why should i have to leave a tip for my server? i feel that my business is enough. get a higher paying job!?

Answer 1

I know.....It sucks! BUT, it's the way it IS. The business only pays your server about $2 per hour.....they do the job because they expect to make up the difference by being a good server to you.

Yes....they COULD go and get a better paying job, but then we wouldn't have any servers when we go out. Personally, I LIKE going out, and I take care of my server. If you're smart, you will too. Or.....maybe just don't go out. YOU cannot change the system, so just adjust yourself to it.

I tip 20-50%, depending on what the situation is and if they did a good job with us.....If it was slow or not friendly, it's 10-15%

Answer 2

Serving is a high paying job BECAUSE of the tips. For the most part (and it varies state to state) servers are paid UNDER minimum wage (the state where I live an work, it's a little over two dollars an hour). Your business goes to the restaurant, not the server. Good service deserves a good tip, just like good work in any other industry deserves a bonus/raise/promotion.

Answer 3

As a server, I am so glad this question got asked!!! First of all, to those who say get a higher paying job- respectfully speaking, that is easier said than done. Then there is the fact that I happen to LOVE my job. It is not my fault that the federal government assumes that everyone leaves me tips and therefore my employer is not required to pay me more than $2.13/hour! I agree that this job is not for everyone, but for those of us who, for various circumstances, cannot do anything else, customers' tips are the only way to make ends meet. That said, I should also point out that tipping should be based on the level of service you receive, and I recommend the following scale. For absolutely lousy service 10%, for poor to so/so service 15%, and for good service 20%. You can even leave more than that for excellent service. Also, if you are going to "camp out" at the table for an hour or more, please leave extra. Remember, with you there, your server cannot use that table for other guests and that cuts into his/her income as well. One other point to make-this is regarding servers in the U.S.A.. I do know that in some other countries, servers make standard minimum wage.

Answer 4

As someone pointed out, your "business" goes to the restaurant, not the server. I don't necessarily agree with the 'standards' for tipping - I tip based on quality of service. I've tipped from 0-50%. Once, my server all but bailed on our table, appearing only at the beginning and end to deliver the check. Another waitress covered us by checking on drinks and such, and the kitchen staff had brought our food out (which I guess is common there). I spoke to the manager and made sure our tip went to the right waitress (it wasn't her table). Tipping (IMO) is a way of saying Thank You, and I Appreciate your hard work. Our local restaurant knows us and we are always welcomed with a smile. The regular staff remembers our preferences. Their level of service always earns a good tip. Now, whether it's because we've always tipped well that it keeps coming back to us in good service, I don't know. What goes around comes around they say.

As to a higher paying job... Not everyone is a career server. One of the best moments in my 'tipping' memory was going to a Pizza Hut on a snowy, winter day. They were dead (customer-wise). Our waitress was friendly and chatty - she was going to college and was working part-time. We were her only table in the hour+ we were there. When we left, we left a 100% tip and a note saying good luck in school. As we pulled away, we saw her through the window. She had the tip in hand and was nearly crying - then she saw us and was waving like crazy saying Thank You through the window. It was precious.

Answer 5

The custom if leaving a 'tip' is an old one. It meant, To Insure Promptness. At this point, to add an additional 15% to your bill, makes dining out too expensive for a lot of us. I can't afford to, so don't. If servers were paid more, the prices would have to be raised.....The best thing for us lower income folks, is a cafeteria style restaurant. A lot of food service people don't have the skills or the education to get a higher paying job, and have to depend on the generosity of their customers. Best wishes

Answer 6

You are tipping for the service. Servers make min. wage which is 5.15 an hour to 6.50 an hour depending on what state your in. If all servers quit to go to a higher paying job, who would bring you your eggs. All eating places would be self service. When I go out to eat, I want that service. I want to sit and enjoy my meal, have my coffee refilled. I want someone else to set the table and clear it. I always tip a min. off 15%, more if the server was extra nice and efficient. Less it service was poor or server unfriendly.
If someone can afford to eat out, then that person can afford to tip.

Answer 7

Ok, please you need to understand this it IS very important.
may I ask, what do you do for a living? Unless you make your own money or are supremely wealthy you are accomplishing a task for a business and they are rewarding you for doing that task. Obviously these tasks range from mail room attendant to scientists, doctors, sports stars etc. You go out to eat and someone performs a task for you, making sure that your food is correct as per your order, In my restaurant, I am a wine sommelier, I will educate and inform you of wines from all over the world. I will also help describe and inform you of what each item on the menu actually is even though it may be written in a language that you dont understand. I will also make sure that you are always refreshed and that all your needs are taken care of as soon as they are brought to my attention. Now, I have done a task as well as conversing with you about sports, world issues, and whatever you are in the mood to talk about.
since I have done all this and performed my task for you why dont I get paid by you the person who received all the good work? Let me put it another way, you take your car to the shop to have it repaired, they fix you up and send you on your way but you decide that instead of paying for parts AND LABOR you only pay for parts and say to the mechanic who fixed your car "sorry buddy your not worth it" when YOU came to him and received his expertise and services.
I wont say what you should tip but good/great service should warrant a 20% tip, and more if it even better, and correspondingly less for worse service. Please remember that your employer pays you for a service. My services are not to the restaurant but to you.

Answer 8

Here in the U.S., it is customary to tip at least 15%, and as others have accurately pointed out, servers pay taxes on an estimate of tips they "should" receive during any shift.

If you don't tip, or if you "leave a few cents" do not be surprised if you get lousy service... and guess what? The wait-staff is bringing your food from the kitchen, where it's being prepared - you can't see what goes on in there! I used to wait tables and I have seen people's food intentionally stepped on (and much, much worse) because the customers were notoriously lousy tippers.

Sometimes all it would take is one of us waitresses rolling our eyes, and the cooks would do something awful to the customer's dinner just to get us laughing again.

If you don't want to tip at least 15%, you don't want to know what you are setting yourself up for... if you're just a tacky and class-less individual, you're not fooling anyone! We can spot you jerks a mile away. Your date is unimpressed, and I'll bet anything you're eating spat-in food.

Answer 9

Tips are supposed to be rewards for good service, not mandatory. The 'tipping wage' is half of minimum wage, is fully legal, and can be paid on any job where tipping is customary, and food is involved. Supposedly, if they add up their tips and their paycheck, and it doesn't come up to minimum wage, the employer is supposed to make it up. The whole thing rots, and that's why you get crappy service in restaurants, because most people don't want the job, and those that do, don't care, speak english, or have the slightest clue about customer service.

Answer 10

Here in canada waitress do not get paid the minimum wage, it is usually alot lower cause of there tips. Most waitress rely on thier tips. When you pay for your food your putting money in the owners pocket, and if you dont leave a tip for your waitress i feel that is it rude and cheap of you. Being a servant (waitress) to a costumer is not always easy when you have 10-15 tables to wait on at the same time. Its hard work belive it or not.
Some people dont have the education to get high paying jobs, I much rather see someone work at a low paying job then to see someone collect welfare cause there lazy.

Here waitress have to claim there tips as income for tax purposes.