My First Waitress SCs

[ArenaBoy]

My mom worked in food service for a long time. I have friends in food service who complain about bad tippers and I tip generously because of that.

[Slayergrrl]

Ex-waitress part time bartender here. My Mom was a bartender for 25 years and my Dad bartends now since he retired from his state job. A lot of my friends are waitresses.

I usually tip a minimum of 25%. 15% for bad service. really good service will get you 50%. I know what it's like to work your butt off and get a 26 cent tip. wait, that happened to me two weeks ago

[Lace Neil Singer]

We don't have a sub-minimum wage system for waiting staff over here, though, Lace. The same minimum applies all the way around. It's a completely different culture.

Mind you, I do tip, though nowhere near the percentages quoted by those in the colonies.

Rapscallion

I know that; just thought I'd point out that some people don't tip loads cuz they can't afford it not cuz they're being mean. I'm sure there are people in America who are in my position, too. Why should I miss out on going out just cuz I'm not rolling in money? Of course, there are some stinges who can afford to tip, and don't.

[Emrld]

from how it was once explained to me the whole reason the $2 wage is even given is as insurance that good ole Uncle Sam is able to get his cut. Have to pay the taxes somehow. Otherwise it would be a strictly tip based position.

[AnqeiicDemise]

I'll have to be honest, sometimes, I just can't tip.

We don't go to eat out often because we got bills to pay, shit straightened out when it happens... so when we DO go and eat, sometimes, we're not paying attention to what we order (oh, we try, we really do).

Then we end up with what happened last night. We ordered some extra fries, the waitress told us one price, it ended up being another and the soda refills we thought were free werent.

We blew our tip budget. (We like to tip heavy...as my first job was waitressing). There was no way I could give a tip without putting us in hot water.

And yes, I know it was irresponsible, but sometimes, you just need to get out of the house and do something in order to keep the sanity.



Its something I had to keep in mind when I waited tables; sometimes, just sometimes, people live shitty tips because they have no other choice. I rather give them the benefit of the doubt than ruin the rest of my day by being p'od that dude over there gave me a 20 cent tip (it did happen once!).

I got into the habit of not checking my tips so my bad mood wouldn't spread to my other customers. -shrug-

[Jester]

Okay. Time to explain a few things. As I've been in the food service industry for 21 years, I do feel I speak with some knowledge on the subject at hand.

I seriously want to call up this kid's mom and ask her why her child is big enough to go out to eat like an adult but not big enough to pay his waitress like one.

You are going to get lousy tips. It sucks, but it is part of the job. Yes, you can get mad about it. But it is highly unprofessional to call people on their lousy tipping. At some places, you can lose your job. I have seen a server follow a lousy tipper into the parking lot and call them on their lousy tip. Said server lost their job, and this may shock y'all, but I agree with management's call on that one. It makes the restaurant look bad, it makes the server look unprofessional, and frankly, at times, it can be downright dangerous.

I am a damn good server. I make damn good money. And I still get people who leave me lousy tips, sometimes even under 10%. I curse the people who do this under my breath....and I move on. Because frankly, I know I am going to make my money on most days, and I also believe that karma will come around and smack these penny-pinching clueless asshats right in the mouth.

But Barista....you can't dwell on this, and you can't let the occasional incident like this get you down. If you can't get past stuff like this, you might want to consider the idea that serving is not for you.

I ALWAYS tip well, even when the meal goes poorly and it takes half an hour to get another water...

If the service is that bad, you shouldn't be tipping well, or at all. I know several servers who say they never have stiffed another server. I am not one of them. I HAVE stiffed a server once or twice for truly legendary bad service.

...do all you americans really expect to be paid more then you agreed to when you got the job?

It's legal to pay below "minimum" wage? What the hell does the US govt. smoke?

Yes and no. First of all, any time we take a job serving or bartending, we know we are working a tipped job. We know the possible pitfalls of this, of course, in that there is always the possibility that we could work a whole day and not get one single tip. In my 21 years in the industry, nothing like that has ever actually happened, but theoretically it could. We accept that, because we know that, overall, if we do our jobs well, we will make pretty decent money through tips.

How is this legal? Because the tipping culture is in place, has been for a long time, and that is the way the thing works. The employer is obligated to see that the server makes at least minimum wage over the time of the pay period. Generally the pay period is two weeks. So in that two weeks time, if the server's total tips for those two weeks, added to their hourly pay (before taxes) do not add up to minimum wage for the hours the server worked, the employer is obligated to make up the difference. In my entire career in the industry, I have never seen an employer actually be put in the position to have to make up that difference, though I imagine it has happened at some point. I myself don't make anything near minimum wage. I don't know what I make exactly, but I am pretty sure it is somewhere in the $10-20/hour range, depending on the day and the amount of business.

