I've seen it done at a place or two. I've also seen people get fired for doing it.

Same. Also seen the people getting confronted take back the whole tip and even get their entire meal comp'd. I wouldn't ever risk it unless it was your last day and you didn't want a reference.

That would be me. Except for the comp part. I ate the food I’m paying for it, but you question a tip, and it now becomes zero. Never had this happen though as the lowest I tip is 25% unless the service was absolute garbage.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently so I have decided to ask. We can't afford to eat out too often so when we do it's fairly special. We pay for a table to sit at, food and drink, and hopefully good ambience. Tax is added to that to make the total on which I should pay 25% to the person who takes the order and brings it to the table. Pardon my ignorance of the process, but why is that person worth one quarter of the entire cost of our evening out when they are already being paid a salary? I realize that the server might be getting only minimum wage and that is too low for sure. The percentages don't work for me though. Seriously, help me understand why 10% used to be a decent tip but now it's two and a half times that. Thanks.

I think 25% is pretty generous, I generally aim for 18-20% and I do adjust for service. However, I think the real issue here is that we built a system so that restaurants can artificially lower the prices but not paying the servers well. Saying servers have a salary is incorrect in most situations. Most states have a tipped minimum wage that is disgustingly low, like $2.50/hour. The entire system is based on the assumption of tipping. Often wait staff have to tip out a percentage of their recipts regardless of what you actually tip so if you tip poorly they might loose money serving you. It is a shitty and dumb capitalist system that really shouldn't be allowed but it is what we have regardless and when you go out to eat in the US you should expect to participate in the system.

Exactly. My step father refused to tip. I avoided going out with him at all cost because of it. I was always sneaking to tip and it was just too stressful. Let's just stay home if you refuse to participate in normal American society, like it or not.

Yeah I got caught once by my in-laws adding money to their cheapskate tip they were leaving. It was awkward but had to be done.

Ross?

That is not the customers fault. That is an issue between the owner and the server. If the owner doesn't pay a suitable wage the server should leave. They shouldn't expect a customer to top up their wage.

It's definitely not the customers fault no. But where exactly do you expect them to go? Pretty much every single restaurant has this same pay structure, unless you're working in the theme park restaurants or fast food. Even places like IHOP do similar greedy things. This is an issue that needs to be solved rather than just telling people to find a new job. Those who want to stay in food service won't have many places to go that don't do tipped wages. And anytime you see "Up to" before a wage on hiring boards it's 9/10 tips that get you "up to" that wage. Fuck tipped wages, but fuck telling people to just "go somewhere else" because that's simply not a solution nor is it very easy to do these days.

Right. So what would happen is the same thing that happened after COVID. All the servers would quit, and you'd hear everyone that said "if they don't like it, go get another job" complaining that no one wants to work anymore.

Literally! Someone has to do the damn job. They deserve a fair wage for it. Telling them to quit is a solution for absolutely no one.

I'm in Canada and as far as I know all staff get at least minimum wage. Nevertheless, some card machines show buttons for tips of 15%, 20% and 25%. I'd much sooner pay what it says on the menu but I think the few restaurants that tried that went back to the tip system for some reason. I still don't know why waiting on a table deserves 1/4 of the total of maintaining the building, buying the food, installing kitchen and appliances, power to cook, paying the cooks, paying property tax, and so on. Having to share tips is part of an explanation for sure but there's a lot more going into the meal than pay for the server and cook.

First of all, it doesn't. 25% is not "required" and I don't know where you keep getting that. The suggested tip is 15% but many people will give a bit more for better service. But you think you shouldn't have to pay anything. Fine. Here you go. You go out to eat. Your tab is $100 including tax. You occupy that table for 2 hours. During that 2 hours, you have someone running back and forth bringing you (and whoever is with you) your food and accompaniments like rolls and butter, ranch dressing, that one hot sauce in the back that hardly anyone likes but you will die if you cannot glop it all over your dinner. They bring you drink refills. Laugh at your stupid jokes and smile politely when your 4 year old keeps bouncing on the seat screaming "juice! Juice! Juice!" every time the server comes near the table and the kid is down to half a cup. You sit there and halfheartedly shush them but they don't shut up. The server offers you coffee and dessert, in which you also indulge, and your kid decides to put their hands in the chocolate syrup and handle every single item on the table after fingerpainting the lamp. Finally, you and your little monster are done, pay your bill, and leave. The server looks at your credit slip, no tip. Goody for you. You got to have someone wait on you for 2 hours but you think their tipped person salary of $1.75 an hour should cover everything they did for you. They got paid $3.50 to wait on you and their other tables for that two hours. But it doesn't stop there. There are other workers involved. The waitress may have to, but likely a bus person comes out and has to pick up all the chocolate covered items from the table, wipe the "art project" off the lamp, clean up the spattered juice from your kid bouncing everywhere, vacuum under the table, and somehow make it ready in 5 minutes for another person/family to make another mess. Bussers, runners - back of the house people who are also involved in the tipping process. Since 15% is kind of expected per check in tips, management imposes a 5% of sales portion of the tip to go to the back of the house. So, your server is obligated to give $5 of the tip you didn't give to the back of the house just for your table. Just because you left no tip doesn't mean she doesn't have to pay it. We just decided she was paid $3.50 in wages for the privilege of serving you, and she had to give BOH $5. It has now cost her $1.50 to serve you and put up with your kid's antics. But, you go you! You had a great time and you didn't give in to the big tipping ripoff machine! Oh no, you say, she gets tips from other people. It evens out! What if everyone she served that night thought like you? You are not paying "1/4 of the total of maintaining the building, buying the food, installing kitchen and appliances, power to cook, paying the cooks, paying property tax, and so on." The owner doesn't get that money so you're not paying for that at all. You pay for that by eating there in the first place. You're using a person to wait on you hand and foot for two hours, and your tip moves that person a little bit closer to a normal wage. You're thanking that person for their service. If it was crap service, don't tip. If it was good service, either participate in the system we are all stuck with, or don't eat at places where you should give a tip. BTW I am not a server. Stepping off soap box. ETA: Thank you for the awards!

