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Epictetus, do they get paid by the delivery?
As far as tipping bartenders, I always made a point of tipping even on nights where one price got you free drinks all night. No matter how crowded the bar gets, you will always get served first.
Of course, one day I had an epiphany, realized I had a real job, had real money and no longer needed to skimp by drinking cheap beer.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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One time NOT to tip a bartender is at a wedding, if there is an open bar, and a tip jar on the bar. It is, in that case, very inappropriate of the bartender to have a tip jar out. There is a gratuity included in the WHOPPING bill. The point of an open bar is that your guests are drinking for free. Period. If you WANT to tip them, fine, but there should be no cup. Tacky to the max.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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When I was younger I waited tables as well as tending a bar. I actually really enjoyed waiting tables and bartending was ok. The bar I worked at only served 3.2 % beer and I made virtually 0 dollars in tips. The restaurant I waited tables at was a Country Kitchen. If I worked either day shift (7:00 to 3:00) or swing shift (3:00 to 11:00) I made tips similar to the female staff. If I worked bar rush (after 12:00 PM) I made squat while the young ladies I worked with made out like bandits. I was a good waiter, friendly and competent but that mattered not to young drunk folk.
All of this is background to my rant on tipping. I never thought I was entitled to a tip. I was disappointed if people didn't tip because I knew I was giving good service AND I wasn't being paid minimum wage. I think it is a crime that businesses can pay wait staff less than minimum wage. I believe tips should indicate gratitude for a job well done and not be considered part of the basic pay structure. And the whole idea of gratuity being added to the bill infuriates me. If you aren't paying your staff enough to do their jobs then you shouldn't put the onus on us if you'll pardon the pun.
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Mar 2004
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$50 Aussie dollars is about $35 US. Which is good for a haircut that awesome.
Around here we usually tip about 15%. 20% if the service is good, maybe as low as 10% if the service is bad. I think its kind of rude when restaraunts add the tip into your bill. It defeats the purpose of a tip, and tips should be an optional thing anyway.
Hmmm...come to think of it, I'm overdue for a haircut, too...
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Egads, I just read in my "Keep it Simple" magazine that you are supposed to tip the person who gets your take-out order! I figured that me driving there to get it cancelled out the need for a tip. Wrong again.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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When I waitressed/bartended/coatchecked my way through life, it was ridiculous how much a $1 tip meant to me. Not so much for the content, although that was welcome, but for the context -- the difference between 20% and 25% psychologically was enormous.
Back then, I ate smaller meals so I could tip more on my limited budget. Now because I can, I make it a point to be generous. (OTOH, as was said above, I'm pretty harsh on lazy-bummed waitstaffing, as I know the difference. Yep, typical for an ex-waitey.) But whenever I can find something to really praise, I track down a manager and/or write a letter. Positive reinforcement. Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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quote:Egads, I just read in my "Keep it Simple" magazine that you are supposed to tip the person who gets your take-out order! I figured that me driving there to get it cancelled out the need for a tip. Wrong again.
Never heard of that rule + never heard of that magazine + it makes no sense = ignore
Posts: 1839 | Registered: May 1999
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The reason you have not heard of the magazine, Richard Berg, is that the ACTUAL name of it is Real Simple, not Keep It Simple. But I bet you still haven;t heard if it. ha ha.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I've heard that you're only supposed to tip for take-out if it's brought to your car (like what Outback and a couple other places do). Even then, I wouldn't tip nearly as much as I would a waiter/waitress. Definitely wouldn't tip for regular take-out though.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Risuena, Just went back to read it again. Isays, for regular take-out orders, tip up to ten percent. For rush orders or orders taken to your car, ten percent or more. (sorry, I had looked at their pocket pull-out version.)
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I worked for ten years in food service, and was living on tips for years. Some people just don't tip, and it isn't usually who you think. You often think you're going to get a large tip, and then don't...or think one group isn't good tippers, only to be proven wrong.
I have had large groups of black people sit in my section, and all the other waitstaff turned to me and said "I'm sory you got stuck with them.". Imagine their suprise when I got 20% from them. Here's the secret...to me they were just customers, like any other ones! Most of the reason the other servers kept getting stiffed was that they had treated this party (which came in every Sunday) differently because of their preconcieved notion that this group wouldn't tip reguardless of the quality of service. I just made sure that I treated them no differently than any other group....and I NEVER knew what any group would give.
To me they were just wrong in assuming any such thing. I have heard over and over that various groups, ethinic or otherwise, don't tip well, and occasionally that is true. Some of the church groups were so bad that the manager went over and asked if something was wrong. But most of these "facts" weren't based in truth.
If a server thinks that a party isn't going to tip,then consiously or not he treats the table differently. It's that treatment that causes the party not to tip, which only reinforces the stereotype. That goes for groups and orginazations as well as ethnic groups.
I have found that people of all types of origins and backgrounds respect good service, and usually tip better for it. There are individuals who have no sense about tipping, but I don't find most of the stereotypes of non-tippers to be true.
There was a church group that came in often, and only tipped 5%. My manager finally went over to the minister and talked to him in private. Turns out the whole staff of the Cracker Barrel, myself included, refused to serve them again. They were a group of 14-20 people, and they would take up my intire section for hours at a time. So one night the waitstaff refused to wait on them. The ENTIRE waitstaff, all 12 of us. So when my Mgr found out why, he confronted the minister, and the minister was horrified. Turns out that he use to wait tables, and the $5 that was left each time was his tip...just for his meal! No one else was leaving a dime!
The minister went over to the group and embarressed them all, and then paid for the whole meal himself, and left me a $50 tip! (I waited on them because my store mgr told me what his plan was) He then told the group that they had caused their church to have a terrible reputation, and that he never wanted it to happen again.
From that point on, they tipped a consistant 15%....
If you have a problem with the meals, or the service, fine....don't tip at all.
But I DO agree with the policy of adding a standard % to large groups, as long as you let them know ahead of time. Too often when a party splits the check, the tip leaks out somewhere else.
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