Why Tip?

Off Topic
101

[quote]m0dd3r wrote:
Regarding Mazilla’s comments about cooks getting tipped. Sorry, but you get paid a lot better than the front of the house staff. Hell, you may even be on salary, or get vacation time. Trust me, no servers do. Yes, you have to endanger your life with all the heat and sharp implements, but you don’t have to deal with customers directly.

If you cut or burn yourself you can scream and swear and kick something. Servers have to stand there and smile through rude customers cussing them out. That’s what the tips are for, the unexpected. Back of the house staff does pretty much the same thing all night, cook. Front of the house staff get all sorts of random shit thrown at them (rudeness, non-english speakers, allergies, screaming children, etc…)

I’ve cooked and served and would much rather be in back where I can dress comfortably, swear like a sailor, and not have to worry about dealing with patrons.

Either way, to the OP, deal with it. Yeah, it sucks, people are douchebags, sometimes for no reason. But if you get a bad tip, sit around the bar with your co-workers after your shift, get drunk, and complain to eachother. You’ll probably find a lot more sympathy among them than you will here.[/quote]

at the 5 star prime steak and sea food place i used to work for the servers would pull 500-600 per night on weekends and especially on holidays. i don’t know what kitchen you worked in, but NOBODY was pulling 500 a night in the back of the house there. except maybe the exec. chef, or f&b director.

about cutting/burning yourself, there is NO kicking and screaming. there is only the 30 seconds you get to repair whatever it is you just did to yourself so you can get back on the line and fire those orders that are stacking up.

i’ve cut to the bone, bandaged it, taped it, thrown a glove on it and kept on going for hours. i also grabbed the handle of a strainer that was resting over a wide open flame at full throttle, the fat ass blister in the exact shape of the handle was a bitch to finish 6 hours with.

when your puting out 300 customers a night, you don’t have the luxury of kicking and screaming. the cooks are like soldiers, we don’t know the meaning of failure. in a 5 star kitchen there is no such thing, or it’s your ass.

also, dealing with customers has it’s serious advantages. like all the hot bithches that come in and out of the dining room. plus yo get to make all kinds of neat people.

and another thing, i noticed you said front of the house has to deal with angry people. who do you think has to deal with that constantly anger executive chef? it’s like having a pissed of customers breathing down yor neck at all times. having stuff thrown at you? how about having stuff literally thrown at you? like whatever is on the counter at the moment.

how could you compare cutting and burning yourself with dealing with an upset customer? last time i checked the customers were not cutting or burining you. grow some balls, at least your not burning them off with boiling sauce that just flipped off the edge of the stove.

last but not least, the clothing. a heavy cotton/polyester blend jacket that is both long sleeve and buttons to the chin. heavy black dickies, and finally a 12" tall paper hat one size fits all, unless your any kind of tall, then you break your neck whenever you hit the top against something.oh and lets not forget those awesome non-slip kitchen clogs. comfortable…yeah, right.

102

[quote]jsbrook wrote:

Well, yeah. But if the kitchen gets the wrong order or cooks something wrong and the waitor fixes it or tries to fixes it, offers something free, etc…the waitor should get a good tip. [/quote]

oh yeah i agree, waiters should be tipped on their service. and that service is to act in the best interest of the customer.

what i mean to emphasise is some waiters think they’re just cashiers and if the kitchen screws up or busboy doesn’t water or whatever they cast the blame instead of taking responsibility and doing it themselves.

i totally agree with you if the kitchen soemone screw up bad enough the waiter should definitely be waxing the table and go to bat for the customer with the manager and try and get them some free stuff to smooth over the bad feelings.

but too many waiters, at least the ones that i know, think it’s not their responsibility if it’snot their mistake. it may be arguable whose responsibility a mistake was, but even if you’re right you lose by not grabbing the responsibility for it.

The truth of the matter is other mistakes are opportunities to create good relationships and do better business. if at the end of the meal, no matter what happened, you’ve demonstrated to the customer you were on his side you should do ok.

103

I hate tipping. It’s just another pain in the ass. Although, service is almost always better/faster here than in Australia, which has no tipping. It could also be a cultural thing, but me and my American friends all noticed it.

Me and some friends once ate at a Hooters where we got shit food and the worst service we’ve ever had. We ended up leaving about 10 cents for a $100 bill. Apparently the waitress started crying. Once we found out, we started laughing. Never going back there again.