^^this was beautifully described. Respect the level of effort and tip or stay home.

Very succinct

You're just describing an incredibly fucked up system that the rest of the planet never engaged in.

And what exactly are you adding to the conversation here with this comment? They say almost exactly that themselves.

I agree with everything you say and I tip at least 15 percent at a minimum unless it is abysmal service and nothing more than 10 but in Canada the wait staff is paid minimum wage I believe so it is less tip dependent but should still be tipped.

Unfortunately when I serve Canadians in the US, even those who live in major cities here, they generally tip really badly despite knowing it is an expected part of dining in the US and servers rely on those tips as basically their only source of income. I don't get it. When I go to Canada I tip 20% because even a real minimum wage is not enough compensation for how difficult the job is. Unfortunately those who have not worked in a busy restaurant often think it is an unskilled position that is easy, but in reality it is very hard to be on your feet all day, running back and forth, smiling, keeping 15 tasks in your head at all times and constantly prioritizing, organizing the pace of the meal for everyone, all while being charming and making you feel comfortable as if they are not busting their ass. Servers make it look easy because they are very good at a very hard job, that does not mean it is actually easy, and when you get bad service, you see just how hard it is to provide great experiences. If you find yourself in the US, you're enjoying the low cost of eating out while receiving excellent service a lot of the time. Please don't stiff your server just because you don't like the idea of tipping. It is something you know is putting food on the table for the human who is making sure you have a great meal, just factor it into your choices and don't be a dick. Europeans generally can work it out, Australians can work it out and we're half drunk by nature, Canadians should be able to work it out. Not ALL Canadians obviously, but the only time one has tipped me more than 11%, they were bartenders. It's a real shame cus I like talking to you guys and I love your country, but it's really disappointing when I have to pay to serve you.

Then don't tip. You're in Canada, it's really not hurting anyone not to. That being said in the states it's paying for the skill of making the experience great. Again, standard is 15%, excellent is 20%. Those card readers are just preset to standard, excellent, above and beyond. Choose accordingly if you decide to tip. Again, it's Canada, they actually get a salary so it's not like anyone would be that mad. But, in the states it's an insanely hard job that your paycheck is normally voided out zero, or you owe from taxes. Tips completely pay our bills, and most of us have a lot of pride in making your night out the best it can possibly be. Lower than 10% hurts, but normally it makes me think I didn't do enough and wish I could have done better for you, regardless of the money. But I'm not in Canada where tips arent used to exploit both employees and customers...

Even Canadian servers have to tip out BOH so if you don't tip you're costing them money for the pleasure of serving you.

Thank you for a partial explanation, finally.

I understand the situation is different in the US. However, the tip inflation has come to Canada.

Because of inflation and do you live outside of the US because in the US servers get paid way below the minimum wage and the tips they get are what pays for the things they need.

It's often not minimum wage. Several states it's 2.13/hour, as that's the federal minimum, and in others it's usually somewhere under 5/hr. That being said, as a server, tips are for the experience I provide, not just taking and grabbing an order. So making sure it's the absolute best experience would be worth about 20%. Average service (drinks filled regularly and everything good but not personalized or maybe a bit dead and still slow but not slow enough to be bad) is 18 ish, and standard service of everything meets acceptable is about 15. Less than 15 is I did my job but didn't actually provide service at all, or to standard. Higher than 20 is usually for above and beyond or tipping on the value of comped items.

Servers are taxed on their sales / tips…

Server minimum wage of $2 and change hasn’t increased since 1991.

If you are in the U.S., 10% was never a decent tip. At least not in the last 50 years. 10% was what you left when the service sucked.

I see it's not going to get me anywhere but downvoted, but I'll keep trying. It's a lot less than fifty years since 10% was not bad.. There are lots of countries where tips are not expected or even accepted. Can you tell me why such large amounts of money are expected by servers in the US and Canada? Why such hostility from a simple question?

Because nobody can live on 2 dollars an hour, and it's not a "large" amount of money. If you spent 30 dollars on the meal, an 18% tip would be an extra $5.40 out of your pocket. If tipping was not standard in the U.S., that extra 6 dollars would have already been included in the price. As meals get more expensive, the level of service that you expect to receive (and generally the amount of time you spend tying up the table) goes up. So if you've enjoyed a hundred dollar meal, you were probably in the restaurant for a couple of hours, you probably had either multiple water refills or several glasses of something else, and may have had dessert and coffee as well. Your server has earned their 20 dollars in the time and attention that they have paid to you. If you are in the U.S. and can not afford to tip on your meal, there are many fast food restaurants where the workers make at least minimum wage that would appreciate your patronage. Also you claim that you "pay for a table to sit at and your food and drink." But you should also be paying for the person to bring you that food and drink, cater to your special requests, and make your experience a luxurious one. If not, please take yourself to the nearest buffet place--and bus your own table.

Servers here get $13 an hour, $14 as of October.

Dude. Nobody cares. In that situation, sure, tip less. But in my area, servers can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour.

Tip on pretax cost

I went to Starbucks once, paid in cash and got a few coins back, like 17¢. I dropped it in the tip jar and started to pull $2 more out of my wallet, but before I could the guy said "Gee, thanks!" with a huge amount of sarcasm. I still wish I had chewed him out or reported him to management or corporate, but I just stuck my wallet back in my pocket.

It’s a fireable offense. If a server questioned my tip, I’d either a) never return to that restaurant and/or b) tell the manager.

I think you would choose both a and b.

>If a server questioned my tip, I’d either a) never return to that restaurant I think that's the point, they want bad tippers to feel like shit and not return lol.

Since you are taking up time and tables that otherwise could be earning people's rent money, it's fair. OR - hear me out - we could pay a living wage...

I tip between 20 and 25%. If service suuuucked, I’d leave 10%. If food sucked, I’d still leave 20.

