they screwed me down to the penny
Establishment: Around
Location: LA
1. A table’s bill is $208.85. It’s a fourtop. They have a $100 gift certificate. They ask me to deduct the gift amount and split the remainder between two credit cards. I present the men with credit card slips for $54.42 and $54.43. The tips are $8.16 and $8.17 respectively. They screw me down to the penny.
2. An Italian national. His check is $55.00. His tip? A lousy $4. You’re in America now, paisan.
3. Four Israelis. The check is $140. The tip’s a measly $14. Next time eat at the Tel Aviv McDonalds.
4. A waitress has a table with a $44 dollar check. She gets $4 stuck inside a religious pamphlet telling her that Jesus loves her.
“Hey Eternal Salvation is a nice tip when you think about it,” I say
“f#*k that” the waitress replies, “I want the cash. Jesus doesn’t pay the rent”.
Those customers are going straight to hell.
5. Two Sex in the City Wanabees. Their check is $108. They pay cash and race out the door leaving the poor waitress nothing. If you spend all your money on Jimmy Choos and designer handbags and can’t afford to leave a tip – you can’t afford to eat out. Sorry to mess up your Candace Bushnell fantasy. Might I suggest you dine at Chateau Blanc next time? Live within your means, bitches.
6. A couple’s on a first date. The check is $150. The man leaves me $12. I’m pissed. His date passes me on the way to the ladies room.
“Just out of curiosity what did he leave you as a tip?” she asks.
I happily show her the credit card slip.
“What a cheap f#*k,” she exclaims. She goes back to the table and angrily tells her date what a cheapskate he is. I guess he’s not getting lucky tonight. Come to think of it I saw her at the bar alone later…
7. A man leaves $5 on a $100 check. His wife yells at him telling him he’s being cheap. Smiling the man says, “I’m not giving them my money. Let them go out and get real jobs.”
OK, you Social Darwinist Ayn Rander puke…
A few weeks later he comes in again. I remember him. When he tries to pay the bill his credit card comes up declined.
“Trust me I have the money,” he says nervously.
“Don’t worry you can do a real job washing dishes in the back,” I deadpan.
8. My all time favorite. A Birkenstock shod hippie couple’s check is $55. I present them with the bill.
“Waiter we don’t tip because we believe that would force owners to pay you a living wage,” Deadhead proclaims proudly.
I stare at him silently. My look says, “And you should tip me if you want to keep on living.” He squirms uncomfortably.
“Well maybe just this once.” he says counting out a few bills.
“Thank you sir.”
It’s not easy being a waiter. 3.8 million Americans work in restaurants. The vast majority of their income is from tips. Support
Comments
I understand the tipping concept, but don’t waitresses get paid $7.50 or so per hour in addition to tips these days? (SEE: http://www.ctdataengine.com/uswages/wages_detail/7774.html )
That being said, I usually tip $3-$4 a head, meaning if my wife and I go to dinner, I will leave $6-$8 no matter what the bill is. Did bringing that extra coffee refill really warrant an additional buck or two?!?!?!?!?!? What about waiting 15 minutes for my hot sauce? See my point? Smile
I doubt we spend more than an hour in ANY restaurant, so considering $7 p/h base pay, plus $6 tip, your gross is $13 for one hour, and you are probably working other tables in that hour to. I think the pay is adequate!
Just my “Dos Centavos…………….”
The average hourly wage is based on the amount received in tips. Because wait staff receive tips they are not required to be paid minimum wage. When I waited tables, I made $2.52 plus tips. So hours all I made was $2.52.
Tip based on the bill, not just how many people are in your group. Rude and inconsiderate. How would you like it if that’s how your industry paid. Not based skill, experience and the other traditional methods used for determining your salary.
I can remember back in the 70’s managers refusing to seat non tipping customers. I mean even seat them and then tell them flat out you stiffed our staff last time and your not getting served here until that debt is paid.
I haven’t waited tables in years but love this site.
I have a list of people I refuse to dine with because of the way they tip. The way they treat the staff. Some sabotage the meal so they can justify stiffing the waitstaff. How fun is that.
These are the same people that order high end and insist on splitting the bill evenly. Yeah I’m paying $22 for pasta so I can subsidize your $45 steak and three Manhattans.
Bad Service no tip at all.
Good Service pay up! I tip 20-30% depending on where Iam at and if Iam going to be going back. A good tip can make someones’ day. I have worked on both sides of industry from the bottom up and can say with no hesitation that if you as a customer had to deal with the crap we as wait staff and management have to put up with you would definitely leave a bigger tip. In listening to some of these jerks sometimes I often thought to make a mental note of what they did for a living or where they worked and made it a point to go to their place of business and act like an ass in their place of work.
Mother Theresa once said “You cannot do great things in this life; only small things with great love.”
This is the spirit of service, and if you do not reward it, it becomes bitter and dies, and civilized society along with it. Lest we become a pack of wolves … tip! Tip, for godsakes, man. Per head? That’s shocking. What are you, fifteen? Quit embarrassing yourself. It’s 15% for decent service, 20% for good … if you ever want to be treated with warmth when you return.
7.50 an hour? Ok, that’s right, but most places require you to tip our numerous people. Most places do it on sales, so even if a customer does not tip you, you still have to tip on the money you didn’t make. Also, we get taxed on a percentage of our sales so NO, we don’t make 7.50 an hour.
I forgot to say, what I mentioned above should make a non service industry person realize that by not tipping or not tipping enough, you are screwing a person out of their wages.
I think everyone should have to work in a restaurant during High School (at least for a few days) Most people do not know the rules of tiping or how much servers get paid or that they tip out other staff. My family consistently tip 15% regardless. Yuk My best friend still believes you dont tip on alcohol
I have worked as a food server for YEARS!! THE LA scene is ridiculously VAPID.. the owners/managers seem to only want YOUNG HOT BABEs with ( as it turns out) Diharria of the mouth and SHIT FOR BRAINS!! (and falsetto voices that sound like a cartoon chipmunk) OH annd by-the way “LIKE” is a compartive word ONLY!!!!
Can someone finally educate these people about tips? WAITERS DON’T GET TO KEEP THE ENTIRE TIP. We tip out the busboy, the food runner, the bartenders and (in my case) the sushi chefs (which is unbelievable, but I won’t even get into that right now). Generally it’s a percentage of your tips each night, although the place I work in now, it’s based on pre-tax sales. So when the losers who leave a $10 tip on a $100 check come in (and that happens waaaayyyy more than I ever thought possible), I make nothing. Zero. Zilch. Everybody else in the restaurant is taken care of except for the person who actually took care of the guests. Please consider THAT when you stiff somebody for having to wait “15 minutes” for the extra hot sauce you asked for.
And, just as an aside, some group did a study of restaurants and guests. It was a time thing, where they asked guests how long they thought they had been waiting for drinks, food, whatever. A really high percentage of the guests, like 90% or something, were wildly off the mark when asked how long they thought they had waited. So, to that douchebag who said that he gets irritated when he has to wait “15 minutes” and reflects that irritation in the tip he leaves, do us all a favor: Look at your friggin’ watch. You probably actually waited 5 minutes, if that.
Hers one…On the bar the check is $22.50, he gives me $23.00 and says keep the change….I reply” thanx now i can get that phone call i always wanted”…lol: