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  1. #21

    buffet

    I never know what to tip if you are eating at a buffet where the server does about half the work of a regular waiter/waitress? 10%? Any thoughts.
    I sometimes would tip very high percentage wise if a place offered kids meals and I was out to eat with 4 kids as the total dollar amount would be quite low if you gave the standard 15-20%

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, within a couple of miles of Cameron
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian12215 View Post
    Take out guys only make $2.13-3.40 an hour just like the servers. If you don't tip those guys, they don't make very much money. Also they do a lot more work preparing your food than you might imagine. If you were dining in, the cooks set up your plate. However for to-go, it is the take out guy's job to do it. I think you guys should tip for to-go orders if they do a good job with your meal. If not then don't. I will say that just giving them the change left over from a dollar is like a slap in the face to a server/take-out guy. Sorry for my soapbox, I work in restaraunt management.
    So, why don't you pay this type of worker more, rather than expect us to subsidize your low pay scale? I'm paying a fair amount for the product anyway, it's not like I'm getting a discount for take-out, right? There's got to be a better argument for me to want to pay more for takeout.
    JStuart

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Skinker-DeBaliviere, Saint Louis
    Always, always tip a bare-as$ minimum of 15%. But 20% is better. If you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip decently.

    And more if she's hot, unless your wife disagrees that she's hot.

    A movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about it.
    ---Roger Ebert


    Some questions cannot be answered
    Who’s gonna bury who
    We need a love like Johnny, Johnny and June
    ---Over the Rhine

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by throatybeard View Post
    Always, always tip a bare-as$ minimum of 15%. But 20% is better. If you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip decently.

    And more if she's hot, unless your wife agrees that she's hot.
    Changed original to reflect longer marriage.

    Exiled

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian12215 View Post
    Take out guys only make $2.13-3.40 an hour just like the servers. If you don't tip those guys, they don't make very much money. Also they do a lot more work preparing your food than you might imagine. If you were dining in, the cooks set up your plate. However for to-go, it is the take out guy's job to do it. I think you guys should tip for to-go orders if they do a good job with your meal. If not then don't. I will say that just giving them the change left over from a dollar is like a slap in the face to a server/take-out guy. Sorry for my soapbox, I work in restaraunt management.

    Nope. If the restaurant wants to pay someone so little for that job, then that is between the restaurant and the employee.

    It is not my job as the customer to pay the remainder of someone's paycheck when the restaurant won't. I tip based upon service: if it is adequate, they get 15%-20%. If its good, they get more than 20%. If it is poor, they get less than 10%. If they are not doing anything more than handing me my bag of food, they get exactly what the guy at McDonalds gets - zip.

    I also don't clear my own table at fast food restaurants - when did this become a norm? Why is it a norm? How is that these service companies convinced customers that they had to do work in order to get their product? This gets my ire up. It is especially true at the new Mexican-subway type paces. If I am paying $7 for a burrito and chips, I am not clearing my own table.

    Don't tip if you are not sitting at a table (or the bar) and eating. If the restaurant's business model is to underpay someone to address take-out orders specifically, they are responsible for making that work, not you as the customer. (Like JStuart says). Don't 'feel bad for the kid' or feel 'that youa re being rude' This transaction is not between you and Mr' Nice bag-boy. It's between you and the restaurant.

    Sorry for my soapbox. I have issues with corporations taking advantage of people's emotions to cut costs.
    Exiled

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by Exiled_Devil View Post

    Sorry for my soapbox. I have issues with corporations taking advantage of people's emotions to cut costs.
    Exiled
    so you're gonna take your frustrations and issues out on the 20 year old working nights while going to college full time? just to somehow prove to yourself as you drive away "hah! i really showed that restaurant!"

    the 3 dollars means a lot less to you than it does to them. have some compassion. write a letter to the company if it bothers you that much.

    (besides, you're actually tipping them more. if they don't claim all their tips as income, as no one does, its tax-free for them. boom, your $3 becomes $5, essentially).

