If you receive bad service in a restaraunt, do you generally leave a tip anyway? I usually don't, although my wife always does.

aren't you supposed to leave a penny in the bottom of a full glass of water?

service has to be REALLY bad for me not to leave anything. but i tend to prorate based on how good the service is. if it's bad i'll leave 10 percent.

It is not the custom in Australia to tip but if we've had extra good service I will leave a tip.

It totally depends where I am and how good the service is.

For instance, a few evenings ago, I went to dinner with friends. The bill came to around $80 and the waiter recieved about $17-18 for a tip.
Outstanding service, charming, earned it.

About 2 weeks ago I recieved, not awful, but pretty bad service at a local resteraunt.
From a $22 bill the waitress received $2.  ;D

i disapprove of receiving hairs and fruit flies in my food unless i've specifically requested them.

My friend and I had the coolest waiter last night. Our bill was like.. $10.00 and we gave him $5.50  ;D

Do some restaurants in America include the tip in the bill ? There are many in the U.K that do and I really resent it. For one I'm not convinced the poor staff actually get the money, also I like to tip according to the service I get and not just a generic percentage, it's a hassle to ask them to remove it if the service is dreadful too. 

15-20% standard tip  I plan on 15% for normal expected service, and up to 20% if they put out a little more effort, such as keeping beverages full, being friendly, (not overly, don't joke too much), don't ignore table for very long, stay attentive to all our dining needs. Sometimes when there are to few waitresses/waiters and too many tables, not much you can do but wait, if they screw up, I usually still give em 15%, so it's easy to get up to 20% outta me. I wouldn't give a better tip just because my waitress was a flirty fox, I'm not that easy  ;)

My friend and I had the coolest waiter last night. Our bill was like.. $10.00 and we gave him $5.50  ;D
hopefully next time you come in he'll remember you did him right and will continue with the 5star service. It musta been pretty good service because that is a decent tip.


Do some restaurants in America include the tip in the bill ? There are many in the U.K that do and I really resent it. For one I'm not convinced the poor staff actually get the money, also I like to tip according to the service I get and not just a generic percentage, it's a hassle to ask them to remove it if the service is dreadful too. 
here in my part of America, they will add tip to the bill for larger dinner parties of 8 or more, thats normal.

I rarely tip by %, but more on service and my time spent in the restaurant. But I'll try to break it down by percent:

If I get a cup of coffee and the waitress (or waiter) is friendly and gets me refills in time I may tip as much as 400%: 1$ for the coffee, 4$ to the waitress, especially if it is a slow morning for them. I figure Starbucks costs like 4$ anyways so same difference.

Buffets are usually 5-15%. If the waitress just gets me one set of plates and one refill, it's 5%. If they bring everything I ask for in a timely manner and keep my drinks going (I detest waiting on a Coke while I'm eating) it's more like 15%.

More expensive/elaborate/time consuming meals are usually 20%, waitresses at those types of places are usually excellent.

One place I used to eat ribs we tipped the waitress an average of 30% after the first few visits. Even when the place was crazy busy she found time to talk and was on the spot with all of our requests.

Occasionally I tip the cook. The guy at Pizza Hut hooks me up so I do the same for him.

Only once have I ever not tipped anything - the place was dead and we saw the waitress only once - after we tracked her down. If I have to get up from my table to find you, you are going home with zero money.


Do some restaurants in America include the tip in the bill ? There are many in the U.K that do and I really resent it. For one I'm not convinced the poor staff actually get the money, also I like to tip according to the service I get and not just a generic percentage, it's a hassle to ask them to remove it if the service is dreadful too. 


Yes, they do. In my area if you have a party of 8 or more a 15% gratuity is including in your bill. I think this is for several reasons:

1: Large parties from what I've seen tend to pay all seperate and many times the waitress gets shafted because everyone thinks someone else will tip.

2: Often times tables have to be moved and other special set-up has to be done for a larger group to all sit together since most tables seat 4 or 6.

3: All of the food should be brought out at once. Doing so with 2 or 4 people is easy, it gets a bit more hectic trying to bring out 8+ main courses at once.

4: Large table from what I've seen take longer to order their food thus eating up the waitresses' time more so  than multilple smaller parties.

Not saying it is right but I understand it.

I always tip depending on the service...if the service was poor, the tip will be poor!

It kind of depends on why the service was poor.  If the restaurant is really busy and I can see that the wait staff are scrambling and doing their best, I usually still tip decently.  Since there are about 8 or 10 restaurants that we go to regularly, we know who the good servers are and we usually request them. :)

Do some restaurants in America include the tip in the bill ? There are many in the U.K that do and I really resent it. For one I'm not convinced the poor staff actually get the money, also I like to tip according to the service I get and not just a generic percentage, it's a hassle to ask them to remove it if the service is dreadful too. 


If the party is large, or if you pay by credit card they add the tip.  Sometimes the staff do get stiffed by management for the tip, there was
a lawsuit in Boston, I forget which restaurant, because the manager wasn't turning over all the tip money charged on credit cards.  I always pay cash at a resteraunt, and never pay a tip added in.  If the tip is added on I have them remove it and leave what I believe is commesurate with the service.  I'm generally a great tipper having known a lot of waitresses in my life, but I have been know to leave the face down penny.

I usually tip pretty well. I was a server/waitress for years and I know how crappy of a job it really is...and just how hard you have to work just to bring home some decent money, usually after having to kiss numerous asses during the evening. There have only been 1 or 2 occasions where the service was over the top horrible (and was TOTALLY the server's fault...because I always take into consideration the fact that the kitchen could be screwing stuff up majorly, etc)...and I didn't leave anything....but for the most part...I usually try to leave at LEAST 15-20% tip..and sometimes even more if the service rocks. ;)

(I think the PC term is now "servers" ::))


funny the term "waitron" never caught on.

i think that coffee scene in reservoir dogs is the final word on tipping.

I hate math, never was good at it, so I don't do percentages.  I usually just leave a couple of bucks. 

[quote author=whis

I would leave a good tip if the service is good but If the service stinks,I don't leave anything

If you receive bad service in a restaraunt, do you generally leave a tip anyway? I usually don't, although my wife always does.


I generally tip regardless. A lot of times, not tipping and then leaving is addressing the wrong problem. For example, slow service or unwanted items within the dish are usually (not always) the fault of someone in the kitchen. The waiter/waitress can only do so much to affect that. I may not leave especially big tips if the something about the dinner has been problematic, but I still leave standard ones. The only thing that really gets me is unwillingness to help or generally bad attitude.

I still advocate informing a manager or whoever of whatever problems occurred so they can work to correct them, but don't take it out on the waiters unless they actually are the cause of the problem.

You should always add the tax and gratituity.

I always tip the waiter/waitress a minimum of 3 dollars no matter how much the bill is or how the service is. I generally tip 15%, but there have been times I've tipped a bit more if the server did more than go through the motions and is genuinely friendly.

 ;) hopefully next time you come in he'll remember you did him right and will continue with the 5star service. It musta been pretty good service because that is a decent tip.



Yeah.. and he was, uh, kinda.. hot, too.. >_<

As Jaytee said, Tipping is not "enforced" here the way it is in other countrys. Its not considered popular or necessary. Most of us really begrudge the fact that we "have" to tip when we go overseas.

Most restuarants have a coin jar next to the till and if my meal was $19.90 and I paid with a $20 - I "may" pop the 10cents in the coin jar - but thats not often - mainly because I personally need my own 10cents.

Wait staff here earn big bucks - more than I do and I am considered to be on a middle to high income.

If I book an overseas cruise the price actually includes a breakdown of tips per day to everyone from the person that makes my bed to the person that serves my food. Its part of the quote on the holiday - I dont actually get a choice as to whether I think they deserve a tip.

Tipping is rare and almost unheard of here. People still do it, however. But it's not like waiters here are underpayed, like in some other countries. I also seriously doubt, if tipping were to become mandatory, it would be a particularly popular idea.

