Tipping

[Onthego]

It seems to me more and more restaurants where you go to the counter to place your order then use a credit card there is a place on the receipt for a tip. If I'm not being served at a table by wait staff why should I leave a tip? Am I wrong or is it just me? I just draw a line through the tip space and bring down the total. 

Jeff    

[mptjelgin]

This is a tough call. If the counter person has been especially friendly I'll often leave a dollar or two tip. If not, I line through it just as you do. 

More and more I appreciate that these folks are choosing to work these jobs rather than sitting home and complaining about not being paid $15 an hour to work at a fast food joint. So I'm tipping at counters more often than in the past. 

 

[Pat & Pete]

If you knew exactly who was getting the tip , it might make a difference . 

 

 

[Devilishjim]

Ha!  Wait until the time comes that you get the reciept and the tip has already been added in for you. I had that happen once...ONLY once !

[Dutch_12078]

The only time I've seen a tip pre-added to the check was on certain take out orders, and it was noted on the menu that it would be there. The purpose is to reward the kitchen staff that prepared the order and normally get a percentage of the wait staff's tips. The listing of suggested tips at different percentages at the bottom of credit slips is a standard feature on some card terminals used by restaurants. It may be a selectable option, but I'm not sure of that.

[bobsallyh]

I have never tipped a counter person and I'm sure not starting because it is on some credit card receipt. Wait staff at tables is another thing but I base what I leave on performance. And now as example take Appleby's. One person takes your order, somebody else delivers the goods. Then you can pay thru the goofy thingamajig sitting on the table taking up space.

[hdrider]

 Yup, no tips from me to counter person. I will say that I did once because while standing in line I noticed that same person delivering beer to a table so I figured I had better play it safe so she didn't leave me "high and dry" at my table if you catch my drift.  

[Itsa Mr.E]

Hi, new to this chatting thing so forgive any dumb things I say please. I got a "tip" from a waitress once about the empty space I had left on the receipt where the tip was supposed to go. ( I tend to leave the tip in cash and pay for the meal with the card.) She warned me to always cross through the space. Should be logical but I just hadn't thought much about it.

[sandsys]

Reminds me of the time we were at a drive-in where they bring your food on a tray that attaches to your window. We got such good service we left a tip on the tray. Only to see the server dump the tray, tip and all, in the trash. Expectations.

Linda Sand

[Pat & Pete]

4 minutes ago, sandsys said:

Reminds me of the time we were at a drive-in where they bring your food on a tray that attaches to your window. We got such good service we left a tip on the tray. Only to see the server dump the tray, tip and all, in the trash. Expectations.

Linda Sand

Maybe the server didn't think much of your tip ? 

I'm guessing you didn't leave tips on trays after that . 

[DuneElliot]

I'm the same way...don't tip counter staff unless they have gone way out of their way for service. Tipping in this country is getting ridiculous.

[pjstough]

4 minutes ago, DuneElliot said:

I'm the same way...don't tip counter staff unless they have gone way out of their way for service. Tipping in this country is getting ridiculous.

I agree that tipping is getting ridiculous, but what is really ridiculous is that many places where people get tips have reduced their hourly wages to around $3.00 per hour, so if the kitchen messes us an order and the customer is upset and doesnt leave a tip, the server gets cheated.

[Pat & Pete]

55 minutes ago, pjstough said:

I agree that tipping is getting ridiculous, but what is really ridiculous is that many places where people get tips have reduced their hourly wages to around $3.00 per hour, so if the kitchen messes us an order and the customer is upset and doesnt leave a tip, the server gets cheated.

Maybe the server needs to have a talk with the kitchen .

The customer ordered in good faith and had nothing to do with whatever was bad .

[pjstough]

6 minutes ago, Pat & Pete said:

Maybe the server needs to have a talk with the kitchen .

The customer ordered in good faith and had nothing to do with whatever was bad .

And the server has no control over the kitchen. 

[Pat & Pete]

10 minutes ago, pjstough said:

And the server has no control over the kitchen. 

Maybe not direct 'control' . 

