Tips used to bump up my wages when I was a Taxi Driver - Some evenings I would make an equivalent 75% in tips to my wages. But I always, Always ensured I was pleasant and polite etc to my customers.

I do tip (I am in UK before you jump on me ) but only (and I do mean only) if I am happy with the service in restaraunts - If myself and anyone with me are happy with that service then the tip usually ends up at about £20+.


In Pubs its different, I usually say "and One for yourself" which basically invites that member of staff to take the price of a drink for themselves.

For waiters I leave 15% if they were jerks and 20% if they were nice... I don't go to bars much as I don't really drink but I've always left a dollar or two because that's just what I was taught to do.... I can't belive someone would leave a quarter.

When I was really young I didn't get the whole tipping thing. I just didn't understand that they get paid DICK if you don't tip them. Then I waited tables during college & got all that shit

It's amazing to me that it still has to be explained to folks in the US, certainly everyone has a cousin or friend who's waited tables before - don't they inform these cheap bastids??

Now I'm the person everyone consults about the tip b/c I go out of my way to make sure it's fair I routinely tip 20% & knock it down to 15% if the service isn't great. You gotta be really shitty for me to give you 10%

Some easy equations for folks who can't figure it out quickly:

• for a 15% tip (in Cali, at least) just double the tax (8.25% doubled leaves you in the 16% range which is above standard). So if tax on the meal was $2.50, leave a $5.00 tip - super easy!
  
  
• for a 20% tip take the first digit of the total (or the first two digits of a 3 digit total) & multiply by two - for a $70 check, leave a $14 tip (7x2=14). Again, super easy (sometimes you're too drunk to simply double 10% )...

Oh, and for bartenders I do a dollar per drink... ALWAYS

Tip your servers folks, it's so skanky not to. Like someone already said if you can't afford to tip you shouldn't take yo ass out!!




.
[Edited 8/6/06 17:36pm]

do you guys carry around calculators in your handbags or are you all really good at maths?

ZombieKitten said:

See my easy tips for calculating tax above

I don't owe the waiter or waitress anything. They barely do anything. it's not as if they are cooking the food. All i owe is the money for the bill.

Spats said:

:::prays Canadian servers get a decent wage:::

CalhounSq said:

I think I heard that they do get paid better then our servers in the us.

Still, it is polite to leave something, especially if the person is good at their job.

CalhounSq said:

No, they don't. I think minimum wage in Ontario is around $7 and that is barely livable when you factor in the cost of living in this province.

JustErin said:

That's still more than our servers get.

Hella lot more.

JustErin said:

Holy crap, lemme give him 2...

Spats

Sweeny79 said:

Well, considering the average one bedroom apartment costs anywhere from $700 (a shithole) to upwards of $1500 a month and we pay 15% tax on everything we buy...it's not enough to be even romotely comfortable.

Depends on the restaurant and the service. I don't really tip at lots of the places I eat and drink at - Black Canyon coffee, Sizzler, MK Suki Yaki, Fuji japanese restaurant as I don't consider these 'proper' restaurants as such, but rather, akin to fast food joints where the service (and even the cooking) could be performed while asleep (and sometimes almost is). At these I leave whatever coins are left over as change. At proper restaurants with chefs and trained staff I leave around 10% if the service was as expected or better. I'm reluctant to give tips at chains and many restaurants because I honestly don't know if the staff get the tips.

At local Thai restaurants I'm most likely to tip well as they go out of their way to be friendly, have a rapport with us, and know just how we like our food and cater especially to that. That is customer service worthy of a good tip, so I give generously for that. I know the money is shared between the family in the business and the staff.

JustErin said:

Oh I agree they are grossly underpaid...but ours still only get like 3 bucks an hour....and shit is expensive everywhere.

Joke time!!!!

Q: What did the man with leprosy say to the prostitute?
A: Keep the tip!!!

Sweeny79 said:

I honest to God do not know how people make it on so little.

JustErin said:

Me either... it's amazing.

I guess it's a little harsh not to tip in Thailand. Waiters and waitresses get paid around 200 baht a day ($5), or around $125-$150 a month. Rent is around $50 a month at the cheapest unless you live with your family or get a place with several other people, so when you add in a dollar or two per day for bus fares and maybe $2.50 a day for food and drink, that doesn't leave you with a good quality of life. I just get the feeling that tips often go straight into the pockets of the rich Thai Chinese owners.

