Eating in a Restaurant - from a Waitress

megatron

_Crazy_Mary_ wrote:

Yeah, I've been working in restaurants for 17 years and have never witnessed a chef do something bad because food was sent back.

maybe not a "chef"..
i was a line cook for nearly 10 years...
i've seen some awful stuff.

if im in a restaurant and my food isn't perfect, i'll smile and say thanks
i takes a foreign object to ruin my time

at least the lady tipped well..all that really matters

Brisk.

Always thought of it as beginning for money sorta thing.

dunkman

Kel Varnsen wrote:

I don't think customers are getting the raw deal, I think they are getting the opposite. I mean lower wages for servers, means that prices at restaurants can be lower. If you have a good experience you can leave a good tip, and the waiter makes more money. If you have bad service you don't leave a very good tip and your dinner is not as expensive. It is like the restaurant version of natural selection. The opposite would be to have no tipping, pay every waiter the same higher wage and have meal and drink prices be higher (even if you get crap service).

why would the prices be higher?

if a meal costs you $10 and you then tip $2 then the meal cost you $12

if there was no tipping then the meal could be raised to $12 and the staff would get a good hourly wage and not have to be performing seals for big fat men who complain about their steaks.

how much is a meal over in the US anyway... say Steak, Fries & Salad with a drink... roughly how much would that be?

dunkman

joint in a tree wrote:

Firstly, the chef/cook does not care if you tip or not. He gets paid the same either way.

so chef does all the hard work and gets paid the same either way? seems a bit shit to me... cooks work hard... its a skilled job.

joint in a tree wrote:

There is a family of non-tippers that frequents my restaurant. I would never taint their food because it is unethical and just plain wrong. Also, if caught, i would lose my job or worse. The first 2x I waited on them, I gave them my usual good service. No tip. Now when they come in, they are my last priority. Unless all my other tables need absolutely nothing, I don't care if they need drink refills or whatever. I don't care if the cooks try to pass off old fries or overcooked meat. (Normally, in my restaurant, i can tell the cooks if i don't like how something looks before it leaves the kitchen, and they have to fix it) I don't care if they get their food at the same time as their apps and salad--my main goal is to get them in and out, and free up my table. They never complain, but they never tip either (not just me--we've all waited on them) Why should i go out of my way, when i know it's only gonna cost me a buck or 2 in tipout? I'd rather write it off and focus on my other tables, who will tip for my good service.

so you treat people shit because they dont tip... in my system you wouldn't have to tip and so you could treat everyone the same.. seems to me that in America money talks... and if you get a customer in who gave you a big fucking tip last time then you are going to fawn all over him and neglect your other customers who dont tip as well... its rewarding the fancy cash splashers... and thats what makes it a repugnant system... some poor joe wants to take his lady out for a meal but might not have the same kinda cash flying around as Mr L.A. Wyer... so he gets 2nd rate service because of that?

pay decent wages and you'll still get decent service... the French are considered the masters of customer service in the fine dining world... this is reflected in their salary... pay good and you'll get good staff... pay a shit wage and it doesnt turn into a profession to aspire to.

Kel Varnsen

dunkman wrote:

Kel Varnsen wrote:

I don't think customers are getting the raw deal, I think they are getting the opposite. I mean lower wages for servers, means that prices at restaurants can be lower. If you have a good experience you can leave a good tip, and the waiter makes more money. If you have bad service you don't leave a very good tip and your dinner is not as expensive. It is like the restaurant version of natural selection. The opposite would be to have no tipping, pay every waiter the same higher wage and have meal and drink prices be higher (even if you get crap service).

why would the prices be higher?

if a meal costs you $10 and you then tip $2 then the meal cost you $12

if there was no tipping then the meal could be raised to $12 and the staff would get a good hourly wage and not have to be performing seals for big fat men who complain about their steaks.

how much is a meal over in the US anyway... say Steak, Fries & Salad with a drink... roughly how much would that be?

The prices would be higher because if they eliminated tipping and just gave everyone a 20% raise then everyone no matter how good or bad a server they are would make more money and the owners would have to pass that cost on to the customer. The way it is now if I go to a restuarant and have good service on a 10 dollar meal yes it costs me 12 dollars. But if I have fair to poor service it only costs me 10-11 dollars. With the other way you presented it costs me 12 dollars no matter how bad the service is. Now if every server in every restaurant was great at their job, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but in reality that is not the case.

