should i have tipped this waitress?

Question

I went to a family style place. I ordered a ceasar salad and got one with italian dressing. I always go there and order the salad and I knew it was wrong. I asked her to please bring me the creamy ceasar. Then she brings me creamy italian. I didnt eat the salad so we ask the waitress to take it off the bill because it was not correct. The waitress gives us a dirty look and calls the owner. The owner asks us what is the problem. And says says we have to pay for it cause it was ordered. It is your word against the waitress and she says you ordered creamy italian the second time. I told her I never ordered that and she said again you have to pay for it, it stays on the bill. Then I said well the customer always isnt correct are they? She said no they are not. The bill came out to $22 and my friend then gave $30. We get $2 change and the waitress had kept $5 for her tip. My friend asked for her money back. Then she leaves the waitress $5 anyway

should we have tipped at all?

thanks for all the responses. actually my story is 100% true. and i found out that the lady was in fact the owner of the restaurant. it is a small family owned restaurant in miami fl....called Mama Mia pizzeria never go there!!! i wish i could let people all around me know how bad the service is....

and....

i did not want to leave her a tip...i didnt actually

my friend did, she is a server at a chain of restaurants and she said she would feel bad not leaving a tip......

well at least i have a story to tell....

Answer 1

IMHO, you could have handled it better. You had her take it back the first time, which is good. When she brought you the creamy Italian, you should have said right there that you do not want the salad, to take it back and take it off the bill. Either that or make it very clear when returning it a second time that you want the damn Caesar and will not accept anything else.

(BTW, Caesars are made with raw eggs in the dressing. Be careful.)

Having said that, both the waitress and the manager were completely, totally wrong. First, the waitress should have taken the salad off the bill, immediately, without asking the manager, especially when she saw you didn't eat it.

Second, the manager completely screwed up by not taking it off. For the price of a simple salad, they lost a customer. I'm sure the owner would have found that interesting.

Third, what kind of waitress keeps $5 for a tip? WTF is that? Makes me question your story, because now besides completely going against business etiquette, she's stealing from you.

I would simply have not paid for the salad. I do not pay for items I do not order. Period. I would have deducted the price from the bill and not paid. If they want to make an incident, I would have yelled in their face and demanded to get the owner on the phone (if it's a chain, we would have been talking to the district manager).

And finally, tipping that ***** is beyond asinine. You two should have known better.

Answer 2

I eat out frequently and feel that the 'waitress' and restaurant did NOT know what a Ceasear Dressing was. Personally I feel you are correct and would have sent the salad back, asked for the owner/manager and explained the issue to them. They should have removed the cost of the salad from your bill. You should have ONLY tipped on rest of the food. I would also have tipped 'very little' and not planned on going back again.
I had a similar issue some time back with a 'waitress' and left her two shinny 'pennies' for the tip. The next time I was at the same restauarant, she had been dismissed from her job for not listening to the customers.

Answer 3

No Not only should you have not tipped but I would go over the owners head if it is a chain and complain to corperate if it is a small family owned place then bad mouth it tell everyone you know what happened and not to go there you can eve go as far as putting it in the paper in your living area or another place where they do reviews. You can ask for special interest stories the restaurant should be dealed with and anything you can do to fuel that fire I would. Not to mention never going back again. I mean How rude that she assumed she was being tipped 5.00 and kept it that is outrageous!

Answer 4

I'm a pretty easy customer, but if your side of the story is the whole story, I'd have neither tipped nor ever returned to that restaurant. Sounds like the manager and the whole staff are a mess as well as the waitress!

Answer 5

I would not have tipped her, she was rude & unable to fulfill your order. The owner/manager should have removed the food from your bill, simply ordering the food does not require you to pay for what you are served IF it is not what you ordered.

Make sure your friends know how you were treated at this restaurant, have them tell their friends.... A call to the Better Business Bureau as well as the local restaurant association might also be in order.

Answer 6

Not only would I have not tipped, but I would have put in a complaint to the store owner or arial manager if it was a franchise, and if that didn't get me anywhere, I would've also reported them to the better business bureau. That is ridiculous and they should only add a gratuity in parties of 5 or more and they have to inform you before doing so, even if it's just a note on the menu.

By the way, what's the name of the restaurant so I can avoid going there in the future if it's in my area?

Answer 7

I use to be a waitress. It was wrong of her to keep the five dollars. I would have probably tipped 2.00. In the future, when I go to diner,( depending on how nice of a restaurant you are at.) i will leave 2.00 or 5.00 on the table and let the waitress know that every time she refills a drink or does something nice I will add a dollar to the tip. If she is not a good waitress or lets my drink go low I will take a dollar away. They decide the tip amount they want and the service is usually great.

Answer 8

I would not have tipped her - and certainly not $5 on a $22 bill!

That is over 20%! If you wanted to give her anything, I would give her 10%.

But with that kind of service, I think you would have been well within your rights to not tip at all.

Answer 9

no you should not have to tip at all and you should have called the owner over and told him what she did with the tip....maybe even called the cops....i ran a restaurant for over 15 years and would have fired anyone who treated you that way ...I would have taken the salad off the check so you would come back again if you were wrong or not....better you should come back than for me to be right over a salad...now you will never go back.

Answer 10

the time-honored is 15% for hot service and %20 for nice service. you may decrease or develop those opportunities, yet in case you tip decrease than 15% make confident that is for a a very good reason. Tipping decrease than it really is many times considered as an insult