I am a server and working on my collage degree.

something I heard a long time ago that always holds true is- there are two prices, the price shown you and the price you pay and they are always two diff. amounts.

ONE thing is this if I give bad service, (everyone has there bad days) I straight up appologise and try to talk to that table about it to see if there is anything I can do to at least make them feel better, and I in those cases do not expect a tip.

We do remember who the cheap people are and they will get bad service, after all at 2.15 and hour you have to remember who tips as that will make you money, IF a dollor tipper is next to a 3-6$ tipper you will be sure his food will be out first, his drinks will be filled first, his order will be taken first, and put in as fast as possible. I even make sure any extra stuff (appitizers, snacks, "special's") work there way out there for them to try. not that the reg. $1 man will get the shaft, he will get service but that $1 sevice.

IF the service was avg. (you know what avg. is and if the thought "well he didnt ask me if I wanted a mint" is not avg.) then bust up 15% or even 12% but if it was good then tip as you want and can afford (IF the thought comes up well thats just too much for me is thought, you should leave your a$$ at home and cook your own damn food and save the money, since you should not have dropped 25+ on dinner that you cannot afford in the first place, and if 4-6$ is too much an added expence well again stay home and make my day a bit easier so I can help those customers who pay me.)

For instance I always get rather large tips (I wait/sometimes deliver for a local Pizza Hut, and used to work at a Chevy's fresh mex restorant) and I am very, very thankfull. Just last night I got a 20$ tip for a 24$ order, not to brag but I like to think I suprise the customer and they enjoy it. SO I am not bitter, just one topic that I am directly attached to at the moment. I am a thrifty person as well but there is a diff. in thrift and cheap.

 

too bad Burger King staffer didn't turn up.

Sorry Joe.

 

in all fairness, if a restaurant is terribly busy, like the kind where you wait 45 minutes to get a table, I wont hold that aginst the server.

If the service is so terrible, terrible becuase they are a fool or lazy or stupid, not because they are overworked, I will tell them why I am not tipping them.

I will tip anywhere from 15 to 25.

Heck, I tip where it isnt always expected. When the appliance guys delivered out new washer/dryer, I gave each of the 2 guys $20 to show how much I appreciated them getting the appliances into the basement without damaging them or the walls.

I tip the pizza driver when the pizza is late and free (becuase it took longer than 30 minutes) Same thing. Pizza drivers get paid by the tips. And "keep thge change" is a cheapo tip. You guys all know how much it costs to maintain and gas up a car/truck.

 

I use the 15% rule of thumb with some exceptions. Exceptional service can warrant a tip up to $20 (2 people). This would include such things are personal attention, drinks on the house, etc.....

Now, I've found a way that you can get your message across to those service people who truly deserve it. Leaving a dollar just looks cheap, leaving nothing means that perhaps you forgot, but leave a single penny and the server will understand exactly how you feel.

 

I do pretty well in getting tips. I don’t even work at a restaurant. I make my biggest tips when a crowd of people seem to eat at the same speed. I then leave about 2 minutes after they do, the crowd, and collect my tips…

Sometimes I net approx. $60 in under a minute…

 

I leave TC kind of tips, for those of you new to the scene that stands for Tip Cards, it all depends on the service on the type of TC I leave, below are a few examples:

Bad service:

Perhaps if you lost about 50lbs you could move a little faster and get my food to the table while it is still warm thus earning you a better TC…

Hello, Hello, Hello, can you hear me now?

Next time rather then yacking with your girlfriend you might find it financial beneficial to fill my EMPTY glass with soda…

Mediocre Service:

Ahhhh, nevermind…

Good Service:

You have done a swell job and thus you will find a cherry flavored sucker taped on the other side of this card…

They should make a TV movie about you because you are just amazing…

You have gone beyond the call of duty and I proudly present you with a special colletors edition of the $2 bill…

 

15-20% is fair when deserved. Kind of weird here is Las Vegas though. You can go somewhere for breakfast and spend $30 one day (for three), then go to a Casino and Spend $10 and have just as a great of a meal and service. I usually try to make it up a little to the person working in that situation if they were really good.

I went to this one little bar and grill where they had a special (waiting on car repairs), $1.99 for breakfast. Only myself and two older gents. Young girl with no customers. She was right on top of everything and super nice. These two were struggling to leave .50, I could here them saying that was more than 10 percent!

