Are you a good tipper?

[XOXO17]

First of all: Who in the blue hell went and made 20% percent the minimum gratuity when I wasn't looking?

Why didn't I get a memo about this?

When I was a server 15% was a good tip, and in my estimation still is a good tip. When I get good service I'll toss on a few extra bucks. But that is by NO MEANS a given. You want more - work for it.

I even tend to give the full 15% gratuity even if the service wasn't stellar, as long as some modicum of effort was made to be mediocre. I quite understand that people have off-days and sometimes its' really busy and you can only do so many things at once - and as a former hostage (I mean "employee") within the foodservice industry I understand this, and therefor I make allowances.

I do, however, expect good service when I'm paying for a service, and I try to reward it when I get it.




Second of all: I remember when I was a waiter and when I was a bartender - I have to tell you people - XOXO17 has a point. As a rule, Southern Maryland patrons' tips ABSOLUTELY SUCK.

No seriously.

I see a lot of attitude in this thread about this assertion, but I'm telling you right now, it's true, and I don't give a good goddam if that offends someone.

I was a good bartender, and during my brief stint in DC, and my briefer stint in Baltimore, I was rewarded for it. However, back home in Southern Maryland when I was a bartender, (and on those occasions when I had to wait tables), I was not rewarded for it.

I wasn't doing anything differently. So either the expectations are unusually high south of the beltway, or the consumer base is, on average, much stingier. Guess which side my wager is on.



And don't even get me started on the time when I was a pizza delivery guy - the tips were abysmal.

ABYSMAL.


Some of those people should be ashamed of themselves.

thank you! Im glad someone agrees with me.

 

[Toxick]

thank you! Im glad someone agrees with me.

Whoa there.... I said you have a point.
I'm still scratching my head about this 20% business you were talking about.

 

[XOXO17]

Whoa there.... I said you have a point.
I'm still scratching my head about this 20% business you were talking about.

well thanks for saying I have a point.

 

[Triggerfish]

In general I think the service at restaurants(and other service industries) in SOMD sucks. I've had good and great servers but I'm more likely to have bad service.

My last experience at Damon's

After I received my salad I didn't receive my silverware. After about 10 minutes I could not get the attention of our server so I had to get the silverware from someone else.

My order was all fouled up. I received the wrong item.

Our bill was all messed up.

The waitress gave us 2 coupons for a free appetizer or dessert.

Although the service was BAD we left over 20% tip since our daughter spilled her milk and since we received the coupons.

After we got home I read the fine print on the coupons.

It requires purchases of 2 entrees. So to get 2 desserts or appetizers we needed to get 4 entrees.. Plus it expired in a week.

After we left the wife and I had a fight. She wanted to clean up the milk. I got her to leave the milk since I was in a pretty bad mood after eating there.

What do you all think should we have cleaned it up? Like I stated even though the service was bad we gave about 25% tip

 

[Triggerfish]

I was a good bartender, and during my brief stint in DC, and my briefer stint in Baltimore, I was rewarded for it. However, back home in Southern Maryland when I was a bartender, (and on those occasions when I had to wait tables), I was not rewarded for it.

I wasn't doing anything differently. So either the expectations are unusually high south of the beltway, or the consumer base is, on average, much stingier. Guess which side my wager is on.

I've lived in Florida, Washington state, California, Japan and here since the 90s and I have to admit this place has some of the worst service I've seen. In general the Japanese and Floridians had the best service.

You may be a very good bartender but I keep on hearing and seeing that service here sucks in general and maybe people are used to tipping low? :shrug:

 

[Mikeinsmd]

I know! I was only voicing my opinion on a community forum. He got very defensive....maybe hes a bad tipper?

Hey dum dum..... read this entire thread. It's you against EVERYBODY else!! If you had ANY sense at all, you would know that you are wrong. Have a nice life. You will always be a waitress and a poor one at that.

 

[Magnum]

Looks like I missed this thread for a while.... OK heres where I stand. Typically I tip a great server at 30% or so. It is hard to find good service in SOMD because they all think they will not get tipped good, or because some are just ignorant. I have been known to Tip 50% or more if the waitress is really great... and PS Looking good helps but thats not what my tip is based on. Now the waitress that has that little typical smartass attitude, well she doesn't deserve sh!t. I tip on performance, attitude, and their respect for the situation. I mean if It's me and my GF alone eating dinner take my order fill my drink then go, don't come back every two seconds and interupt the conversation to see if everything is ok. I like the places where you can see the waitress scan your table from a distance so not to interfere with you.

