America's worst tippers get their just dessertsFollow

Having lived in the US, I disagree. There is a similar range of variety of service quality in both countries.

Also, there is no need to feel too sorry for waiting and bar staff in the US. A friend of mine worked in bars in the US and made a fuc[b][/b]king fortune.

Imagine our boy on $2.35 an hour. Lets say that per hour he serves 20 customers which is about right for a busy bar. Each customer leaves a $1 tip. He's now earning $22.35 per hour, which is damn good money for the level of experience and resposibility required.

See this? It's the world's smallest violin, playing just for the waitress.

When I tip, I just use the shortcut of doubling the tax. I won't go over 20% unless she takes me out back and sucks my di[b][/b]ck.

Anyone ever watch Third Rock from the Sun? One episode where **** learns about tipping. He sets down a stack a dollar bills and tells the waitress that the stack is her possible tip. Everytime she "displeases" him, something is taken away from the stack. She when coming back with the drinks she swapped them, so he licks his finger and grabs a buck from the stack. Any thoughts to implementing this?

Yeah. The shrinking stack o' bills tipping method is pretty much guranteed to get you really crappy service. A waiter will take a zero tip rather then deal with any idiot who thinks that's a clever thing to do.

And whoever it was that went off on the diatribe about 7/11 and tipping? What the hell are you talking about? That's not a restaraunt. It's a convenience store. You aren't a waiter. You don't get tips. You also have a legally mandated higher minimum wage. Why on earth are you complaining because no one tips you? No one's supposed to tip you!

Let me explain this for people (since it seems some still dont get it). Wait staff in the US can legally be paid less per hour then any other profession. The reason for this is the assumption that they will recieve tips for their service. So if your state minimum wage is say 6.50 an hour, the minimum for a waiter might be 3.00/hour instead.

They are expected to be able to make the difference up in tips. That's why "normal" service should garner a 15% tip. The discrepancy in pay rates is based on that assumption, so if you tip less then that on average, then on average your waiter will be making less relative money then someone not in a wait profession. Obviously, this can vary wildly based on the kind of establishment and the rate of service. Working at a top end restaraunt where the typical meal costs $200 a person is going to garner you a lot more in tips then working at a place where the average bill per person is $15 or so.


It is *not* correct to expect that you should tip a greater percentage at a higher end restaraunt. The tip goes up in proportion to the cost of the meal (it's a percentage, right?), so there's no need. In fact, the people working at those places are considered "high paid" wait staff (that's why they're working at the fancy restaurant instead of a hole in the wall greasy spoon). The assumption is that they are more experienced and professional in their field, and they get more money simply because it takes no more time to wait a table of 4 there then at the afore mentioned greasy spoon, but they're making often 10 times as much in tips because the meal cost is higher.

There is no expectation or need to tip at a higher percentage at more expensive restaraunts. If anything, you should consider tipping more at lower end places. Let's face it, if you've occupied that table at Denny's for 3 hours and just had a sandwhich, a cup of coffee and a few refils, you'd damn well better put down more then 15% of the cost of your bill, or you're killing the waiter. Um. It's also a hell of a lot easier to tip higher when the bill is 20 bucks then when it's 500, so why not do it if the service was good?

Tipping for the pizza delivery guy is totally optional. They don't count as "wait staff" and are paid the same wages as any other profession. However, at most pizza places, the delivery guy drives his own car and really does not get re-imbursed enough for the milage to cover more then gas (so his cars getting beat up but he's not getting paid for it). Tipping is a courtesy (and really should be done), but does not realy need to be 15%. I usually just tip 5 bucks regardless of the meal cost. My thinking is that I'm covering the cost to the driver for delivering my pizza. He's not waiting on me. It really doesn't matter to him If I order 1 pizza or 2, or 5. It doesn't take him appreciably more time or effort to deliver (unlike the difference in work waiting on a talble of 6 versus a table of 2 for instance), so there's no need to increase the tip in relation. Obviously, for a *really* large order you should tip more, but for most home pizza deliveries, just tip the driver for his time.

I disagree, most high end restaurants will have almost double the server as compared to the greasy spoon. It is done this way so that the waiter can pay extra attention to each table, thus providing excellent service. This is one of the reason why the cost of the meals are higher.[quote]

Yeah. But if the cost of the meal is factored in for the extra wait staff, then you're already paying them extra, right? If the cost of my meal at Buchilocci's is $100/person instead of $15/person at Dennys that increase in cost is presumed to cover the increased quality of the food (chef staff), and decor, and service. Thus, the tip percentage will automatically reflect that. There's no need to tip at a higher base percentage at a higher end restaurant. Trust me, the waiters at that $100/person place are making good money.

It's all factored in. The cheaper place will have fewer servers per table, but often it's becuase they *have to* do that. The math is pretty straightforward. If the average meal time per table is say 90 minutes, and the average meal cost per table is say $60 at a restarant, you can calculate how many tables a waiter must wait at a time to make a decent wage on average. Also factor in that most of the time they wont have a full set of tables. They make all their money during the meal rushes. In many cases the waiter simply can't make a living waiting less then 5 or 6 tables at a time (or the restarant can't afford to pay for twice as much wait staff since the base pay is a straight add, while the tips will be constant).


Again. I'd argue for higher base percentages at lower end places more then higher end places. The wait staff certainly "need" it more there...

[quote=engrsd]

I paid for the service when I paid for the meal. It's part of the deal that the establishment provides me with my meal, and their method of choice is with a server.

And the problem with the system is that the employer's don't pay their staff accordingly. I refuse to make-up the difference. I pay what I owe for the meal, drinks, etc.

And who pays that comission to a salesman? The client certainly doesn't. I agree if you are good at your job you should be paid more, but by your employer, not your clients.

quote]

my thoughts exactly and i couldn't word it better myself. i've been through this argument so many times its not funny.
at a resturant or a bar if i get exactly what i ask for then i leave nada. if i get exceptional service then you best believe i'll dig deep and leave what's deserved. waiter gets pissed cause i didn't leave a tip? you didn't provide exceptional customer service my friend. If a waiters just "doing his job" then i the cusotmer am just "paying my bill" which doens't include tips

Just so you know Tampering with food served to customers is a class E Felony.