Was This right?

[homeofmew]

I was at a Restaurant, 3 of us at the table.
The Bill Comes with a number on it.
We pay the person and tell them to keep the change.
We gave them as I recall around 12%. We were about to leave and..
they came back demanding for more because we had to tip 15%
Which was no where on the original bill, or no where on the menu, plus we had 3 people.

the 3 of us didn't have enough cash to pay 15%, so we just left what we gave them on the table and left.

Opinions?

 

[Joshua0]

they came back demanding for more because we had to tip 15%

I never heard of a tip being required. Unless they tell you that upfront. If your not happy with the service you are not required to leave anything at all. I tend not to be a very big tipper, they are lucky to get 10% out of me. If I am unhappy with the service I may only leave 5%. Although of course I leave something, because if I am happy or not they still had to do the work and should get paid something.

 

[I Eat Pie]

I would tell the manager. Not as a complaint, but just to let them know that this certain waiter can damage their business with other customers if they keep talking to people like that.

Would you ever go back to that restaurant?

 

[elephunky]

I find the concept of tips strange, we don't really do that here. It doesn't leave a good image to be demanding a tip though.

 

[yasic]

I never heard of a tip being required. Unless they tell you that upfront. If your not happy with the service you are not required to leave anything at all. I tend not to be a very big tipper, they are lucky to get 10% out of me. If I am unhappy with the service I may only leave 5%. Although of course I leave something, because if I am happy or not they still had to do the work and should get paid something.

I'm glad I was never a waiter so I didn't have to deal with people like you.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I was at a Restaurant, 3 of us at the table.
The Bill Comes with a number on it.
We pay the person and tell them to keep the change.
We gave them as I recall around 12%. We were about to leave and..
they came back demanding for more because we had to tip 15%
Which was no where on the original bill, or no where on the menu, plus we had 3 people.

the 3 of us didn't have enough cash to pay 15%, so we just left what we gave them on the table and left.

Opinions?

Very wrong of them to demand a higher tip...its wrong in every sense. I would even say that its wrong even if the required tip were stated on the bill...as a business owner I would rather lose a couple dollars on a tip that a chance for erepeat business. The only time this behavior would be acceptable from a waiter would be if there were a required tip and no tip was left.

That said, I tend to tip about 15- 20% on any bill at a establishment where tipping is common practice. I won't even go out to eat unless I have enough for that. That said, here's a tip for all you bar-goers out there that I learned from years working in a bar: tip big the first time....so that the bartender sees it and recognizes its a big tip. I'm talking about a 80-100% tip....the bigger, the better. The bartender will notice, even on a busy night, and make an effort to serve you every chance she gets. Even if afterwards you only tip the usual 15-20 percent for the rest of the night...she will remember your face and you won't have to wait for drinks.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

In my country, a tip is considered a voluntary courtesy to the waiter; but then again, they are paid properly around here by their employers, and thus do not depend on tips in order to get by.
It is more of a symbolic gesture, actually: a little bonus for services well-rendered.

 

[Lethe]

I tend not to be a very big tipper, they are lucky to get 10% out of me. If I am unhappy with the service I may only leave 5%

So many words for Joshua that just wouldn't get past the word filter here.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

I was at a Restaurant, 3 of us at the table.
The Bill Comes with a number on it.
We pay the person and tell them to keep the change.
We gave them as I recall around 12%. We were about to leave and..
they came back demanding for more because we had to tip 15%
Which was no where on the original bill, or no where on the menu, plus we had 3 people.

the 3 of us didn't have enough cash to pay 15%, so we just left what we gave them on the table and left.

Opinions?

Honestly, tipping "around 12%," no matter the party size is tacky and cheap, and while I don't know that "demanding" more was the right thing to do, 15% is the commonly accepted practice for normal service... I wouldn't fault a waiter for coming back to ask if there was something wrong with such a low tip.

