Waiters: How much do you tip out?

MahoganySouls

mookie9999 wrote:

Are you prepared to pay higher amounts for food to balance out for not tipping? I'm not sure about other cities/states/countries, but seeing how the majority of restaurant owners in NYC are greedy, cokehead thieves, if they were required to pay a decent wage to their employees, I guarantee you would feel it a lot more in your wallet than a 20% tip.

And when their restaurants become empty, they will have to reconsider.

mookie9999

MahoganySouls wrote:

And when their restaurants become empty, they will have to reconsider.

I can't speak for the rest of the world, but this approach will not work in NYC. People, with way too much money, eat out far too often and will continue to regardless.

markymark550

rhinomagic wrote:

Forgive me if I missed the original point, but it seems to me that you're asking the people who actually serve tables how much we tip-out to bartenders, bussers, or any of our other co-workers for their services throughout the shift.

Is that correct?

If so, I don't understand the 30-40% guideline. Unless you're working at some place where you walk with $500.00 each night, why are you giving away one-third of your take? Our restaurant has a tip-share program where each server gives 3% of his/her sales to the house. That 3% is re-distributed to bartenders (who make their own tips from bar customers), bussers, and hosts (who each earn a higher wage per hour than servers/bartenders).

Given my situation, 30% of the night's sales sounds like highway robbery. If it's 30% of the night's earnings, it still sounds a little steep. Help me understand.

.

When I bussed tables, we had the same tip-share program that you used. I didn't mind sharing the tips with the hosts/hostesses, but it pissed me off when the bartenders got part of that money with them making their own tips.

MahoganySouls

mookie9999 wrote:

I can't speak for the rest of the world, but this approach will not work in NYC. People, with way too much money, eat out far too often and will continue to regardless.

So be it. If they have the money to burn. Let em.

BinGnarly

MahoganySouls wrote:

what is a bar back?
how many hours did you work?

I worked 8 hours but I make 5 dollars an hour then I get tips. We were slow last night so I only made 30 but then i had to pay for the food I ate so that was 5 dollars.

A Bar Back does all the bitch work for a bar. We stock beer, change kegs, wash dishes etc... I love my job though. On a good night ill make like 70 dollars in tips at five dollars an hour.

dunkman

mookie9999 wrote:

To the non-tippers out there because you don't favor the American way, you are paying for it in the cost of the food where you live.

so in america my meal costs $20 and so i tip $5 for the pleasure of being in America... in Scotland i'll pay £25... same difference the only difference is i didnt have a sycophantic waitress all over me cleaning my table and asking if i need a refill every sip... you know she's only doing that to get a tip... and in that way ots like being a prostitute.. she may as well slap her jugs on my dinner plate and allow me to lick them

I know what some people pay in NYC to rent their restaurant,and I assure you, you wouldn't want to see what the prices on the menu would be if the owners paid a better wage. What are the costs in other countries to run a restaurant?

London is per sq metre the worlds most expensive real estate... http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007280746 and yet they pay their staff minimum wage.. they still run a successful business???? how can this be... and remember that americans eat more than anyone else in the world!! so if London restaurants can pay minimum wage with no obligatory tipping then so can the rest of the world

soulsinging

dunkman wrote:

same as a dentist, bus driver, shoe salesperson, air hostess, etc etc... i think its called 'professional pride'

i want the same level of service from anyone regardless if they get paid shit or not.. not my problem... they should have listened at school.... i dont tip my dentist, i've never tipped an air hostess who served me a meal.... so why tip people? I think Finsy said it best back in this thread... its self-aggrandising... its the american way.. lets flash cash around and whats more we'll flash it most to the people who get paid the least to let them know we earn more than them and that they should smile at me so i will bestow an extra $5 dollars on them.

its almost prostitution

yeah, cos holdover jobs occupied largely by transient high school and college kids carry a lot of pride. i remember when i became a card-carrying member of the american grocery bagger's union. i tear up still when i remember the swelling of my heart that day. or it might have been the fumes from the cleaner i was using to mop up baby vomit. but i felt like i'd really accomplished something that day.

soulsinging

dunkman wrote:

so in americfa my meal costs $20 and so i tip $5 for the pleasure of being in America... in Scotland i'll pay £25... same difference the only difference is i didnt have a sycophantic waitress all over me cleaning my table and asking if i need a refill every sip... you know she's only doing that to get a tip... and in that way ots like being a prostitute.. she may as well slap her jugs on my dinner plate and allow me to lick them

London is per sq metre the worlds most expensive real estate... http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007280746 and yet they pay their staff minimum wage.. they still run a successful business???? how can this be... and remember that americans eat more than anyone else in the world!! so if London restaurants can pay minimum wage with no obligatory tipping then so can the rest of the world

i find it very funny that a scotsman here yearns for the rest of the world to be just like london.

and 25 pounds is twice as much as $25. it's called an exchange rate. you should tip the waitress and thank her for saving your niggardly foreign ass money.

dunkman

soulsinging wrote:

yeah, cos holdover jobs occupied largely by transient high school and college kids carry a lot of pride. i remember when i became a card-carrying member of the american grocery bagger's union. i tear up still when i remember the swelling of my heart that day. or it might have been the fumes from the cleaner i was using to mop up baby vomit. but i felt like i'd really accomplished something that day.

was it sarcasm class today Souly? here have $5 for being a grocery packer... simply because you doing that shit job made me laugh

soulsinging

dunkman wrote:

was it sarcasm class today Souly? here have $5 for being a grocery packer... simply because you doing that shit job made me laugh

actually, all my brothers bagged groceries. i worked in the library shelving books. great job to do when you're high... you're not ALLOWED to talk to anyone.

