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i don't think the issue was writing in a zero ... it was writing in a BIG FAT ZERO.....
It was a figure of speech. I didn't mean I literally wrote a gigantic zero with a line crossed through it to send a message. I'm surprised some people are so dense that they took me literally and couldn't understand the context of the message. I received the dirty look because the girl was a teenage girl with a lot of attitude and literally stared at me when I filled out the receipt. Andrea started this mess because she became overly sensitive and got defensive assuming I was bashing servers.
FYI, I'm the type of customer that waiter and waitresses love. I don't go by the standard 10-15-20% rule. For example, if you eat at Dennys or some cheap breakfast place and your server waits on you for an hour and your bill is $15, I'm not going to leave $3 and think I left a good tip even though that is technically 20%. I will leave $5 at least. I love to reward good service and I'm certainly not cheap.
However, the point of my post is that mindless tipping is occuring in which it isn't warranted. No one is saying, let alone myself, that we should not tip people who deserve tips and rely on them for a living but I'm not tipping the Starbucks girl $1-$2 for picking up a tall late in the drive thru. I bought a medium hazlenut coffee at McDonalds that was $3, I didn't tip that person and there was no tip jar there.
Um, how about the ice was made in a machine behind a wall. The glass was cleaned by other guys doing dishes in the back, and in a dishwasher at that. I don't drink tea, so no lemons for me thanks. Clean up of the dishes is usually done by a busboy, not by the waitress, he also stocks the buffet. She may clean, but thats after everyone all day, not just me. All of the plates were brought out and put on the buffet, by the busboy again.
My sister worked at a buffet restaurant, and I know what they do. Pretty much nothing when people order the bar, just make sure the drinks are kept full.
I'm wondering if you understand that servers, even in buffet places, are required to "tip out" to those who do the dishes et al. And those employees are usually not required by law to declare tips on taxes the way that the servers are.
Nope, but if he had a tip jar I'd be more likely to tip him than the girl who just brought me a drink, and refilled it once.
I tip well when I do tip. I generally leave a 5 dollar tip for a 10 to 20 dollar meal. Thats a 25% tip.
Oh, and I have never been to a restaurant with a basement. At Ryans, Golden Corral, and a few smaller mom and pop buffets here locally the ice machine is behind a little wall, with the drink machines. The girls are nice, and I'll usually leave them a dollar, but thats if I never have to ask for a drink.
And no, most of the waitresses don't do dishes, don't dry them, and don't restock.
Like I said, this is my point of view, I'm free to do so in a free country. You may not like it, but thats your right also. I just feel that bringing someone drinks a few times during a meal isn't worth more than a dollar or two, and only if I never have to ask for a drink.
The waitresses at buffets do refill your drink, do wipe down tables, do clear dishes, do restock, do fill ice machines, do change soda syrup boxes and CO2 cannisters, do cut lemons and do dry dishes if they're still wet. They also have to refill the sugar caddies and ketchup bottles, bring you new napkins, etc. I hated filling the ice thing up, you have to go to the back (this was in FL, where we had no basements), fill up a huge bucket out of the ice maker and then lug it to the service station and dump it.
Of course, your point of view is valid, but I'm not sure you can really speak about what servers do unless you really watch them or if you've done it yourself. FWIW, I think a dollar or two is fine for buffets, but I would not opt to leave zero unless I had a pile of dirty dishes and an empty drinking glass on my table when I left.
one reason I hate eating in expensive restaurants are the inflated tips. Why should I have to tip some guy $100 for service, whereas at a cheaper restaurant I may tip $5? They are doing nearly the same thing, but maybe the high-end waiter is more suave about it. That's a difference of 20 fold.
That's why when I go to cheaper restaurants, I tip more percentage-wise. At expensive restaurants it is all about pretense so everyone feels compelled to tip 25%. What the heck???
Um, you don't have to tip 25% ever. They don't expect a greater percentage just b/c it's a more expensive restaurant. But in nicer restaurants, you can expect better service, so they are still earning their 15 or 20% tip, it's not that they have the same task and just have to act suave. If you're tipping $100, that means your bill was at minimum $500. Yeah, right. You are not expected to tip a greater percentage at "normal" restaurants just b/c you can afford to, just like you're not expected to tip 25% at a high-end place just b/c prices are higher and servers are more "suave." Just stick with the 10-15-20 rule and you're fine.
It was a figure of speech. I didn't mean I literally wrote a gigantic zero with a line crossed through it to send a message. I'm surprised some people are so dense that they took me literally and couldn't understand the context of the message. I received the dirty look because the girl was a teenage girl with a lot of attitude and literally stared at me when I filled out the receipt. Andrea started this mess because she became overly sensitive and got defensive assuming I was bashing servers.
FYI, I'm the type of customer that waiter and waitresses love. I don't go by the standard 10-15-20% rule. For example, if you eat at Dennys or some cheap breakfast place and your server waits on you for an hour and your bill is $15, I'm not going to leave $3 and think I left a good tip even though that is technically 20%. I will leave $5 at least. I love to reward good service and I'm certainly not cheap.
However, the point of my post is that mindless tipping is occuring in which it isn't warranted. No one is saying, let alone myself, that we should not tip people who deserve tips and rely on them for a living but I'm not tipping the Starbucks girl $1-$2 for picking up a tall late in the drive thru. I bought a medium hazlenut coffee at McDonalds that was $3, I didn't tip that person and there was no tip jar there.
Honestly, the way me and many other posters took it is that you flagrantly put a BIG FAT ZERO WITH A LINE THROUGH IT TO INDICATE NO TIP. Isn't that what you said?
