How would you have tipped this waitress?

Question

She was nice all-right, but when I took my son to the bathroom she took my plate I wasn't finished with (before my wife could even stop her), she took our dinner rolls without asking too (we weren't done eating those either), and she dropped off our check and disappeared for 8 minutes before she wandered back to pick up my credit card.

Answer 1

I, too, am a bit confused. If your wife was sitting right there, why didn't she say "He's not through!" and "We're not through with the rolls!" or even "NO!"

Seeing a table with no occupants, but with plates to be cleared, it's not surprising she started clearing things -- though it would have been better if she hadn't.

You should have spoken to first her, and then, if necessary, the management. At least they'd have, either given you food, or free dessert, or something, so you wouldn't have had to leave hungry. Also, management needs to know when things have gone wrong; and the waitress needed to be told she'd deprived her customers of the food they were paying for.

The people who say "leave no tip" are totally wrong. As a few have pointed out, that's usually interpreted as your being the sort of customer who stiffs wait-persons, and thus, sends no message about service being bad.

I had heard that one penny is correct. That is, you DID leave a tip, and weren't either forgetting or stiffing, but that tip is the absolute minimum possible, for really bad service.

Interesting that inflation has struck even that principle, and many are saying TWO pennies.

But I think that not letting anyone know that you hadn't finished, and getting management involved, if that was necessary (if she knew you weren't finished and didn't care, for instance) would have been better.

If the food was good, for its cost, it would be a place you'd want to go back to, IF you felt you could expect decent service. By not letting them know about the problems, you now probably feel you wouldn't get good service; if you had let them know, you'd probably be inclined to go back, as their grovelling and making it up to you would have made you happy with them in the end.

Answer 2

I would tip the waitress...50 cents.......the plate should never be taken without asking the customer if they are done or not.......same goes for the dinner rolls and as for the delay on returning for the credit card......just plain thoughtless....on another note ,I also would ask for the manager and tell him what happened and that you're thinking seriously of never returning to this restaurant......or....you can do all the above and additionally have a small chat with the waitress,telling her why you are only leaving her....50 cents....

Answer 3

Problem with Answers is 90% of the people who answer at tip question do not get it. Most times it is give me a discount.

That is not the point. The point is how as a man wanting to handle things. You merely ask for a manager on an aside. You just tell them that you are not happy and your food was taken away. Managment will replace it in a heartbeat and all is well...... you get it to go.

8 minutes? Were you her only table? Point is those who tip less are those who you would rather have vacate as the next will tip. Those who handle things (the husband) are able to work it out.

Answer 4

The problem with the food service industry is that a tip is expected, not earned. They tell you that you are supposed to tip 15% no matter what. Well, in the old days, you only gave a tip if the person went above and beyond with their service.

I have got some pretty crappy service. I don't tip for crappy service. Why should I offer a percentage of the price of my meal (money that I work hard for) when I got service that was below par? I have even been stopped on my way out of the restaurant by the waitress asking me if I forgot her tip. I say, "No, I didn't forget your tip. You don't deserve one."

If a waitperson is just doing their job, then they only deserve their base pay, right? Now, if they smile, and are friendly, I give a tip. I also give a tip if it is obvious that they are having a really busy/rough day but even thought they are exhausted and run-down, they at least try to offer exemplary service. A tip is only deserved if they make an attempt to make your meal a good one.

Answer 5

Very poorly. And I am a server, so I'm not saying that to be mean. But it's a general rule of thumb that you do not clear a plate from the table until you ask the guest if they are through and they say yes. I also never drop the check until I am sure the table is finished and they are not going to order any dessert or coffee.

Answer 6

I probably would not have tipped her much or at all.

I feel a little guilty about that sometimes, though. On the one hand, a tip should be earned rather than assumed, but on the other, we don't know if the server is overworked and doing the best they can.

What you could have done, though, if it was that big a deal, was get up and go ask the server or the manager for more food.

Answer 7

the proper way to tip to let someone know that the service was not satisfactory would be to leave one dollar and one penny. But I doubt that many people still know what that means anymore. I'm only 30 and I read about it in a newspaper once.
Also, I would have told her about the issue I had, and explained that if she were in a hurry, she should not have picked up anything until you and your family had left the table.
Seems as though she made a bad judgment call, and wasn't trying to be rude, but was busier than she expected.

Answer 8

the accepted is 15% for warm provider and %20 for large provider. you may decrease or improve those probabilities, yet in case you tip lower than 15% make positive it really is for a a good reason. Tipping lower than it extremely is often considered as an insult

Answer 9

As to a tip for bad service - the restaurant code is 2 cents. If you don't leave anything then you appear to have "stiffed" the server. That doesn't tell them anything - but a carefully placed 2 cent tip says you weren't happy with the service provided.

I would have spoken to her immediately - telling her you weren't finished with your meal.

Your wife should have spoken to her immediately too.

Answer 10

well the traditional insult to waitresses is to leave only two pennies. that is supposed to be worse then leaving no tip at all. but you really should have gotten the manager to your table at the end of the meal and ran everything down to him so that it could be brought to her attention. she might not even realize she is messing up. Plus you would probably get a discounted if not free meal for compensation of the bad service.