Should you leave a tip for your waiter/waitress even if the service was bad?

If you elect to leave a tip, then how much? 15%, 20%, or 10%?

If you don't leave a tip, should you continue dining at that same establishment?

How do you feel about the gratuity being included in your bill? Isn't the establishment overstepping its bounds by dictating how much of a tip you should leave?

Discuss.

NOTE: If the service is bad I will leave you $5 and fuck your feelings... otherwise you get 20%.

If the service was really horrible, I will have a discussion with the manager and I guarantee you I won't have to pay for shit; not dinner, not the tip, zilch. You also may find yourself unemployed. Just saying.

I generally tip 15-20% or so and that little fluctuation is depending on service. I won’t go below 15% but if it’s really bad I won’t tip at all - but then I feel it’s my duty to let a manager know why. I think that’s only happened once or twice in my life.

[Edited 1/25/12 12:22pm]

Tipping even with bad service shows character.

servers receive an hourly wage for asking me what i want and subsequently bringing it to me. if that's all they do, that's all they get. they gotta earn their tip, in my opinion.

answering questions, attentiveness, friendliness, professionalism, appearance, etc...these things all matter.

that said, i usually tip on the high end of the scale...but i will forego it altogether if i feel i've received shitty service; and like hotgritz said, the manager will hear about it.

peedub said:

servers receive an hourly wage for asking me what i want and subsequently bringing it to me. if that's all they do, that's all they get. they gotta earn their tip, in my opinion.

answering questions, attentiveness, friendliness, professionalism, appearance, etc...these things all matter.

that said, i usually tip on the high end of the scale...but i will forego it altogether if i feel i've received shitty service; and like hotgritz said, the manager will hear about it.

the problem is, they allow tipped employees to be paid less than minimum wage so they are by law expected to get a tip. It's not really fair to say they don't deserve it without going above & beyond (even if that is the true spirit of tipping)

I think you only shouldn't tip if the server somehow ruined a meal or acted in a totally unprofessional manner

I find most servers and busboys and bartenders aren't well-trained in certain finer points, and it annoys me. I want them present should I require something, but if they're constantly intruding, it bothers me a lot. If there's a bottle of wine on the table, I don't want the server to fill up my glass or anyone else's at the table. We can handle it, and s/he should stay out of it. And I hate this insistence on clearing plates as soon as possible. If my dining companion is still eating and I'm finished, it's rude to clear my plate--leave the plates until everyone is finished.

I usually have to convey things like that to the server, and it doesn't lessen their tip unless they react badly to it or something. I used to wait tables, to I'm an over-tipper from way back. But I'm getting better at tipping less for really bad or rude service.

i have a relative that always leaves $20 or more as tip, even if she only bought $10 in food, she leaves $20, needless to say all the servers love her!

because i know that service workers are underpaid, even when service sucks i leave a tip. 10% if service was lousy, 20% if it was good.

here are some tips, for really really bad service

Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very long time.

Married couples tell each other a thousand things without speech.

Mend the pen only after the sheep are all gone.

Never do anything standing that you can do sitting, or anything sitting that you can do lying down The palest ink is better than the best memory.

Paper can't wrap up a fire.

Pick up a sesame seed but lose sight of a watermelon.

Play a harp before a cow.

Regular feet can't be affected by irregular shoes.

Reshape one's foot to try to fit into a new shoe.

The saving man becomes the free man. Shed no tears until seeing the coffin.

A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.

A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den

Happiness is like a sunbeam, which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring.

Have a mouth as sharp as a dagger but a heart as soft as tofu.

Have one's ears pierced only before the wedding ceremony starts.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

He who hurries can not walk with dignity.

He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes.

A horse cannot gain weight if not fed with extra fodder during the night; a man cannot become wealthy without earnings apart from his regular salaries.

How can you expect to find ivory in a dog's mouth?

How can you put out a fire set on a cart-load of firewood with only a cup of water?

If a son is uneducated, his dad is to blame.

If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.