A 10% or 5% tip? Don't bother eating out. If you can't afford or don't want to pay more, stay at home. By giving so little, you're stealing from your server. That's time that could have been spent with other customers, your table is one that could have been occupied by somebody who's going to tip appropriately... Do the decent thing and just don't bother them if you're not going to pay them appropriately for their effort.

 

[Lethe]

the 3 of us didn't have enough cash to pay 15%, so we just left what we gave them on the table and left.

Servers do not get paid out of wages. The vast majority of their wages are from tips. Many of my family members are in the hospitality industry at various levels, some manage, some wait. But if you wait, even at very fancy restaurants, the expectation is that your wage comes out of tips. My uncle worked at an internationally renowned Bay Area restaurant at just over minimum wage. It is simply the standard, everywhere.

If you're not able to provide at least a 15% tip, I would suggest you purchase another item on the menu. It may seem like the place is full and a little money trimmed out of one table wouldn't be too bad, but you don't see the shifts pulled when the restaurant is empty. When the only reason the wait staff is there is so they don't lose their place in the local hierarchy and miss out on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Seriously, if waiters depend on their tips for their livelihood in your country, something's VERY messed up.

Tips should be little compliments, not an essential and required part of their income.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

Seriously, if waiters depend on their tips for their livelihood in your country, something's VERY messed up.

Tips should be little compliments, not an essential and required part of their income.

Servers don't make minimum wage in most states. Tips are required to help make up the difference. In some states, such as mine, they're paid the Federal Minimum Wage for tipped employees, which is $2.13 an hour. And in most establishments, they have to split their tips with the bar, bussers, and/or hostess, though in those situations, their pay per hour is more like $5.

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

 

[IzzyPop]

Seriously, if waiters depend on their tips for their livelihood in your country, something's VERY messed up.

Tips should be little compliments, not an essential and required part of their income.

In essence we servers pay our employer to work for them. The federal minimum wage is $7.25. For employees in a job function that receives at least $30 a month in tips the employer is allowed to use a tip credit. As long as the tips coming in average $5.12 an hour the employer is allowed to deduct $5.12 an hour off of the paycheck.

 

[Lethe]

Seriously, if waiters depend on their tips for their livelihood in your country, something's VERY messed up.

It is very messed up. But it's such an ingrained institution now that it pervades our very wage laws. Which is really, really, messed up.

 

[Joshua0]

Servers do not get paid out of wages. The vast majority of their wages are from tips.

The restaurant is still required to pay them a minimum wage. I can assure you they do not make less working in a restaurant. Most people I know makes more money then they would at say McDonalds. Even up to twice as much money.

I remember when I was in High School I use to work all day at a car wash in the middle of winter for $10. I use to have to stand outside in the cold and even in the snow and dry the cars off. The owner was mean to us on top of that. I never could understand how they could pay so little and still be mean to you. At the end of the day I had enough money to put gasoline in my car for the week. To get back and forth to school. So then I took a second job working until 2:30 as a bus boy so I could make a little bit more money to take girls out on a date every now and then. They were more nice to us there and the waitress did have to pay out out of their tips some of their money for clearing their tables. Or do it themselves.

It is nice to get that little bit of extra money. But there are people out there working at jobs that do not get any tips and they have to get by on just what the minimum wages pay. So when people come around looking for a job and they want me to pay them $50 an hour I send them away. They are lucky if I will pay them $20 an hour. Even I think that is a lot of money because I had to work so long for so little. Then they say: "I can not do anything with this". Yes you can. You can eat, you can pay your rent. You can survive. I never got to do the fancy stuff. I do not have money to pay them today to do all that fancy stuff. If I want on a vacation, I had to sleep in a tent. I could not afford a fancy hotel. I know people that will spend up to $5,000 a week for their vacation. I just can not imagine spending that much money. If that is what they want to do, then that is their business. But do not expect me to pay them the money to do it. I do not need those fancy restaurants. A lot of the time it is fake processed food anyways that does you more harm then good. Better to do your own cooking and then you know what is in the food. I ordered roast beef in a fancy restaurant once and it was no different then the sliced beef you can buy at the deli at the grocery store. I felt really ripped off. Then when I asked the waitress about all the funny colors in my food she made a joke about how it was suppose to look that way. Then after that they want me to leave her a big tip? I don't think so. She should have called the manager and they should have done something to make it right. Then maybe I would have given her more of a tip. Clearly people must have some sort of a delusion if they think they are worth 15% when they provide the level of service that they provide. Of course I have had waitress that are very, very good, but the conversation is not about them so much as the ones that are substandard and not getting the job done the way it should be done.

