Tipping at resturants

My husband is a pushover. He left a $20 tip yesterday for a pregnant waitress, lol. Got a soft spot I guess.

 

$20 !!!???!?!


I knew it, I should have been a pregnant waitress

 

I remember when I had to work on Mother's Day. That was always the best tipping day of the year (if you were a mother-and I was).

 

We usually tip 15%. If the service has been extremely poor we leave .02--to let the server know that we know to tip--but for good service.

Now, there have been times when our server was extremely busy and it seemed we were being neglected instead of complaining (I tried a Dr. Phil tactic), I'd, "They really have you hopping tonite." Sometimes, just appearing to be empathetic changed the way they were serving us. We got more attention.

One time we waited over an hour for a simple order. The waitress kept coming back and assuring us that our food would come. She even complained to a manager. She came back and said our meal was complimentary. We made sure we gave her a really good tip--now that's a good waitress!

 

Thats certainly not our norm, but he had just gotten a financial gift and wanted to share

 

I tip 10% for adequate service, and 15% for very good service. I rarely tip more than that, but I have if the service has been exceptional.

For poor service, I tip 2%.

It also depends on how long I'm at the table. If I'm at the table 2 hours and having nothign but coffee, then I'm likely to leave a $5 for the service, even if my coffee is only $1.50.

 

I'm a good tipper, between 15-20%. That way, they remember you.

 

John, if you leave 2%, they may simply think you're a lousy tipper. If you leave nothing, they will simply think you're a stiff. Sometimes, even if you leave .02, they may think you're just opposed to tipping.

If you truly get lousy service (not simply the server being overworked), please say something to the manager, even if you call back later.

 

I usually don't do this unless the service is blatantly bad, or if I've received bad service from the person on several occaisions (everyone is, imo, entitled to forgiveness for one bad day here and there).

OTOH, whenever I get exceptionally good service, I let the manager know. In fact, whenever I'm at a Disney theme park, and a cast member has treated me very well, I will make it a point to fill out a cast member comment form prior to leaving the park.

 

I think Johnv makes a great point to the conversation. When we do recieve good service, let someone know as well. Many times we only focus on when we recieve bad service and then we are quick to tell someone.

 

It is impossible to thank people enough.

 

And thanks to medical technology, you CAN be!