I did not become "overly defensive" b/c I thought you were picking on servers. I said you don't have to be a jerk to the cashier at Papa John's. You said you tip servers well, why would I have an issue with that?
I also agreed with you that tipping is out of hand. I don't feel the need to tip at Starbucks unless it's maybe the holidays and if I was picky and they took extra time to make my drink well without getting mad b/c I ordered something weird. I also sometimes will tip counter people (pizza or anywhere) if they did something out of the ordinary for me. 99% of the time, I don't tip any of these people since they are already making at least minimum wage. We agree there. I took issue with you being a jerk about it, since it's not their fault that a tip jar is at the counter or that an extra line exists on a credit card slip.
I mean, why wouldn't every single person you deal with every single day not deserve a tip then? Your mechanic, the cop who gave you a ticket, your dentist, the guy who sold you a pack of smokes, etc, etc, etc?
I mean, isn't it your job to do the best effin' job you can every day you work? No matter what your job is? That's my philosophy. That's what I do...and guess what? I don't get tipped. Doing a good job, to me, is not about the money. It's about integrity and professionalism.
I tip large and often to waitstaff, people who come work at my house, my hairdresser, etc...but it's not a damn entitlement.
Unfortunately, this is lost on many people in the service industry. It is their job to provide good service regardless of who the client is. Sure, if someone is being rude or offensive, it's understandable to provide less than perfect service but I've seen servers make assumptions about certain people and will provide less service assuming they won't get tipped well even if they aren't being treated unprofessionally. At a recent dining experience, our server forgot about us during the rush. He never came back after taking our order. He didn't refill drinks, ask us how were doing, ask us how our meal was or if we wanted anything else. We had to track him down just to get our bill and then he took another 30 minutes to return our check to us. He saw how upset we were and realized he messed up but rather than apologize and act professionally, he continued to ignore us and act rude knowing he wasn't going to receive a good tip. For him, he didn't care knowing he already burned a bridge so in his mind, what was the point of being nice. Had he apologized and tried to throw in some small token (free desert, a free drink), we would have understood and still tipped him well. Making mistakes are understandable, failing to apologize and acting professionally is not understandable.
It seems like there is a paradigm shift with regard to servers and customers. Now, it seems like customers have to earn the right to receive good service from servers by being overly apologetic if the server is busy or being excessively nice if the server is having a bad day. You are also required not to make the server's life too difficult or order too little to result in a weak check. For exampler, servers get upset if you split a dish, order water instead of drinks, ask them to adjust the order in any way (ie hold the bacon, no meat in the pasta), there are supposed taboos among servers and they will typecast you as a cheap client and will provide less service.
The waitresses at buffets do refill your drink, do wipe down tables, do clear dishes, do restock, do fill ice machines, do change soda syrup boxes and CO2 cannisters, do cut lemons and do dry dishes if they're still wet. They also have to refill the sugar caddies and ketchup bottles, bring you new napkins, etc. I hated filling the ice thing up, you have to go to the back (this was in FL, where we had no basements), fill up a huge bucket out of the ice maker and then lug it to the service station and dump it.
Of course, your point of view is valid, but I'm not sure you can really speak about what servers do unless you really watch them or if you've done it yourself. FWIW, I think a dollar or two is fine for buffets, but I would not opt to leave zero unless I had a pile of dirty dishes and an empty drinking glass on my table when I left.
It depends on the buffet. At some buffets, the employees really do act like servers and truly do a lot of work and deserve good tips. At other places (salad buffets for example) they do little if anything. At Sweet Tomatoes for example, they don't refill your drinks or even pick up your dishes or trays until you leave so I don't tip there. But at restaurant buffet, I tip fairly well because they do replace your plates, refill your drinks, will ask if you need extra plates, napkins or even mild foods that children can eat if you have kids with you. I tip 20% in those cases particularly if they made my experience better.
\ At a recent dining experience, our server forgot about us during the rush. He never came back after taking our order. He didn't refill drinks, ask us how were doing, ask us how our meal was or if we wanted anything else. We had to track him down just to get our bill and then he took another 30 minutes to return our check to us. He saw how upset we were and realized he messed up but rather than apologize and act professionally, he continued to ignore us and act rude knowing he wasn't going to receive a good tip. For him, he didn't care knowing he already burned a bridge so in his mind, what was the point of being nice. Had he apologized and tried to throw in some small token (free desert, a free drink), we would have understood and still tipped him well. Making mistakes are understandable, failing to apologize and acting professionally is not understandable.
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It kind of sounds as if the problem may have been one of understaffing.
And please be advised that servers often don't have the option of throwing in a free drink or dessert at their discretion. Virtually all quality establishments utilize a Point of Sales system these days.....in laymans' language that means that the gratis drink won't be going out of the bar until and unless its sent through the system properly and credited towards the patron's bill.
In that case the server of course can pay for the drink out of his or her own pocket but nonetheless it creates a rather akward situation.
I'll never forget a financial radio show where a woman called in asking about what she should expect for tips as a paper delivery person. She was expecting to be tipped every month. WTF? I'm getting ready to leave our paper delivery guy a Christmas card with a nice tip in it and he deserves it. But where did she get the idea that she should be tipped every month? The host more or less set her straight but she still thought she could expect something for exemplary service( delivering the papers on time and every day).
I eat at a buffet and still give decent tips, maybe a little less than usual. They do refill your drinks and are pleasant.
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Yeah, right. You are not expected to tip a greater percentage at "normal" restaurants just b/c you can afford to, just like you're not expected to tip 25% at a high-end place just b/c prices are higher and servers are more "suave." Just stick with the 10-15-20 rule and you're fine.