ZiggyStar

dunkman wrote:

that is the problem... why do restaurant customers get the raw deal just because you havent heard of the invention of the 'minimum wage'

EXACTLY!

dunkman

Kel Varnsen wrote:

dunkman wrote:

Kel Varnsen wrote:

I don't think customers are getting the raw deal, I think they are getting the opposite. I mean lower wages for servers, means that prices at restaurants can be lower. If you have a good experience you can leave a good tip, and the waiter makes more money. If you have bad service you don't leave a very good tip and your dinner is not as expensive. It is like the restaurant version of natural selection. The opposite would be to have no tipping, pay every waiter the same higher wage and have meal and drink prices be higher (even if you get crap service).

why would the prices be higher?

if a meal costs you $10 and you then tip $2 then the meal cost you $12

if there was no tipping then the meal could be raised to $12 and the staff would get a good hourly wage and not have to be performing seals for big fat men who complain about their steaks.

how much is a meal over in the US anyway... say Steak, Fries & Salad with a drink... roughly how much would that be?

The prices would be higher because if they eliminated tipping and just gave everyone a 20% raise then everyone no matter how good or bad a server they are would make more money and the owners would have to pass that cost on to the customer. The way it is now if I go to a restuarant and have good service on a 10 dollar meal yes it costs me 12 dollars. But if I have fair to poor service it only costs me 10-11 dollars. With the other way you presented it costs me 12 dollars no matter how bad the service is. Now if every server in every restaurant was great at their job, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but in reality that is not the case.

well over here if i get bad service i tell the waitress... if it continues we complain to the manager/ess and we will usually get some free drinks, or free dessert or something... but its very rare as people NEED their jobs.. especially at the moment... if a restaurant owner has to keep giving out free drinks then he'll do something about it... and rightly so... waiter/ess wasnt doing their job properly... but the family in the above no-tipping scenario are not getting treated correctly because they dont tip...

i'd love this tipping rule to come into all aspects of life... imagine being a bus driver and because you didnt get tipped you drove past someones stop, wiggled the wheel as they walked down the aisle, gave out wrong change, parked up somewhere and didnt move for 15 minutes... all the passengers would complain... but if you all tipped him big enough dough then he'd sort you out alright... mr rich man would be at home reading his papers whilst Joe Schmoe would still be 7 miles away from his doorstep cos he didnt tip.

ZiggyStar

dunkman wrote:

well over here if i get bad service i tell the waitress... if it continues we complain to the manager/ess and we will usually get some free drinks, or free dessert or something... but its very rare as people NEED their jobs.. especially at the moment... if a restaurant owner has to keep giving out free drinks then he'll do something about it... and rightly so... waiter/ess wasnt doing their job properly... but the family in the above no-tipping scenario are not getting treated correctly because they dont tip...

Yes, that way is sooooo much easier. And you're right -- people do their job correctly because they'll get fucking sacked if they don't. Plain and simple. Fuck tipping..... :x

decides2dream

_Crazy_Mary_ wrote:

Ok, for me it's not so much that you should complain if it's not perfect but that you shouldn't give off the attitude that you dislike your meal but still tell me 'it's ok.' It's one thing to eat the meal anyway even if you're not satisfied, but don't be a dick about it when I've already asked you how it is and you lied & said it's ok. Does that make any sense.
After reading this thread I do understand why a person may be intimidated into not complaining, but if that's the case, then lie to me & tell me it's great & leave happy. haha

hahaha.


i agree tho, it's best to be honest.
i mean sure, i've had some lackluster meals here or there and when asked i say it was fine or whatever....simply b/c it was no biggie, or i realize the dish simply isn't for me, etc. however.....if something is truly wrong with the meal, definitely should let them know. how else can something be improved if it is unknown to be an issue? i've really never been intimidated about making a complaint, not that i've made that many in any case......but i too think it's best to let a restaurant know if you are happy or not. that's how they get repeat customers, and customers get food and service they want too. win-win!

Hinn

Fact: I love every post dunk has ever made on the subject of tipping.

g under p

joint in a tree wrote:

Kel Varnsen wrote:

Maybe it is because in a lot of places people think if you send something back, the cook is going to do something bad to your food.

that doesn't really happen in real life, not in my 15+ years experience in restaurants. Maybe at McD's or something. Or maybe if you're really nasty. But a simple "Would you have this steak cooked up for me please?" will NOT result in that.

Well did you see the Dominos YouTube video of the things this guy did to pizza NOT because anyone pissed him off but maybe he thought it was funny. He stuck cheese in his nose then placed it in the pizza and I believed he farted on some pizzas too. They closed down the Dominos and santized it from head to toe then fired both employees.

I was just talking to a coworker and told me when she worked in a fancy restaurant when another waiter got pissed at someone he would rub his penis on silverware just to get back at people. So they are some sick people out there so be aware of what goes on when you go out to eat.

Peace

LloydXmas

If I tell you it sucks is the restaurant going to pay for it? No