What happened to the other 4 people? Did they do a "Dine & Dash" on the couple and leave them with the bill?

How come the cops didn't arrest all 6 folks? Isn't everyone at that table, at least, particially responsible for making sure the "tip" was covered?

There's some holes in this...or the cops were meeting quota for the day...

As for "table/group minimums" - they suck. The way around that (assuming you like the place to begin with...) is tell the wait-staff you're "doing Dutch" and get a split bill. 4-2, 3-3, anything not close to table mins...

Three months back, I popped for lunch for our group of 8 people...went to a self-serve pizza-buffet place...they had a "disclaimer" on the bottom of the table-cards, not the menu or the bill, of 20% Grats on groups of 6 or more.

For what? Someone to walk over and see if you forgot to grab a napkin or water and they POINTED YOU to where the stuff was located???? You have to get up and bring it to your table anyways? Essentially, the place was wanting you to pay for the bus-service AFTER you left. After paying out $62.62 for the food before even getting to the line, everyone serving themselves, getting your own water and paper...I left $2.00...I didn't see anyone else leave anything. I put that place on my "never again" list.

I'd rather go to Che' McKette Dees and pour my own tap water and suck on 15-minute-old fries...at least I'd know what the bottom line of the meal would be before I finished eating/gackking...

Bad publicity about service gets around...now, with the Internet, your screwup in the PR area can break you faster than a rat in a NY KFC...anyone remember that little story a few months back? Hell, it's not so much the service you have to bi*ch about, but if you bi*ch, you're not so sure you want any of the food after bi*ching...didn't the High and Almight Jesse Jackson say that he spit on food 'cause he didn't care for the color of the customers? He was "pro-dissing" the folks even before they had a chance to decide if they were leaving a tip or not...

Man, I hate stories like this...it makes you wonder about the quality of every place you've been to...and God help you if you get a little ill after visiting these places...you don't even WANT TO THINK about what went wrong behind the counter...

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
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“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

What motivates you to do well at work? You don't get tips and you get paid a decent wage.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Economics of a restaurant go roughly like this

1/3 Food cost
1/3 Labor cost
1/3 Other

A busy upscale restaurant with 140 seats might do $1M a year. It costs like $2k/yr in energy costs just to run a broiler. The energy costs alone for a standalone restaurant can easily run $100k/yr.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I own the business. That is what motivates me. It is my personal money not yours or your brother's. And for now, I don't get a wage when I start up a business. I get paid only when I see a profit and then a percentage of it. Read Tip.

When I worked elsewhere, there was a bonus and raises were tied to my performance. Screw up, no bonus or raise and probably get fired. Mediocre, no raise or bonus.

If I got paid like my wife did at the hospital, that would be different. She works in a union shop and they have RNs that don't want to do certain things but you can't fire them and they get automatic raises. See the motivation to excel there? I don't.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Exactly. If all you do is shove me a couple of menus and some water, take my order, bring my food out what do you deserve? You spent what? 5 mins tops? IF I gave you $1, you are making $12 an hour for your work. IF you can make conversation, suggest certain foods, etc, etc, well, that changes the equation.

The minimum service I have to get for 10% is you do what you are supposed to do, keep my drinks or water filled, clear empty dishes as needed and be reasonably pleasant. I don't think I am asking too much for that seeing as how my bill at most restaurants comes to $20 give or take. Multiply that by the number of people we have, it might come up to $100. So $10 for 10 mins of work is $60 an hour. Like you said, you want more, convince me you deserve more.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

That's quite harsh. Marginal service is simply the fact that the waiter is not at your beck and call whenever you need them. You might need to wait 5 or 10 minutes and signal them over. The bill might not come out when you're done and you need to request it. They are not available at the exact moment that you need another drink refill.

This is normal service. You could consider it "marginal" if you're highly critical.. They definitely get a 10% tip which is "marginal".

Just so you realize...........when you get exceptional service, the tip should be 20%. 15% is the average tip..........for average service.

I can see why the wait staff refers to certain customers as "cheap". These people earn 80% of their income on tips and you wish to give them a penny because your drink was delayed five minutes...........