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    New York, NY
    I tip relentlessly, but these cash jars are everywhere, at least in NYC. Everyone I get anything from (coffee baristas, guys who hand over pre-made sandwiches, my girlfriend when she "gives" me the sports page) expect a dollar, and it does seem that the jar becomes a way to increase the company's profit rather than the worker's income.

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Ashburn, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by tombrady View Post
    (besides, you're actually tipping them more. if they don't claim all their tips as income, as no one does, its tax-free for them. boom, your $3 becomes $5, essentially).
    Isn't it your $3 doesn't become $2.25 ?

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!

    The Sports Page

    Quote Originally Posted by johnb View Post
    I tip relentlessly ... my girlfriend when she "gives" me the sports page) expect a dollar
    Oh, is that what we're calling it these days - "the sports page"?

    Somehow, I think if I ask my wife for "the sports page", it's not gonna happen...
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  10. #30
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by tombrady View Post
    so you're gonna take your frustrations and issues out on the 20 year old working nights while going to college full time? just to somehow prove to yourself as you drive away "hah! i really showed that restaurant!"

    the 3 dollars means a lot less to you than it does to them. have some compassion. write a letter to the company if it bothers you that much.

    (besides, you're actually tipping them more. if they don't claim all their tips as income, as no one does, its tax-free for them. boom, your $3 becomes $5, essentially).
    Nope. I am not going to let you, or a company, try to personalize their sub-pay business model. Its as simple as that. I don't tip unless I am served. Handing me a bag, just because it is done by the same person who normally brings food to my table, is not service - except in the broadest sense. If that is service, then logic extends tipping to cashier and bag boy at the supermarket.

    Again, note that I do tip when I am served, and I use tips as a sign of how good the service is. So if someone does a good job serving my table, I tip very well to let them know. If they do poorly, they get tipped poorly as a sign of the quality of their work.

  11. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Winter Park FL
    Quote Originally Posted by Exiled_Devil View Post
    Nope. If the restaurant wants to pay someone so little for that job, then that is between the restaurant and the employee.

    It is not my job as the customer to pay the remainder of someone's paycheck when the restaurant won't. I tip based upon service: if it is adequate, they get 15%-20%. If its good, they get more than 20%. If it is poor, they get less than 10%. If they are not doing anything more than handing me my bag of food, they get exactly what the guy at McDonalds gets - zip.

    I also don't clear my own table at fast food restaurants - when did this become a norm? Why is it a norm? How is that these service companies convinced customers that they had to do work in order to get their product? This gets my ire up. It is especially true at the new Mexican-subway type paces. If I am paying $7 for a burrito and chips, I am not clearing my own table.

    Don't tip if you are not sitting at a table (or the bar) and eating. If the restaurant's business model is to underpay someone to address take-out orders specifically, they are responsible for making that work, not you as the customer. (Like JStuart says). Don't 'feel bad for the kid' or feel 'that youa re being rude' This transaction is not between you and Mr' Nice bag-boy. It's between you and the restaurant.

    Sorry for my soapbox. I have issues with corporations taking advantage of people's emotions to cut costs.
    Exiled
    Agreed. I always tip 20% at restaurants and consider myself a good tipper. At a bar with drink specials I will tip even higher. But I tip for service. If someone is just handing me food, even if they take care putting it in a bag, it is the restaurants job to pay them a fair wage, not mine.

  12. #32
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA (Buckhead)

    Chick-fil-A

    Doesn't it seem like Chick-fil-A could do some kind of great promotion around:

    Cow Tipping?

    Not sure what it would be exactly. Maybe a charitable thing where the Chick-fil-A cows are in attendance at select chains, and they stand out in front of the store like Salvation Army vols do during the holidays, collecting money for charity. Would be a good cause and give them even more good publicity/visibility as well.

    Just an idea.

    -Earljam

  13. #33
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    Quote Originally Posted by OZZIE4DUKE View Post
    Oh, is that what we're calling it these days - "the sports page"?

    Somehow, I think if I ask my wife for "the sports page", it's not gonna happen...

