Black people and tips?

Question

I am a server and do a very good job. I am always pleasant with my customers and make sure their orders are accurate. I had a couple today with their daughter. They both ordered alcoholic drinks and the man ordered a steak. His wife ordered something from the kid's menu and the daughter had the same thing. She asked for cheese on their fries.

They seemed nice enough and the food came out quickly and right... I came back to check on them but the woman had gone to the restroom. I was about to leave the table when the man started asking me if it was usually this busy and blah blah. I was trying to be nice and so I answered his questions. His wife came back and gave me a dirty look so I made an exit.
When they got their bill (a whopping $32 for all of them when the average per person cost is normally $25) she started complaining about the extra 99 cents to put cheese on their french fries... When they had left I went back to find a whole dollar tip. What gives?

You don't "appreciate" me asking this question? If I was racist and expected to get tipped poorly I would have written it off the moment I saw them instead of feeling used when I gave them great service and expected at least 15%!

Answer 1

What gives? They are the utterly most misbehaved restaurant customers ever! Along with being the worst to tip.

I have heard some of the most horrible stories regarding black customers from friends that are waiters.

Most can't even afford a nice meal however, want to sit in a nice restaurant and eat a child's meal and demand all sorts of little quirks and yes, leave that whopping 1.00 bill.

They are known to complain just about anything right before they get ready to pay.

Oh, and the worst is the Sunday's after church family group. You will find that most are huge in size and all walk out with a doggy bag. How can a huge person not eat all their food when that is why they are huge to begin with. If the group is at least 10 persons at the table you are lucky to get a 5.00 tip.

I feel sorry for all waiters that have black customers as such. And its been said that waiters/waitress don't like to get stuck with black customers because its a waste of time. However, they the workers must do a good job to stay employed.

Answer 2

I have to agree with the majority here - it's not a race issue by any means. I work for bingo - which we get tips. There are many in all races that tip generously and there are those that don't tip well or at all sometimes of all races, as well.

I also know from teaching newbies how to play (around here it's not the old fashioned bingo your grandmother used to play - it's alot crazier) - many new people have no idea it's customary to tip or how much is an average tip.

We have this one guy, he doesn't play much, his extra money is limited - he's a cook, though, and a great one at that. His tips generally include food for us the next time he comes in. And that's fine by us - like I said, he's a great cook - and he's a really sweet (and black) guy. We'd rather him win any day than a certain white male that spends alot, wins alot and is there almost every single day and he tips 0 - 2% depending on how grouchy he is that day.

There's even a big difference between relatives. We have a mother and daughter that plays together (asian). If the mother wins, we know we're getting a good tip - if the daughter wins, we can kiss that tip goodbye. There's a black mother and daughter that play and it's opposite with them - mom is tight, daughter is generous.

So despite your anger at getting a lousy tip - there is absolutely NO REASON to blame a whole race for the actions of some.

Answer 3

Two of my five sisters have been servers for years and almost every one of their horror stories is about black people or those religious people that come in after church. It seems that neither group tips worth a darn.

One of my sisters shared with me a story from when she worked at Ponderosa. This party of 20 came in and about 8 ordered the buffet. About 4 of them ordered an entree. There was a "no sharing" policy on the buffet, and they were sharing around the table with those that hadn't ordered. They only asked for water to drink, then when they asked for refills, they tried to trick her into giving them Sprite.

They made a colossal mess, the kids had thrown and ground food into the carpets. It was a disaster. The ones that had ordered entrees complained that they were nasty after they were eaten and insisted their money back. Through it all, my sister was polite and professional.

After dealing with all that, they left a dollar tip. For a PARTY OF 20!!!!! With a bill somewhere in the $100-150 range (it was cheap to eat at Ponderosa. They left her a dollar, but get this. It was in small change and dumped into a glass of water. How freaking rude is that?

Answer 4

This is not just a "black" person thing. It seems that people that fit a certain financial profile are always on the low end in tipping. I don't know why, but that is something I had noticed after waiting tables for 2 years back in college. I have a friend who has waited tables for years and she complains about this particular "financial profile" not tipping. I think most people who fail to tip properly don't realize what is appropriate when it comes to food service and tipping. I always thought that an etiquette course in middle school, covering tipping etiquette, would be a perfect way to change this phenomenon.

Answer 5

My mom was a server for 26 years. So, as you can imagine I heard A LOT of horror stories. I feel for you, but don't let it get you down. She has people do practically the same thing and leave her a penny. That is the ultimate insult! Plus, every complaint a customer made, it was posted on the bulletin board in the break room. So, every employee was able to read it.

Answer 6

Just going by the information you provided, I'd say possibly the wife had an attitude (maybe her husband is a flirt, who knows). So in order for him not to appear too eager to please the waitress, and in order to calm his wife down, he left a shabby tip as an "insult". It's a possibility. But you shouldn't take it as a personal affront. It was probably something else that had really nothing to do with you or your service. You were just in the right place at the wrong time.

As for your racial comment, is it possible you let that attitude slip into your behavior with these customers, and maybe they picked up on it? In that case, perhaps you were fortunate to get any tip at all.

Just possibilities.

Answer 7

Having been a former server for many years, you come to accept the fact that some people just do not tip as well as others. In my experience, it was just easier to to give great service to everyone and excellent service to those who respond better to you. Turn the tables as fast as you can too. 20 tables at $5.00 a table is $100...easy money for a few hours work.

As for the race comment, all types of people tip in unusual ways.

Answer 8

A $32.00 tab should get around $5.00 - $6.00.
My question to you though is do you find this true with all blacks? Why did you feel it necessary to point out the fact that they were black? Being in that industry, and making the comment here that they were black, leads me to believe that you are giving off some kind of signal that you are giving off a negative vibe when waiting on blacks, this could be bad for tips. Just something to think about.

Answer 9

She copped an attitude and took it out on you. She thinks that by leaving a small tip, that will motivate you to go to the owner and convince them to drop the 99 cent charge for cheese on fries.

Many people take out the cost frustration on the wait person, please don't take it personal. They haven't had to do real work for a living, so they don't know any better.

Anyone that puts cheese on fries deserves to get hardening of the arteries. It's ketchup or nothing!

Answer 10

Because of things like this..stereotypes like this, my family always tip at the least 10 dollars.
It's a shame that people come to the conclusion that all black people tip poorly, because of a few customers they have had, it's not fair, and I really don't appreciate you asking this question.