It depends on the situation. If I am the only one there, I expect you to be at my beck and call for the duration of the meal. OTOH, if the restaurant is packed, that is a different story. If you are yakking with your other wait staff and/or on the phone or texting while on the job, what would you expect me to think? OF course if my glass is empty for the last 10 mins and you are nowhere to be seen or flirting with another customer, that is a different story.

I have tipped more than 40% and gone to 50% for exceptional service. Therefore I feel justified to leave you a penny for crappy service.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Our idea of average has changed over the years. Some "full service" restaurants aren't even full service even. For example, I don't consider restaurants that place a thermos full of coffee at your table.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Agreed.

Some folks need to understand that "average" service commands a 15% tip.

I tip 20% for exceptional service...........waiter is always right on the game whenever I need something..........I never need to "find" them.

In NYC, 40% of a $150. dinner is $60. Now, that would be considered ridiculous. Many times the price of the meal doesn't reflect the effort made. Why should a waiter who kills themselves at an Applebees get a tip of $5.00 for dinner when my waiter in NYC gets a tip of $22.50? Now, that doesn't seem right to me...........but, that's the system.

You know when I tip 30-40%? Breakfast in a diner. The meal is about $7.00 per person. Are you really going to give the waitress $1.00 for that service..........get real..........

I love a Thermos full of coffee at the table. I take what I want.........when I want..........and the coffee remains fresh and hot. Far better than trying to get the waitress to fill those tiny little cups.

They'd never get dinged for that if I patronized the place.

I like it too, but they shouldn't call themselves full service. In a full service restaurant the coffee is never cold if the service is good anyway.

__________________
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Tipping is really a shrewd form of compensation contrived by cheap-skate restraint owners to coerce patrons to make up for the restaurant’s refusal to pay a living wage. Sometimes they get the State to go along with them.


On the patron's part, tipping has virtually nothing to do with the quality of service and everything to do with projecting one’s values in the form of a gratuity.

If the patron is cheap they will never tip much and rationalize their decision upon a perception of the waitstaff doing poor work. In fact tipper’s relentless cheapness is the only issue.

If the patron is generous, they will rationalize that the waiter (or more often waitress) needs the money. They will tip too much, often in a vain attempt at seeking approval. Waitstaff, obviously love this kind of customer.

If the waiter or waitress is very attractive, they will probably receive more in tips from all but the cheapest (or most attractive) patrons, compared to someone of average or even average good looks. It is a fact of the human condition that we will tend to give more to attractive people. It’s due to hijacked Darwinian-like motivations and why so many attractive people are wait-staff.

Add to this, all kinds of dynamics. If for example, there is a guy and a girl at a table and the guy checks out the waitress, the girl will always find some petty fault and suggest tipping less. If the reverse is true (a girl checks out a waiter or vice-versa), the guy will usually tip more.

So tipping is all about projecting your values upon the innocent duties of waitstaff. I suppose if you were a true existentialists you’d relay to the waiter or waitress that life is meaningless or you are just too anxiety ridden to offer a tip; and after all, it was their duty.

In turn, this raises the question if existentialism is truly all about anxiety and meaninglessness or merely using that is a veiled excuse for being cheap….

On the resturant owner's part, mandatory gratuities are all about the restaurant owner trying to force the patrons to compensate for the owner’s cheap nature. Ironically, sometimes they get the State to go along with their fascist goals.

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Toyota is a leader only because their drivers block everyone behind them. Oh what a feeling.

Only because consumers let them get away with it. It's impossible to serve you a $15 dinner at $15/hr.

Well, not impossible. Remove some of the liability, some of the regulatory BS, rezone so businesses can exist in residential areas, decrease sprawl and increase population density so small businesses can run efficiently. That'll be a start.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I never know how much to tip bad waiters and cows. It always confuses me . . .

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I once went to dinner at a very expensive steakhouse in New York (I guess that was a bit redundant, wasn't it?) with a former boss (who was a complete jerk to begin with). The waiter was snotty-acting and rude, and the service was pretty poor especially considering the restaurant.
When it was time to go, John, my boss, was pushing me towards the door. I asked him what was the big hurry and he told me he wanted to be out of the restaurant when the waiter discovered what he'd left for a tip. I believe he said he had left a dime as the tip for a $300 dinner.
I'm surprised that waiter didn't come running down the street after us with a butcher knife. I might leave 10% for poor service, but that's about the worst I've ever done.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles