Restaurant Tipping Etiquette

[James]

But if you get crappy service or food you still have to pay 20 percent tip!

I think the main reason why there are supporters of no-tipping policies is because the majority of people are simply not accustomed to or comfortable with adjusting their tip to reflect the actual service provided. I've talked to many people who admit that they still tip even though the service was poor. Others speak of cases where the waitstaff would aggressively confront the customer if they feel the tip is too low. Our social norms have convinced many of us that tipping is mandatory and not solely determined by the customer based on the service. Until we can change our culture to truly accept that gratuities need to be genuinely earned and should be fully merited, the no tipping policy is one method in making the customer's experience a little more enjoyable, less ambiguous, less stressful and potentially less confrontational.

 

[NorthYorkEd]

I've talked to many people who admit that they still tip even though the service was poor.

I've tipped when service was poor because sometimes I err on the side of caution and assume that it is not always the server's fault. Plus, I usually frequent the same places and don't want to get a bad rep with the staff, which is completely backasswards, but is just the way it is.

My biggest issue with the service industries is the lack of accountability. I'm old enough to remember a time when service mattered, and if you were displeased, a manager or the server themselves apologized and tried to make it right. Now, they will rarely apologize when you indicate something went wrong, or if service was bad. There's no ownership of issues. Traditional customer service skills and employee training are falling by the wayside. And even when I leave larger tips to show appreciation for great service, you barely get a "thank you" or a "thanks for coming, hope to see you again" as you head for the door. You are sometimes hoping to make someone's day, maybe boost their morale, but all you get is the dead-eyed-my-soul-is-nothing-but-ashes stare.

Ironic how in this age of being super-connected we are increasingly disconnected from one another.

 

[nfitz]

For example, at Starbucks, the issue has become so thorny that baristas have sued to win back millions in tips that they allege were unfairly divvied; one case is currently making its way through the courts.

Tipping at fast food chain outlets? It's never crossed my mind to tip at Starbucks or Tim Hortons.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Tipping at fast food chain outlets? It's never crossed my mind to tip at Starbucks or Tim Hortons.

Unless you mean the 1¢ or 2¢ they keep when rounding the total up. (Offset by the 1¢, 2¢, or 3¢ we keep when they round down.)

 

[gabe]

My biggest issue with the service industries is the lack of accountability. I'm old enough to remember a time when service mattered, and if you were displeased, a manager or the server themselves apologized and tried to make it right. Now, they will rarely apologize when you indicate something went wrong, or if service was bad. There's no ownership of issues. Traditional customer service skills and employee training are falling by the wayside. And even when I leave larger tips to show appreciation for great service, you barely get a "thank you" or a "thanks for coming, hope to see you again" as you head for the door. You are sometimes hoping to make someone's day, maybe boost their morale, but all you get is the dead-eyed-my-soul-is-nothing-but-ashes stare.



Ironic how in this age of being super-connected we are increasingly disconnected from one another.

You're absolutely right. I was a waiter years ago and i have noticed a big change in customer service in the restaurant industry.

I have lost count how many times the sever has forgot my appetizer and brings it with the entree and still charges me full price!
I worked in three different restaurants. I was taught if i forgot an appetizer, it was my fault and take it off the customers bill. I was also taught not to argue with the customer, no matter how big of an A-hole the person is! ( the customer is always right) I recently sent my steak back because it was so tough i couldn't cut through it. And the waiter looked at me like i have never had a steak before, and had the nerve to ask me if it was just part of the steak or all of the steak?

One place that did impress me was Moxie's out of all places. Our waitress screwed up my tables order not once by twice. It took over an hour to get our food. I talked to the manager about it and comped our dinner AND gave us a $100 gift card. I was really impressed how he handled the situation. I'm glad to see there is at least one compassionate human being working at a chain restaurant.

 

[James]

A little detour from the topic at hand...Check out this tip from a mystery man in Utah.

Link: http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/details-of-utah-mystery-tipper-revealed-184829378.html

The Utah Mystery Tipper Is Not Who You Think
By Elise Sol̩, Shine Staff | Healthy Living Р22 hours ago

A mystery man who left three tips totaling $7,000 in Utah is not billionaire Sir Richard Branson (as news outlets have speculated), Jared Allen, the owner of Alleged, a bar in Ogden Utah, where one of the gratuities was left, tells Yahoo! Shine.

