Comments on: The Gentleman’s Guide To Tipping

By: DREWTW

DREWTW — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:38:52 +0000

Dear AOM, as a long time waiter for a restaurant, (whose name i wont mention but i will say it’s a factory that produces cheescakes) THANK YOU for this post!

By: Dusto

Dusto — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:59:12 +0000

i’m not sure if its like this in all of europe, but in germany, you round to the next dollar, or euro, and the added change is the tip

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:37:13 +0000

I make sure to always tip in cash. I know a few restaurants whose policy is to split a tip placed on a credit card among all the employees working. Also, if it’s on the credit card, they have to tax it.

If the service was really great or even if I just see that the waiter is really trying, I usually write a note at the top of the receipt.

By: Noah M

Noah M — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:03:35 +0000

Man, some of the people here have real contempt for people in the services industries. What’s up with that? The places I’ve gone to and decided I liked, I’ve tipped accordingly, and when I’ve gone back, I’ve gotten excellent service. And when you make a good relationship with someone in the service industry, you might get great deals. A group of friends and I showed up to a tapas bar once, and one in the group knew our waitress. We ended up getting a couple pitches of margaritas, beer, and some snacks, and the tab turned out to be only $18 — we were pretty much just charged for a margarita pitcher. We probably tipped 100% for being hooked up like that, but when we go back there (without the one of us who’s friends with the waitress), excellent service is now the norm.

Another thing. If you’ve had very poor service, don’t leave a tip of zero — the waiter/waitress might not think their service is poor; they might think that you forgot, or you’re a rude and entitled customer (and trust, they’ve encountered plenty of those). If you leave a quarter, I think they’re probably more likely to get the message.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:02:45 +0000

Marti,

I don’t know about anywhere else, but if you’re a server in a restaurant and tipping was done away with, you should be making at least 14 an hour. That’s what a bad waiter would make in an hour. You’re on your feet all day, if it’s busy everything is chaos and you have to constantly multi-task with no downtime, you’re dealing with customers which sucks cause there’s someone always getting mad at you for someone else fault like a bad busy boy or a cook who didn’t cook their food properly or food runner giving them the wrong plate, and you’re always working horrible hours either closing and opening the next day, working holidays with no compensation and night shifts every friday and saturday night when most waiters/waitresses are in their late teens early 20′s working the nights their friends are out having a good time. It’s a horrible job and people only do it cause it pays very well. If it didn’t pay well, you would find other work that was much easier.