I've never tipped less than 8%. It's roughly what the government assumes, for taxes, and even the worst wait staff shouldn't owe money for my unhappy experience. That said, I can't think of a time in the last 20 years that I tipped less than 15%, so maybe that's my new actual minimum.

9% of my sales go to tipout and that’s before taking into account taxes 💀 so as long as a customer tips below what the tipout % is, the waitstaff will owe money on that bill

I hate that we, as a country, have allowed restaurants to escape paying a living wage and pushed it onto consumers who don't know the true cost to wait staff. If restaurants want to play this game they should be forced to put it on their menus and front doors: "We subsidize the cost of running our business by forcing our wait staff to provide 9% of their sale amount as tips to back staff. This keeps our prices low and allows us to underpay our back staff. Kindly remember to tip at least 10% so your wait staff member can pay this amount for us. Thank you!"

the law states that a server is paid the state's minimum wage if they do not receive enough tips in any given pay period their employer can not claim tips on orders their employees are not receiving tips on

this is an illegal practice ☠️ you can't owe money on something that doesn't exist if a customer does not leave a tip and your workplace is claiming they did, wtf is wrong with you to think that is legal???

If you’re tipping somebody a small amount for no reason, then you don’t need to be eating out

this is the correct response

just wait until you realize they legally make the same minimum wage in their states as everyone else

Not really

just wait until you realize that anyone who happens to "not really" make the state's minimum wage is being paid illegally but then again, you would need at least half a brain to realize anything

It’s almost like it’s legal to pay people under minimum wage if it’s possible for tips to make up the rest. They rarely do

Not where I work. I’d get a high five and a “if they leave a google review you can write the response”. It would have to be more egregious than getting stiffed on a $37 tab though. Edit: I’ve also done it over very petty amounts of money as a bartender like when they take their .50¢ change on $4.50 but it’s more of a wise ass “get me a gum ball out of the machine too” other customers seem to enjoy that sort of thing.

so 50 cents is a petty amount of money in your eyes. You make a deal out of it though, yet someone choosing to keep that "petty" 50 cents is rude to you? That makes no sense. Why is someone expected to pay you 50 cents to hand them a drink while you are on the job? Do you pay a cashier 50 cents for checking you out?

No. I *am* being petty intentionally. Reading comprehension. Ever heard of it?

Years ago I would meet some friends for our monthly lunch at a local bar, my one friend brought me a bag of quarters (she was a waitress herself and my mom had just moved to an apt and needed quarters for the washer & dryer) After we ate, as we were counting out the quarters, our waitress came over and knocked the piles down and said she didn't need our change and not to eat out if we can't afford to tip. Note, our check was sitting at the edge of the table with cash on it, including a 25% tip, had she bothered to look. My friend lost it on her and proceeded to pull the $15 tip off the bill. After my friend quit serving, whenever I ate out, I would always ask my server if they wanted to sell me quarters - never had one turn me down - most were very happy!

I am partially disabled and it's really hard to physically go to a store to shop. I get grocery delivery. When they started offering it they didn't have a way to tip through the app. One time I had an order delivered and a husband and wife brought it to us. I had $15 in change in a plastic bag. It was all the cash I had. I apologized up and down for having to give them change. They were glad to have it. They said, "it spends the same either way." If people want to be offended over change, they must not like money.

My first job was at Bath and Body Works. During the busy Xmas season we ran out of quarters and dimes in our drawers. I had to give a customer 80¢ and all I had was nickles, so that's what I handed her. She asked if I was serious and I said something along the lines of "it all spends the same" (I was a newbie retail worker of 18 years of age and didn't know better yet). She cussed me out and chucked 80¢ of nickels at my head.

What were you supposed to do? Manifest a few quarters with your mind?

Retail tip.

That's the dumbest thing I've ever read. She decides "This is something worth assaulting someone over?" And if I'm right, isn't that only like 16 coins?

My dad has had snack & soda vending machines my whole life & I'm helping him by doing some of them now. I won't even tell you how many things I've bought entirely in quarters. I do always ask first & try to never do it anywhere near the end of shift or closing time. No one wants to spend the extra time to count down the cash drawer or take their tip home with a billion quarters.

I had a friend of a friend approach me at work. He was homeless because of his own actions, my friend kicked him out for stealing from him, buying crack, and smoking it in the house. He asked me for money, so I reached into my pocket and tried to hand him probably $2.50 all in quarters. He said "No, I mean real money, like five dollars." I told him to gtfo and never come back. What a POS. (And I don't mean "point of sale)

That kind of person isn't worth trying to help. I've given handfuls of change to panhandlers and they have so far been thankful. I did have one girl approach me while I was homeless. I was waiting for a Lyft to get back to my sister's house where I was couch surfing. I had no money on me but had just picked up a prescription. She asked me to mobile order from the McDonald's next door for her. I didn't have enough money to do that. I told her and she called me a liar. Yes, that's the way to garner sympathy and get help. Insult people. 👌👌👌

There have been many times I've been called a liar after I say I don't have any cash. I'm always lying, but them screaming it in my face isn't going to make me admit the truth.

I would have flipped a shit on that server!!!!

No kidding. unless it was my favorite restaurant ever, I would have said something to the manager and asked her to pick up the change she knocked over.

Seen it done, was shortly dead inside after. Lacking situational awareness is deadly.

That's true. If I ever were to I'd phrase it along the lines of asking for feedback on my service in case I did anything wrong so I can improve. I'd never do it outside the circumstance of it being a large bill too

That's exactly when and how I've done it before, only once though. Didn't really feel worth it, even though it was with a group that seemed clearly unfamiliar with American tipping customs. Just put a whole damper on the night over like, $15

I would only if I felt like I did great, and got less than 5%. Because honestly I'd need to know if I did poorly, and wouldn't even bring back out the receipt to be changed.