 

[Railroad]

I can cite one server who consistently does a great job. She works at Bob Evans in First Colony. She's the one that looks like Carol Burnette or the lady that played Flo in Mel's Diner. Anyway, she's efficient, polite, does a great job of keeping up with things without bugging you, etc. Any delays when she's waiting your table are due to the kitchen staff, not her.

 

[Larry Gude]

OK xox17...

Now that we have the "World as Viewed by One end of the Lens" may I offer you my view, the one that pays for everything?

We eat out A LOT and love GREAT service over everything else. Food quality is a distant #2. If the food is fine and the people are great at A, we'll go there EVERY TIME over B with superb food and sh1t azz people. So, ding, ding, recognize that YOU more than management or the kitchen attract business or drive it away. By business I mean good tippers. We are probably the best tippers in this time zone. Many people value food or price first. They are not good tippers.

The MINIMUM tip nowadays is 20% not 15% (15% is so ten years ago!)When the cost of living goes up for you-it goes up for us servers too! You should tip the minumum for good service

That's crap. As the price of the check goes up the value of 5 or 10 or 15% goes up. By your logic 20 years from now the minumum tip should be 100%. You can't think like that because it inevitably shows in your attitude. Your suppossed to behave like a pro if you get $5 on a $100 check or if you get $50. On the $50, you also give us an extra nod of appreciation when we catch your eye on the way out. No overt act of "gosh!" just a satisfying recognition that you did a great job, we know it and you know we know it. See you next week!

Next...

1. When you are finished eating and you and your party stay and talk forever. Your server could have made more money off that table had it been available.

More un-professional crap. What, you want us to feel rushed and boogie on out so some some shmuck can short you on the next check? WE ARE GOLD. We know we're screwing you on the next table and we're gonna take care of you IF you love us back. Make us feel the love. We'll probably have an extra desert, another round of drinks, maybe get you to get us some cheescake to go for the kids. If we're sitting there basking like whales in the sun, offer to get us some sun tan lotion. The extra 30 minutes we roost is gonna get you what you MIGHT have made on the next two tables.
IF YOU LOVE US. Even if 'we' don't this time, do you wanna make sure we don't come back?

2.When your child throws huge amounts of food on the floor.( and please NO MORE cheerios for babies-they get everywhere)

Sorry. If they're bringing kids with Cheerios, you're just gonna have to deal with it until we get there. Still, ACT LIKE A PRO and you'll get as much as possible because they will FEEL THE LOVE.

Please do not let your children run wild through the restaurant,color on tables and walls,empty sugar packets and S&P on the table.

You're not working Chuck E Cheese are you? How many kids are there at 7:30 on Friday? Deal with it. Smile. Mean it. Be helpful. Get paid.

Remember to say Please and Thank you

You're focusing too much on how the goose acts when it lays it's golden eggs. You make sure you're acting like your sincerely happy we're there. You can at least control that.

Realize that your server is human and will make mistakes and forget things from time to time.

No. You do NOT forget my beer. You do NOT forget she wanted her dressing on the side. This is your JOB. Do it right. 100%. All the time. You don't make excuses. You make it happen. Then, when an oops happens, anh, it happens.
In the mean time, I've got my beer, her dressing is on the side. Don't blame it on everyone else, say you goofed, we'll like you that much more for honesty. Shake it off and go fixee fixee.

Also realize that just because you frequent a place regularly does not mean you own the place

Uhm, kiddo, I'm starting to think you're in the WRONG business. We may not own it but we sure as hell are paying the lease.

Please don't stay past closing time-we want to go home!

Yep. You're in the wrong business.

Waiting is a SERVICE business. I'm sorry there are azzholes in the world but that makes it easy; you KNOW they're gonna be there. I am not asking you to accept abuse of any kind but, until proven otherwise, treat us like people who are more than happy to give you money to serve us. That's why you're there, to get paid to serve. Time might have slipped us or we may not realize you close at 9:47 EXACTLY. Gentle reminder "last call, can I get you anything else?".

If you've ever served us and you got us drinks RIGHT AWAY and came and got our appetizer order when we were 1/2 through the first beer AND made sure the next drink was coming just about the last sip and came and got our dinner order RIGHT before we FIRST started looking for you and took care of everything from specials to salad dressings and for damn sure had an opinion on what YOU thought was good or better, and keep us informed if the kitchen is swamped and so on and so forth and just be pleasant and chat with us a bit or not (you gotta learn to read the table) and so on then when the evenings over, you're gonna get 30-40%, sometimes more. You don't have to be perfect, just doing the job.

Our bar tender last time we went out got $50 on a $50 because he was great.

But you gotta be a pro, 5, 10 or 15% because that's the job. It's work to make it better. It's REAL easy to make it worse.

Cheers!