What a lot of non-Americans may not realize is that the tipping system is in place, and because of it, food in restaurants and bars is a lot cheaper than it would be otherwise over here. If American restaurants and bars paid their staff an "actual wage" as some people call it then the prices of all their food and drinks would, without question, go up. You'd be paying the tip one way or another, in other words. But the system is in place, and slowly but surely a lot of non-Americans are learning about it.

Different people will tell you different things, and obviously servers are going to be biased on the subject, but generally speaking, it is considered standard to tip 15-20% of your total bill to your server for good service, going up or down from there depending on the service rendered. Keep in mind, if they were not working for tips, servers might not always be as good, friendly, helpful, etc., as they are. I bust my ass to make your stay in my establishment a pleasant one for two reasons: I am a professional and take pride in my job--and I want your money. I mean, that's just being honest. Servers, just like anyone else working hard, want the consumer's money. And there is nothing wrong with that.

I've had friends that were 'guaranteed' though of course not in writing a certain amount in waitressing jobs and made nothing near that

That is lousy on the employer's part, and I can honestly say I have never seen that. When interviewing for a position, I have been told approximately what servers average, but it is always followed by the caveat of "there is nothing guaranteed." Any employer that guarantees a certain level of tips is shoveling more bullshit than the average farmhand. The only exception to this is an employer that includes gratuities in the bills they present to their customers, such as hotel banquet operations and such.

Yeah. Solemnwarning, min. wage here is $6.15/hour (I think), but waiters and waitresses get 2.13/hour plus tip, which is supposed to make up for that other $4.12/hour but really never does. Sigh.

I have never seen it not make up the difference. I can not speak for every place or every area, of course, but I have worked as a server all around the country, and have never had any problem making decent money. This is not meant to put anyone down in any way....I am just saying I have not seen this.

I feel so sorry the wait staff in arizona...

I don't. I worked for years as a server in Arizona, and just like any place else, some people tip well, some tip great, and some tip lousy. And I refuse to ever generalize about someone's tipping proclivities based simply upon their heritage. It is misguided and faulty logic, bordering on racism, and I have seen such stereotypes proven wrong time and time again.

[LifeCarnie]

I normally tip between 20-25%. Bad service even gets at least 10%, unless they really, really suck.

[Jester]

I'll have to be honest, sometimes, I just can't tip.

It has been said by many people that if you can't tip, you really shouldn't be going to a sit down restaurant, as tipping IS expected for good service.

I am not saying you need to stay at home or eat only fast food, I am merely pointing out that many people believe that if you can't afford a part of the bill that is expected, and that you KNOW is expected, you shouldn't be dining at that establishment, as it is not fair to the server who is busting their butts to serve you for a tip they expect that is never coming.

[AnqeiicDemise]

It has been said by many people that if you can't tip, you really shouldn't be going to a sit down restaurant, as tipping IS expected for good service.

I am not saying you need to stay at home or eat only fast food, I am merely pointing out that many people believe that if you can't afford a part of the bill that is expected, and that you KNOW is expected, you shouldn't be dining at that establishment, as it is not fair to the server who is busting their butts to serve you for a tip they expect that is never coming.

Completely understood, and no offense was taken. The issue that happened last night was that, due to our own damned fault for talking and not realizing what we were doing, we went over our budget...

And we were playing it far too close already. I don't want to get the car repo'd again and it was a chance we decided not to take by not tipping because of the way our paychecks is done and the bill is due.

Believe me, as a former waitress, I'd rather to go to the 99 cent menu at McDonalds any day and not tip than go, thinking I can, and realizing last minute that, hey, I couldn't.


Sometimes, poo just happens.....

like when you split the bill and buddy goes "eh, I left my check at home." >.< jerk.


/rant

[Giggle Goose]

50% or more automatically for Hooters girls.

Well, I sure hope so. A decent boob job in these here parts costs about $7000.

Kidding aside, waitressing can be absolutely thankless. I now do it only as a second job; but the people who know how to tip make it all worth it. If you go out to eat, you pay for service, too. Period. I always tip at least 20%. Something would have to be seriously wrong if I tipped less than that. If you're going to be cheap, McDonald's has a wonderful Dollar Menu.

[akilika]

I have seen a server follow a lousy tipper into the parking lot and call them on their lousy tip. Said server lost their job, and this may shock y'all, but I agree with management's call on that one. It makes the restaurant look bad, it makes the server look unprofessional, and frankly, at times, it can be downright dangerous.

One of our servers did that recently and . . . yeah, he got fired. Much as I miss him (he was easier to work with than a lot of people), he was totally in the wrong, and he violated a few things specifically laid out in the employee handbook by doing it. (Don't follow guests out of the restaurant for any reason, and don't ask or hint for gratuities.)


I don't know. I'm only a host at this point, but it seems to me that for any decent rush, you're going to get a decent number of tables in any given hour. So for that one table that doesn't tip, you've got another chance with six or eight more. (Rules are different for "volume" or closing—the in-between shifts—but generally, those are longer shifts with fewer servers, so I figure those even out, too.)

I dunno. All I know is that the servers who I've talked about money with seem to make a decent amount more than I do, and I'm making enough to survive. Maybe it's just the area I'm in, but it doesn't seem to be a bad deal, all told.

[Jester]

Don't follow guests out of the restaurant for any reason...

That makes sense, but they shouldn't make it so across the board. I HAVE followed guests out of the restaurant, but not for non-tipping....

"Ma'am? Ma'am? You forgot your purse! I figure it looks better on you than on me anyways."

They always appreciate that. Hey, I DID say I take pride in doing a good professional job, didn't I? I take care of my guests, damn it.

That being said, if someone stiffs me or gives me a lousy tip, and I notice they left something behind, I will still try to catch them before they're gone, but I may not feel as much urgency to do it as quickly. Either way, if I don't catch them, the forgotten item goes to management for if/when said guest returns to claim it.

So for that one table that doesn't tip, you've got another chance with six or eight more.

Precisely. Just as one table may stiff me, another one may give me a great tip. It does balance out in the end, more often than not.

[Alpha Strike]

It has been said by many people that if you can't tip, you really shouldn't be going to a sit down restaurant, as tipping IS expected for good service.

I am not saying you need to stay at home or eat only fast food, I am merely pointing out that many people believe that if you can't afford a part of the bill that is expected, and that you KNOW is expected, you shouldn't be dining at that establishment, as it is not fair to the server who is busting their butts to serve you for a tip they expect that is never coming.

And therein lies my one big problem with tipping: the idea that you're required to do it no matter how bad the service is. I was always taught that tipping (at least in theory) was a reward or bonus for service well done. Yet, in reality it seems that the expectation is that a person HAS to tip - look at how many people say they "only" put down 10% for bad or crummy service.

Now I understand that tipping is a reality in America and I'm usually a pretty generous guy (between 15% to 20% in most cases) when I go out to eat. I just hate the idea that my "job" is to pay for my food AND supplement someone else's income.

[And don't even get me started on how many other non-waiter/waitress jobs put their hands out for tips - since when does the guy at Coldstone or Starbucks deserve a tip for simply doing their job?]

[Shengirl]

[And don't even get me started on how many other non-waiter/waitress jobs put their hands out for tips - since when does the guy at Coldstone or Starbucks deserve a tip for simply doing their job?]

Don't Coldstone people have to sing if you tip at least a dollar? I would feel like a huuuuge jerk. "Here's a dollar to split between the 5 of you. Now sing, sing, monkey!"

[Jester]

And therein lies my one big problem with tipping: the idea that you're required to do it no matter how bad the service is.

Um, no. I even commented on that very thing:

This is why I ALWAYS tip well, even when the meal goes poorly and it takes half an hour to get another water...

If the service is that bad, you shouldn't be tipping well, or at all. I know several servers who say they never have stiffed another server. I am not one of them. I HAVE stiffed a server once or twice for truly legendary bad service.

If you receive bad service, your tip should reflect that. I know not all servers will agree with me here, but the fact is that tipping is for good service. You are in the customer service business, in this case the food service business. If you provide bad service to your dining customers, you are not doing your job, and not holding up your end of the tipping culture bargain. If you don't hold up your end, why should the customer hold up theirs?

I do not believe tipping should be REQUIRED. I DO think that if you receive good service and you leave a subpar tip, you are basically a shitball. The idea of tipping is that it reflects the level of service that the customer received. If their service was very good, they should tip very well. If their service was lousy, their tip should reflect that as well.

There are people who will argue that they won't ever tip because they don't feel that it's right that they should be required to tip. This is a copout, and a lame way for cheap people to get out of tipping. Because it ISN'T required. Not at all. (Please note, Alpha, that that was not your argument at all, so these comments are not directed at you.)

And don't even get me started on how many other non-waiter/waitress jobs put their hands out for tips - since when does the guy at Coldstone or Starbucks deserve a tip for simply doing their job?

I'll be the first to admit that I don't usually put tips in tip jars at Subway, delis, ice cream shops, etc. I think the whole thing is lame, as these people are not being paid "tip wages" and it's just a cheesy way for them to make a few extra bucks. On the occasional times when I HAVE received excellent service at these places, I WILL drop something in the bucket....but please. Get over yourselves.