104

[quote]Zeppelin795 wrote:
mazilla wrote:

If you want tips so bad get out of the kitchen and start waiting tables and give up your paycheck - cause you won’t get one waiting tables![/quote]

it’s that attitude that forces me to make your plates fall behind. why does mario get his plates so fast, and you tables are always pissed about late/cold food? it’s because mario comes to the lead cook after his shift and slips him a twenty.the cook then passes a couple of fives down the line to his guys, and mario is loved by all. mario is smart, he doesnt dare bite the hand that feeds him.

thats how allot of you greenhorn servers find yourselves looking for another job, wondering why you had such shitty luck.so next time you find yourself in that position, maybe you should bite the bullet and help me help you.

where does everybody get the idea that cooking pays well??? YOUR WRONG!!! i had to leave the kitchen because i couldnt make enough money to live the way i wanted. not a day goes by that i don’t miss being a chef, but it just doesnt pay the bills.

most cooks i knew had two or three jobs and slaved like zombies just to make ends meet. luckily i have my assoc. degree n culinary arts from the second largest culinary school in the US. it takes years and years to move up in any legitamite kitchen, guys work 10 years just to make it to sous chef. my degree got me there in two, but i couldnt afford to wait another ten for the exec. to move out.

105

[quote]OneEye wrote:
You try busting your ass for such low wages and then see if you feel entitled. The tip is practically my only source of income. I don’t even count wages in my monthly budget because I lose >95% of them to taxation.[/quote]

A long time ago I was a waitor and I bartended, both the jobs suck. I didn’t like either of them, but I have done a lot worse jobs, for a lot less pay growing up. Quite frankly, if you can’t accept the ups and downs, get another job that pays you an hourly wage you can eat off of.

And you know as well as I do, that there are some miserable pricks that are waitors, and when they don’t get 15-20% they bitch and moan, meanwhile if they tried to be more attentive and personable it wouldn’t happen most of the time.

106

[quote]dead lead wrote:
do waiters / waitresses in america not get paid an hourly wage?

i never tip big myself because i’ve worked in kitchens at restaurants and hotels and think waiters have it easy compared to the stresses and amount of work that you have in a busy kitchen.[/quote]

As for Canada, or at least Ontario, servers are only paid about $0.50 less an hour, for minimum wage. I used to work in the back as a cook, so I don’t really have any sympathy for the servers, as long as they get one tip an hour they were doing better than me.

107

[quote]malonetd wrote:
I really can’t believe some of the cheap fuckers around here. On a $60 bill a 20% tip is only $12. Is that too much? Maybe you shouldn’t eat out then.

Why wouldn’t you want to take care of the people that serve you food. I can’t imagine how much mucus and crap and shit off the floor you cheap people eat. It works both ways, you treat the server like shit, you eat shit.[/quote]

You tip at the end of a meal anyways, so who cares?

108

At a couple of stupid restaurants I went in on holiday, the bill came came back as about DOUBLE of what it should have been.

This was due to:

-service charge (basically an enforced 10% tip)

-and “maintennance charge”

“Maintennance charge” includes the cost of maintaining shit like the tablecloths and cutlery. WTF?? Sort your own fucking bills out!!

AND the cheeky fuckers still wanted a normal tip ON TOP of that!

If it costs X amount to clean your tablecloths and Y amount pay your waiters - then that should be accounted
for in the price of the goddam food!

e.g. steak costs $5 to buy/cook etc. but serving that steak will cost $2 in both manpower and “tablecloths”.

solution: charge $7 for the GODDAMN STEAK!!!

That’s what we do over here in England, because we are super-brainy. You see, this way, you only tip if service is actually fit for a king - and generally waiters/resses know this and you end up with a far more courteous service!

Everybody’s a winner!

109

I sure as hell wouldn’t mind tipping out the cooks if I was at a steakhouse pulling down 300 - 500 a night. As it is right now, out of season, I’m lucky to make 75 some nights. I buy the cooks drinks sometimes but it sure as hell isnt 20 dollars a night worth.

All - in - all I think most people appreciate service and don’t mind tipping for it, and 95% of the time thats what happens. And like I said earlier, some people just aren’t going to tip well while others (people in the biz/generally generous people) sometimes give WAY more than you deserve. It all works out.

