Waitresses and their tips

You should tip for the free meal. The waitress works just as hard.

 

Agreed. Most wait staff make sub-minimum wage, work 2-3 jobs & at varying shifts.

If that extra $ or 2 (or more) breaks your bank, you probably shouldn't eat out in the first place (or at least not so many times a week).

ALSO, always tell the wait staff "Thank You" every time she/he stops by your table, and a smile for them won't kill you either! :thumbsup:

 

What do you do when they add the "gratuity" to the bill and then give poor service?
This has happened to me a few times.

 

My wife is a forensic accountant. I asked her about this and she says you're only required to report what you actually receive, not what it is assumed you might have received.

It's also important to remember that, in many restaurants, it's customary for waitresses to split the tips with the busboys.

Yes. When you go to a restaurant, you're paying for food, but you tip for the service. Don't stiff the waitress just because you got the meal for free.

Incidentally, when I was younger, my family owned a couple of restaurants. It was like pulling teeth to get waitstaff to work on Sundays, not because they just wanted Sunday off, but because Sunday would be the day all the Christians come in after church and Christians have a terrible reputation for being bad tippers.

 

If you pay with a card, call the credit card company and tell them that charge was added without your knowledge.

 

Speak to the manager. If it is not resolved do not go back.

 

Cheapskates who do not want to tip but still frequent places that have wait staff who live off of those tips need to be refused service in the future.

 

I was a server at a few different restaurants for several years as a bi-vo assistant pastor, and before that in college and as a teen. I enjoyed it. The last time I waited tables was about 7 years ago, so things may have changed. But the whole time I was a server all the restaurants were the same. We made half of minimum wage per hour which was reported on our W2. At the end of our shift, we'd report our tips. If you consistently reported less than 10% of your sales, then you were suspect. But as a general rule, you'd report 10% of your sales as tips even if you made more. As a server at Steak 'N' Shake, I typically made about $10/hr during "slow" times, and about $15/hr when we were busy. But as a male, I typically made better tips than the women. Something in people's psych make them want to tip men more.

Edited for spelling and to add: my manager also had me write a pamphlet to pass out to the other servers on ways to increase your tips by doing little things to make people feel better about themselves and the restaurant.

 

At my first waiting job at a Country Kitchen, we had this middle aged couple who skipped over the hostess and would seat themselves and then refuse to tip. In fact, they left a quarter on the table once, and the guy came back to the table and picked it up and I heard him say, "Almost left a tip." After about 4 visits, all of us servers started ignoring them. They complained to the manager, but he had our back. He told the that no one would be required to wait on them until they started tipping.

 

I started working in restaurants at 13 years of age. (back before child labor laws became an abomination) I have waited quite a few tables. If you want to seat yourself and do not want to tip go to McDonalds. Otherwise stay home.

 

And the people that don't tip are probably the same ones who believe it's a SIN to work on Sundays:BangHead: ......(Wouldn't want to be an enabler to such sinners, now would they?):saint:

 

To answer the OP, yes, should tip on the value of a free meal. As far as reporting tips, it is dishonest to report less than what you actually received.

 

Not anymore than getting $10 for your birthday and not reporting it. Or having someone buy you a suit and not reporting it.

 

Does it matter to the wait staff, or the IRS, if the tip is cash on the table or on the credit card?

 

All that is automatically reported.

 

Tips on the credit card are reported on the W2 automatically, and count towards the mandatory reporting.