They refill your water without being asked, they come back to make sure everything is good, they are friendly, they don't leave you waiting...they get a good tip!
But what if the service sucks? What if the waitress/waiter ignores you, forgets what you ordered, never refills your water, and then flirts with your spouse while you are sitting right there? Does that deserve a tip? At what point do you reserve the right to NOT tip? Or at the very least....lower the tip.
Servers are paid, not typically a lot, but still...they choose that job, and with that comes the pay. With that also comes the tips...if you deserve them. I don't know the exact numbers, but I'm assuming a great server would fair pretty well in the tip department.
Where's the line between just doing your job and going above and beyond? We have awards at work, which are meant for people who exceed their duties. It is a monetary award (aka...TIP)....again, for those who go above and beyond. The problem...people get nominated for doing their job. The award will be for "getting ABC job completed on schedule and under budget".....uh?? Isn't that your job?? Or..."John Doe ordered all the office supplies when Jane asked him to".....ok?! Again...YOUR JOB!!!
So for me, giving a server a tip for mediocre service seems ridiculous?? If you are "just" doing your job, then that's what you get paid for. That doesn't mean that I still don't end up tipping....because society says I must, and frankly...if I plan to go back I don't want even crappier service next time. So I tip...I tip the usual 15%, which just happens to be our taxes so the math is super easy!! But some days I wish I could just say "Hey man, you were cranky, and I ran out of water 30 minutes ago, so NO TIP FOR YOU!"....but I bite my tongue and carry on.
What really rots my socks though (ooh, how very senior citizen of me!).....is the Coffee Store employees who try to hoard their "tip" and make you ask for your own change back.
1. It may be pennies...but I may still want them.
2. Assuming I am going to leave you my change will automatically make me ask for it, just on principle alone.
3. 8 out of 10 times you screw up my order....that doesn't serve a tip, even if it's only .27 cents.
I drink a "few" coffees a week, and I swear it happens more than not. It doesn't seem to matter what store it is, they are all the same. One in particular, always rips me off when I "RRROLL" up to the drive-thru. I went thru the same drive-thru twice in one day, both times I was "short-changed"....the first time I noticed it, but never thought much of it, the second time I noticed again, and was pretty cheesed-off (keeping with my senior theme today...). I immediately parked, went it, and asked for the manager. I explained that the server had ripped me off by .15 cents each time. Obviously, the dollar value wasn't the point, the point was if she felt the need to resort to "stealing" tips then something was wrong. The manager basically told me that no employee would ever do that, and offered me the .30 cents. Seriously? Not the point lady...
We tip the coffee place by default, they give us a coffee and maybe a donut. Yet McDonald's employees give us an entire meal and nobody would ever think to leave them a dollar?
Where's the line?
We don't tip the guy behind the counter at the gas station, or the bank tellers, or the guy at the butcher shop. But we tip hairdressers, bell hops, and pizza delivery guys? Taxi drivers, yes...bus drivers, no?
As a government employee, if I take a "tip" I can go to jail...
Ooohh...don't get me started on the pizza delivery guys!!! Most places charge for delivery, then there's a fee to use debit, and then it's expected that I also tip?? For what? They literally picked up a pizza box and drove it to my house. What?! I'm paying you extra, on top of the extra I'm already paying for a service that the restaurant is paying you for? Huh?
I don't know...maybe it's just me, but I seriously feel that a tip is a privilege that is earned...not a right. I've been in plenty-o-fights with servers about this very topic. It's often the worst servers that take it the most personally...I'm going out on a limb here...but I'm pretty sure great servers wouldn't argue with me on this point.
Of course, there will always be the douchebags that don't tip at all. Their server could literally set themselves on fire for the sheer amusement of the customer and still not get a tip. That part I cannot control...
But the next time I don't tip you the standard 15% don't take it personally...It doesn't mean that you did a bad job...it just means that did your job.
And to the coffee ladies.......back the hell off my change!!!
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well said and so true, I never tip at the coffee shop. It is their sole job to prepare the coffee and rarely get double double right. Unless they are going to open the lid and feed me my donut NO TIP FOR YOU!!!! LOL
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the awards too.
Cheers \LB
As someone who relies on tips to make a reasonable living I can say I am grateful for each and every tip I recieve. However please be aware that often servers are required to pay a percentage of sales to the house which supposedly goes as a "tipout" to kitchen or support staff. If we don't make enough off of a table, it costs us money out of our own pocket to serve you.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, this is a practice I strongly disagree with. It shouldn't be legal for restaurant owners to supplement other staff's incomes (or likely line their own pockets) at the expense of a server. Restaurant owners in Canada are also trying to get minimum wage laws changed so that they can pay less than minimum wage. Which means part of the server's wages are passed on to the customer. (as is done in the US)
As much as I like and appreciate tips, I would much prefer to get paid a living wage and have that reflected in the prices on the menu.... and then not get tips at all.
Why do I work in this industry when I feel I am treated unfairly? For the simple reason that I need a job which allows me to work nights and weekends when I have someone to watch my kids, because tips or not, I don't make enough to pay for child care. And I accept this treatment because for every server in the restaurant there are forty resumes on the owner's desk. One complaint from me or a customer and I am back on the street looking for work, and even with 10 years serving experience, it took me two months to find my current job.
As for Timmie's leave a tip or don't. It's really a weird maritime thing they don't do anywhere else. But keep in mind that the people working there are on their feet all day, dealing with cranky customers, often working nasty shifts. Nobody ever died from a little compassion and empathy. Or from chilling out about the 35 cents.
Servers are already paid less than minimum wage! At least in ontario. In a licensed restaurant server's wage is $8.95, compared to $10.25 for standard minimum wage.
ReplyDelete