3rd Rock From The Sun - Tipping Like It Should Be
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Stumble ThisI've always subscribed to the "If the service was bad, the tip will be bad" school of restaurant dining.
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I loled.
In most countries tipping is pretty much as he shows it (although not as overt). You give a tip for great service, and don't for none too great service, or if you think the meal is already overpriced for what it is etc.
To have tipping 'built in' to the price is utterly ridiculous and completely detracts from what it is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a reward for doing a great job, not a guaranteed amount you get regardless of how terrible you are at your job.
Of course, the US also has the utterly retarded thing of having tax added onto the price at the till also. So if you're dining at a restaurant, the price on the menu is only the beginning, then you have to work out the tip and tax on top of that.
So, so backwards.
On the topic of tipping, some restaurants in the UK pay the staff under minimum wage, legally, based on their tips putting them back on or over minimum wage. Hard Rock Cafe in London is particularly bad for this, paying less than half minimum wage, although Loch Fyne is also below minimum.
Even worse, if you tip on credit card, the staff don't get it (true at Loch Fyne - I'm not sure about Hard Rock Cafe).
As a random customer walking into this relationship, it is impossible to know which side of the coin you are dealing with. Therefore most customers just tip the basic 15% 'just in case' whether the server is particularly good or not. They may give some extra if they get super-spectacular service, but otherwise the server gets 15% as an unstated rule.
The food arrived for 3 of us, and the other 3 waited for like 10 minutes until we finally asked where their food is. Then the waiter apologized and told us "Sorry, we ran out of those. Would you like to order anything else?".
I used to wait tables for like 6 months. Yes the money sucks, yes your employer can be a dick and pay you "tips + completion to minimum" as is very common in Israel, and yes, you don't have a lot of career opportunity at the time you're waiting tables.
But as a restaurant-goer, I can't help but feel that the tip shouldn't be an obligatory thing, but should be me actually appreciating the waiter's service, and rewarding him for it.
Yes, and in civilized countries that's called illegal.
Really, that should NOT be the case. The wage they paid should be sufficient ON IT'S OWN. How you can just accept that restaurants pay their employees next to nothing is beyond me. And it's amazing that it's never been something that's come up in parliament for change.
A percentage of our sales goes to other workers in the restaurant (bartender, food runner, busser, host, etc.), which is roughly around 5% ($5 out of every $100 we sell). So, as an example that nearly had me quit my job, this party left me a $10 tip on a $360 bill. So I had to reach into my coffers to dole out the rest of the tip-share. Working one's ass off for a net loss. It happens.
One more thing: if you're getting free appetizers, desserts, or using coupons, unless it was specifically the server's fault, please remember to include a tip on the assumed full amount. As an example, a party of 10 came in and were underquoted a wait time of over an hour, so we got them a free round of drinks and appetizers. When all was said and done, their bill was $310-$160=$150. They left me a $25 tip. Which is pretty fantastic for a $150 bill, but really crummy for $310 worth of service (that, don't forget, includes bussers, food runners, bartenders, etc.).
Just a general head's up if you care to remain conscientious about something that most people don't really realize.
But I found this funny.