The young man, who Allen says prefers to remain anonymous, left his first extremely generous tip on Saturday, Aug. 17th. According to ABC News, a man left a $5,000 tip on a $214.75 bar tab at Brewskis in Ogden, Utah (receipt, left). Later that night, a second tip for $1,000 was left on a $49 tab at Alleged. And finally, that same weekend (it's unclear which day) a $1,000 tip was given to a girl who works at Wolf Creek Utah Golf Course in Eden.

Rumors have been circulating that the tipper might be Branson since he had been in town that week. However, Allen, tells Yahoo! Shine, “Richard Branson was in town that week, but he’s not the guy who left the tips. It’s a young guy, an old classmate of our liquor rep for the bar. He wants to remain anonymous.” Allen declined to provide Yahoo! Shine with more details, and although he didn't specify the amounts of the other reported tips, he did confirm that the man had left all three.

Mike Allen, Jared's brother and a bartender at Alleged, tells Yahoo! Shine: “The guy had hired a limo to drive him around all day. He and five of his friends had sat at a table and opened a tab on this guy’s black American Express card. At the end of the evening, we brought over an iPad for him to sign the $49 bill, and he informed me that he wanted to leave $1,000 as a tip.” Mike was stunned and asked several times if the man was sure about his decision. “He looked surprised that I would even question it; however, he appreciated the fact that I double-checked,” he says. “We split the tip between three bartenders and a waitress so we each took home $250.”

A representative from Wolf Creek Utah Golf Course confirmed that a large tip was left at the golf course for a woman driving a concession cart but he refused to comment on the exact amount or day or provide any other details. A rep for Brewskis did not respond to phone calls.

There’s been a slew of anonymous kind acts reported lately. In July, a man in his mid-to-late twenties walked into a Tim Hortons coffee shop in downtown Edmonton, Canada and purchased large cups of coffee for the next 500 customers for $900 (plus a Boston Cream doughnut for himself), before slipping away without revealing his identity. The kind gesture triggered five copycat acts—in Ottawa, a city bus supervisor bought 500 coffees at his local Tim Hortons and another Samaritan purchased 500 more in the Calgary shop. Here's to more goodwill!

 

[James]

A little video outlining the short history (and backward logic, as the writer calls it) of tipping:

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/ar...snt-work-why-do-americans-still-do-it/281627/

 

[StruongTeam]

I agree with you on that one, I do tip with the idea on the whole experience. But if my server is doing an excellent job and made a connection, I would tip them separately just for them

 

[Archieindowntown]

I always tip 10 to 20% because waiters are always nice to me.

I always tip on the subtotal, but tip on the high side, usually 18-20% of the pre-tax amount, or more depending. I don't think taxes should be in any tip calculation.

$1 for a drink at a bar is always a good rule of thumb.

As for take-out, I usually avoid tipping, unless some real work is involved in completing my order (a speciality drink, for example).

 

[Archieindowntown]

Woow he is so generous!

A little detour from the topic at hand...Check out this tip from a mystery man in Utah.

Link: http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/details-of-utah-mystery-tipper-revealed-184829378.html

The Utah Mystery Tipper Is Not Who You Think
By Elise Sol̩, Shine Staff | Healthy Living Р22 hours ago

A mystery man who left three tips totaling $7,000 in Utah is not billionaire Sir Richard Branson (as news outlets have speculated), Jared Allen, the owner of Alleged, a bar in Ogden Utah, where one of the gratuities was left, tells Yahoo! Shine.

The young man, who Allen says prefers to remain anonymous, left his first extremely generous tip on Saturday, Aug. 17th. According to ABC News, a man left a $5,000 tip on a $214.75 bar tab at Brewskis in Ogden, Utah (receipt, left). Later that night, a second tip for $1,000 was left on a $49 tab at Alleged. And finally, that same weekend (it's unclear which day) a $1,000 tip was given to a girl who works at Wolf Creek Utah Golf Course in Eden.