 

[Tigerlily]

 

[somdcrab]

Now that we have the "World as Viewed by One end of the Lens" may I offer you my view, the one that pays for everything?

We eat out A LOT and love GREAT service over everything else. Food quality is a distant #2. If the food is fine and the people are great at A, we'll go there EVERY TIME over B with superb food and sh1t azz people. So, ding, ding, recognize that YOU more than management or the kitchen attract business or drive it away. By business I mean good tippers. We are probably the best tippers in this time zone. Many people value food or price first. They are not good tippers.



That's crap. As the price of the check goes up the value of 5 or 10 or 15% goes up. By your logic 20 years from now the minumum tip should be 100%. You can't think like that because it inevitably shows in your attitude. Your suppossed to behave like a pro if you get $5 on a $100 check or if you get $50. On the $50, you also give us an extra nod of appreciation when we catch your eye on the way out. No overt act of "gosh!" just a satisfying recognition that you did a great job, we know it and you know we know it. See you next week!

Next...





More un-professional crap. What, you want us to feel rushed and boogie on out so some some shmuck can short you on the next check? WE ARE GOLD. We know we're screwing you on the next table and we're gonna take care of you IF you love us back. Make us feel the love. We'll probably have an extra desert, another round of drinks, maybe get you to get us some cheescake to go for the kids. If we're sitting there basking like whales in the sun, offer to get us some sun tan lotion. The extra 30 minutes we roost is gonna get you what you MIGHT have made on the next two tables.
IF YOU LOVE US. Even if 'we' don't this time, do you wanna make sure we don't come back?



Sorry. If they're bringing kids with Cheerios, you're just gonna have to deal with it until we get there. Still, ACT LIKE A PRO and you'll get as much as possible because they will FEEL THE LOVE.




You're not working Chuck E Cheese are you? How many kids are there at 7:30 on Friday? Deal with it. Smile. Mean it. Be helpful. Get paid.



You're focusing too much on how the goose acts when it lays it's golden eggs. You make sure you're acting like your sincerely happy we're there. You can at least control that.



No. You do NOT forget my beer. You do NOT forget she wanted her dressing on the side. This is your JOB. Do it right. 100%. All the time. You don't make excuses. You make it happen. Then, when an oops happens, anh, it happens.
In the mean time, I've got my beer, her dressing is on the side. Don't blame it on everyone else, say you goofed, we'll like you that much more for honesty. Shake it off and go fixee fixee.



Uhm, kiddo, I'm starting to think you're in the WRONG business. We may not own it but we sure as hell are paying the lease.



Yep. You're in the wrong business.

Waiting is a SERVICE business. I'm sorry there are azzholes in the world but that makes it easy; you KNOW they're gonna be there. I am not asking you to accept abuse of any kind but, until proven otherwise, treat us like people who are more than happy to give you money to serve us. That's why you're there, to get paid to serve. Time might have slipped us or we may not realize you close at 9:47 EXACTLY. Gentle reminder "last call, can I get you anything else?".

If you've ever served us and you got us drinks RIGHT AWAY and came and got our appetizer order when we were 1/2 through the first beer AND made sure the next drink was coming just about the last sip and came and got our dinner order RIGHT before we FIRST started looking for you and took care of everything from specials to salad dressings and for damn sure had an opinion on what YOU thought was good or better, and keep us informed if the kitchen is swamped and so on and so forth and just be pleasant and chat with us a bit or not (you gotta learn to read the table) and so on then when the evenings over, you're gonna get 30-40%, sometimes more. You don't have to be perfect, just doing the job.

Our bar tender last time we went out got $50 on a $50 because he was great.

But you gotta be a pro, 5, 10 or 15% because that's the job. It's work to make it better. It's REAL easy to make it worse.

Cheers!

that has got to be a record (length) for a reply but you are sho nuff right larry

 

[Larry Gude]

That ain't even close to the record...

...for me but I was in a hurry!

I've seen others posts go on for a few pages. Not sure what the limit is?

 

[XOXO17]

In general I think the service at restaurants(and other service industries) in SOMD sucks. I've had good and great servers but I'm more likely to have bad service.

My last experience at Damon's

After I received my salad I didn't receive my silverware. After about 10 minutes I could not get the attention of our server so I had to get the silverware from someone else.

My order was all fouled up. I received the wrong item.

Our bill was all messed up.

The waitress gave us 2 coupons for a free appetizer or dessert.

Although the service was BAD we left over 20% tip since our daughter spilled her milk and since we received the coupons.

After we got home I read the fine print on the coupons.

It requires purchases of 2 entrees. So to get 2 desserts or appetizers we needed to get 4 entrees.. Plus it expired in a week.

