My Tipping Experience

[mom2my3kids]

I suppose, and I don't know your situation but I know that in my small town here in oregon (where I am blessed to have laws that require EVERYONE to recieve minimum wage including service workers.) Some people who want to go to resturaunts have too little extra cash to pay more than the meal, and in small towns... even poor people deserve a night out, whether they can pay you a lot for your service or not, you take what you get and you are thankful.

Income or wealth should not be a determiner of good service, if you can afford the meal, but only a little more for a tip, that shouldn't be a black eye on your character. Especially in these economically depressing times, EVERYONE should be thankful for EVERYTHING you get. Thats what my parents taught me, thats how I live and I will never not appreciate a gratuity towards me.

Thanks!

~Ally

It would be like your boss coming up to you and saying, Ally you know business is bad right now so starting Monday you will go from 10.00 a hour to 8.00. I know you would not mind, I am sure you are grateful you even have a job..

 

[missmouse1975]

I was a server for over a decade. Loved the work and made a killing. Averaged over $40 an hour. I went into work every day and worked hard, smiled the whole time and made each customer feel special. People paid me well because I made their "experience" better. It was rare that I was not tipped based on quality of service - and that is their karma, not my service.

I always have and always will tip based on service - from 0% to 50%. If I take my two kids to a pancake breakfast and the waitress goes above and beyond - I'm not going to leave her 20% ($3) - but more like $5 or $6. If I have to hunt down my server, or if they choose not to smile at me, or if they ask me how much I'd like to tip, or "do you need change?" then the tip will suffer. If they claim "the kitchen lost your order" or have others do the service for them, then they get less.

It is an easy job for the money you make. Servers who complain about how little they make are either:
1. at a bad location
2. bad at what they do

They have control over that - I don't. What I do have control over is my money. And I'll happily give it to a good server. Or a busser, a hostess, a cook. Those people make MUCH less and often make the experience a great one.

JMHO

 

[Justish]

It would be like your boss coming up to you and saying, Ally you know business is bad right now so starting Monday you will go from 10.00 a hour to 8.00. I know you would not mind, I am sure you are grateful you even have a job..

It's actually NOTHING like that my dear, because he is required by LAW to pay me my minimum wage ( I can't remember if it was 7.25 or 7.50 back then) and I could file greviences.

NO customer is ever required by LAW to leave you ANYTHING other than their dirty plates. You may not like it, but thats an issue you just have to deal with. The have NO obligation to give you more than what is on the menu and the taxes if any that are subsequent.

The idea that people feel they are ENTITLED to a tip is what is allowing bussinesses to get away with underpaying their servers. Stop looking for a hand out and start changing the bussiness model and you will find it a lot easier to justify your career choice without expecting stuff from people who have no obligation to you what so ever.

Again focusing on the DDP, and I'll repeat my question, how is it handled by most? Cost of food or Cost of DDP? I think this makes a lot of a difference and I'm curious as to how people justify their choice?

Thanks!

~Ally

EDIT And by the way... in this day and age, with so many of my friends having to move back to their home towns to be with their parents because they can't afford school and cannot juggle a job and school I AM greateful for ANY Job I can get ^_^ beggars can't be choosers!

EDIT EDIT Goodness I'm terrible at finishing my thoughts.. I thought you oughta know that an employer CAN decrease your pay if they want to, as long as it is not under minimum wage (at least here in Oregon) for ANY reason. And if you don't like it, you can leave. Raises and Recessions of wage happen all the time and can be based on work ethic or just a decrease in small bussiness income. Not much you can do but either stick it out or leave.

 

[eyor44]

I know this thread is restaurant tipping, but let me explain a point of "tip for good service." I work in the administrative field. I am paid a hourly wage. I do a wide variety of services for a lot of people. People who don't even work in my department call me for help. My guys travel worldwide and depend on me to get them there and back and to take care of things while they are gone and in the office. I make an hourly wage. I refuse to accpet cash tips. They get around this by bringing me gifts (I have a really cool collection of things from all over the world), buy me an occasional lunch, or get me a soda or candy bar for my break. I get these things because I go way above and beyond what is expected of me. I was hired to run the office and "take care of things" and that is what I do. From day one I have done what is necessary to get the job done (most of the time cheerfully), not what my position description says I need to do. Therefore I receive lots of "tips". Tips I am extremely grateful for. It means someone appreciates the work I have done.