Rumors have been circulating that the tipper might be Branson since he had been in town that week. However, Allen, tells Yahoo! Shine, “Richard Branson was in town that week, but he’s not the guy who left the tips. It’s a young guy, an old classmate of our liquor rep for the bar. He wants to remain anonymous.” Allen declined to provide Yahoo! Shine with more details, and although he didn't specify the amounts of the other reported tips, he did confirm that the man had left all three.

Mike Allen, Jared's brother and a bartender at Alleged, tells Yahoo! Shine: “The guy had hired a limo to drive him around all day. He and five of his friends had sat at a table and opened a tab on this guy’s black American Express card. At the end of the evening, we brought over an iPad for him to sign the $49 bill, and he informed me that he wanted to leave $1,000 as a tip.” Mike was stunned and asked several times if the man was sure about his decision. “He looked surprised that I would even question it; however, he appreciated the fact that I double-checked,” he says. “We split the tip between three bartenders and a waitress so we each took home $250.”

A representative from Wolf Creek Utah Golf Course confirmed that a large tip was left at the golf course for a woman driving a concession cart but he refused to comment on the exact amount or day or provide any other details. A rep for Brewskis did not respond to phone calls.

There’s been a slew of anonymous kind acts reported lately. In July, a man in his mid-to-late twenties walked into a Tim Hortons coffee shop in downtown Edmonton, Canada and purchased large cups of coffee for the next 500 customers for $900 (plus a Boston Cream doughnut for himself), before slipping away without revealing his identity. The kind gesture triggered five copycat acts—in Ottawa, a city bus supervisor bought 500 coffees at his local Tim Hortons and another Samaritan purchased 500 more in the Calgary shop. Here's to more goodwill!

 

[johnf]

Nice( or rather at least decent) service,you get a tip.
Show attitude of "I don't give a f... about you as a client" ,no tip.

 

[Jamie42]

Woow he is so generous!

After reading this forum he just sounds like he's from Toronto . Seriously though, some people here tipping 20% regularly on the subtotal is a bit high for me. Yes waiting is a hard job and you depend on tips but waiting on one standard table of 4 at a modestly priced restaurant for one hour is not worth $30 (assuming min wage and $100 total)

 

[nrb]

Most waiters will not take home the entire tip. There is usually a tip out or some other tip sharing with the house. Minimum wage for wait staff is also not 10.25, it's 8.90. Not saying it's reason to tip 20% every time, but realistically, waiters are not getting rich in their jobs. With the absurd money some restaurants owners are raking in, it's not unreasonable for staff to expect to profit from it somewhat.

I think the push to tip more is coming from owners more than wait staff. The owners benefit hugely from bigger tips, because they don't have as much pressure to increase staff wages, and they get more money on tip out. I think most wait staff would prefer a base wage increase, for a more predictable income.

 

[devjohnson]

Is it time to take tipping off the menu? Vancouver Island restaurant’s ban on gratuities sparks debate

When it opens next month, Vancouver Island’s Smoke ‘N Water restaurant may be the first in Canada to institute a no-tipping policy — a trend that one expert says may well spread thanks to a climate of “tipping fatigue.”

During the past couple of years, restaurants have been trying to control the well-entrenched social norm by slapping auto-gratuities on large parties and prompting tips via debit and credit terminals that automatically asks the diner tip after tax, said Bruce McAdams, a professor of tourism and hospitality at the University of Guelph, who studies tipping behaviour.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/12/is-it-time-to-take-tipping-off-the-menu/

 

[ksun]

Nice( or rather at least decent) service,you get a tip.
Show attitude of "I don't give a f... about you as a client" ,no tip.

yep.

I usually ignore the total but apply 28% on the pretax sum if the service is decent/good.
It is subpar (forgetting this and that, wrong order) I tip much less.

Tips are to be earned. How hard the job is, how expensive life in Toronto is, has nothing to do with how much patrons should tip.

Tipping is a stupid and unreasonable tradition in north america. it makes absolutely no sense to tip a certain percentage of the bill as if bringing a $50 dish provides 5X the service compared with a $10 one. This whole culture should be phased out. so backwards.