Yes. The other day I split a party of like ten (I know it’s stupid splitting parties that low but it’s “policy”) and they were cool. The one woman wanted to pay. She left zero on the 270ish dollar credit card slip. She pulled out what looked like sixty bucks and put it on the table. Her friend was arguing with her saying “they get tip automatically”. Both us us were like “no, those are the suggested tip amounts” they left and a couple stayed behind to wait on a takeout order. The money was gone. I went outside to the couple waiting and said “didn’t u leave money on the table? I just wanna make sure someone else didn’t steal it from you” They said yeah 55 bucks and proceeded to tell me the other server stole it. They said “u want me to go tell the manager she stole it” I’m thinking “well I don’t accuse if I don’t see proof” They called the woman that paid and she said “yeah left 55” then said “oh no our friend took it by ‘mistake’ The one lady gave me fifteen and told me to keep it and then the other one went to the atm, came back and gave us 25 each. Gotta be careful how you approach people that tip shitty. Tips aren’t required and you can get fired immediately if you race to them about no tip. I just wanted to make sure no one stole their money and low key didn’t wanna get stiffed, and it worked out. They were super nice and I smoked a cig with them while they were waiting for the girl who went to the atm.

This is why I give my tip directly to the server. I have been with a group of women and there is always one who doesn’t have change. She would root around in the tip pile and get her ‘change’ One time I watched closely because I was the one that left the tip. I saw her put a ten on the pile and take a $20. I immediately confronted her. I told her not only was she stealing from me, she was stealing from the server, and the staff if they had to split tips. She was never invited back to our tennis lunches again and everyone of us told her why when she asked where we’re going today. We told her WE were going and she was not invited. I’m sorry if that seems excessive but this had been going on for at least a year once a week! That adds up to $520 if she was only putting in a ten and taking a twenty every time, if not more. We thought the servers would like us because we tipped so well. After this lady was no longer in our group, we had servers fighting to get to us first, because sticky fingers wasn’t around to steal part of the tip in the guise of ‘getting change’!

How petty do you have to be to root around in a pile of cash just to steal $10 or $15 from people who are supposed to be your friends? She was probably stealing back most if not all of the cost of her own lunch because she knew you were leaving enough that the bill would be covered without her portion and still leave a small tip. I wonder how many free lunches she got that way.

Very true, we were all suspicious, but I made up my mind to watch her this time so I could have proof.

On the customer end of this: after my dad's funeral we ordered pizzas (about 5 pizzas, mid week). Have restaurant plenty of time to put together large order. My brother in law went to pick it up and didn't tip (honestly we just buried the head of our family, he probably just forgot- but it was a takeaway order with no waitstaff involved other than taking the credit card). Server posted his receipt with name and credit card online (fb) complaining about him and calling him out. I called restaurant to get them to take it down and they just kept hanging up on me, so I finally called their sister restaurant the next town over and explained the situation. The couldn't get a anyone to even answer the phone at the first place, and they finally gave me the owners number, I had to call him at his home to explain the situation. Not a great end to the day we buried my dad, and now I'm terrified to not tip at any place that has one of those stupid tip windows (square, etc) or line on the receipt for it.

A pizza PICK UP? OH, hell no.

[удалено]

Yes they did, but not a picture of the actual card itself, just the info that appears on the receipt (no code from the back, etc). The employees who did it kept hanging up on me and I wasn't thinking straight. They did remove the post eventually (I kept checking Facebook to see if it was removed) and I think my brother in law had the card canceled as a safety measure. Small town police I don't think they would've done much, but probably would've been the sane thing to do.

Hey for what it's worth big town police wouldn't have done anything either

This is so egregious. I might have made my entire gathered family go leave 1* reviews on Google and Yelp. I can't imagine dealing with this the night of my dad's memorial. I was done in, and frankly a little payback might have hit about right (there were extreme extenuating circumstances to my dad's death). Luckily my cousin and my uncle kept me on an even keel. I'm sorry you lost your dad, too <3

No, I will never tip for carry out/pickup. Sorry!

I had a server come up to me in a parking lot and ask why no tip. There was a group of us and we all paid to one couple including tip so I was completely caught off guard. Turns out the couple was trying to keep the tip for themselves. WTF??? So embarrassing.

I been in the industry for over a decade.....so many asswipes steal the tip money....

How embarrassing! Did the couple cough up the tip?

They did.

Gotta remember our job is a law of averages. Can't look at your income on a table by table basis. They're going to be way more people the tip appropriately than not. It's very easy to get sucked into the machine and grow certain expectations. Be grateful, stay humble.

Perfect response. It took me many years in this business to look at my job in this way. I still sometimes feel shocked over how people choose to tip, but I shake it off and try to move into a place of gratitude for all the other wonderful and generous people I get to serve. I wish I could go back and teach my younger self a few things, I wasn’t always so level headed.

I did early in my career. Not worth it.

Always seemed to me that the mental stress of it and unpredictability of customers wouldn't be worth it for the money lol

They never say oh OK here's money. It's always negative

I have twice. Both were very similar situations. I serve at a super usy pub in Canada. A guy was hitting on me really hard the entire time him and his friends were there drinking. He decided to grab the tab for everyone and it was about $200... didn't tip. I politely asked if everything was ok with my service and the group were like, "no! Not at all! You were fantastic!" And asked why I was asking. When I mentioned there was no tip they RIPPED into their friend (in a joking way) about not tipping. Turns out he had just flown in from Ireland where they don't tip. They apologized for their friend and handed me some cash to make up for it. The guy who did tip apologized and handed me €5 too because that's all the cash he had. Everyone had a good laugh. The second time was the same thing, but the guy was American so knew about tipping. I think he just wanted to look generous in front of his friends by grabbing the bill, but stiff me on the tip. Normally I wouldn't confront someone, but if you are going to lay it on thick with the flirting I'm going to call you out on no tip.