 

[robinb]

Stop looking for a hand out and start changing the bussiness model and you will find it a lot easier to justify your career choice without expecting stuff from people who have no obligation to you what so ever.

Holy cow, "my dear", I never saw anything written by mom2my3kids which indicated that she was looking for a hand out. I am sure that she works hard and it is reasonable to expect people to tip appropriately. I also think it's ridiculous to say that hard working people should be grateful with whatever their customers leave them when that makes up the majority of their income.

​

 

[Tricia1972]

The tip is to be based on the food total, not the cost of the DDP.

This is the way Disney expects you to tip as indicated by either the auto gratuity or the suggested tip amount for parties if 5 or less.

 

[Disney8704]

I just wanna say that I really could care less what people tip or dont tip and what servers make. Its not my business to know or even care. What you tip is your business and what I tip is my business. For people to sit there and say if you cant afford to tip, you cant afford to eat out is CRAZY. The person who wants to eat at CP - if you cant afford a whole tip or no tip at all, dont let that make it how you decide weither or not to eat there with your family. Whatever you can tip or dont tip, go and eat at CP with your family and enjoy yourselves.

And for those who think buffet servers work just as hard or even harder then regular waitstaff, WHY on earth do you think thats so?

BUFFET WAITERS - They take your drink orders, bring you your drinks, give you drink refills and clear your table, oh and also MAY tell you about the buffet (frankly I hope to GOD no one tells me about the buffet unless I ask. Why waste time them telling me when I can go up there and look for myself? . The moment a buffet waiter TRY to explain the buffet to me I will just tell them straight away, you dont need to explain it to us. How hard is it to determine what is pancakes or what is chicken fingers? ESPECAILLY since there ARE signs )

TABLE SERVICE WAITERS - Take your order, bring you drinks, bring you drink refills, bring you your food, MAKE sure your food is cooked correctly and you place the order correctly. If the order isnt correct, the waiters gets yelled at by both the customer and maybe the chef / cooks. And MOST waiters work off of memory and dont write anything down.

So lets see who does more work? TABLE SERVICE! Buffet servers - they dont work harder. They work less. And in DISNEY its NO different.

Why do you suppose the standard tip for buffet waiters is 10% and table service is 15%. If the buffet waiters worked harder, shouldnt they get a better tip then table service waiters?

As for the whole thing where waiters ask how much your gonna tip and etc. The moment a waiter EVEN asks me or DH, how we plan on tipping or how much, they instantly lost their tip. If they ask for one we will and have both agreed on this, we will tell them - you want a tip, heres a tip for you. Dont go around asking people how or how much they are gonna tip and leave it like that. We will leave NOTHING. Its not the waiters job to know how your gonna tip or what your gonna tip.

Another thing I cant process my mind around is people saying tips arent gifts. TIPS ARE GIFTS. Its not mandatory, its OPITIONAL. Even if they automatically put on your bill how much to tip, its still opitional because you CAN and have the right to remove that tip and pay what you want.

A gratuity is a gift given without regard for return. Therefore, a true gratuity is not wages, since it is not compensation for personal services.

SOURCE - http://www.edd.ca.gov/UIBDG/Total_and_Partial_Unemployment_TPU_4605.htm

A favor or gift, usually in the form of money, given in return for service.
SOURCE - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gratuity

 

[mom2my3kids]

It's actually NOTHING like that my dear, because he is required by LAW to pay me my minimum wage ( I can't remember if it was 7.25 or 7.50 back then) and I could file greviences.

NO customer is ever required by LAW to leave you ANYTHING other than their dirty plates. You may not like it, but thats an issue you just have to deal with. The have NO obligation to give you more than what is on the menu and the taxes if any that are subsequent.

The idea that people feel they are ENTITLED to a tip is what is allowing bussinesses to get away with underpaying their servers. Stop looking for a hand out and start changing the bussiness model and you will find it a lot easier to justify your career choice without expecting stuff from people who have no obligation to you what so ever.

Again focusing on the DDP, and I'll repeat my question, how is it handled by most? Cost of food or Cost of DDP? I think this makes a lot of a difference and I'm curious as to how people justify their choice?

Thanks!

~Ally

EDIT And by the way... in this day and age, with so many of my friends having to move back to their home towns to be with their parents because they can't afford school and cannot juggle a job and school I AM greateful for ANY Job I can get ^_^ beggars can't be choosers!