    Frequency of receipt of the sports page is inversely proportional to the link of the marriage.

  14. #34
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Los Angeles
    No one has yet said that they tip at a fast food drive through, yet those guys provide identical service to someone at a take-out window. They're also underpaid, so why don't people feel that they should help the drive-through people get through HS or college? I actually find myself on the side of Exiled in this situation, as I think that tipping can get out of hand. Tip for service, not for just taking my money and giving me what I bought. Soon, cashiers at Blockbuster would expect tips if people get tipped for just putting what I'm paying for into a bag and giving it to me (in other words, their job).

    On this note, I got some take out last night from the Mexican place around the corner from me (a little hole-in-the-wall). I paid with a credit card, as I tend to do, and they gave me my bag of food. There wasn't even a place on the receipt for me to fill in a tip, so it's obvious that they don't expect one for just giving me the food I paid for. This is true even though they do have a few tables in the place that you can take your food to in order to eat in the place.

    No one has mentioned this, but tipping is anl AMERICAN habit.

  15. #35
    The issue is that the restaurant industry has managed to carve a niche where they are not subject to the standard minimum wage laws.

    In the case of a table server the carve out is probably legitimate, as they are providing services to the customer and earning their tip. The problem arises if, as I just learned in this thread, other employees who are not serving tables or working at the bar are also subject to these low wages. Either the entire restaurant should pool their tips, and tip out the take out people, just as they tip out the bus boys, or the position of take out person should be subject to minimum wage. Its as simple as that.

  16. #36
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Southern Pines, NC
    I have always considered 15% the standard. The 20% rate has a sort of snob character to it, and is more than inflationary. However, if service is in any way exceptional, I will go as high as 20%, but I won't brag or complain about it. I will sometimes go below the 15% rate if the service is not as expected. If I want the tip to go to a waiter personally I hand it directly to her/him instead of entering it on the credit card receipt. I might then add 5% or so on the credit card receipt.

    I never get take out at a regular restaurant, and I only go to a fast food place as a rest stop when traveling. I have never noticed anyone tipping at a fast food place. I do tip at Panera's and Starbuck's when there is a tip jar, and at a lower rate.

    I prefer the customs that were followed in Germany when I was spending a lot of time there. In a restaurant the gratuity was included in the bill, but I would add something on a sliding scale up to 10% for exceptional service and food preparation.

    My ideas are based on recommendations in travel guides that my wife always buys before we go on a trip. Some tipping guides recommend tips for all kinds of service people. I noticed one guide put out by a travel agency that suggested tips for bank tellers and airline check-in personnel. I say thank you to the tellers, and I restrain myself from yelling at airline employees.

  17. #37
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, within a couple of miles of Cameron
    "I say thank you to the tellers, and I restrain myself from yelling at airline employees."

    Outstanding; Post-of-the-Month caliber!

  18. #38
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, within a couple of miles of Cameron
    Exiled_Devil,
    You've phrased well what I've been trying to put into words for many decades. Tipping is fine, and a way to show satisfaction with service, but the whole concept of a tip being expected regardless of service and quality of food, etc. bothers me. I don't get paid extra just for doing my job; why should they?
    Last edited by JStuart; 10-28-2007 at 09:30 AM. Reason: italics

  19. #39
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Two miles south of Cameron
    Quote Originally Posted by Exiled_Devil View Post
    Changed original to reflect longer marriage.

    Exiled
    Change to reflect an even LONGER marriage:

    And more if she's hot, unless your wife notices first that she's hot.


    PS why can't I multuquote?

  20. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by JStuart View Post
    Exiled_Devil,
    You've phrased well what I've been trying to put into words for many decades. Tipping is fine, and a way to show satisfaction with service, but the whole concept of a tip being expected regardless of service and quality of food, etc. bothers me. I don't get paid extra just for doing my job; why should they?
    Service industry jobs are based on the expectation of a tip. They are payed below normal in the expectation that a standard tip will compensate them normally and anything beyond is a bonus. That's not getting paid extra just for doing your job.

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