do waiters chase you if you don't tip in america?

[kherbert05]

Ah. A good idea to always put the tip on the credit card (if used), to avoid theft, then.

I disagree. I've told this story before. My Dad was a member of a club. The manager of the club decided to save money by switching the servers from non-tipped employees to tipped employees. But he didn't tell the general membership. THe new cards had a spot for tips but since most people have never tipped at a CC, people generally didn't see them. On the rare occasion someone did list a tip there - the manager stole it.


Dad found out about the little con, when one of Dad's employees came to him for advice. The man's University aged child was working at the CC and was now struggling because of the drastic drop in wages. (they had been paid a good deal over min wage). Many members had been very pleased with the new manager's "improvements and increased profitablity" of the club. Dad made it very clear that this was morally corrupt and that when the media got hold of it it was going to play that a bunch of rich white men were cheating a bunch of poor largely Hispanic boys and girls out of fair wages. It took a month or so to fire the jerk. Part of the protest Dad and the other members launched was to tip the kids very well but in cash from member's hand to employee's hand.


Since then I've heard from several friends and family members about times managers stole tips left on cards. I try to hand cash tips to my server.


I've been chased by servers 2x - both because they thought I had left my change by mistake. Actually I had tipped them a large amount because they fixed a difficult situation.


1. The power was out at home. It was summer - in Houston. I was hot, tired and had a splitting head ache. I showered and went to get some food. I went to a Tex Mex place and was ordering one of their plates. The kind shown in a grid. Due to my fatigue and headache my dyslexia flip flopped the grid. I thought the numbers were under the description  they were above the description. The plates were almost identical but my favorite part was left off what I ordered. Once we figured out what I did the waiter talked to the manager and got permission to let me order the item. It is hard to describe how good that made me feel - I was just so tired and uncomfortable I needed that comfort food the kindness was magnified by how down I was. So I left double my normal tip.


The other time was  a new place, with a brand new waiter. He was doing a great job - but the manager or some person in authority kept giving him negative feedback about everything he did at my table. (I don't think the person realized I could hear him - but I have teacher hearing).  Also what the person was telling the server was wrong.  He put the drink down a little farther to the left than normal - but I had an Ipad sitting on the table. So what he really did was put the drink a safe distance from the very expensive electronic. I doubled my tip that time also. I this case I walked back in with him and told the person who had been critiquing him that It was all his tip and complemented him on his excellent service. I didn't go back - I just couldn't stomach the manager's attitude.


The only times I haven't tipped have been
1. When they lied about peanut products in the food and I was leaving to go to the ER. (Don't pay for the meal in that situation either)


2. The manager was so unbelievably rude to my friends and I that we cancelled the order and walked out before being served our food. This was back in the mid 80's when the feds were forcing states to change drinking age. 1/2 of us were of age. 1/2 weren't but had been 6 months before. The 1/2 that were ordered drinks. We were served then the drinks removed and we were told we would not be served. I knew from some comments that my Dad had made that TABC had been conducting sting opperations were mixed groups of nearly legal and legal people at the same time order drinks and the not quite legal people get served because of confusion. I explained to my friends and we agreed to all have tea or soft drinks. The manager got nasty again even though we weren't ordering acholol. We walked at that point. (He wanted us to pay for the drinks he took back - no go. )

[Katana_Geldar]

Tipping is rare, but occasionally I will tip. I tipped them at Starbucks yesterday as the girl there remembered I like an extra lid to put my tea bag in so I don't take it with me. But there I put in the tip jar.

We tipped a cab driver once when he helped us get one from Ikea and carried the boxes to the garage.

And we tipped the awesome bartender when cruising $30 at the end of the cruise, because he was so worth it.

Tipping doesn't really bother me, though I don't like the idea that not tipping means you get bad service. The thing that annoys me most about US style dinng is that you have one server who looks after you. You can't just flag anyone down and get more food or the bill, you need to wait for your person who may be at another table in the same section. This gets a lot of fun when bar staff are different from food staff. One night on our honey,own, we waited for ages to get drinks to the point where our waiter said he was going to find the bar waiter and kill him. We a.so learned there were special areas of the dining room to sit in to get shooters.

[DottyG]

You can't just flag anyone down and get more food or the bill

Sure you can.  I do all the time with no problem.

[Outdoor Girl]

Me, too.  The flagged down server usually passes the message on to the server assigned to your table.

[DottyG]

Or even do it themselves.

[Thipu1]

I've never had a waiter in the USA chase me.

I was once chased down by a waiter in the UK to return a tip.

Once, we were chased down the street and around the corner by a waiter.  He wasn't complaining about not getting a tip.  He thought we didn't pay for our meal and the cost would be taken out of his wages.  The restaurant was a Steak House so the amount would be considerable.

We went back and the problem was quite quickly cleared up.  We had paid and left a generous tip but the server hadn't seen it.  It was an embarrassing time for all concerned.   

[Bottlecaps]

Sometimes, yes, they do hunt you down in the parking lot/way out of the resturant but it is pretty rare.   

No, they do not really get a minumum wage. Some jobs flat out tell you, you are working for tips. They do have to make up your pay rate if you make less than minumum wage but in reality that rarely happens.

POD.

I am a waitress - or at least, I will be again soon. I have never, ever, ever chased someone because they didn't tip me. Slight OT - I have, however, as a PP mentioned, chased someone when they didn't pay their bill or didn't leave enough money to cover the bill. Luckily someone trying to walk their check only happened to me once, and they said it was an accident (they thought the other people they were with had paid their check). I still don't know if it was really an accident or not, but I do know that when I came running after them in the parking lot, they paid up, lol.