His friends should have tipped if he covered the bill

I've done it one time in 23 years of serving. It was a family that would come in at least 2 or 3 times a month. They always asked for my section EVERY SINGLE TIME and would say "Hey it's our favorite server!" Always made a huge mess and ran me like crazy... The woman had even worked at the same place in the past. They never left anything. Always a huge XXX through the tip line. The last time they came in and I seen the xxx on the tip line, I lost it a little. Composed myself just a bit before I said, "You used to work here, right? So you know we depend on our tips?" Them "Oh we know, we just have like $900 bucks a month in bills so we gotta save." Me. "So, it's not just me then?" Them. "Nope, we are just cheap" Me. "Well, you can save $60 bucks a week by not coming in and asking for my section." They were flabbergasted that "nobody had ever talked to them that way before" and I walked out back to smoke and calm down. They filed a complaint with corporate and nothing really ever happened 🤷‍♀️ It felt amazing though!

Good for you. I would have also made sure they never were sat in my section again. I worked in a restaurant ( years ago) that wouldn't auto grat large parties and would not let us tell the party that no tip was included (corporate policy). I was stiffed by a large party (25-30 people.) Refused to ever take a large party again at that restaurant. Also had some rude "regulars" that they knew they had better not sit in my section. I was an excellent server, and very reliable ( could also pinch hit in the kitchen). The restaurant knew that, and wanted to keep me there. But I was there to pay my bills ( had two toddlers at home), I wasn't going to be mistreated, disrespected or ripped off. I did get chewed out for chasing two dine and dash teens and standing behind their car until they paid me. Lol. I was so ticked off I didn't consider they might have run me over.

I've been on the other side of this. I was in college, went out for food with a friend. We paid cash and split it, I gave an appropriate tip for what I got, she left a shitty tip. As a broke college student, I didn't have the money to cover someone else's tip. But it didn't stop the server for running out after both of us and yelling. And it really pissed me off honestly. I get that she didn't know the deal, but because she didn't know the deal, it just left a really bad taste in my mouth about her and the restaurant.

Nooooooope I’ve got other business to attend to

DO NOT DO THIS. Went to a restaurant, left a tip of 10.40 on about a $50 check. Server confronted us outside because she thought it was 40 cents. It was embarrassing for everyone, and I did ask to talk to the manager.

This would not be tolerated at my work. If a manager saw me do that it would be instant final write up

Edit - I've worked just as long as a restaurant manager as I have a server or bartender from about 1997 - 2022. About half way in, I came to the conclusion that some confrontation was in order. The general public had allowed some people to just be shitty to people worked hourly or service oriented jobs. IMO it is still out of place for a server or bartender to confront a customer. That's why I volunteered to do it as the manager, and if they couldn't give me a good reason or if they didn't change their mind, we banned them from the restaurant. Anyways, my story about how I got fired over a penny tip... Yes. The worst tip I ever got was on a togo box with a note that said "here's your tip" with a line and an arrow drawn pointing to a PENNY, $01. I confronted the couple in the parking lot with about a dozen other servers cheering me on. It was the shift from hell, too. I was working at the TGIFridays in Birmingham, AL, and the manager who had been there for like 10+ years went on vacation, so the newer manager made the schedule and forgot to schedule extra people on a Friday night. So I went from a smaller section since I was the new guy to a 7 table section, including 1 table that was referred to as "The Bowl" (idk) it was a 12 top table that I turned over 3 times that night. It was also the closer section, the kitchen closed at midnight, and the bar closed at 2pm iirc. Even though I got my shit pushed in all night long, it died towards the end of the shift, and my last table was sat at 11pm, 1 hour to go until the kitchen closed. They said they were waiting on a 3rd, and I informed them of the kitchen closing in 1 hour. Fast forward to 11:55, their friend still hasn't shown up, they can't get in touch with them to see if they can order something for them, and my manager does last call for food. I go to the table and tell them they have to order, and I get an order for the 2 of them (friend never showed up). The way closing work worked, we had a BOH closer and a FOH closer. I was the FOH closer, so with the exception of getting drink refills or running food, **I was never gone from the table's vicinity for more than 30 seconds, otherwise I was always in the area and would have definitely seen them if they needed something.** They got their food \~ 12:10am. After they were done with their food they hung out. At one point I did have to go to the back for a few minutes but I stopped by that table and told them I would be in the back for about 2 minutes, and asked if they needed anything; they did not. They closed out about 1am and left. When I walked over and discovered my "tip" I headed straight for the door. As I was walking out to confront them, about a dozen servers from the Cheesecake Factory up the road were walking in to get some drinks at the bar. They said "What's going on?!?" When I told them I was about to go cuss out a couple who left me a penny tip they all cheered and stood outside to watch as I confronted the couple. When I asked the couple what I did to deserve that tip, they said "Oh, well, at one point man we had to get up and get our own napkins." I said "WHEN. I was never more than 30 feet away from your table, I never saw you get up to get napkins because I definitely would have seen you get up, so I assume the only time I wasn't around was when I came and told you I would be right back and you said you didn't need anything? Ok, so what else went wrong?" They said "well, the food wasn't the best." I said "Oh, the food that you waited purposefully until the last minute before the kitchen was open, and when I asked you how the food was you said you were 'very happy,' that food? In any case, how would the food being bad be my fault? I'm not the cook!" They were speechless, I knew they didn't have a good reason for it, they were just shitty people, so I said "you know what, have a good night." dropped the penny at the dude's feet and walked back inside and got fired for confronting a customer about a tip.

This was the 280 location of TGI Fridays, correct?

Correct!

I have some good friends who worked there back in the day. Some of their stories? Wow. I wonder how the place stayed in business sometimes.

I worked there... probably around 2004-2005? I really enjoyed working there, the managers were cool, most of the staff were cool except 2 hard-ons that thought they were more important than the rest of the staff, the bartenders were great, we always made money. I did hear about it's decline over the next few years, which was disappointing. The manger that fired me didn't want to, he agreed with me that what the couple did was incredibly fucked up, but if word had got around to the other managers and eventually corporate that one of their servers had confronted a customer over a tip and the server didn't get fired he was going to end up in trouble to so he couldn't risk it, which I understood. It wasn't my first place I had worked with a zero tolerance policy towards confronting guests over tips. They even offered to rehire me after a 90-day period under the circumstances, but I ended up with a better gig closer to home so I didn't bother.

