Would you still tip if you knew your waiter made $10 an hour?

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HybridSquirrel

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2005
6,161
2
81
Here people tip usually 20% even though the average wait staff starts at around $10/hr. If you knew your waiter made $10 an hour would you still tip?

We recently went out to dinner at a nice restaurant. The bill was $150.26. The waiter himself was a dick, never offered to get me another drink, I had to flag him down just to get water, and at a place that nice you expect him to check up on you. Did some googling while I waited 20 minutes for the check and found out waiters at that restaurant make $12.00 an hour + tips. I tipped him 5 dollars, which is about the quality of service I got in my hour there.


It was at the four seasons, so you know he is making a shit load of cash without my tip. He probably thought I wasn't going to leave a good tip so he didn't bother, which in fact just helped him get less of a tip.
 

Nik

Lifer
Jun 5, 2006
16,101
2
56
It's posts like that...

Posts like what? At least I'm not a dickless asshole like you sitting at home or wasting time at work ignoring your responsibilities so you can post on the internet always telling everyone how much better you are than them, trying desperately to make yourself feel better despite knowing, yourself, how much of a pathetic windbag you are. Every single conversation you have here ends up in "I'm better than you and this is why" even though nobody gives two shits about you. Your incessant finger pointing and soapbox riding only serves to shoot yourself in the foot by proving that everyone else is better than you, no matter what else you say. You seem to have an inability to post without belittling someone or posting in such a way that you seem to look down on others for no reason and feel compelled to make some sort of derogatory comment toward either one person or the entire posting community. Keep right on showboating and lying until you're blue in the face. Nobody gives a shit about you and everybody hates you, Alkypissed.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
We recently went out to dinner at a nice restaurant. The bill was $150.26. The waiter himself was a dick, never offered to get me another drink, I had to flag him down just to get water, and at a place that nice you expect him to check up on you. Did some googling while I waited 20 minutes for the check and found out waiters at that restaurant make $12.00 an hour + tips. I tipped him 5 dollars, which is about the quality of service I got in my hour there.


It was at the four seasons, so you know he is making a shit load of cash without my tip. He probably thought I wasn't going to leave a good tip so he didn't bother, which in fact just helped him get less of a tip.

Last four seasons I was at didn't allow phones or other devices.
 

CLite

Golden Member
Dec 6, 2005
1,726
7
76
Tipping in areas where tipping is common helps ensure excellent wait-staff. If no one tipped then less qualified people would be waiting (less-friendly, less-clean cut, less-attentive). There is still bad waitstaff but there would more if no one tipped.

If you don't tip in locations where tipping is customary you are a welfare recipient. You are receiving goods and services worth more than you are paying because other customers are paying them for you. I personally don't think welfare recipients should be going out to restaurants with waitstaff, they should be conserving their money and spending it more wisely.
 

torpid

Lifer
Sep 14, 2003
11,631
11
76
Why would I care how much base pay waitstaff make? If I'm at a sit-down restaurant I will tip based on the cost of the food on average, and based on the cost of food + quality of service at each individual transaction. I do so because that is the premise of the transaction. I don't care what their base wages are; I care only about what the expected nature of the transaction is. In the US, few restaurants build full waitstaff wages into the cost of services and menu items. Usually it's only done at places such as fast food restaurants and in a certain subsection of high end restaurants (e.g. The French Laundry, Next). As a consumer, I choose to participate in the convoluted gratuity system and not to be an outlier based on some curmudgeon-like principal.
 

HumblePie

Lifer
Oct 30, 2000
14,665
440
126
Meh, I tip based on performance. I start out at 10%. That is if you take my order, bring my order, check on refills every once in awhile, and do it all in a timely manner. A service person that starts to do more than that will get a bigger tip. Being friendly, adding some banter to add to my experience, adding some an extra bit of dressing on the side to add to a salad, or other things not usually asked for by the customer but might be wanted are things I start adding to the tip. I also do not factor in taxes in the percentage for a tip.

On the flip side if they can't do the basics their tip goes down. Case in point I just got back from a horrible experience at Hooters for lunch today with my boss.

We show up at noon. It was semi-busy but not packed. No one greets at the door. We stand there for a few minutes until finally someone passing by just says to sit anywhere. After we start moving off then the host girl at the door finally shows up. Not sure what she was doing at NOON for lunch hour, but it wasn't being at her post or finding a replacement for a moment if she had to leave real quick.

So we sit down and wait. And wait. And WAIT. Finally by 12:15 a waitress shows up. 15 minutes of sitting in her section and watching her pass us by. Watching her go up to customers that sat down after us and get their order first. It's not like we were sitting in the back but right in the middle of the place.

