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To Tip or Not to Tip the Nutty Waiter?

pearl 47

This question has been on my mind for a few days.

HotPepper

I went to a restaurant the other day with a few of my colleagues from work.  It was lunch time and this restaurant offers buffet for lunch. We have gone to this place many times before but recently there seems to be a new management and new crew.

At buffets, as you know, everyone gets their own servings and we all did.  The waiter came and filled our glasses with water but then after his first appearance, the waiter couldn’t be seen anywhere the entire time.  At one point we ran out of water and the food being very spicy and hot, we really needed it, the only thing that was not on the buffet table otherwise we would have gotten the refills ourselves.  This particular restaurant is quite famous in my town and gets filled beyond capacity during lunch so I understand that the staff usually gets busy (with what? I’m not sure) and cannot attend every customer individually.

The hot and spicy food was getting to us and in the absence of water,  we decided we were not going to tip them. (blame it on dehydration).

We finished our meal somehow and after paying at the front desk, headed to our cars while talking about how once this place used to be a very nice but the service was going downhill lately.   All of a sudden we heard someone calling us from behind: “Miss… excuse me ma’am..”  All four of us turned around and found that one of the waiters was walking towards us, with a smirk on his face.   Not understanding what his problem was, we stood there waiting to hear what was his problem. The guy walked up to us and told us that we had forgotten to pay him the tip.

Huh?  We were stunned and furious at his audacity.  How could he follow us in the parking lot asking for money?   All he did was fill our glasses with water one time at the beginning.   We wondered what that smirk was for… did he really think we were going to feel embarrassed and end up paying the tips in the parking lot?   Not to mention how suspiciously stupid the scene would have looked to someone – each of us handing over some money to a strange guy!

This is the first time in my life I’ve come across such behavior. No waiter in the world should be chasing customers in the parking lots to demand tips! We of course refused politely and said we didn’t think a gratuity was warranted as no service was provided, the guy insisted a couple of times but we just walked away!  Phew!   What has the world come to?

As ridiculous as it sounds, we recently also started noticing that this place has started to include the tip in the check when it’s first given to you so if you do not notice it, and end up giving 15% to 20% on top of that, it’s your fault and they will gladly take the money, knowing fully well that you didn’t notice the tip had already been added.  Not to mention, some restaurants charge you tip on the take-outs too!

So, here are my questions:

Do you always pay tips even when they don’t provide any service?

I mostly do but this one time we collectively decided not to and the waiter came after us!

How would you have handled this?  If you are not from United States, I’d love to know the custom and expectations in your country.

photo: Digital Plus Art & Photo

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47 comments
RennyBA

Well in Norway the prices are considerable high and the tips are most often included. It depends on the restaurant and the service, but I often add 10% anyway. Other kinds of services is not that common and always included – I mean in one way or the other, you pay for it: there is no such as a free lunch you know :-)

RennyBAs last blog post..Bergen in Norway with Fish Market and Edvard Grieg

Clyde Dennis

This is a subject that is somewhat near and dear to my heart having spent a considerable amount of my life working in the food service industry.

It was always my understanding that a tip was extra for ‘Extra Effort’ given. The servers regular wage is what they’re entitled to for showing up and staying at work on any particular day. However this has changed dramatically as restaurants have somehow managed to become legally able to pay servers less than half of the already ridiculous minimum wage.

While I do certainly feel for the server I’m not real big on ‘entitlement’ and so feel no obligation to provide any payment above and beyond the stated prices on the menu. That said I am absolutely willing and do in fact ‘Tip’ very well those who put forth the effort to earn it.

For those restaurants that insist that I reward poor service by automatically including a gratuity on my check even when the service was clearly sub-par I make it a point to make my point with the acting PIC and vote with my dollars. As in take them elsewhere next time.

Clyde Denniss last blog post..You Have The Ability To Be Great

pearl

@Anti Scams: I never said the food was not good, it was spicy and hot and we needed someone to give us water so even after asking for it a few times, no one cared to bring it to us

@Dee: exactly.. that’s what irked us too

@Aruni: I’m all for not leaving any tips for buffets too.. I may consider this for future

@Bean Jones: I agree.. we should have complained but shied away for some reason.. also, it was lunch time and we all needed to get back to work

@John Real Estate: I admit we were harsh and now it doesn’t seem to be as big of a deal but at the time, we really felt the spicy food got to us ;) oh well..

@Computer Guy: thanks! they shouldn’t automatically get the tips.. tips are the reward for being good I agree..

@Neolight: agree.. he lost because of his attitude and if he had not come out of the restaurant to chase us, may be we would’ve forgotten the next time around but now we’ll remember :)

@banquet manager: welcome! thanks for stopping by

@RennyBA: hehe, we paid them the price of lunch :)

@Clyde: it’s funny that we went to the same restaurant last night and there were a couple of servers hovering around us from time to time.. service was extra-ordinary and I started feeling uneasy and thought someone might have found out I blogged about them ;) not that I mentioned any names, may be I felt a bit guilty lol

thanks guys for all the comments, I really appreciate it. Sorry for late replies..I’ll do better I promise … Please visit again!

betshopboy

We do not have a tipping culture here in Singapore because there’s a mandatory service charge of 10% levied on customer by service providers.

It is no wonder that service standards here are on a decline as such mandatory service charge does not provide any incentive for service providers to go out of their way to provide good service.

In short, even if the service was poor or there’s minimum service like in your case reported in this post, a 10% service charge will still be added to the final bill.

betshopboys last blog post..Inspire Yourself

MorganLighter

What nerve the “un-waiter” exhibited. I would have, after being accosted by this idiot, returned to the restaurant and had a talk with the manager/owner. Had the manager/owner responded with indifference – then he would have lost my business and I would tell ‘the world’ about the outlandish behavior which I had experienced.

Regarding the amount to tip – poor service – 0%, fair service – 10%, great service – 20%.

pearl

@betshopboy: I think there shouldn’t be a mandatory service charge above and beyond regular salary, in any country… well, may be in some countries there should be, I don’t know.. ‘coz at some places may be servers HAVE TO work harder than here in US but like you said, what’s the incentive then?

@MorganLighter: As bizarre as it was, I think someone from the restaurant might have seen him talking to us in the parking lot, so their service was much better last over the weekend.. who knows! we decided to stay away from them for some time and not push our luck though :)

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I usually tip between 10 – 20% (and even more if they were really good) depending on the service. If the service is real bad I will be real stingy! A tip is supposed to be for good service – should not be expected. We opened and ran a small cafe for a year – we taught our wait staff about good service and a welcoming personality. The cafe is still doing well four years later (our waitress bought it from us) and still gives great service.

Bobby Revell

Haha! I would freak out if they stopped me in the parking lot for money! In America, most waiters and waitresses make $2.13 per hour, so if they don’t get tipped, they don’t make enough money to live. I am a good tipper, but only if I get good service. I let them slide if they are obviously overworked and tip them even if I get bad service :smile:

Mr Article

That sounds pretty alarming and rude… But anyway, i usually will always tip the waiter no matter the service, it’s just something i’ve always done without thinking, they work pretty hard and probably get fed up doing it so i like to make sure they can live… or at least do my part.

Mr Articles last blog post..What do snails eat?

FatherOfAsh

Oh, heck no. To be brutally honest, that waiter is lucky to have pulled this on you, not me. My response to that sort of behavior is to stride straight back into a restaurant and demand to see a manager and explain what just happened and why that stunt means I won’t be setting foot in that establishment again.

A guy like that not only deserves to go without a tip, but really should be fired on the spot.

FatherOfAshs last blog post..Way Off My Diet