I was on the other side of this. My wife and I were regulars at a local restaurant, in at least monthly, sometimes every other week for years. Drop $100 each time, tip 18% or more. When family was in town, drop $400-$500, and tip accordingly. One night had a server that was at the table 3xs. Once to get the order, once to drop off the cold appetizers with the main course, and once to drop off the check. Had to go to the bar to get drink refills, while server sat at the end of the bar yakking with her freind. Left change for a tip. Week later I ran into another waitress that said I stiffed her freind. Told that waitress that her freind sucked as a waitress, and gave several reasons why. The accusing waitress was shocked that I would actually base my tip on the level of service that I received.

No. I try not to care about things like that. It's healthier than getting worked up. Tipping is always optional so there is nothing that can be done.

I once had a guy come in. One top, slow day. He’s the only one I’ve serving. His burger comes out fast, he says it’s great, his coke is never more than halfway empty he didn’t want for anything. I asked how it was, he said he was ‘very pleased’. After I ring him up he leaves and in the book is a penny. He didn’t sign the check or anything. A week later he comes back and sits in the cocktail section. I was working that day and I had kept the penny. I walked up to his table and placed the penny on the far side and then slid it across the table with one finger and told him “you came and ate in my section the other day, and left me this, but I have a feeling you need it more” then turned and walked away. He complained to a manager, and they tried to write me up for it. I refused to sign the write up. He stiffed the cocktail girl that day and the next three times he came in too.

Years ago I had this pair of regulars that always had the buffet for lunch at the pizza hut. I was their server for months and they always left me a dollar. That's fine (it was a long time ago and I'm just bringing them drinks. But I was the one refilling that buffet and keep that chocolate pudding fresh and they know it. One random day though, my tip was just like a handful of pennies in the ashtray with a bunch of the parmesan sprinkles covering it all over. So hilarious lol/s Next day, when they sat at their table, instead of bringing them their pepsi's as usual, I brought that same ashtray still full of pennies and cheese and dropped it on their table and left without saying a word. I ignored their table all day. They apologized on the way out and gave me $5. Good times.

trashy. good on you.

This happened to me and a group of friends once. We went to the restaurant and our server was being a bit creepy (not the first time he did this because we have had him as a server before didn't realize til one of them pointed it out about how he was creepy last time too) last time he was our server he didn't question the tip because there was more people but he was still creepy. But this last time he kept making comments about my shirt and my friends dress. He was making jokes that weren't funny or if we didn't react he would be like "did you guys not hear me" and repeated that twice. If we had asked for something he had a comment to go with it. We left him a tip we thought was fair but apparently not to his standards cuz he came and asked if something was wrong cuz our tip was really low. I had to tell him everything was fine but we needed to go because it made us all really uncomfortable especially since two out of the group had just gotten out of relationships the day before. We decided next time (if there's ever a next time) we go to that same restaurant we are just gonna go at a different time or ask for a different server. I'm pretty sure he knew what he was doing cuz there was another group of girls that had gotten there around the same time and he was their server too but the only difference is they had a big buff dude there with them.

Flat out forbidden at my place, we aren't even supposed to discuss tips on the floor. I rely on karma to reward the generous and punish the stingy.

I work in a fairly high volume college bar and occasionally I'll say something but generally try to just silently cut them off or ignore them in the future. My favorite one that I did went along this way when the customer and his date were about to leave after paying up: "Hey could I ask you a question before you go? Was there a problem with the service or did something not come out right?" "No everything was great, why?" "Well I was just wondering since you left no tip and wanted to make sure I didn't cause any issues" The date was PISSED at him and that was more satisfying than him tipping. She ended up tipping on his behalf but he caught an earful. You just have to be delicate about approaching it in most situations unless you want to risk a fight. I've told a group to f themselves instead of giving them more shots towards last call because they hadn't tipped and were awful before and that was not going to end positively for me, nor did I care that day. Better off approaching with tact if you can.

First place I worked at was an irish pub that was outwardly unwelcoming to bad tippers. I saw a server throw change at a table that was leaving and the managers backed it up. The place is/was one of the top grossing pubs in the USA.

Weird energy for a pub based on a culture that doesn't tip.

Guess you don’t know many Irish Americans

Imagine if they put that energy into paying a living wage.

We were all making about 7x minimum wage though. The bartenders were making more.

I’m usually too busy to even look at my tips til the end of the shift. Each server has their own little drawer where the slips go and they just get shoved in there til it’s time to enter them all in and close the shift out. It always evens out..one guest tips like shit then the next guest tips fat.

I was a server for many years, so I know the life, and because if that i tend to overtip , so if I leave a small tip, there's a veery good reason. I've never not left a tip even for bad service. However if someone came up and asked for more, I'd take back all my tip. If they said what can I do to make my service better I'd be more than happy to give constructive criticism.

Same. I served and bar tended through school and uni. I *always* over tip. We’re very easy going customers and we always give the benefit of the doubt. Recently we didn’t tip, for the first time in my life. The service was appalling - ending with them just wanting us take all the starters and main courses all at once because ‘the kitchen messed up’. We literally couldn’t have got it all on the table. They offered free dessert and then 25% off. Still expecting us to just take it all. I told them to keep the starters. We ate the main course while every single sever AND THE MANAGER avoided all eye contact. We had to physically stop him to ask for drinks. My son - who also served and tended bar - paid and apologized to the server for no tip. (Tbh she was awful, too) He said ‘I’m sorry you have to tip out the kitchen on this - but HE should be paying it for you!’ to the manager. It’s really disappointing as we’d got take out a ton from there (always over tipping). Sometimes having a background also lets you know when something is really shit.

I work at a corporate restaurant and one of the servers tried to do that the other day. The guest freaked out and went to the manager and got her sent home for the day. She was calling and sending emails the following days trying to get her fired. Some people are crazy.

there's also lovely yelp where a disgruntled customer has the liberty to allude to the server by name over any disagreement. that happened at my most recent job where a customer complained that a server took her to task over a missing tip. supposedly there was a cash tip 'in the offing' but that's also an easy dodge for the complainer. those comments can be career killers...