We give her our order. I had a water and a cobb salad with grilled chicken and blue cheese. My boss had a coke and half pound of peel/eat shrimp. Now we wait again. My boss and I were talking, but I start noticing that people that not only showed up after us, ordered after us, but already got their food. We hadn't received our food or even a refill in that same time frame.

An HOUR later at 1:15 the manager comes up and apologizes that it has taken so long. We hadn't complained or said anything yet to anyone. She said our meals were comped because of the delay. About 5 minutes later we get our food. Of course they bring out the wrong salad for me as well. The four tables around us in the same section showed up after us, ordered after us, got food before us, and finished their meals before I even got my salad.


Yah, I'm kind of pissed right now. Can you guess what kind of tip my boss and I left for that?
 
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SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,928
142
106
Why would I care how much base pay waitstaff make? If I'm at a sit-down restaurant I will tip based on the cost of the food on average, and based on the cost of food + quality of service at each individual transaction. I do so because that is the premise of the transaction. I don't care what their base wages are; I care only about what the expected nature of the transaction is. In the US, few restaurants build full waitstaff wages into the cost of services and menu items. Usually it's only done at places such as fast food restaurants and in a certain subsection of high end restaurants (e.g. The French Laundry, Next). As a consumer, I choose to participate in the convoluted gratuity system and not to be an outlier based on some curmudgeon-like principal.

Well put, I also don't care how much their base pay is. Tipping is tipping, it has nothing to do with their base pay and everything to do with the service they provided.
 
Oct 27, 2007
17,009
1
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... The waiter himself was a dick, never offered to get me another drink, I had to flag him down just to get water [...] I tipped him 5 dollars

facepalm-alexkidd.png
 

LucJoe

Golden Member
Jan 19, 2001
1,295
1
0
At a nice high end restaurant waiters can make a lot more than $10 an hour before any tips.

Not around here. When I worked at a restaurant 10 years ago (mainstream corporate place) I made $3.09. In comparison, my gf just started at the nicest 5 star restaurant in town.. saw an $800 check for two on her first night. Her wage? $4.35/hr
 

jupiter57

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 2001
4,600
3
71
Here people tip usually 20% even though the average wait staff starts at around $10/hr. If you knew your waiter made $10 an hour would you still tip?

When you get in High School & of working age, get a job at one of these restaurants, even if for one week, & post back.
Yeah, let us know how this works out for ya!
 

wheresmybacon

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2004
3,899
0
76
In America, tipping is customary and expected for sit-down dining and other service-oriented businesses. You can get by without doing it, but if you go that route I would suggest not being a repeat customer. Service Industry workers have a sense of humor about such things.
 
Nov 7, 2000
16,403
3
81
i will tip whatever amount is the custom of the area I am. if it is flexible, i usually tend to be on the high side
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
when you spend that much money, at the fuckin four seasons, they should be licking your asshole clean after you shit.


its the four seasons.

He's facepalming because you said service was terrible and the guy was a dick and you STILL left a tip.
 

HybridSquirrel

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2005
6,161
2
81
He's facepalming because you said service was terrible and the guy was a dick and you STILL left a tip.



meh, I only left 5 bucks because it was 145 dollar bill....5 bucks = 150 and thats how much I was going to spend anyway. Besides, leaving a small tip pisses off a waiter more than leaving no tip. I wouldn't really care if I got no tip, but would be furious if I got left a small tip on a huge bill.
 
Oct 27, 2007
17,009
1
0
meh, I only left 5 bucks because it was 145 dollar bill....5 bucks = 150 and thats how much I was going to spend anyway. Besides, leaving a small tip pisses off a waiter more than leaving no tip. I wouldn't really care if I got no tip, but would be furious if I got left a small tip on a huge bill.
Reward bad service -> continue to receive bad service.
 

HybridSquirrel

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2005
6,161
2
81
the bus boy worked his ass off, as did the people bringing me food. I didn't want to totally shaft them.


Besides, see my comment above. I am sure a lot of servers will agree that a small tip is way worse than no tip. At least it pisses them off more.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
meh, I only left 5 bucks because it was 145 dollar bill....5 bucks = 150 and thats how much I was going to spend anyway. Besides, leaving a small tip pisses off a waiter more than leaving no tip. I wouldn't really care if I got no tip, but would be furious if I got left a small tip on a huge bill.

Seriously I am wondering if that's all you brought.

For one, dinner for two is going to be really pushing it for $145.

Two, surfing the web there is pretty rude.

I have yet to be in any four seasons that didn't have impecable service. However, I did witness those that asked to not get it by the way they acted and were pretty lucky they weren't escorted out.

If you indeed had a problem with a single waiter, then that should have been mentioned to any of the others that stopped by your table including the manager.

I seriously am having my doubts on this.
 
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Nik

Lifer
Jun 5, 2006
16,101
2
56
You mean you're willing to stoop low enough to stay in a Four Seasons instead of the Ritz Carlton like your highness deserves?