JustErin said:

When I waited tables my check for 2 weeks would be less than $10 - the ASSUMED tips offset what they would pay out to us. So you're really jacked if you don't get your tips

Wow! What wonderful timing!!!

I just came home from a horrible dinner experience at Appleby's.


Nine of us (5 adults, 4 kids) walked into Appleby's at around 7:45pm. We were led to a table for 8. After telling a nearby waitress that we needed a bigger table, we took a booth nearby. Ten minutes later the waitress appears. We order. Drinks arrive about 15 miunutes later...less my Coke. An HOUR after we order, the food arrives...JUST as we're getting ready to walk out. Most of it is either shriveled, dry and/or lukewarm. We immediately send 2 plates back. This is an OBVIOUS sign that the food had been sitting in the back for FAR TOO LONG. The waitress denies it, and she has an attitude.

End-of-story: we did not pay for 3 meals, we lodged a complaint to the manager, and did not leave a tip. NOT a single penny.



Alternately; yesterday we went to a seafood restaurant down the block from me. Even though they required reservations, they gladly found a spot for the 9 of us. The waitress was friendly and took great care of us. We gladly gave her the $31.00 tip which was appropriate. And I can't wait to go back.

I agree. People are cheap bastards.
If the service was good and the server was friendly, give him/her their due. plain and simple.

PurpleJedi said:

$31 tip? I could take the family out to dinner on that. Twice!

PurpleJedi said:

Just curious... How busy was the restaurant?

Not all of these things are under the server's control. The hostess is responsible for the seating, by switching tables you might have sat in someone elses section. Maybe that particular server had a lot going on already which is why the hostess sat you where they did...

The kitchen might have been slammed as well as the bartenders (depending on the drinks you ordered)...

I'm just playing devils advocate - clearly the evening wasn't cool, I'm just saying a lot of things happened to go wrong but they're not all the WAITRESS' fault necessarily.

I firmly believe that there should be a required high school course in the service industy. Most people who havent worked in the industry dont even have a clue of what horrors one can experience.

Ive been lucky that i work in a gay bar, its very profitable but at the same time its like babysitting a bunch of 5 yr olds who have scissors and are attracted to electrical sockets.

For every nice person you serve their are 10 that are rude, arrogant, and so much "above" you.

On my Birthday does the GAP give me free clothes???? NO, but you expect a free drink??

though my favorite is always the "is there alcohol in this?, cause i can't taste any," Nevermind bitch is on her 4th drink and couldnt taste the bits of tobacco thats in her mouth cause she lit the cig from the wrong end.


Just remember the Server is always the last person to touch your drink before you. BE WARNED!!

CalhounSq said:

Thats very true - A lot of people tend to think they are the only customer there and forget about the other 200 or so people eating - The Chefs are always in my opinion the unsung heroes of the Restaraunt as they never get the gratitude from the customer - Only the complaints - The Waiters and Waitresses are more often than not, abused for all kinds of things out of their control - However, this should be expected as they are technically a "Customer Service Assistant" or frontline staff. I often pass on my compliments to the Chef through the staff, however, chances are he / she never gets to hear that !!

I had the most beautiful Swordfish Dinner the other day, the only thing that spoiled it was not the Staff nor the Food, but other arrogant Customers who basically did not see the Restaraunt was full and the staff where dealing with something like 10 tables per 1 waiting staff. These customers raising their voices and being downright rude - I would cringe if someone at my table did that in the same circumstance (It has happened previously)

PurpleJedi said:

But why take it out on the server if the cook screwed up your food, she did wait on you didn't she? She may have been in a bad mood because she was fighting with the cooks to get your food out on time.

Spats said:

you must have a lot of protein in your diet from all those waiters spitting and peeing and pooping in your food.

lazycrockett said:

When someone bitches about the alcohol content in their drink the next one you make pour less alcohol and pour it directly into their straw...it'll make them think the drink is really strong because it's their first sip. When in fact there is less in there! Try it...

CarrieLee said:

LOL Thats sneaky!

One of my friends that bartended used to keep a Vodka bottle filled with water. And when customers would hit on him and want to buy him shots all night so they can do them together, he would do shots of water and pocket the money LOL.

So there's a lot of dishonesty. Honourable profession.