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I've had these friends that I have been hanging out for the past year, but last weekend, we all went out of town together for the first time. Our first stop was to a dine in restaurant, and at the end, I paid my bill via credit card and gave the normal 20% tip. As we were about to leave, the waitress came back to my friend, and asked if she was happy with her service. My friend nodded and said it was good. The waitress then said my friend gave her the exact amount on the bill. That's when I caught on that she didn't leave a tip. I asked my friend if she was going to leave a tip, and she outright told the waitress no. That she don't believe in tipping. Serving her was the waitresses job and she should need tips. I told my friend most service workers work at no more that 2.15 and hour, and my friend told the waitress point blank "well, that's not my problem that your are so stupid enough to work for a job that pays minimum wage. So, good-bye"
I was so embarrassed and very upset with how my friend acted. I haven't talked to her too much since then, and wonder, has anyone else had this issue with friends who refused to tip? Or all of a sudden, short on money and need help in paying their bill (which has happened to me too before)
Your friend sounds like quite the piece of work. I don't think I'd want to hang out with someone like that.
Having been a waitress a long time ago myself, I can appreciate waitstaff today and how hard most of them work. I tip as generously as I can. I did once have a friend who refused to tip. She would always manage to find something wrong with the restaurant and took it out on the waitstaff by not leaving a tip.
I didn't dump the friend but I did finally tell her not to bother asking me if I wanted to go out to eat with her because she was too stingy.
I read on a post on FB where someone who waited tables said there seemed to be a growing trend of people leaving notes instead of tips in many restaurants. The most common notes are bible quotes. The majority, though, leave notes saying they had kids so they couldn't afford to tip. Often all they say is "Sorry, no tip, I have kids."
I've had these friends that I have been hanging out for the past year, but last weekend, we all went out of town together for the first time. Our first stop was to a dine in restaurant, and at the end, I paid my bill via credit card and gave the normal 20% tip. As we were about to leave, the waitress came back to my friend, and asked if she was happy with her service. My friend nodded and said it was good. The waitress then said my friend gave her the exact amount on the bill. That's when I caught on that she didn't leave a tip. I asked my friend if she was going to leave a tip, and she outright told the waitress no. That she don't believe in tipping. Serving her was the waitresses job and she should need tips. I told my friend most service workers work at no more that 2.15 and hour, and my friend told the waitress point blank "well, that's not my problem that your are so stupid enough to work for a job that pays minimum wage. So, good-bye"
I was so embarrassed and very upset with how my friend acted. I haven't talked to her too much since then, and wonder, has anyone else had this issue with friends who refused to tip? Or all of a sudden, short on money and need help in paying their bill (which has happened to me too before)
I do think it was interesting that the wait staff came back and called out your friend on the fact she didn't tip.
That said, as a senior now, it amazes me how stingy other seniors can be regarding tips. It explains why seniors are sat in obnoxious places, like next to the bus stations, etc.
I rarely go out, or do anything that requires a tip, simply because I think of tipping as part of the bill. If I can't afford a generous tip, then I don't go/do whatever it is.
I also figure into the cost of doing something, what the tip will be - if I can't afford that, then I don't do it.
Today, for instance, I got my hair cut at a local beauty school here in San Jose, where haircuts are expensive. I know that the students will take a long time, and I'll have to wait for their instructors to come and see how well the student has done, etc. etc. But, if the student doesn't do a great job, the instructor will always fix any problems. So, there is no fear that I'll end up with a terrible haircut.
So, today, I went to the beauty school, and a student did a difficult haircut on me, and it took a total of about 1 1/2 hours. When I say difficult, I mean an A-line cut on straight hair - this is a difficult cut. The cost for the haircut was just $16. This is incredibly cheap for a decent haircut in this area.
So, I tipped the student $10. This is about 63% tip.
But, the thing is, a decent haircut would have cost me at least $26 - at least - before any tip.
And she really deserved it. She worked for 1 1/2 hours on me, and gave me an incredible shampoo and massaged my head - seriously, she worked hard to please me and did a great job.
Now, if someone is incredibly rude, and obviously doesn't care about giving me decent service, then I don't tip that person.
But, if you can't afford to go out and leave a decent tip where it's expected, then stay home and boil some Ramen noodles. Definitely, don't go out with me and embarrass me, anyway.
I was happy to pay a total of what other places would charge, without tip, for a student who did the same job but I was able to also give her a great tip. I hope that made sense. My point being, that if I can only afford a $26 haircut, including tip, then I go to a beauty school where they charge $16 and I can then tip the student $10, so my actual out of pocket is $26 and she's been very fairly compensated, and will look forward to serving me well again.