110

[quote]rawda wrote:
who gets paid more, sales/customer service, or laborers.

sales/customer service of course. why? because not everyone can work with people. i’ve done both, and working with people is infinitely harder than doing hard physical labor.

it’s all supply and demand. any server can cook, but only a small minority of cooks could serve. therefore, servers make more money, pure and simple.[/quote]

Salesmen get the money in. Until a sales is done, nothing happens.

On the other hand … when was the last time you went to a restaurant only because of the waiter? What’s his extra added value that’s so special?

(I’m talking restaurants here. I can’t count the times I heard female barmaids say they make 1500$ clear a week because of their looks, or how using a ‘boob shirt’ gives them an extra $100 on tips at the end of the shift.)

111

[quote]malonetd wrote:
Most pizza delivery companies do charge extra for delivery, but it usually only 50 cents to a dollar. And that usually goes to the driver as compensation for using their own vehicle – gas, insurance, wear and tear, etc.[/quote]

Maybe where you live; here $2.00 delivery charge is the median plus or minus $0.50. Not a very bright tactic marketing-wise, as there is enough competition in my area that you will always find several places that have free delivery.

It has become a moot point for me anyway; I have found a handful of mom-and-pop places close to me that I pick up from. I get my pizza hotter, cheaper, and a hell of a lot faster.

112

[quote]OneEye wrote:
Kallash wrote:
I tip 10%. Why should it have gone up to 15-20%? Bullshit.

Maybe it’s because the cost of living has gone up and server’s wages have barely budged? I don’t know, and I don’t care.[/quote]

But the price of food has gone up, and with that, your tip. A percentage should never go up, unless business practices have changed. And if that’s the case, then you’re the ones who caved in to the bosses’ greed. Not me.

From your earlier posts, it sounds to me as if you spit in people’s food, or do other nasty shit if they don’t tip to your liking. So if I ever meet you, I will spit in your fucking face. Have a nice day.

113

[quote]Kailash wrote:
OneEye wrote:
Kallash wrote:
I tip 10%. Why should it have gone up to 15-20%? Bullshit.

Maybe it’s because the cost of living has gone up and server’s wages have barely budged? I don’t know, and I don’t care.

But the price of food has gone up, and with that, your tip. A percentage should never go up, unless business practices have changed. And if that’s the case, then you’re the ones who caved in to the bosses’ greed. Not me.

From your earlier posts, it sounds to me as if you spit in people’s food, or do other nasty shit if they don’t tip to your liking. So if I ever meet you, I will spit in your fucking face. Have a nice day.[/quote]

I bet you feel like a badass now. I’m sure you talk like that to people in real life. You’d get the shit kicked out of you if you did.

Show me where I said that I spit in people’s food. I have never done anything like that, however, I am aware that some servers do such things. I never said anything more than that.

I don’t know what I said to piss people off so much, but don’t tell me that I said something and then threaten me and curse me if I never did say it.

114

[quote]Kailash wrote:

But the price of food has gone up, and with that, your tip. A percentage should never go up, unless business practices have changed. And if that’s the case, then you’re the ones who caved in to the bosses’ greed. Not me.[/quote]

I don’t care what you think should or shouldn’t have happened. The fact is, it did. Whether you like it or not, the standard tip is 15-20% and has been for a long time. Whether you are a cheap fuck or not doesn’t change that fact.

Google it and you’ll find tons of pages that state something like “15-20% is generally accepted as a standard tip for average-good service, more for exceptional service.”

115

I tip $1.00 always. Sometimes $2.00 if the service is good and my cup or glass never gets empty.

I’m never in a resturaunt for more than 20 minutes and never have more than coffee or water.

116

[quote]OneEye wrote:
I bet you feel like a badass now. I’m sure you talk like that to people in real life. You’d get the shit kicked out of you if you did.[/quote]

And you’d get yours too, if you whined like a little bitch in real life. But this is the Internet.

Maybe you never said you spit in food, maybe it was someone else, but there’s yours for starting the thread… karma.

And you best believe I’d spit in someone’s face, if they told me they did that to tips they didn’t like. As long as the odds are in my favor, I’ll take anyone to school.

Yeah, I’ll put myself on the line to collect your dues. It’s not about feeling like a badass, but to keep the wheel spinning. Something inside makes me.

And that’s living, as far as I’m concerned.

