% of our food sales (not our tips) in a lot of cases so that 2.83 is already gone. If you want good service, tip for it.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:13:39 +0000

Oh and John Lee AMEN bro!!

By: john lee

john lee — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:45:37 +0000

All of the ignorant comments saying tips should be earned, have not been servers or were servers for short periods of time. Try being a server for 15 years and seeing the exact same customers coming every day and leaving bad tips. While thanking you for the extraordinary service every day. This is called a “verbal tip”. “Verbal tips” don’t pay the bills, so those type of customers truly are horrible and not appreciated.

Honestly most of the comments saying tips are earned probably are decent or above tippers. However most of us who are in the business are referring to tippers who will “ream” you no matter what. If I have to explain what “ream” means then you haven’t worked in the business.

Btw Australian customers are probably some of the worst tippers. Because unlike Asians you can’t explain tipping to them and unlike Americans they don’t base their tip on service. Australians will want to talk with you, be as pleasant as can be, in other words waste a lot of your valuable time, then leave 5-10% if your lucky.
Figuring out 15% isn’t hard, if it is then the customers need to go back to school.

Btw I have a Master’s degree, but I can make more money by working on tips. The key word being “can”.

By: Si

Si — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 22:55:15 +0000

First off, they may have banned this person for reasons other than tipping. We’ve had these awful ladies banned at my old job because they were not only rude, but demanded so much for free. The managers finally had enough. That they were horrible tippers was only a trait, not a reason.

Second off, all you people talking about “tip credit” need to learn that it does nothing for servers. It doesn’t go by a day by day basis. So let’s say Monday through Thursday it was really slow and I made only $15 a night. However, on Friday and Saturday I made $100 each because it was busy. I’ve now made above minimum wage on a pay period, yet I’m still making below $300 a week, and still have taxes and tip out as well as medical insurance to take out. Tip credit really does nothing unless you literally get no tables. I’ve never had a job have to pay out over this.

Lastly, get another job huh? Ok, but I bet you’ll be the first person whining that there’s no one to wait on you. Also I doubt people would like the cost of food if every tipped employee was given a real wage. There’d be no lunch specials or 2 for 1 deals. They wouldn’t be cost effective. Your $6.99 lunch is now $15. Even tipping your server $5 on that would make you come out ahead. Ask some kitchen managers about food costs before you want us to get real wages.

By: jillian harris

jillian harris — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 19:42:28 +0000

I would suggest for everyone to look up Tip Credits. While a server’s set wage may be well below minimum wage, in States that have minimum wage laws, no server is making below minimum wage. If a State participates in Tip Credits (which North Carolina does), then the restaurant itself must supplement the difference between the minimum wage and what the server is making in hourly wages plus tips if they do not equal at least minimum wage. For States that do not participate in the Tip Credit program but have an established minimum wage, then the restaurant must pay at least minimum wage to all of their servers regardless of what they may make in tips.

While it is true that you may not be able to afford your bills if people do not tip, it is certainly not because you are not getting paid the equivalent of minimum wage, but because your bills exceed what you would be allocated as a set income (you would face this same problem at a standard minimum wage job as well).

As for my personal opinion, I tip based on my experience with you as a server. If it is the first time dining at an establishment and I am provided with poor service, then I will not tip period. If I have eaten there multiple times before and you have been great but have an off day, I may not tip or tip at a lower percentage than normal, but if I do not, I will certainly give you the opportunity next time to make up for that and will tip accordingly then. However, if I see you just to take the order and deliver the drinks, someone else is constantly having to refill them for me, and I do not see you again until the bill is delivered (as seems to be very common), then certainly do not expect a tip from me.