If the kitchen doesn't recognize the servers requests , the server can 'petition' the manager , who happens to have a say in the kitchen .

There's always more than one way around a bush .

[DuneElliot]

I almost never deduct from a tip for something that was the kitchen's fault. Although never wait staff (couldn't do it) I have worked for tips and it does hurt when you do a good job and get nothing. (I wrangled for a living on guest ranches and we worked hard to provide a great experience above and beyond just leading a string of horses).

[eddie1261]

This depends on the nature of the business. If I am ordering take out food and the counter person puts the order into a point of sale machine, the kitchen prepares it,  the counter person just turns around and picks up a bag, I do not tip.  However if it is the kind of counter person as in a bar situation, that person is actually interacting with customers and I will tip them if they aren't jerks.

When I have an actual server, they get 20%, 25% if they are particularly good at their job.

And in those places that they add the tip automatically, I scream and cry like a little child until they recalculate the bill without a tip. Nobody tells me I have to tip. Automatic tipping promotes a lackadaisical attitude in the serving staff.

[DuffMan]

Seem that the average here is rather parsimonious.  The kitchen staff are the lowest paid workers and the hardest workers.  The wait staff at a decent restaurant can average $50K/year. (Head over to Quora - there are many discussions about this from waiters and waitresses.)  The kitchen staff is minimum wage plus a small % of the tips not left in cash.   

So why wouldn't you leave a full tip for take-out - The kitchen staff worked just as hard. Doing take-out, the only thing you missed out on was someone refilling your glass and asking if everything is OK!

[chindog]

I'm still trying to figure out how much to tip the electronic kiosk at McDonalds.

[bigjim]

The way I understand it the tip jar at the counter is shared by the staff not just the person handing over the food and taking your payment.

[eddie1261]

Where I live the cooks make an actual living wage, even in smaller bars. Not 6 figures, but not 2 something an hour like wait staff makes. They have more tangible skills than the wait staff, who rely on more intangible people skills to get their tips.

Last year there was a news article about a place in Seattle that raised server wages to $14 an hour BUT tipping was then absolutely prohibited, and punishable by termination if management saw wait staff take a tip. I asked a friend here locally what she thought about that when I was in her place. She hated it. She told me that in that same $14 hour she could handle 4 tables of 4 simultaneously, and likely get a tip of $15 or more per table. That is potentially $60 for that same hour for which a lazy server earns $14 for possibly doing as little as necessary for her customers. The one I spoke to said exactly what I said earlier, that a fixed wage removes the incentive to do as much as possible for your customer rather than as little as necessary. That's the "There's nothing in it for me to work hard" theory, like this entitled generation of snowflakes has been taught by their pampering, over permissive parents. My bill was just under $12. I gave her a $20 and walked out. She got an $8 tip on a $12 check. She is that perfect server who pays attention to you without being intrusive or annoying.

[Dutch_12078]

38 minutes ago, eddie1261 said:

Where I live the cooks make an actual living wage, even in smaller bars. Not 6 figures, but not 2 something an hour like wait staff makes. They have more tangible skills than the wait staff, who rely on more intangible people skills to get their tips.

How much are the prep people, dishwashers, bus people, etc., paid. Cooks are often paid a pretty decent wage, but not so much for their support staff. The kitchen doesn't run on cooks alone...

[noteven]

What's the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A canoe can tip. 

[eddie1261]

Cooking is a skill. (And microwaving a hot dog is not cooking.)  Is washing dishes or bussing tables? There are culinary schools. I have not heard of a dish washing school or a table bussing school. Important jobs to be sure to keep the flow of food going, but for sake of analogy, should the unskilled guy who just unboxes the computers make the same money as the degreed IT professional who loads and configures them? That is not to put down the dishwashers, buss boys or unboxers, but the fact is that once someone goes through some education and training, in my opinion they should be compensated for it.

So to come around to relating this reply to the topic, it is as much WHO gets tipped as how much.

[WeBeFulltimers]

I really like the pre-pay buffets (like Golden Corral) that ask if you want to add a tip to bill before you even sit down. Will never happen with me!