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It's great to get a discount on a good meal at restaurants where one would not normally go. The coupons are a marketing ploy to get repeat business, although I have my doubts there is much repeat business.
The issue: when coupons are used, many people do not understand that when tipping the wait staff for good service, the standard tip is 15% on the TOTAL bill -not the bill minus the percentage or price for the coupon. Waiters hate the coupons because many people don't read the conditions for using it, then get their knickers in a wad at the wait staff. Too many people - most from what I get from talking to waiters at various restaurants in a one-man unscientific informal survey - don't read the coupons and don't leave a proper tip.
After getting a considerable discount on a meal, too many people are either dumber than a rock OR they are cheap tightwads and stiff the waiter by tipping only on the total amount after the discount instead of tipping on the initial total. Then, there will be the customer walking out who will swipe a tip off a table as they are going out the door. It happens. A customer walking out of a south Charlotte restaurant recently swiped a tip off an adjoining table as he was leaving. The manager saw him steal the money and invited him to never cross their threshold again.
Tips are the way wait staff make their living or pay for school or take care of their kids. Consider that your employer pays you $2.30 an hour and you depend on tips. However, at the end of the day, your tips from credit cards are added up and that amount is deducted from your $2.30 the restaurant pays you. When we learned this is standard practice in Charlotte (other places, I suspect) we started paying the server/wait staff in cash and always try to hand the tip to the server. Also, keep in mind that out of the tips on the credit cards, a percentage goes to the hostess, busboy, chef/cook.
If you get good service at a restaurant, the accepted standard tip is 15% for the TOTAL bill. When we get exceptional service, we give a 20% tip - in cash. If we get less than adequate service, we ask if there is a problem in the kitchen that delayed the food or if the food is cold. A good waiter will let you know what is going on OR ask for the manager and ask the kitchen question. Rarely have we had a case where service problems were the fault of the wait staff or server.
Bottom Line: Be fair with wait staff/servers. Pay the tip in cash if you can. Talk to the manager, not the waiter, if there is a problem. It works every time AND if the manger discounts you meal or gives you a freebee, you STILL owe the waiter a tip on what would have been the total for the bill.
I was with you until all the way to the end of your OP. If I have to talk to the manager on account of the server screwing something up or giving poor service then why on Earth would I give a full tip? I also disagree with going straight to the manager. The server should have the opportunity to correct a problem him or herself. This is dependent, of course, on how big the issue is.
In regards to the coupon, we always tip what the full amount of the ticket would be (before tax) before the discount.
...Also, keep in mind that out of the tips on the credit cards, a percentage goes to the hostess, busboy, chef/cook...
I don't see why you have a problem with that? I do believe that behind the waiter is an entire team that contribute to your experience at that restaurant.
I always assumed that part of the cash tip goes to the "faceless" team members anyway, am I wrong?
My wife and I always tip a percentage of the TOTAL bill, no coupon deductions, and based on service. It isn't the coupons ripping off the server, it is the PATRONS...
TIP based on total price of MEAL...the resturants should give the customer the TOTAL BILL then subtract the coupon upon PAYMENT.
Tips are that tips. You tip for your server. Not the food or price of the food. If I get a server that is good. I tip them. If the food is bad is it their fault or the cooks? If the server is bad and the food great is the tip the same? NO!!! I will leave what I feel is right. If it be in cash or on a card. It is their to earn it. Not expect it.
It's great to get a discount on a good meal at restaurants where one would not normally go. The coupons are a marketing ploy to get repeat business, although I have my doubts there is much repeat business.
The issue: when coupons are used, many people do not understand that when tipping the wait staff for good service, the standard tip is 15% on the TOTAL bill -not the bill minus the percentage or price for the coupon. Waiters hate the coupons because many people don't read the conditions for using it, then get their knickers in a wad at the wait staff. Too many people - most from what I get from talking to waiters at various restaurants in a one-man unscientific informal survey - don't read the coupons and don't leave a proper tip.
After getting a considerable discount on a meal, too many people are either dumber than a rock OR they are cheap tightwads and stiff the waiter by tipping only on the total amount after the discount instead of tipping on the initial total. Then, there will be the customer walking out who will swipe a tip off a table as they are going out the door. It happens. A customer walking out of a south Charlotte restaurant recently swiped a tip off an adjoining table as he was leaving. The manager saw him steal the money and invited him to never cross their threshold again.
Tips are the way wait staff make their living or pay for school or take care of their kids. Consider that your employer pays you $2.30 an hour and you depend on tips. However, at the end of the day, your tips from credit cards are added up and that amount is deducted from your $2.30 the restaurant pays you. When we learned this is standard practice in Charlotte (other places, I suspect) we started paying the server/wait staff in cash and always try to hand the tip to the server. Also, keep in mind that out of the tips on the credit cards, a percentage goes to the hostess, busboy, chef/cook.
If you get good service at a restaurant, the accepted standard tip is 15% for the TOTAL bill. When we get exceptional service, we give a 20% tip - in cash. If we get less than adequate service, we ask if there is a problem in the kitchen that delayed the food or if the food is cold. A good waiter will let you know what is going on OR ask for the manager and ask the kitchen question. Rarely have we had a case where service problems were the fault of the wait staff or server.
Bottom Line: Be fair with wait staff/servers. Pay the tip in cash if you can. Talk to the manager, not the waiter, if there is a problem. It works every time AND if the manger discounts you meal or gives you a freebee, you STILL owe the waiter a tip on what would have been the total for the bill.
Considering the portions in bold, perhaps you should re-title the thread "Restaurant coupon users rip off waiters."
I am not in the "Bad Tipper" category according to my Wife. She actually thinks I tip way to much and frequently tells me. But I will say that these individuals who take on a wait staff job realize the industry and know what to expect. They know that a very large majority pay with credit cards, they know restaurant week happens & they are aware that the coupon books are out there. They know which coupons the establishment publishes and accepts. If the wait staff hates coupons they need to voice to the resaturant or go to one that does not take coupons. Hopefully there is enough people out there like me who over tip to help balance out the tipping world.
Also on another note the OP stated regarding repeat business. We have used a coupon to try somewhere we have never been and if we like it we do go back coupon or not.
Location: Finally made it to Florida and lovin' every minute!
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One of the restaurants in our town has solved that problem by adding a gratuity charge. Not that I agree with that, but it's the way they handled it.
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