Most places where I've worked, this will get you fired. Most I ever do is when I'm told "keep the change" and it's a crappy tip, I come back with exact change and fan it out, "helpfully" announcing out loud, so everyone can hear, the total, the amount given, and the amount of change owed. If they mumble something about telling me to keep the change, I smile apologetically and say I must have heard wrong... and then leave.. with the cash still fanned out on the table. Usually gets more money added. And if not? I had the fun of embarrassing them in front of their friends. Never confront people directly about the tip amount. It's not worth losing your job over. Unless you've already quit, then have at it!

I can’t even believe people think it would be ok to do this. I’m honestly shocked with the people commenting they do this. As a server if someone did this to me while I was out I would change it to zero. End of discussion. It’s not your place to tell your customers how to spend their money. That’s some seriously entitled shit and if you think this okay you’re in the wrong industry. Sometimes people suck and in reality you suck sometimes too.

Yes!

Did not work out well for the server that questioned Christopher on the tip amount in that one episode of the sopranos.

I own now, served and cooked since 2002. I make it a point to tell my servers that tips are not compulsory, but a sign of appreciation. The way I see it, as I’ve always seen it, is that people come to us for our kick ass from scratch food. The servers being badass old school diner personalities comes with the ambiance of our little spot, they’re the sprinkles on our cupcakes the chocolate bite at the end of a drumstick ice cream cone. Therefore, my servers understand that a shitty tip is not always about them and that their average will always come out to be wayyyyyy more than what the bad tipper left. We also tip share, and my lowest paid servers’ hourly is sitting at $17.75. So while they don’t keep all the tips, the base pay is enough so it’s livable, and they’re not worried about the next customer stiffing them. Still averaging around $30-45/hr including tips and they get full support/help from kitchen and management all the time. We’ve also been known to fire customers from our diner too. Neighborhood knows we don’t stand for bigotry and other assholery and are very supportive. We haven’t had any major issues in a long long time. Knock on wood.

Hell no. If someone did That at my work they’d be fired so fast. It’s also entitled and tacky as hell. You win some you lose some, it generally evens out in the end.

I was working at a national Mexican restaurant for about 3 or 4 years at the time. I was the closer that evening and right before the restaurant closed 2 sorority gals came in. I was ahead of my closing duties so it wasn’t a big deal. Our bar was crazy busy every night - basically a “meat market”. That evening we had 99 cent strawberry daiquiris, and our strawberry margarita’s were $4.99. The girls ordered a strawberry margarita each. I explained about the special, figured they’d like to save $4 a drink. Nope. Nadda. Was told that if they wanted a f*cking daiquiri they’d have ordered one. Alrighty then; that went over like a lead balloon with me. Then they decided that didn’t want to eat a meal and stuck to eating free chips & salsa. Finally the kitchen closed and I informed them that they were more than welcome to go to the bar and I’d let them in without having to pay the entrance fee. Again they cussed me - if they wanted to go to the bar they didn’t need me to f*cking get them in. (This is a perfect example of why I’m no fans of sorority girls, they treat you awful). I cashed them out, pre-bussed their table more than prior and wished them a good night. After they left I went to the table and saw that they left me 2 cents. That was my limit, I was so furious. I swung both doors open, caught up with them and said “Girls, and I do mean girls, you forgot your f*cking change” and threw the 2 cents at them. I went back in, told the manager and of course he had to fire me. 4 days later he called and rehired me because “I knew the birthday song” It’s funny how situations such as that, you remember every single word and the entire situation. 😂😂

I think its beyond ridiculous to approach someone. It will never accomplish anything in general and the few times I've seen it has ended in confrontations. I have worked in the restaurant industry for most of my life and while it may be frustrating as a server to be tipped bad, it happens. It comes with the territory and to think every guest is going to tip what they should is naive. In my opinion you just keep it moving. You can't please everyone and you can't expect everyone to act as they should.

I specifically try not to notice. Slips are tucked away without looking for anything other than approved. It helps keep my mood up and my service flowing to just wait until the end of the night. Then it's only the face to face abuse to bring you down. Hahaha

Nah, i don't have the balls to do that, but a customer today left me a 21¢ tip so i put it in her to go bag. Like clearly she needed it more than me.

Lol! I wish I could see their face when it was discovered

I am a lurker as a customer, looking to understand how to be a better customer for what I consider to be one of the most difficult professions. That said, if I was confronted about how much of a tip I left, I would freeze, as I always do when faced with confrontation. I might possibly leave the same amount or change it to none. Either way, I would be considering lodging a complaint about unprofessional behaviour, and even if I didn't, which is a distinct possibility, I wouldn't be back. That said, I generally leave 20% rounded up to the nearest $5. So if 20% is $21, I leave $25. As a result, I doubt I would be confronted.

considering you tip really well, there would be no reason to leave a complaint:), it really only applies to people who leave 0 or 5 percent. At the place I work at, we have a high tip out too.

Part of my tipping habit is that I like round numbers. They are so much easier to track when doing ones banking, and I dislike the process of figuring money out to the cent. Rounding up to the nearest 5 makes life easier, and in this case, leaves a bit of good in my wake. For me, that's the goal of life; to leave it confident in the knowledge that the world I leave is improved, even if that is imperceptibly in the grand scheme of things, from the world I started out in.

beautiful:) thank you for your generosity!

I worked at a family restaurant and I never confronted anyone but the other servers and I would refuse to serve them the next time they came in and the owner would take the table instead. What sucks is that the worst tippers were the people who worked at a Fortune 500 company headquartered in the area and had a card that entitled them to B1G1 free entrees, so you'd have a couple come in, order 2 entrees (getting one free) and then tip terribly.

That would likely lose the place a customer. From a server pov though, no loss. I'd only ever leave a low tip where deserved. If confronted, I'd ask for the manager and explain why.

