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I went to one with a tip jar, too. As if that's not obnoxious enough, at the one I went to, the salesgirl thought she was entitled to take a tip herself.
I bought for $9.20, handed her a $10 bill, and she just put the money in the register and closed it. She didn't want to give me my change! When I asked for it, she said, "Oh, I thought that was the tip."
I couldn't believe the nerve of her! I informed the manager right away. He was appalled and let me have the yogurt for free.
I had the same thing happen at a self-serve yogurt place! It was $1.50 she kept, and she didn't call it a tip, she just kept saying "Don't worry about it" when I asked for my change. I eventually gave up and left. Never went back either.
The other day I paid cash at Sonic, and the girl lied about the amount of my order, so I overpaid her. I'm sure she does that to keep the difference as a tip. I was SO mad. I almost went back and demanded my money back but decided not to.
I live in a non tipping country. Believe me, we get decent service. I don't need a server bothering me every two minutes with "everything ok here." As soon as I open my mouth, when I visit America, and they hear my English accent, the server's mouth purses! I feel like saying, "don't worry, I know the score, you'll get your tip."
Ne, I've known waitresses who worked at top restaurants and they absolutely pull out all the stops to argue about how they are being shafted so please give me tips, all the while bragging about how they pull in $500 a night at least in tips. I lived in Scotland for a little and let me tell you, I much preferred the service and the fact that I didn't have to tip. The less amount of contact I can have with my waiter/waitress the better. My favorite place is Tokyo, because they bring you out the bill with your food so you never have to flag them down and you can just go to the counter when you've finished eating. Truly efficient and I don't have waitresses barging into the middle of my conservation with my dining partner or asking me how everything is when I have my mouth full and can't reply. Also, wherever I go in the world, I end up paying less for food compared to America... and I don't have to tip. I think that speaks volumes.
Regarding the U.S., the number of people expecting tips for doing next to nothing is ridiculously high. I consider them only a little better than beggars standing/sitting on the street with a bucket and sign asking for money. I'd rather drop 50 cents into a buskers violin case.
If a waiter or waitress gives poor service I tip nothing; if more people did so then servers would stop regarding a nice tip as automatic and instead be sure to actually do a good job.
I noticed in the past 5 - 6 years the waitstaff attitude in restaurants overall - really awful. It's like of you ask them for one thing you're bothering them, then you go on with your dinner w/o seeing them again - now it's time for the check and 20% is expected ?
Hey, wait our party did want coffee and dessert, but we weren't being waited on anymore just slapped with the check !
Then the amt. of tip is going to be adjusted accordingly, it's unfortunate that this type of dining experience is becoming more and more common.
The problem is companies are downsizing, which includes restaurants. Bad service is the norm. And in many occasions, it's truly not the server's fault. They have too many tables. Next time look around. You will see one server carrying 5 or 6 tables when it used to be 3 tables. Most of the places you go to now will have a shortage of waiters.
It's everywhere. Case in point, I remember a well known chain clothing store. It used to have great service in the 1990's and early 2000's. You would walk in and there would be someone to greet you. Then you would walk to an area, and there was one designated sales person in that area to help you. Then when you walked to the cashier, they acted like a pseudo sales person. And there was always two at the register. They would reach out to hold items behind the register and even offer to check the back for additonal sizes. The last time I walked in there, there was no greeter. They had a total of 3 employees working all over the store. There was only one person at the register and two working the floors. If you asked for additional sizes in the back, they acted like you were bothering them. The person at the register was all business and didn't care if you bought additonal clothes. She just wanted you out of her face. I was in Lacoste. There was one girl who worked the entire store during a Saturday afternoon. She provided no service as she wasn't able to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eevee188
The other day I paid cash at Sonic, and the girl lied about the amount of my order, so I overpaid her. I'm sure she does that to keep the difference as a tip. I was SO mad. I almost went back and demanded my money back but decided not to.
The key to dealing with Sonic is to pay with a credit card. There is no line to provide an additional tip. It's not your fault, if their company prevents tips from being charged, that is their problem.
What I also find comical is that some of the Sonics have drive thrus. Some of these drive thru Sonics will not hand you food at the window like they should. They have a little sign that says please pull forward which is 3 feet. Then a Sonic girl comes out of the door to hand you the food. They could have handed you the food through the window but this is designed so that you will tip them. Talk about pathetic. Not all drive thru Sonics do that but some do
Last edited by azriverfan.; 07-05-2014 at 10:23 PM..
Good - hopefully, this will also result in proper taxes being paid and the unclaimed tip scenario will disappear .
The remarks in this thread regarding punishing poor tippers by tampering with their food just reinforces my position; the tipping system is part of an archaic and failed paradigm. It seems we, as paying customers, are subject to having misanthropes deliver food to us and to our families. However, anyone who negatively tampers with a customer's food is simply a deranged criminal and should be prosecuted.
It's about time the paying customer is viewed as an asset to a restaurant and not as someone subject to the whims of the waitstaff.
Last edited by Dirt Grinder; 07-06-2014 at 03:07 AM..
But of course, servers don't want to be paid a proper hourly rate by the business owner. They can make a lot of money from tips. For all the complaining about being stiffed, they want things to remain the way they are.