Having been a waitress a long time ago myself, I can appreciate waitstaff today and how hard most of them work. I tip as generously as I can. I did once have a friend who refused to tip. She would always manage to find something wrong with the restaurant and took it out on the waitstaff by not leaving a tip.
I didn't dump the friend but I did finally tell her not to bother asking me if I wanted to go out to eat with her because she was too stingy.
I read on a post on FB where someone who waited tables said there seemed to be a growing trend of people leaving notes instead of tips in many restaurants. The most common notes are bible quotes. The majority, though, leave notes saying they had kids so they couldn't afford to tip. Often all they say is "Sorry, no tip, I have kids."
re: the bolded - not as much any more, but I used to say the opposite, sorry, I have a kid [who made a mess] so your tip is very large! lol! My kid wasn't awful but little kids are messy, period.
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If more and more people refuse to tip, restaurants will just have to up their prices and pay wait staff.
As it is, waitstaff is paid almost nothing usually - far below minimum wage - because it's expected that if you get good service, you'll tip and if you get bad service, that's feedback for bad employees. So it's a system that works.
If people now start refusing to tip even though they've gotten good service, you can expect restaurants to abandon the "honor" tip system and just charge you enough to pay their waitstaff what they are worth.
As it is, those who refuse to tip aren't paying their share. Restaurants aren't charity services. If you eat at a restaurant with waitstaff, and you don't tip, you haven't paid what you owe for your food.
If you want to go out and have a pleasant experience, and good food, and an attentive waiter, you need to pay 20-25% more than the price on the menu. If enough people begin to refuse to tip that way, expect the menu prices to go up by about 25 percent. And you've got noone to blame but yourself.
I've had these friends that I have been hanging out for the past year, but last weekend, we all went out of town together for the first time. Our first stop was to a dine in restaurant, and at the end, I paid my bill via credit card and gave the normal 20% tip. As we were about to leave, the waitress came back to my friend, and asked if she was happy with her service. My friend nodded and said it was good. The waitress then said my friend gave her the exact amount on the bill. That's when I caught on that she didn't leave a tip. I asked my friend if she was going to leave a tip, and she outright told the waitress no. That she don't believe in tipping. Serving her was the waitresses job and she should need tips. I told my friend most service workers work at no more that 2.15 and hour, and my friend told the waitress point blank "well, that's not my problem that your are so stupid enough to work for a job that pays minimum wage. So, good-bye"
I was so embarrassed and very upset with how my friend acted. I haven't talked to her too much since then, and wonder, has anyone else had this issue with friends who refused to tip? Or all of a sudden, short on money and need help in paying their bill (which has happened to me too before)
I would never again go out with someone who did that. It's rude and so very wrong. I also would cover the tip for the embarrassing person I was out with who refused to tip.
If more and more people refuse to tip, restaurants will just have to up their prices and pay wait staff.
As it is, waitstaff is paid almost nothing usually - far below minimum wage - because it's expected that if you get good service, you'll tip and if you get bad service, that's feedback for bad employees. So it's a system that works.
If people now start refusing to tip even though they've gotten good service, you can expect restaurants to abandon the "honor" tip system and just charge you enough to pay their waitstaff what they are worth.
As it is, those who refuse to tip aren't paying their share. Restaurants aren't charity services. If you eat at a restaurant with waitstaff, and you don't tip, you haven't paid what you owe for your food.
If you want to go out and have a pleasant experience, and good food, and an attentive waiter, you need to pay 20-25% more than the price on the menu. If enough people begin to refuse to tip that way, expect the menu prices to go up by about 25 percent. And you've got noone to blame but yourself.
That's absurd. Tipping is our custom in America and it's not about to change. I agree with everything else you've said. People should tip just as you said, at least 20%.
This is great, " If you eat at a restaurant with waitstaff, and you don't tip, you haven't paid what you owe for your food."
One minor quibble, 'noone' is not a word. No one is.
Having been a waitress a long time ago myself, I can appreciate waitstaff today and how hard most of them work. I tip as generously as I can. I did once have a friend who refused to tip. She would always manage to find something wrong with the restaurant and took it out on the waitstaff by not leaving a tip.
I didn't dump the friend but I did finally tell her not to bother asking me if I wanted to go out to eat with her because she was too stingy.
I read on a post on FB where someone who waited tables said there seemed to be a growing trend of people leaving notes instead of tips in many restaurants. The most common notes are bible quotes. The majority, though, leave notes saying they had kids so they couldn't afford to tip. Often all they say is "Sorry, no tip, I have kids."
If they can't afford to tip, they can't afford to go out to dinner. Don't these non tippers realize what will happen to them if they ever return to these restaurants?
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