« White Truffles in Torino: Magnifico! | Main | Desperate Editor Date-Less in Palm Springs »
September 18, 2006Tip of the Iceberg
Posted by Will Ng under Food and Drink
Responses (11)
The next time you skimp on your meal tip, it just may cost you your good name.
An interesting Chicago Tribune article which came out a couple of days ago reveals that, increasingly, restaurant waiters and waitresses are using the web to share horror stories, rant about cheap or rude (or both) patrons, and even reveal the names of bad guests. One website, WaiterRant.net, serves as an outlet for a New York-based waiter, who blogs about everything from idiot customers to more idiot customers.
One of the sources in the Tribune article suggests that more U.S. restaurants should adopt the policy of European eateries to instill an automatic 20 percent service charge.
If you’re working with a large group, that point likely will be moot, as most restaurants charge an automatic gratuity for large groups. However, it might pay to warn your attendees of this trend of blog-savvy waiters the next time before they head out for dinner on their own.
Even though the automatic tip might entail the risk of eliminating all motivation by a waiter to do a good job, I’m still for it.
Why? For one, it gets rid of the hassle of doing guest-check algebra, which can become exponentially unruly as the number of guests increases. Two, it eliminates any scruples: “Was I fair?” If you feel your service is lacking or mediocre enough, talk with your server or even the restaurant’s management. It’s always your right to do that.
It’s better than the alternative consequence: Having an angry waiter out you or one of your attendees by name on his or her site after a small tip. And, as you know, word on the web spreads quickly.
Respond to article (11)TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c5cc553ef00d8345470a869e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Tip of the Iceberg:
Comments
I have to disagree with you, Will. I don't like the idea of mandatory gratuities. If a waiter or waitress does a good job, I am happy to tip well, but if they do a poor job it should be my prerogative to leave a smaller tip. I’ve never chosen to not leave a tip at all – I’m not quite bold enough for that, even after having an entire bowl of lobster bisque spilled down my front, or ignored for 30 minutes, or other behavior that I think might warrant the loss of a tip. In the end, it should be the customer’s choice or it should no longer be called a tip, it should just be called a bill.
It seems to me that most restaurants instituting the mandatory tip rule are high-end, such as Per Se here in New York. I wonder if this is a result of waiters and sommeliers getting the short end of the stick based on the “do you tip on wine?” question. If patrons do not tip on wine, or tip a small amount, that would lead to significantly lower earnings at these expensive restaurants.
Also, check your cell phone. Mine has a tip calculator that works out a tip based on the percentage I choose, then divvies up the total by the number of people in my group.
Posted by: Kinley Levack | Sep 19, 2006 1:41:46 PM
What fascinates me more is that the servers are posting names on blogs! There has to be a privacy issue here since the servers are taking names from credit cards or reservation information. I wonder what the restaurants' views are on this.
And re the gratuity part: I'm always generous with servers but have sometimes left no gratuity when the service was horrendous. I don't blame servers when the meal is late esp. if the server explains that the kitchen is understaffed, etc.
I wonder what would happen if patrons started a blog about bad servers!
Posted by: Joan Eisenstodt | Sep 19, 2006 2:37:34 PM
What drives me absolutely nuts are two things when it comes to tip being included "for my convenience":
1 - When you are provided with the bill and the final total comes up with the tip alrady included. When one pays with a credit card, it does not always break down the tip from the total and there is NO WAY of removing the tip from the charge! Tips are voluntary, not mandatory. I have absolutely no reason to tip a waiter that provides no service. I especially cannot stand it when the only time I see my waiter is when I order my food. The rest of the time, we only see runners delivering the food.
2 - When the tip is already included, and the waiter or restaurant fails to explicitly note the "TIP INCLUDED" part and people double tip. Now I do not mean just adding additional gratuity of a couple of dollars, I mean fully tipping as if it were never included in the first place. I have seen people that have tipped on top of the "included tip" without realizing they just ended up paying close to 40% gratuity!
However, there is another place where the tipping issue is prevalent but rarely discussed, and that is at bars/clubs. I used to work with a friend who promotes clubs down here in Miami, and I became friends with many of the bartenders. One of the small tricks that people do not realize is that when they are paying the $12-$14 for a drink (or more), that price is inclusive of tax and tip. So when you tack on the additional 20% or so on your bar tab, you are double tipping. I know some bartenders that on a good night make over $1000 in tips alone.
-Eli Gorin
gMeetings, Inc.
www.meetingsbabble.com
Posted by: Eli Gorin | Sep 19, 2006 3:00:40 PM
I hate having to tip at all- for any service- restaurants, hair cut, getting your nails done etc. Isn't that their job- to serve food? A pedicure? I don't understand why we pay for a service- eating out for example, and we pay someone extra for doing their job- which they are suppose to do in the first place. I am a lousy tipper and I'll admit it. It just drives me crazy to have to tip someone that has it in their job description to provide service!
Posted by: Amy Beaulieu | Sep 20, 2006 12:16:11 AM
We have to tip restaurant workers because the law allows them to be paid well below the minimum wage -- in D.C. it is something like $2.00 an hour. They wouldn't take the job or come to work if they weren't anticipating tips.