Others say, "well if there weren't a tipping culture, the price of the meal would go up." That's probably true, but I bet each meal wouldn't go up to what people are paying now, plus the tip.
I'll say it one more time, quietly, so as not to frighten the horses......... it is not the job of the patron of a restaurant to pay the staff, that is the job of the business owner.
They mustn't be able to believe their luck that the customers pay the wages for them.
Reading through the thread, though, shows that it isn't just the $2 something that waitstaff if allowed to be paid that is being talked about.
In that case, you know that tips are necessary to get up even to minimum wage standards.
It's getting so that anybody that so much as smiles at you is being thrown into the 'must tip' category.
Reading through the thread, though, shows that it isn't just the $2 something that waitstaff if allowed to be paid that is being talked about.
In that case, you know that tips are necessary to get up even to minimum wage standards.
It's getting so that anybody that so much as smiles at you is being thrown into the 'must tip' category.
This seems to be the case reading through this thread. Ah, what do I know? I only go to Las Vegas, the probable capital of tipping in the US!!
It does seem to be getting worse though. The thing is, reading different threads in C-D, where I learn what little I know about America, that many folks are earning less money than they used to. Some struggle to pay their way these days. Some people seem to feel this is a sort of blackmail. Servers are paid a tiny hourly rate in many cases, so feel they have to tip.
Tipping is not the norm here. Nobody is earning less than minimum wage, which is about $11 an hour here. Plus folks earning low wages, get tax credits and such from the Government. So, we don't have this worry about tipping so many people. For instance, if I buy a fridge from a shop, and I pay a delivery charge, I don't give the delivery people a tip, nor is it expected. If I go in a bar, and buy a drink, the barman/woman don't expect a tip for pouring me a drink. They are getting paid to pour me a drink - it is their job to do so. Why do bar staff in America expect a tip for doing the job they are paid to do? It puzzles me.
There is another tipping thread elsewhere on C-D, which has just been closed. It got a bit heated I guess. But this shows the anger many people feel at this tipping system. I guess it's too ingrained to do anything about it. The only answer is for people to refuse to tip, and I guess that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
It doesn't help with people coming here and boasting how generous they are when the server is servile enough for their liking. Or wine buffs boasting of their generosity when they find a server with wine knowledge. Listen, I saw a programme on the telly once were a wine expert talked to a group of people on how to recognize wines from different parts of the world. He talked for just a few minutes to them. In a contest afterwards tasting six wines, most of them named the country of origin, and some the grape! It's just snobbery.........
Certain people seem to do very well from tips, and earn in some cases, more than the people doing the tipping! All folks can do is take a stand, and refuse to allow tipping to spread to even more people holding their hand out. Good luck with that.
Once I called a cab in Boston and waited outside for it to arrive. Finally the cabbie arrived, stopped on the opposite side and waited for me to cross the street with my luggage. I walked a few feet down the sidewalk toward him, waved, and waited for him to come to me. He sat there another minute or two, then finally turned his car and came around to my side of the street, but stopped 20 feet away from where I was standing. I wasn't sure it was for me. Finally I walked over to him and he said "255, right?" He had stopped precisely at the address, even though I was no longer standing in the right spot.
Then this lout expected me to give him a tip. Of course, I did not.
Restaurants - I usually tip about 20 or 25% for good, competent service. If it was slow, indifferent, or mediocre service, I tip exactly 15%. If it was truly a miserable experience and they actually managed to anger me, I'll give them what they truly deserve.
But at the ice cream store where even the smallest cone now costs $3.45 and they have a tip jar labeled "Tips for tuition!" -- sorry, no.
I agree that everyone has his hand out these days and there's no pride in simply doing a job any more. People need and expect that extra grease in their palm to motivate them to do the most basic work. It's like a third world country where you have to bribe everyone to get things done. I miss the old days, that's for sure. Service was better and people didn't expect to be bribed just to do their job.
I was suffering from sticker shock after having my hair done. I had no idea what to tip and faked it. When I asked later I was given some percentage amount that would have made my tip about $75 and I didn't think that was fair. Like adding insult to injury.
Regarding the U.S., the number of people expecting tips for doing next to nothing is ridiculously high. I consider them only a little better than beggars standing/sitting on the street with a bucket and sign asking for money. I'd rather drop 50 cents into a buskers violin case.
If a waiter or waitress gives poor service I tip nothing; if more people did so then servers would stop regarding a nice tip as automatic and instead be sure to actually do a good job.
Agreed. I have no clue where all these expectations of tipping came from. One of the most annoying ones comes from buffets. At one Mediterranean buffet that my girlfriend and I go to, we get absolutely NO service. We get our own plates, fill them up ourselves, get our own cups, fill up our own drinks, and get refills of everything. We don't even get our plates removed. The only thing a human does is cook the food and take our money at the end. Yet there is a tip jar at the cash register!
At Starbucks, it's almost as bad. The one thing the baristas are supposed to do is get the customer his/her drink, which is, of course, their job. And there is another tip jar. And what about tipping cab drivers for doing their job? What is that about? I tip only for service above and beyond the call of duty, waiters and waitresses in particular.
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I almost went back and demanded my money back but decided not to.
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