117

[quote]mazilla wrote:
Zeppelin795 wrote:
mazilla wrote:

If you want tips so bad get out of the kitchen and start waiting tables and give up your paycheck - cause you won’t get one waiting tables!

it’s that attitude that forces me to make your plates fall behind. why does mario get his plates so fast, and you tables are always pissed about late/cold food? it’s because mario comes to the lead cook after his shift and slips him a twenty.the cook then passes a couple of fives down the line to his guys, and mario is loved by all. mario is smart, he doesnt dare bite the hand that feeds him.

thats how allot of you greenhorn servers find yourselves looking for another job, wondering why you had such shitty luck.so next time you find yourself in that position, maybe you should bite the bullet and help me help you.

where does everybody get the idea that cooking pays well??? YOUR WRONG!!! i had to leave the kitchen because i couldnt make enough money to live the way i wanted. not a day goes by that i don’t miss being a chef, but it just doesnt pay the bills.

most cooks i knew had two or three jobs and slaved like zombies just to make ends meet. luckily i have my assoc. degree n culinary arts from the second largest culinary school in the US. it takes years and years to move up in any legitamite kitchen, guys work 10 years just to make it to sous chef. my degree got me there in two, but i couldnt afford to wait another ten for the exec. to move out.[/quote]

Hey man, I work the bar so no one in the kitchen holds a hammer over my head;-)

But if you feed me, maybe I can slip you a few drinks at the end of the night to take the edge off!

118

[quote]Kailash wrote:
I tip 10%. Why should it have gone up to 15-20%? Bullshit.

The only time I tip more is when the server went out of their way, particularly to meet my special request. Very rare.

And I tip less if they fuck up my order. Also very rare, thankfully.

I’ll never tip 15-20% standard. Has something changed in the restaurant business, system-wide? I doubt that, with so many restaurateurs and so many restaurants. Mind you, I don’t make a habit of eating in the puke corporate chains.

Local makes more of their own food, and probably takes better care of their staff.

And if the servers have lost a part of their cut, due to their bosses taking more for themselves (by underpaying other staff), then they can all bend over for me too… Get a new job, whiner![/quote]

Why don’t you do us all a favor, buy your food at the grocery store, cook yourself and clean up as well. That way you don’t have to bother the rest of us.

119

[quote]OneEye wrote:
Show me where I said that I spit in people’s food. I have never done anything like that, however, I am aware that some servers do such things. I never said anything more than that.
[/quote]

Well, you did say that you would intentionally spill a drink on a bad tipper. From there you can either expect a fight or possibly the loss of your job.

If you are so unhappy being a waiter, why don’t you change jobs? I ask this earnestly and not meant as a put-down-- is that not a viable option for you?

120

[quote]Dave_ wrote:
At a couple of stupid restaurants I went in on holiday, the bill came came back as about DOUBLE of what it should have been.

This was due to:

-service charge (basically an enforced 10% tip)

-and “maintennance charge”

“Maintennance charge” includes the cost of maintaining shit like the tablecloths and cutlery. WTF?? Sort your own fucking bills out!!

AND the cheeky fuckers still wanted a normal tip ON TOP of that!

If it costs X amount to clean your tablecloths and Y amount pay your waiters - then that should be accounted
for in the price of the goddam food!

e.g. steak costs $5 to buy/cook etc. but serving that steak will cost $2 in both manpower and “tablecloths”.

solution: charge $7 for the GODDAMN STEAK!!!

That’s what we do over here in England, because we are super-brainy. You see, this way, you only tip if service is actually fit for a king - and generally waiters/resses know this and you end up with a far more courteous service!

Everybody’s a winner!

[/quote]

Was this in a tourist area in the US?
The reason I ask is that my English uncle has a condo in Florida, and constantly gets tips added to his tabs, he is very familiar with the tipping custom here, so when they add 25%, he knows they are full of shit.

My uncle is not a cheap ass either. When they do this to him, he asks if it is because he is English and they always say something along the lines of “its to show you our custom of tipping”. When this happens to him, he calls the manager, has it removed, and tips nothing, explaining why.

I agree with him. He is otherwise a good tipper. Any time gratuity is added to my check, that will be the gratuity period, nothing more regardless of how good the service is. The way I see it, if you add it in, you just made it a flat fee.

I am a good tipper, and the server will miss out on a good tip when this happens to me. If someone told me they are adding in a tip because I don’t LOOK like a good tipper, no tip will be paid.