Posted by: Bill McCloskey | Sep 20, 2006 9:28:15 AM
What drives me nuts is when you get the really self-righteous servers that act as ridiculous as those people like Amy Beaulieu who decide it's not their problem or inconvience that society/government deems we pay the brunt of a server's wage.
I just visted a lot of these websites and I was amazed to see people thoroughly complaining about receiving 15% or less on big bills. I say this as a good tipper, but when did it become criminal to leave a 10% tip? My meals are usually less expensive, and I leave 15-25% tips even if the service wasn't friendly. However if I'm picking up a huge tab I'm not going to tip 25%. If I'm already paying $100 dollars, I just refuse to put down another $20 bucks for the same service. The same way I refuse to give someone a quarter if I only buy a beverage. If I spend 2 bucks, they're getting a 50% tip. If I spend 50 bucks, they're getting a 5 buck tip.
Yet that makes me worth blogging about as a scourge of the earth to some of these people.
I actually saw one entry where someone complained about a $40 dollar tip on a $360 dollar bill.
Hello? Would you have preferred an 8 dollar tip on a 40 dollar bill? You're going to spend as much time with that table as you will with another. When I'm with a single friend I spend an hour in a restaurant, when I'm with a group of 6 friends, I spend an hour and a half in a restaurant because it takes longer to prepare a meal. I drink the same amount of coffee or soda and I eat the same amount of food. I do not receive extended service, and it's not like the place is so full that the waiter has to give extra attention, nor do they usually do so anyway.
The obvious comeback is that they're working longer and harder, but they're also being compensated by a larger tip. Whether the 8 people came alone, or they came together, they'd have to do the same if not more work.
And when they're doing LESS work and still expect a higher tip that's when my point really hammers home.
for example, if I go to a restauarant and order a drink and a meal that toals $20, I'll tip 4 bucks. If in that same meal I decide to go nuts and buy a $1,000 glass of wine, am I really supposed to tip $200 dollars for my tastes?
some of these irrational human beings actually believe so.
Posted by: Matt | Oct 15, 2006 12:32:28 PM
Actually, you SHOULD have to tip on that $1000 glass of wine. Servers get taxed on their total sales for that particular shift. The gov't assumes that if they sold $5000 worth of food and drink, then they also got tipped accordingly on that $5000. So regardless of how much the server actually made that night, the gov't is always going to assume they made the appropriate percentage. Sucks, I agree. But I've waited tables for many years, and that's just how it is.
Posted by: Nikki | Jan 3, 2007 3:25:25 PM
Most of you are ignorant if reference to actually working in a restaurant. Granted, if you receive poor service, the server does not deserve an "auto-grat". If in fact this happens and an automatic gratuity has been added to your check, simply state (in a nice tone of course) to either the server or someone in higher authority that the service does not warrant this auto grat. Most restaurants are built around customer service and satisfaction and will most likely remove the auto grat.
You have to realize, servers are not working for their hourly wage, but for their tips. If you proceed to dine, especially in higher class restaurants, expect to leave a tip. Most importantly if the service was good.
Posted by: Joe | Apr 5, 2007 6:44:12 PM
you know...I have to be honest... I didn't realize that ? some restaurants only pay a few bucks per hour. If you are a server... and you choose to accept this pay... No wonder you are working for tips. Good service or bad....it is in every occupation... People dont work for free! Why arent these managers who get paid a salary training these servers how to treat customers if that is the problem? And why do customers feel that a servers time is worth zip? I believe the restaurant needs to charge the service charge per table or ticket or pay the servers at least minimum wage. Then let the tip be what it used to be... A reward for good service. In any job...If you dont do good work... you wont be there very long...checks and balances! By the way...I just read at the current level of minimum wage per hour...a person working full-time, their income is about $5900 below the poverty mark. I'm from Texas, and I don't know if that was in Texas only. I doubt it, inflation hits the minimum wage worker the hardest.
Posted by: Mercedes | Apr 21, 2007 11:23:47 PM
I just stumbled upon this article. I'm a college student and I wait tables, but I'm about to quit my job. Tell me what you think of this idea: a boycott of restaurants. I'm not kidding. If Americans boycott restaurants all over the US, restaurants will have no choice but to increase the salaries of servers and bartenders.
Posted by: Anita | Jul 26, 2007 7:24:43 PM
As a server I feel I have to comment here. I'm from Texas and server wage is $2.13 per hour. On top of that we have to "tip out" 3% of our sales to other employees working that day. So if we sale $500 of food & beverage we tip out $15 of the tips we made that day to the hosts, bartenders and bussers. We rely on the guests who come in to our resturant to help us out by helping them out. I fully understand if the service was poor or lacking but also if I am the only server there and it's a packed house I could be trying to split my time between 30 to 60 people at the same time. So tell me if that is fair to tip bad because the guest isn't aware that everyone in town is at the resturant at the same time?
Just my 2 cents on the subject
Posted by: mike | Feb 28, 2008 6:16:17 PM
Subscribe to the RSS Feed