EDIT EDIT Goodness I'm terrible at finishing my thoughts.. I thought you oughta know that an employer CAN decrease your pay if they want to, as long as it is not under minimum wage (at least here in Oregon) for ANY reason. And if you don't like it, you can leave. Raises and Recessions of wage happen all the time and can be based on work ethic or just a decrease in small bussiness income. Not much you can do but either stick it out or leave.

Wow at least you called me dear!!!I am to tired from working today to even argue with you , maybe tomorrow.

 

[mom2my3kids]

I just wanna say that I really could care less what people tip or dont tip and what servers make. Its not my business to know or even care. What you tip is your business and what I tip is my business. For people to sit there and say if you cant afford to tip, you cant afford to eat out is CRAZY. The person who wants to eat at CP - if you cant afford a whole tip or no tip at all, dont let that make it how you decide weither or not to eat there with your family. Whatever you can tip or dont tip, go and eat at CP with your family and enjoy yourselves.

And for those who think buffet servers work just as hard or even harder then regular waitstaff, WHY on earth do you think thats so?

BUFFET WAITERS - They take your drink orders, bring you your drinks, give you drink refills and clear your table, oh and also MAY tell you about the buffet (frankly I hope to GOD no one tells me about the buffet unless I ask. Why waste time them telling me when I can go up there and look for myself? . The moment a buffet waiter TRY to explain the buffet to me I will just tell them straight away, you dont need to explain it to us. How hard is it to determine what is pancakes or what is chicken fingers? ESPECAILLY since there ARE signs )

TABLE SERVICE WAITERS - Take your order, bring you drinks, bring you drink refills, bring you your food, MAKE sure your food is cooked correctly and you place the order correctly. If the order isnt correct, the waiters gets yelled at by both the customer and maybe the chef / cooks. And MOST waiters work off of memory and dont write anything down.

So lets see who does more work? TABLE SERVICE! Buffet servers - they dont work harder. They work less. And in DISNEY its NO different.

Why do you suppose the standard tip for buffet waiters is 10% and table service is 15%. If the buffet waiters worked harder, shouldnt they get a better tip then table service waiters?

As for the whole thing where waiters ask how much your gonna tip and etc. The moment a waiter EVEN asks me or DH, how we plan on tipping or how much, they instantly lost their tip. If they ask for one we will and have both agreed on this, we will tell them - you want a tip, heres a tip for you. Dont go around asking people how or how much they are gonna tip and leave it like that. We will leave NOTHING. Its not the waiters job to know how your gonna tip or what your gonna tip.

Another thing I cant process my mind around is people saying tips arent gifts. TIPS ARE GIFTS. Its not mandatory, its OPITIONAL. Even if they automatically put on your bill how much to tip, its still opitional because you CAN and have the right to remove that tip and pay what you want.

A gratuity is a gift given without regard for return. Therefore, a true gratuity is not wages, since it is not compensation for personal services.

SOURCE - http://www.edd.ca.gov/UIBDG/Total_and_Partial_Unemployment_TPU_4605.htm

A favor or gift, usually in the form of money, given in return for service.
SOURCE - http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gratuity

While we don't agree we have hashed this out before, I will say one thing I write everything down on paper. That way there is less chance of a mistake, there are kids at work that will not and make many mistakes and unhappy customers..

 

[mpls_mm]

I have been very blessed and I share the wealth, I think people become more successful with generosity. The tip is automatically part of the meal cost to me. If I get great service, I will overtip. In the grand scheme of things what is an extra 10%? However it might make the difference to a server, or at least make up for one other family that didn't tip. I gave a 35% tip the other night, it was the best server I ever had, he even took the kids to the kitchen and had the pastry chef let them make their own desserts. I also feel like single women with kids get a bad rap as poor tippers, so I don't want to be that person. I still tip 15-20% even if the service is horrible, I just write a note on the credit card slip they have to turn in and maybe talk to the manager.

 

[DiszyDean]

To be honest, I am very surprised about some of the attitudes that have been expressed on this thread regarding tipping.

The only legitimate excuse for not tipping the appropriate and customary amount at a TS is the level of service you have received. Period.

All this talk of "hand outs" must be pretty insulting to almost any server.

It really makes me wonder if people have much common sense anymore or if people even care about common decency.

If you cannot "afford" or are just opposed in general to tipping, you should not be eating at sit-down resteraunts. Stick to McDonalds, Burger King, etc. where tipping is not expected.

 

[Pumbaa_]

This thread has run its course