I was just wondering about this...
My parents invited me to a meal on Saturday and we went out to a fairly nice restaurant. I won't go into details, but the waitress was unpleasant, unprofessional, over-charged us and then slammed down the cheque at the end without it being requested.
(I hadn't finished my coffee)
My mom said to my dad "she gets NO tip whatsoever".
The stuck-up little waitress probably expected $15 or more??
The cheque came to around $100.
WE didn't have wine and we didn't have any other alcoholic beverages.
I think my mom was right.
This waitress was clearly not a single mother with three mouths to feed. She was a stuck-up college kid who wanted to pay for designer hand-bags and was moonlighting in this joint. That wasn't the issue though, nor was it relevant.
I've worked as a server and in retail when I was younger (I am 30 now) and I always gave 100%. I was charming, professional and treated everyone with respect. People appreciated me and I was rewarded accordingly. I actually liked treating people well. It was never something fake. It is what you do. It is the job. It's common sense. No one should think they are entitled to cash for not providing satisfactory service.
Sadly, some people don't realize how to do their job and how to do it professionally and pleasantly.
I applaud my mom.
How often do you find yourself in a similar situation and what do you do?
If the service is rotten why even tip 10%. 10% on $100 is $10. I don't think this girl deserved a cent of my mom's hard-earned money. When someone disrespects you, do you reward them?
Makes you sound like a wimp.
30% is excessive I think. What ever happened to 15% as a standard for acceptable service?
busy: I never said that the fact that the server came across as a bratty college kid was a reason for no tip. My mom actually never even mentioned that. It was her lack of service alone that determined no tip. It was me in retrospect that thought she was a moonlighting college kid and not a desperate single mom. The issue was NEVER discussed by my mom. You can have bratty college kids who do their jobs. This one couldn't or more likely WOULDN'T.
juma: what if what the server deserved was $0 and not $1? How is leaving a $1 tip a greater message to her than $0?
Failure is failure. The token $1 means nothing.
Jade: this wasn't a "chain restaurant". It is a higher-end independent restaurant.
Last time I went there the server was good, probably better than average.
This time, the server failed to do her job and so she got no tip. I think that's reasonable.
busy: you wrote "then that is the same quality of service that you will continue to receive the next time."
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No one could be worse than this girl. Next time I would expect her to be long gone or my mom would demand another server.
We don't go to this place that much either. I don't expect to be back for maybe another 3-6 months.
Believe me this genius won't remember us. She was at our table so briefly anyway.
And, why should we feel blackmailed to pay up cash so that she is nice to us?
I say get some balls and reward bad service with ZERO tip.
BOZEMA: explanation? My 60 year old parents were going out for a nice, calm relaxing evening. When you bring over a manager he/she will be defensive. You will make a scene. The restaurant was "intimate" and tables close to each other. My parents aren't up for that. This server was incompetent and I don't think she'll last. That will become clear enough to the management. Sure, we can always complain and so on, but my parents aren't feeling that. They are older people. They don't want conflict and they are NOT obligated to explain themselves. It is like you are suggesting they have to justify themselves and their actions. Is this a police state? That's too much. They don't want to argue with anyone. The server will get the message. Shape up or you won't get tips. If she improves, fine, if not, I wonder how long she'll last. As to other staff at the restaurant, who cares?! We never see them much. The hostess wasn't charming. The food wasn't perfect.
TAZZ: I agree. In this economy we don't have money to just give away and reward it to people who fail to met the minimum. My parents are almost at retirement age. They don't know if their pensions will be what they hoped. They don't have to leave cash to someone who disrespects them! Good for you. Don't reward people who treat you badly and don't do their jobs.
My parents invited me to a meal on Saturday and we went out to a fairly nice restaurant. I won't go into details, but the waitress was unpleasant, unprofessional, over-charged us and then slammed down the cheque at the end without it being requested.
(I hadn't finished my coffee)
My mom said to my dad "she gets NO tip whatsoever".
The stuck-up little waitress probably expected $15 or more??
The cheque came to around $100.
WE didn't have wine and we didn't have any other alcoholic beverages.
I think my mom was right.
This waitress was clearly not a single mother with three mouths to feed. She was a stuck-up college kid who wanted to pay for designer hand-bags and was moonlighting in this joint. That wasn't the issue though, nor was it relevant.
I've worked as a server and in retail when I was younger (I am 30 now) and I always gave 100%. I was charming, professional and treated everyone with respect. People appreciated me and I was rewarded accordingly. I actually liked treating people well. It was never something fake. It is what you do. It is the job. It's common sense. No one should think they are entitled to cash for not providing satisfactory service.
Sadly, some people don't realize how to do their job and how to do it professionally and pleasantly.
I applaud my mom.
How often do you find yourself in a similar situation and what do you do?
If the service is rotten why even tip 10%. 10% on $100 is $10. I don't think this girl deserved a cent of my mom's hard-earned money. When someone disrespects you, do you reward them?
Makes you sound like a wimp.
30% is excessive I think. What ever happened to 15% as a standard for acceptable service?
busy: I never said that the fact that the server came across as a bratty college kid was a reason for no tip. My mom actually never even mentioned that. It was her lack of service alone that determined no tip. It was me in retrospect that thought she was a moonlighting college kid and not a desperate single mom. The issue was NEVER discussed by my mom. You can have bratty college kids who do their jobs. This one couldn't or more likely WOULDN'T.
juma: what if what the server deserved was $0 and not $1? How is leaving a $1 tip a greater message to her than $0?
Failure is failure. The token $1 means nothing.
Jade: this wasn't a "chain restaurant". It is a higher-end independent restaurant.
Last time I went there the server was good, probably better than average.
This time, the server failed to do her job and so she got no tip. I think that's reasonable.
busy: you wrote "then that is the same quality of service that you will continue to receive the next time."
----------------------
No one could be worse than this girl. Next time I would expect her to be long gone or my mom would demand another server.
We don't go to this place that much either. I don't expect to be back for maybe another 3-6 months.
Believe me this genius won't remember us. She was at our table so briefly anyway.
And, why should we feel blackmailed to pay up cash so that she is nice to us?
I say get some balls and reward bad service with ZERO tip.
BOZEMA: explanation? My 60 year old parents were going out for a nice, calm relaxing evening. When you bring over a manager he/she will be defensive. You will make a scene. The restaurant was "intimate" and tables close to each other. My parents aren't up for that. This server was incompetent and I don't think she'll last. That will become clear enough to the management. Sure, we can always complain and so on, but my parents aren't feeling that. They are older people. They don't want conflict and they are NOT obligated to explain themselves. It is like you are suggesting they have to justify themselves and their actions. Is this a police state? That's too much. They don't want to argue with anyone. The server will get the message. Shape up or you won't get tips. If she improves, fine, if not, I wonder how long she'll last. As to other staff at the restaurant, who cares?! We never see them much. The hostess wasn't charming. The food wasn't perfect.
TAZZ: I agree. In this economy we don't have money to just give away and reward it to people who fail to met the minimum. My parents are almost at retirement age. They don't know if their pensions will be what they hoped. They don't have to leave cash to someone who disrespects them! Good for you. Don't reward people who treat you badly and don't do their jobs.