If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

If you bow at all, bow low.

If you do not study hard when young you'll end up bewailing your failures as you grow up.

If you have never done anything evil, you should not be worrying about devils to knock at your door.

If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of he game, the stakes, and the quitting time.

If you see in your wine the reflection of a person not in your range of vision, don't drink it.

If you suspect a man, don't employ him, and if ypu employ him, don't suspect him.

If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.

In reviling, it is not necessary to prepare a preliminary draft.

An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold. http://chineseculture.abo...erb-eg.htm

[Edited 1/25/12 18:20pm]

CarrieMpls said:

I generally tip 15-20% or so and that little fluctuation is depending on service. I won’t go below 15% but if it’s really bad I won’t tip at all - but then I feel it’s my duty to let a manager know why. I think that’s only happened once or twice in my life.

[Edited 1/25/12 12:22pm]

I'm pretty much the same, although there have been more than one occassion where I've altogether withheld a tip. On the other hand, I also can recall times when I've given gigantic tips when a server has worked hard enough to give me an extraordinary experience.

[Edited 1/25/12 18:30pm]

I am an extremely generous tipper.

But if I'm given a cold reception, I'll walk out and be quite blatant about not wanting to eat at a place.

It's happened so often I don't remember how many times.

Places with bad service deserve to be treated as such.

People who do their part and at least try get rewarded. Tipping in the states is essential to earning a living.

I've been serviced consistently poorly in the UK.

It's a no-tip/low-tip culture, so there's little incentive to do a good job

other than fear of being fired.

The best service I've ever received was at the Avalon in Miami South Beach.

...but boy did I have to pay for it.

just the tip is all most woman need

i just leave the coins ~ even the gold ones

I'm sorry but after all these years, even with food prices going up, the majority of the time, I still leave only a dollar tip. My meal usually costs around $10 or $12. But then again, it's not often that I go to a place fancy and expensive enough to tip more than a dollar because I can't afford those places, let alone the tip.

I think the most I've ever tipped was $3 and that was at a real "swanky" place that I spent $25 on a meal. The food was great but I never went back because I just don't have $25 to fork out on a meal. I'm sorry but money is just too tight.

Very rarely have I left "nothing" on the table. I think I've only done that once or twice in my entire life and that's because I was really pissed off and did it to make a statement. I don't mind "bad service" because everyone gets busy and can't give constant attention and everyone also has bad days. The very few times that I've left "nothing" on the table, is when the waitperson was a rude asshole that I found offensive.

Have you guys ever heard of tipping at Sonic? I have never heard of such but my sister inlaw worked at Sonic for years and she said she made lots of tips. I just can't see tipping at Sonic because even though it's a drive in and the waitpersons bring the food to your car, it's still a fast food joint and you crank up and leave once you've received your food. It's not like you're sitting there eating and someone is coming around bringing you refills of tea, napkins, or whatever else you may need.

Don't fuck with the livelihood of someone who is the last to touch your food before you.

If the service is bad then no, they don't deserve a tip.

But barring that, as long as you can afford to tip, and the service was decent, you should tip them.

I'm usually a very generous tipper.

But I remember when I was travelling in the South, I wanted to tip this wonderful lady who made me some of the best waffles I ever had. But she wouldn't accept my tip, saying tipping is "UnAmerican".

They even had a sign up.

Never quite understood that.

I was going to say please do not tip but I totally thought this thread was about something else...

Cow said:

I was going to say please do not tip but I totally thought this thread was about something else...

*knocks you over anyway then points and laffs; goes and tells the farmer to make you into a nice juicy set of steaks*

rdhull said:

Tipping even with bad service shows character.

You got that right!

Sometimes "bad service" isn't even the server's fault. The kitchen could have screwed up, and that's why your linguini took so long getting to the table.

vainandy said:

Have you guys ever heard of tipping at Sonic? I have never heard of such but my sister inlaw worked at Sonic for years and she said she made lots of tips. I just can't see tipping at Sonic because even though it's a drive in and the waitpersons bring the food to your car, it's still a fast food joint and you crank up and leave once you've received your food. It's not like you're sitting there eating and someone is coming around bringing you refills of tea, napkins, or whatever else you may need.