Me, too.  The flagged down server usually passes the message on to the server assigned to your table.

Or even do it themselves.

This. If your server is busy with another table, absolutely feel free to flag down another who isn't quite so busy at the moment. They will either pass the message on, or if it's something pretty simple (you need a refill or you need an extra roll of silverware or extra napkins), they'll even do it themselves. It's happened to me a few times, both being flagged down by another server's table and having a message passed to me by another server. I'd much rather my table get what they need in a timely manner, even if it's from another server, than have to wait until I'm finished taking another table's order or running food to another table, etc.

[Hmmmmm]

They are stealing.  They are stealing someone's service and their other tips.  This is the way it is, servers work for tips.

That cocltail you ordered?  Gets tipped out to the bartender whether you tipped or not.  Hosts and hostesses?  They get 3% tipped out.  So, because you ate there, the server has to tip out others on your behalf.  When you don't tip, that money comes out of his other tips.

That is isn't how it is across the board but is in most large restaurants and chains.

And no, servers do not want to work for minumum wage.

If they were paid minimum wage, the quality of servers would go down.

Also you might be surprised to know how much a server focuses on a particular customer because that is where his tip is coming from.

So, what give him the right t confront someone?  He is working for them!    If the customer is not going to tip they should e able to give a reason for it that is based on the server's performance, like "we waited half an hour for our apps" or "you never brought us our sides."

Unless someone comes from the moon, they should be aware of how the system works.  Doesn't really matter of one agrees with it or not, it is the reality.

Just because you are not compelled by law to do something does not rescind your obligation to it.  If you don't like the system, then don't dine out in the US.

i never said i disliked the system, i was just confused as heck  no one else where i am really has this tipping mentality and i was curious, i was merely asking for information and confirmation. i don't inherently dislike the system as it seems to work well enough in america, i just wanted to know why it happened and how 

I was responding to reflection5 -- sorry, the reply thingie didn't work for me.

Audrey, while I agree with many of your points, I would caution that not all restaurants work this way. Some hostess work for base wage and do not see any tips. Some bartenders only get the tips when customers ordered at the bar if the patron tips.

Maybe you missed this:

"That is isn't how it is across the board but is in most large restaurants and chains."

No, I didn't miss it. I just disagree that it is the "across the board in most large restaurants and chains."

I'm aware of a few large restaurants and local chains that do not follow the practice you describe.

[reflection5]

I was responding to reflection5 -- sorry, the reply thingie didn't work for me.

AudreyQuest, I never said anything about not tipping because it's not a law, (actually I do tip, most of the time) and as far as you telling me to stop eating out, well, I eat out when I choose to and will continue to do so.

As someone else has pointed out, your comments here are unnecessarily confrontational.

[MsMarjorie]

Something that people from other countries might not realize is that minimum wage in the US isn't very high.  Here in Australia the minimum wage is $15.96 per hour, and is intended to be a "liveable" wage (I don't think it is in reality).  So even if one is earning minimum wage in America, its not enough to live on - so the tips are extra important.

[Audrey Quest]

I was responding to reflection5 -- sorry, the reply thingie didn't work for me.

AudreyQuest, I never said anything about not tipping because it's not a law, (actually I do tip, most of the time) and as far as you telling me to stop eating out, well, I eat out when I choose to and will continue to do so.

As someone else has pointed out, your comments here are unnecessarily confrontational.

You has a general and a specific use.  I expected that given the context of my comments that they would be understood to be general.


I'm sorry if that wasn't clear.

[Alpacas]

I think this is a tangent question, but I'll ask it here, since we have US and non-US present.

Non-US people, do you find/think that there is an expectation of tips from tourists from the US in your country?  I'm wondering, if I'm in a non-tipping country, they see me as "oh, she's from the US; they always tip there, so she's going to tip me".

I'm from Munich, Germany, where we have lots of tourists throughout  the year.
I am fairly certain that no one would "expect" you to tip more. Germany is not a country where the tip is expected to be part of the waiters wage. They are "tokens of gratitude" for a good service.
If the people tip then they usually leave about 15% of the bill. That usually just means rounding up to the next Euro and adding 50 cents 

[Outdoor Girl]

My new non-smart cell phone has a tip calculator.  The default percentage is 15%.

[MrTango]

Ah. A good idea to always put the tip on the credit card (if used), to avoid theft, then.

I disagree. I've told this story before. My Dad was a member of a club. The manager of the club decided to save money by switching the servers from non-tipped employees to tipped employees. But he didn't tell the general membership. THe new cards had a spot for tips but since most people have never tipped at a CC, people generally didn't see them. On the rare occasion someone did list a tip there - the manager stole it.

That isn't the customer's problem.  That's a situation where the server needs to stand up for themselves and report the theft to the authorities.

[Library Dragon]

Me, too.  The flagged down server usually passes the message on to the server assigned to your table.

There were one or two places we never went back to where the other staff said, "Not my table and ignored us."

We have been followed out by a waiter who didn't count the tip correctly.  He counted a $20 as a $10. 

On our trip to France this past November one couple in our group ate at a different restaurant.  They were told tips weren't included.  Our walking tour guide said they'd been taken. 

Wait staff that I've known have said that they are automatically taxed as receiving 10% in tips.  In thei chain restaurants the talley of their tables is recorded.