dunkman

soulsinging wrote:

i find it very funny that a scotsman here yearns for the rest of the world to be just like london.

and 25 pounds is twice as much as $25. it's called an exchange rate. you should tip the waitress and thank her for saving your niggardly foreign ass money.

i meant to use the $ instead of the £... basically meal costs are the same here as over on your side of the murder pond.


i'm tipping no fucker

soulsinging

dunkman wrote:

i meant to use the $ instead of the £... basically meal costs are the same here as over on your side of the murder pond.

i'm tipping no fucker

yeah, but you have to admit i'd deserve a little something something for slipping 'niggardly' into a sentence. that's a sweet word that never gets used.

dunkman

soulsinging wrote:

actually, all my brothers bagged groceries. i worked in the library shelving books. great job to do when you're high... you're not ALLOWED to talk to anyone.

so you werent allowed to talk to anyone? people should be tipping you for that... that i agree with.

Songburst

dunkman wrote:

yes.. its called Imaginaryland and they get paid in strippers

p.s. your signature is brilliant

My mistake. It's just what I heard. Payment in strippers does seem loverly though.

mookie9999

dunkman wrote:

i'm tipping no fucker

And that's exactly why servers will huddle and draw straws to see which one will have to be forced to deal with your non-tipping ass.

dunkman

mookie9999 wrote:

And that's exactly why servers will huddle and draw straws to see which one will have to be forced to deal with your non-tipping ass.

you presume that i go to the same place all the time... if i go to a restaurant i've never been to before then they'll not know i dont tip... and as tipping isnt commonly done over here in the UK i can frequent where i want without concerning myself with ooohhh should i leave 10% or 13%.. was the waiter quick, did he offer me 17 refills, etc etc

i get a bill for £18.87 and i pay that....


i bought a sofa recently... the sign said £399.. so thats what i paid.. i didnt think "hmmm maybe i should pay the salemen 3% of that" so why would i do that at a restaurant?

its just a dumb system... if business is really really slow one night then the staff get no pay??? thats awful.. i'd expect that sort of treatment of staff in southern India.. but america, the land of the free and home of the cashwavers... no, i presumed they'd treat their staff with respect and decency.

Songburst

dunkman wrote:

you presume that i go to the same place all the time... if i go to a restaurant i've never been to before then they'll not know i dont tip... and as tipping isnt commonly done over here in the UK i can frequent where i want without concerning myself with ooohhh should i leave 10% or 13%.. was the waiter quick, did he offer me 17 refills, etc etc

i get a bill for £18.87 and i pay that....


i bought a sofa recently... the sign said £399.. so thats what i paid.. i didnt think "hmmm maybe i should pay the salemen 3% of that" so why would i do that at a restaurant?

its just a dumb system... if business is really really slow one night then the staff get no pay??? thats awful.. i'd expect that sort of treatment of staff in southern India.. but america, the land of the free and home of the cashwavers... no, i presumed they'd treat their staff with respect and decency.

I don't think that too many people expect much of a tip from a Scotsman anyway. Scotsmen and black men don't tip, right?

Tipping is a good practice I think. See the dialog about tipping at the beginning of Reservoir Dogs for an explanation on why it is good. I generally tip 15% every time I go out unless the service was absolutely horrible. In that case I tip nothing and relish in the fact that I likely cost the server money by leaving no tip.

Heineken Helen

I think it's the whole American system of add ons... what you see is never what you get and it's a fucking pain in the arse... you see something at a certain price, then you go to pay, then they add on tax, next thing ya know they're charging you for the honour of serving you :rolleyes: . Over here it's all included... one price for all. Like I've said before, they don't split your bill into 'wages, food, overheads, profit' do they? So why should wages be singled out? And to mookie who said that it will all be included in the cost of our food, well it is and we still think it's a better system... and it's still not much more expensive than over there (if any when you take cost of living into account). It's not rocket science.

evenkat

Heineken Helen wrote:

I think it's the whole American system of add ons... what you see is never what you get and it's a fucking pain in the arse... you see something at a certain price, then you go to pay, then they add on tax, next thing ya know they're charging you for the honour of serving you :rolleyes: . Over here it's all included... one price for all. Like I've said before, they don't split your bill into 'wages, food, overheads, profit' do they? So why should wages be singled out? And to mookie who said that it will all be included in the cost of our food, well it is and we still think it's a better system... and it's still not much more expensive than over there (if any when you take cost of living into account). It's not rocket science.

Tipping is not rocket science either .

Tipping was a topic in our Ireland tour package. We tipped when we were in Ireland. We were told to tip but not as much as we would tip here but of course we did anyway lol. We even tipped our tour driver but again we were told we should tip him too.

Heineken Helen

evenkat wrote:

Tipping is not rocket science either .

Tipping was a topic in our Ireland tour package. We tipped when we were in Ireland. We were told to tip but not as much as we would tip here but of course we did anyway lol. We even tipped our tour driver but again we were told we should tip him too.

but what I mean is... if I buy something, actually here it's the law that the price must be on show... and that's all you're charged. So everything is included. and it makes sense. What's the point in looking at a menu and thinking 'ok so that's 15.95 + 12.5% tax + 15% tip... hmm... let me get my calculator out' rather than... say the total on the bill being 19.30. Which one is easiest? Which one makes more sense? Over here if you run a business, your employees are your responsibility, as are your taxes... everything should be just included. I want to know what my feckin meal costs... just one price... not three different prices... it's STUPID!