Comments on: Want A Good Tip?

By: Tightwad

Tightwad — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:19:30 +0000

David, “HON”, ya gotta lighten up!
(as Clairee said to Annelle….)
Hey…. you’re cute

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:55:46 +0000

Please excuse my overuse of the word “expect” in the #19 comment. Maybe it’s because that’s how I feel lately, I’m expected to give money for the most minimal of service everywhere I go.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:52:22 +0000

This is a topic well-worth mentioning, since tipping has become so prevalent in our society. There are tip jars at coffee shops, self-serve restaurants, etc. so it surely deserves recognition on a site dedicated to frugal living. I was at a cafeteria the other week, where I stood in line and was served food. It is now customary for the people who walk around and offer to fill your water glass to expect a tip. The guy who was practically doing stand-up comedy expected me to tip him but I really was quite happy to read my paper and eat without the entertainment. I love to laugh but I didn’t pay for my food and then be expected to pay for the comedian.I don’t receive a tip at my job and don’t feel that all establishments serving any kind of food or drink should expect tipping as a standard practice. Good service definitely deserves 20%+, but just because someone hands me a muffin and a cup of coffee, I don’t think I should be expected to throw in more money.

By: persephone

persephone — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:03:16 +0000

To a certain extent, I agree with spicoli. I try not to punish a server for the quality of the food. At the same time, if the food is delivered cold or is otherwise compromised because of bad service, I will cut the tip in a big way!

By: David G. Mitchell

David G. Mitchell — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:57:33 +0000

Gail — That is really a sad story. That waitress should not have spoken so rashly to your son about an issue — even a false issue — that she thought she had with you. I hope she at least apologized to your son, and she should apologize to you if you go to the restaurant again.

I always try to give the server a cash tip, even if I pay be credit card. I also always try to put the tip into the servers hand to make sure he or she gets it.

By: Gail

Gail — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:50:40 +0000

Your son wandering by grabbing a French Fry certainly shouldn’t have qualified you for the group tip. Was your bill combined with theirs? Doesn’t sound like it. I remember one of my last big dinners out with co-workers. The bills came I saw immediately that there had been the large group surcharge (and yet again no extra service). As my co-workers started pulling money out to leave cash tips, I realized none of them had noticed that they had already been charged for that and had to tell them to put the money back in their purses. Some still seemed to think there was a necessity of leaving a cash tip.

One of the saddest things about tips my son experienced. The two of us went to a restaurant had a meal which I put on my debit card Including the tip. The waitress was a classmate of my son and she had the gall to complain to him at school that I hadn’t left her a tip! So here he was a school having this girl complain about this and who knows how many other students she complained to making his reputation worse (he is autistic had very poor relationship skills while in school). When he told me what was happening, I told him to tell her that the tip had been on the charge and to ask her boss where it was. Guess what? After hearing where her tip had been left, she suddenly remembered getting it.

By: spicoli

spicoli — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:37:25 +0000

I tend to base my tips on whether I like the server or not. THey don’t control the quality of the food but they do determine whether or not I feel welcome and appreciated.

By: Carolie

Carolie — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:59:26 +0000

I think you’re right on the money — except for one thing. I completely agree that a waiter should know when to cut off a customer who’s had too much to drink. Unfortunately, sometimes the drink that “pushes them over the edge” into obnoxious and belligerent behavior is the one served BEFORE the behavior gets ugly, BEFORE the server has a reason to cut the customer off. And forget having some kind of limit — I know people who turn into idiots on drink #2, and others who are fine well into drink #6.

I had to laugh at Carol’s comment, #8 above! Contrary to her preference, I absolutely hate it when I get lots of $1 bills in change…if I want my change broken into small bills, I will ask for it! Perhaps I already have enough $1 bills to make the tip…I don’t want more! I prefer to have the money in my wallet in a few larger bills rather than a larger handful of small bills. So, if Carol and I were both in the same restaurant, a waiter would certainly make one of us angry with our change, no matter which way he or she brings it back!

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:14:59 +0000

I agree with a lot of this article – but I’m going to have to disagree about a few things.

1)Unruly children are not the server’s responsibility. Not only is unruly subjective, but the only real response a restaurant has is to ask those patrons to leave. I would never, ever either decrease a tip because the server couldn’t succeed where the parents haven’t bothered nor would I increase a tip because the server just happened to be lucky enough to find something that occupies the kids and doesn’t step on any parental toes.

2)The allergy thing. Yes, the server should know all of the ingredients. However, if your allergy is severe enough to fear cross-contamination you should call ahead of time, speak to a manager and do your homework before entering the restaurant. Do not fault your server for not knowing all of the ins and outs of YOUR allergy.

Otherwise, good article. Good service and communication goes a long way toward making a pleasant dining experience and a nice tip.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 01:57:19 +0000

The required tip for large groups has always made me wonder why they get to make more money off the group. They never seem to go the the group table more often then they go to a table with family of 4. Most of the times, the larger groups are so busy conversating that they don’t even realize that their food is taking a little longer then normal. I don’t know, always thought they should be tipped on service, not because you have more friends.