There are a lot of people out there working at substandard wages. It is nice that some people can get a bit of a tip to get more of what they are worth. But that does not mean we are obligated to pay them for substandard work if they do not function at the level they should be functioning at.

 

[Joshua0]

which is $2.13 an hour.

You should read your own link. The employer is required to pay the difference so they make at least fed min wage which is close to $8 an hour. I would be glad to hire people to work for $10 an hour. But you can not find very many people willing to work for that now a days. I remember once I ordered a truck of mulch for the lawn. As my wife and I were spreading it out I would ask the teenagers as they walked by if they wanted a job. None of them took me up on it. They all seemed to have plenty of money, even though they did not do anything for it. I use to have to work for my money. But I guess that is not the way it is now a days. When I was 12 years old I use to have to cut the grass, clean the garage, clean the attic. I painted the fense one summer. I use to split the wood for the fireplace. I use to help my dad make repairs and improvements on the house. I wanted to do all of that. But I see homeless people that do not do any of that. They want to do nothing and expect people to give them money to live in a house that they are not willing to take care of. IT just does not work that way. I have offered to buy people a house and they turned me down because they did not want to have to make repairs and maintain the house. Then they will complain about how miserable they are. Some of the most miserable people I know spend all their time thinking about themselves. The people I know that are the MOST happy are always doing something to help others and not expecting anything in return for what they are doing to make another persons life a little bit more easy and comfortable.

 

[IzzyPop]

You should read your own link. The employer is required to pay the difference so they make at least fed min wage which is close to $8 an hour.

Funny story. If I don't claim enough in tips to average $5.12 an hour, I get fired. So no, I get paid $2.13.

 

[homeofmew]

Well first of all like I stated we didn't have enough to tip the entire 15%
on top of that the service wasn't all that great.
I asked twice to get more water from different waiters.. and eventually I asked the first one again. Eventually I got water, and it wasn't all that busy either.

Here were I live, US, 15% is customary I understand that. But I have never seen a MANDATORY tip unless you have a large party. I know waiters get paid less and try to tip fairly. Heck I have friends around the early 30s that don't tip at all.

 

[Joshua0]

I have never seen a MANDATORY tip unless you have a large party.

That is the zinger though. The fact that the server demanded 15% is reflection that you got a bad server. Then it becomes a discussion on entitlement and what they think they are entitled to compared to what you think they are entitled to. The usual procedure is they keep quiet about what they think they are worth and just accept what you pay them. Even as Christians we believe that if people do not pay us all they owe us, then God will make up the difference. We can charge it to His account. Esp when people wrong us.

 

[keith99]

Well first of all like I stated we didn't have enough to tip the entire 15%
on top of that the service wasn't all that great.
I asked twice to get more water from different waiters.. and eventually I asked the first one again. Eventually I got water, and it wasn't all that busy either.

Here were I live, US, 15% is customary I understand that. But I have never seen a MANDATORY tip unless you have a large party. I know waiters get paid less and try to tip fairly. Heck I have friends around the early 30s that don't tip at all.

Tips are for SERVICE. You did not get decent service. I would have tipped less AND complained to the manager after the waiters demand.

If in a bad mood complained loudly enough that other customers would have been aware of exactly what was going on.

Good Service good tip, poor service poor tip.