Is it necessary to leave a tip when the service is slow and the food is bad?

Answer 1

Slow service may be due to back orders in the kitchen, food Quality has nothing to do with who's serving your meal , tip at least 10 % .....for better service 15 to 20 % its not always the servers fault that things are going slow ,now if the server is rude and sloppy serving your food or drinks then reduce to 10 % I always ask if theres a problem to find out who's at fault !

Answer 2

How bad the food is has nothing to do with the server so you should still tip. Depending on how service was slow could be different, like if the food took a while to come out that could be the kitchen, unless the server forgot to put the order in but who would know. If you mean slow, like you went 10 minutes without getting an empty drink refilled then that is the server's fault. I usually tip less if the "slow" or bad service is the fault of the server but if the food sucks its not the server's fault.

Answer 3

It is not necessary, but since that is where the server makes their money I leave them a small tip of a few dollars or so. They cannot help the quality of the food, and and unless I see them goofing off and not trying to give me good service I leave something. It's not always their fault that the cook did not get the food ready on time, and the restaurant might be really backed up. I would complain to the manager, not take it out on the server.

Answer 4

I leave a tip even when the food is bad, because that's not the fault of the server. Normally I do when the service is slow, because that's not usually the servers fault, either. But, when the service is just plain lousy, like the time 4 of us went out to eat and one of us didn't even get our food and the other 3 had several things wrong with their orders, I don't tip at all. I complain to the management.

Oh, the 4th person finally got their food after we FINALLY were able to get our waiters attention 20 minutes after the others got their food. He said "Oops, I forgot", then managed to bring that last persons order another 15 minutes later...with the wrong sides.

Answer 5

Was it the wait person's fault? That would be the determining factor. If the cooks were at fault and the waiter/waitress did the best they could under the circumstances, I would tip the waiter/waitress, but still let them know that the overall service was bad.

If the waiter/waitress was at fault, they definitely do not deserve a tip, but if they acknowledged, without my having to complain, that they were having a bad day, were new at the job, or had some other good excuse for lousy service AND presented themselves with a sincere, apologetic attitude I would probably leave them a minimum 15% tip, simply because they were trying their best.

If the waiter/waitress obviously didn't give a rat's patootie about the services they delivered, a penny would be an appropriate tip.

Answer 6

No, I only tip 15% if the service is good and more if the service is outstanding. The tip is for the waiter / waitress so the quality of the food does not have anything to do with my tip. If the food sucks then I don't go back to that restaurant.

Answer 7

Tipping is just a courtesy, you don't have to leave one if you don't want to.

Generally, if you got acceptable service from your waiter or waitress you would leave 15% of the final bill. You can leave more or less depending on how horrible, or excellent the service was.

If the service was as bad as you say, I would speak to the restaurant manager. Someone like that shouldn't be working there if they serve like that on a regular basis.

Answer 8

Tipping is for service. Unfortunately, in the U.S. the food service industry doesn't pay a fair wage to its wait staff and they are relying on your tip to pay their bills! If the service is bad, make your tip match. If the food is slow or bad, then you should complain to the management...the server has no control over that.

Answer 9

I am a server, and just to let those of you know that don't... we hate it when the kitchen takes too long for the food to come out and our guests complain.
If the service sucks, then you have a right to not tip. But what goes on in the kitchen.. please do not take it out on us.
What people dont know is... that us servers have to tip out a percentage of our tips to certain employees. At Tony Roma's where I work, it is automatically deducted from our sales. It is 3% of our sales. Some days my tipout is 20+ dollars. So when a table does not tip, it not only hurts us by not having the extra, but it causes us to be negative in our own money. The money I make from my tips are to pay my bills and help take care of my daughter.
I had 1 table one day, and the food came out all wrong. The people did not tip me.. my sales were like 75 dollars for 3 people.. I had to owe the restaurant 2 dollars even though I did not make anything that day.
Please be considerate to servers/waitresses... if the food was horrible, but the server was kind and applogetic.. please don't take it out on us. We are human beings too, and we all make mistakes.

Answer 10

If the waitperson is just sitting on their butt doing nothing while I'm waiting for my order to be taken or my food to come out, then I do leave a crappy tip.

If the waitperson is very apologetic and seems upset that things are taking a long time, I do leave the 15% or so because they probably have no control over why things are moving slowly.

I NEVER take it out on the waitperson if the food sucks - they didn't cook it, so why should they be penalized?