Now, let's talk about tip jars. I hate them. It's getting carried away - they are everywhere. You go into a pizza place where there is only the owner and he has a jar that says "tips for the crew". I went to bagel joint the other morning, two bagels and two coffees, $7.00 with a BIG tip jar by the register. Sorry guys, but I felt I paid plenty enough for them to pay the employees properly...

 

Sometimes the wait staff just can't win. I like to be left alone while I'm eating. Over zealous waiters or waitresses tend to **** me off more than lazy ones. Well.... Just as much anyway.

Does anyone here tip at a buffet with a wait staff? I see people leaving without tipping all the time at buffet type restaurants, with people who bring your drinks and bus your table between trips.

 

I tip 15% at buffets if ordering off a menu is an option which is most always is.

As I stated earlier, I usually tip around 20%.
Here is the thing, I hate to go out to eat.
My wife knows this, she also knows I will tip big which she doesn't care for but, it is the price of being married to me.

I tip more because I know others tip less.
It is for balance.
Kind of like paying taxes.

 

Ok, I'm zipping up my flame suit but it's a little snug around the waist - musta shrunk in the wash!

There's a "International Chinese Buffet place" we eat at 2 or 3 times a year.
$10 a plate, and eat all you want.

I don't tip at these type of buffet places because I serve myself at the trough.

I walk in and a hostess seats us - am I supposed to tip her too?

This buffet has the self serve fountain drinks, they bring you your first coke or whatever, and then you get your own.
I just can't see myself tipping someone for bringing me one coke and then pointing at the buffet and saying "Help yourself"

Should I tip the bus boy too? Why stop there? Perhaps I should walk in the kitchen and give the dishwashers 2 bucks each.
Maybe the kid that comes in for the last 2 hours to clean up the kitchen, I know, I'll wait for him too and give him a couple of bucks.

Maybe I should give the owner a couple bucks too because I'm sure that big *** Benz he drives has stiff payments.

Seriously, where does it end?
When I have a wait person who does a good job serving me during my dining experience, I tip that person well because I know their income depends on it.
At some point though people have to realize that some jobs do not qualify for a tip.

So, like the famous quote from Truman:

The buck stops here!

 

Buffets are plentiful here in Las Vegas. The rules for tipping here are generally $1.00 per person, I've seen that written in all the tourist magazines. I tend to leave a little more, once again, if the service deserves it...

 

Hey Habibi you haven’t sent me a tip yet, I keep looking in the mail an NO damn check…

Anyway I don’t know if I actually mentioned that I do indeed tip and leave money. If the service is good then I leave 20%, if it is not good then I leave nothing, so it is either 0% or 20% no in between.

I don’t really do the buffet things. I went to one once and seen this little fat kid sneezing and coughing into all the food and that had me thinking how many other people did that I hadn’t seen so I left.

I love the breakfast in Las Vegas, when I lived in Southern California my brother and I would go there a few times a month. It was 4 ½ hours away so it was a nice road trip. Even if the breakfast was $2 I would leave $3 - $5 tip since they always seemed to right there when you needed them.

One weekend was really cool went to breakfast for $2 and played Keno at the table (didn’t win anything) anyway I had left the kid a $5 tip and he was surprised and was very thankful and told me I wouldn’t believe how cheap some people were and not many left tips.

Here is the thing, the next morning I went to breakfast the same kid was there. He seated us and handed me $300. I was like WTF. He explains he took my $5 tip and won $600 at Keno and wanted to split it with me. I told him that was his money and keep it. Well breakfast was free and told me if I didn’t accept at least $100 he would be insulted. Who am I to insult someone…

 

Ok if it has 'Buffet' in it's Name and self service fountain drinks or maybe you push a tray down a cafeteria line or you don't see a soul after you pay at the register then I probably wouldn't tip either.

If a menu is an option then my waitstaff should not be penalized because I decided to bellyup to the trough.

There is no right or wrong answer here.
Everyone must live their own lives and what it comfortable for them.
There are people out there who will never tip regardless, just as there are people who will steal your hubcaps.

Stealing hubcaps is illegal, leaving no tip is not illegal yet,
perhaps it will be part of President Kerrys' platform.

 

I think that the wait staff should be clean and attractive; so, I only tip attractive young ladies as a rule. If more people did this, there would be more good looking young ladies waiting tables. The ugly ones wouldn't be able to make a living as wait staff.

 

You also gotta realise that they have to clean buffet troughs and replenish the food there all the time too