I have never NOT tipped at Sonic.

lazycrockett said:

Don't fuck with the livelihood of someone who is the last to touch your food before you.

Yes indeed! I've always felt that way.

RodeoSchro said:

vainandy said:

Have you guys ever heard of tipping at Sonic? I have never heard of such but my sister inlaw worked at Sonic for years and she said she made lots of tips. I just can't see tipping at Sonic because even though it's a drive in and the waitpersons bring the food to your car, it's still a fast food joint and you crank up and leave once you've received your food. It's not like you're sitting there eating and someone is coming around bringing you refills of tea, napkins, or whatever else you may need.

I have never NOT tipped at Sonic.

What's the difference in Sonic and McDonald's other than parking at a speaker rather than driving up to a window?

^Well from what Ive read bout Sonic, from the website which scared the shit out of me, is that hot girls bring the food to you, so its part of the experience. so yes you should tip.

Granted I've never seen or heard of this wanna be old school drive in restaurant, but tipping is in order cause they are bring you out the food.

lazycrockett said:

^Well from what Ive read bout Sonic, from the website which scared the shit out of me, is that hot girls bring the food to you, so its part of the experience. so yes you should tip.

Granted I've never seen or heard of this wanna be old school drive in restaurant, but tipping is in order cause they are bring you out the food.

Maybe that's why they fired my sister inlaw. She is not the least bit pretty whatseover.

She worked there six years. She started out as a car hop and worked her way up to working the drive through window. She had always been paid minimum wage and then new management came in. She's in her 50s so she was a steady worker for six years but the rest of the employees were high school kids who strictly worked for extra spending money so she was one of the only few steady working employees. The new management apparently heard of the car hops getting tips so they came up with the bright idea of hiring all new employees for less than minimum wage and having them earn the rest of their pay in tips. (I still have never heard of tipping at Sonic, I'm sorry). Since she made minimum wage working the drive through, they tried to force her to go back to car hopping so they could pay her less than minimum wage. And get this, not only did they want her to go back to car hopping but they wanted her to do it on roller skates. A fifty something year old bitch on roller skates. She told them "HELL NO!" and they cut her hours and she still showed up for work. They cut her hours even more and she kept coming. They were trying to make her quit so she couldn't get unemployment. They cut her down to two hours a week and she still kept coming. Finally, they fired her.

As for the skates thing, I always thought that was optional. When my brother told me, I couldn't believe it so the next day I went there and ordered something and some of the girls had on skates and some of them didn't. As for the "hot girls" thing, I had a taste for Sonic a few weeks ago and a hot young black guy came out to my car on skates.

So its basically hooters but out doors.

imago said:

I am an extremely generous tipper.

But if I'm given a cold reception, I'll walk out and be quite blatant about not wanting to eat at a place.

It's happened so often I don't remember how many times.

Places with bad service deserve to be treated as such.

People who do their part and at least try get rewarded. Tipping in the states is essential to earning a living.

You are such a diva.

It really depends a lot on which country I happen to be in. A few examples:

In Japan they either get confused or insulted if you tip. Tipping is just not part of the culture at all.

In Sweden the tip is supposed to already be included in the prices according to the law (and the prices are generally high), but the waiters still expect at least around 5-10%. I usually begrudgingly go along with that if the service has been good, but I have no problem not tipping at all if the service has been bad.

In France it seems to be standard to pay around 10-15% and since I am a guest in their country I nearly always go along with that even though the service is often snarky and lazy.

In the US most people seem to pay 15-20% which to me seems very high, but the prices are generally low for being a western country so that makes it feel better. Also, restaurant service is actually something the Americans excel in, even in simple diners. They're fast, attentive and friendly. Sometimes a bit too chipper and chatty but that's acceptable.