If I receive bad service, I try to keep one thing in mind:  Did my server have a ton of tables?  My sister was a server for a while and she got swamped, so naturally she wasn't as fast as someone who had maybe 2 tables.  I try to give them the benefit of the doubt; unless the service was egregious, I'll tip.  I usually tip 30% of the bill if it's less than 3 people at the table; more than that and we go up to 40%.  Each person throws money in, so it's not like one person forking over all the money.  After my graduation in December, I had 8 people at the table with a total bill of over $300 (including drinks, appetizers, dinner and desert).  We left about a $120 tip on the table.

I really hate people who don't tip because a server's job is hard enough and if you have a $100 tab and you leave like $4-$5, you might as well not leave any money at all. 

If I receive bad service, I try to keep one thing in mind:  Did my server have a ton of tables?  My sister was a server for a while and she got swamped, so naturally she wasn't as fast as someone who had maybe 2 tables.  I try to give them the benefit of the doubt; unless the service was egregious, I'll tip.  I usually tip 30% of the bill if it's less than 3 people at the table; more than that and we go up to 40%.  Each person throws money in, so it's not like one person forking over all the money.  After my graduation in December, I had 8 people at the table with a total bill of over $300 (including drinks, appetizers, dinner and desert).  We left about a $120 tip on the table.

I really hate people who don't tip because a server's job is hard enough and if you have a $100 tab and you leave like $4-$5, you might as well not leave any money at all. 



wow, I wish I had more customers like you, when I used to serve tables.  Yes, it's unfortunate that servers here only make not even $3.00/hour...and have to solely rely on the customers tips as the majority of their wages. :(

Add me to the list of people who always tip well, too -- for a couple reasons.

1. I've worked in retail (basically the same thing, customer service) for six years, so I know how it can be. You can only do so much at once, etc. Plus, tips are how they make their money. Although even before I worked, I still tended to leave at least 20-30% (even if I was, say 15 and didn't have that much anyway), partly just 'cause...

2. I'm a fairly nice/cool guy (at least I like to think so). :D

P.S. At times, I even have tried to clean up the table a teeny bit, or at least tried not to leave it messy, like I see many people doing.

We generally leave 20% even if service is bad, but we'll round down the dollar if it's bad. Like, if we get great service and don't have change for a 5, we'll leave the whole five. If the service was terrible, we just won't leave anything, or leave a low amount (like, if the fair amount would be 2.50 based on the meal, we leave 2.00 or a few coins)

wow, I wish I had more customers like you, when I used to serve tables.  Yes, it's unfortunate that servers here only make not even $3.00/hour...and have to solely rely on the customers tips as the majority of their wages. :(



Well, when you have 8 people at the table, that's 8 meals you need to serve, 8 drinks that need to be refilled or new ones ordered, 8 desserts, the plates need to be cleared between courses..........that one person is doing a lot work and deserves a hefty tip.  I know people who won't tip big when they have a huge party and I don't get it.  Your waiter/waitress is working their butt off (not to mention dealing with other tables) and deserves more than a $20 tip.  If there's that many people at the table, each person should chip in for the tip if one person is taking the tab for the meal.  My best friend paid for dinner after grad because that was her gift to me, but I still put in money towards the tip.  It's only fair.

Well, when you have 8 people at the table, that's 8 meals you need to serve, 8 drinks that need to be refilled or new ones ordered, 8 desserts, the plates need to be cleared between courses..........that one person is doing a lot work and deserves a hefty tip.  I know people who won't tip big when they have a huge party and I don't get it.  Your waiter/waitress is working their butt off (not to mention dealing with other tables) and deserves more than a $20 tip.  If there's that many people at the table, each person should chip in for the tip if one person is taking the tab for the meal.  My best friend paid for dinner after grad because that was her gift to me, but I still put in money towards the tip.  It's only fair.



I hear ya loud and clear...I was a server for over 4 years...I have waited on ALL kinds! ::)

I always leave a 15% tip unless the service is really bad (e.g. wrong order).

I tip my glass, then I tip my waitress.  Then after all the beer I just drank, I tip over ;D

[quote author=whis

I think people should tip at fast food joints.That would be cool. ;D