After we left the wife and I had a fight. She wanted to clean up the milk. I got her to leave the milk since I was in a pretty bad mood after eating there.

What do you all think should we have cleaned it up? Like I stated even though the service was bad we gave about 25% tip

No. after everything that went wrong with your meal..the server should clean up the milk.And instead of coupons you should have had your meal taken off the bill.

 

[vraiblonde]

Good post, Larry.

X, someone once said to me, "Which would you rather say - 'Get bent' or 'Hello, I'd like to make a deposit'?"

What that means is that you can b!tch and whine about how crappy your job is and how ungrateful your customers are...or you can put on a happy face and make money. Even if you've treated me like gold because you see the dollar signs, if I see you treat the young couple next door with their Cheerio kid poorly, your tip will go down.

Frankly, your attitude sucks and you should consider other job opportunities that don't involve serving people.

 

[vraiblonde]

What do you all think should we have cleaned it up? Like I stated even though the service was bad we gave about 25% tip

I'd have given her zip #### nada except for advice to change careers. When I waitressed and some kid dumped their soda, I RAN with my handy dandy little bar towel to mop it up for them. "That's okay - accidents happen, don't they, little guy?" Pat pat.

Cha-CHING! Spilled kid drinks were worth, on average, an extra $3. $3 for one minute of work. Shoot, I'd spend all day mopping up spilled milk for that kinda cash.

 

[Toxick]

I've lived in Florida, Washington state, California, Japan and here since the 90s and I have to admit this place has some of the worst service I've seen. In general the Japanese and Floridians had the best service.

You may be a very good bartender but I keep on hearing and seeing that service here sucks in general and maybe people are used to tipping low? :shrug:

That could well be. Personally, I haven't waited tables in more than a decade & a half, so it's no skin off my buttocks.


Worst service ever: New York City. It seemed like all the waiters had the attitude that they were doing me a favor by allowing themselves to bring food to the likes of me.

But then everyone I met in New York had a surly friggin' attitude problem - so maybe they were being friendly, and I just didn't notice.

 

[vraiblonde]

Worst service ever: New York City. It seemed like all the waiters had the attitude that they were doing me a favor by allowing themselves to bring food to the likes of me.

Really??? Larry and I were talking about this thread today, trying to think of the best restaurant service we've had recently, and we both agreed that the NYC restaurants had it going on.

 

[Larry Gude]

Something I forgot I wanted to add...

Really??? Larry and I were talking about this thread today, trying to think of the best restaurant service we've had recently, and we both agreed that the NYC restaurants had it going on.

...in addition to giving NYC a BIG 'oh helll yeah!'.

Last four trips to NYC...

Tonic on Broadway: Ab fab service.
Tony's: Super FAB service. (3 times)
The 'Blue Bar' (snicker) quite quite...
That Mexican place in our Hotel near Ground Zero: FAB.
BB Kings: Almost hired assistant wife from there.
Rodeo (Gramercy) Great service.
All the Heartland Brewerys: Pretty darn good.
Machalicks (sp?) Upper west Side. Bit slow one time, superb the other.
The Italian place on the Upper West Side: A+
The froo froo place we took the girls: A
The Fridays near ground zero: B+
The Ice Rink Bar at Rock center: A
The Italian Place that was in the Godfather: C-, maybe a D.
Cedars: A+ both times
The place next door to Cedars: A
The Mexican place at NYU: A
That wood paneled bar Lisa took us that I drank the pepper shots: Fab.

What am I leaving out? (Yes, that is about all we do; eat and drink!)


Anyway, what I meant to add was as a waiter XO, you also have to work with your other servers, bar tenders and bus people to help spread that attitude. When I was a kid our waiters took us bus boys aside and put a $20 in one hand and said "Nice to customers" then took it back and said "Not nice to customers".

I bit my tongue any number of times when you get the 'man' on a hot date who wants to show the bus boys whose boss. The girls notice and the ytook care of us.

Anyway, if the place you work doesn't foster THE attitude, go somewhere that does.

 

[Larry Gude]

The Cajun place in Chelsea...

...B to B plus. Started REAL slow then took care of us.

That Soup and Burger diner place diner around the way from NYU, A++ service. The Red Flame A++ service.

Tox, when we you getting bad service in NYC?

 

[Toxick]

Really??? Larry and I were talking about this thread today, trying to think of the best restaurant service we've had recently, and we both agreed that the NYC restaurants had it going on.

Hmm... Well maybe I just had a bad experience.

But I spent some time up there a few years ago, and I noticed that between the people, the people and the people, NYC was the crappiest place on earth.

Nice buildings though.


And it was still better than L.A.