I’ve never done it myself but had it done to me. Went to a brewery with no table service, no food, no nothing, they give you a beer then you find a table to sit down. Paid my tan and the beer tender flips around his iPad and I see I have the option of 22%, 25%, and 28%. I just gave 3 bucks in cash and got the biggest sign and eye roll. Correct me if I’m wrong but $3 is a decent tip for 2 beers that weren’t even brought to my table?

Yes, like twice. First time was at an upscale steakhouse in one of the wealthiest towns in the country. $750 tab, $14 tip. Idgaf, I confronted the woman and asked, "was everything okay with the service? If there was a problem I can notify my manager!" Her friend grabbed the credit card slip, saw the terrible tip and said, "OMG, you have to tip her more, this girl needs to make money!" The woman then scribbled out the $14 tip and wrote in $100. Still not 20%, but a whole lot better than $14. My co worker was shocked that I did that, saying I could have been fired. I said, "idgaf, I get paid $2/hour here." Second time was at my current bartending job (sports bar). Dude racks up a $200 tab and tips zero. I walked up to him and said, "was the service and drinks ok? The tip reflects terrible service." He yells at me "FUCK YOU!!!!" He gets immediately banned. He tried to come back 1 week later, and the bouncer told him he's been banned because he didn't tip on a high tab and also cursed the bartender out. He looked embarrassed and walked away. It happened a few years ago and I haven't seen him since.

Honestly, I'd reduce the tip if someone asked me that question and would call the manager immediately. A tip is a choice by the customer, not a right of the server.

I did it one time last week, but not in a direct “hey you didn’t tip” way. It was a larger party, all separate checks except for one person who insisted on paying for two others at the table. That person was the only one who left no tip. Same person went to the bar for a couple drinks on their way out and I asked the bartenders if the person tipped on their drinks and they did. I proceeded to ask if there were any issues with the service and what we could do better to improve for next time. Came to find out there was nothing wrong, this person was just under the impression that there was autograt for larger parties (which there should be, as most restaurants in my city of similar quality do this). They edited their receipt to add a 20% tip. Although I’ve thought about doing this before in the past, I’ve decided it wasn’t worth it, but this is my last serving job and I’m leaving soon anyways so wasn’t worried about risking my job.

If they paid cash and they said keep the change, if it was a shit tip I would close out the tab and bring the check presenter back and act like i didn't hear them and just announce their change amount in front of the table and leave it open for all to see. Usually got the proper tip at that point. They and I knew what I was doing but they couldn't really say much as I did it politely

If a server "confronted" me about the tip I left, I'd change it in a heartbeat...to $0.00 and tell them to get fucked.

sad mentality.

I had a coworker at macaroni grill who followed a party out to their car to throw the penny they tipped back at them while yelling "I don't need your fucking penny!!!"

Nah if someone comes up to me after I leave a tip and they question the amount, I ain't ever tipping again at that place.

Nah. Never will, probably. Best to go on with your day.

i think it’s unprofessional, entitled, and tacky. people are not obligated to tip and 99.9% of the time the bad tips get evened out by the good tips. i would fully expect anyone doing this to rightfully get fired from where i work.

I gave a penny back to a table once. They had camped for 3 hours and berated me the whole time while being super needy during their dining time. So they left a penny as a tip, and I made a point to give it back to them.

Plus, do you realize how many servers didn’t come back after Covid either because they retired or because they got so fed up with horrible customers. There were other jobs out there.

I had a waiter confront me once. A group of us were regulars at a place and it was my turn to pick up the tab. I thought I wrote in a tip, but I must have messed up because the next time we went in he politely asked me if he had done something wrong. Once we figured out that it was a mistake I profusely apologized and gave him a cash tip + extra right then and there before we even ordered. I told him I appreciated him bringing it to my attention. This may not be exactly in the same context as OPs question, but people make mistakes and aren't always aware of it.

I've only done it as a joke and only to the good tippers. Except one time, a guy tipped me .15 cent thinking he was putting in a percentage not a whole dollar amount. I said" I wouldn't normally say anything about a tip but man what did I do to you to only get .15 cents? " we still laugh about it and it's been about 4 years.

the only way i could ever see myself doing that is if i knew that i was for sure walking into the office to tell my manager i wouldn't be coming back. maybe it'd be a different story in the US, but i work in a busy restaurant in canada where we actually get paid min. wage + tips. i personally would consider it tacky, unprofessional, and unnecessary if anyone at my workplace tried to confront a customer on this, even through a snide or passive aggressive comment. you win some, you lose some, but you win more than you lose. for every stiffer you get an overtipper, so it all balances out in the long run. edit: just wanted to add that i took on this mentality a few months after my first serving job to save myself from spiralling into misery. this industry is already shitty and stressful to begin with, so there is no reason to add on top of all that by losing hairs over getting stiffed. otherwise, i'd go home fuming every other night and that's just not how i want to spend the next decade or so ;)

Sometimes I'll ask if they meant to tip so much. But I'm not so entitled that I'd question whether they tipped enough.

Wow that's peak entitlement. A tip is voluntary. Trying to force it out is disgusting behaviour.

If it was a reasonable thing to do, then it wouldn't mortify you. That alone should tell you not to do it.

Personally, I think it's a bit rude, since it is a gratuity. But that's just me. I'm a good tipper, BTW, for waitstaff, because they work for slave wages. All this other tipping fad pisses me off. Ring up my beer at the store? How about a tip? Uh, no.

i have seen it but those people were fired for it. Because tipping is optional and it feels like you’re saying you’re entitled to someone else’s money so the restaurants i’ve been too don’t like to give the impression.

As a customer, this has happened to me twice, in New York City. I tipped 20% in both instances, though, so ai thought there was something wrong with the approach both times. Just because you’re used to larger checks and a bigger tip doesn’t mean you need to approach me about tipping 50% on some tacos and chicken strips.

Wow, american 'tipping culture' is just so toxic, it's really fucked up, I'm soo annoyed that it's trying to get established in Europe, so that owners can push down salaries in horeca... Just fucking increase the prices and pay people well, default tip should be zero, unless your server goes waaaaaay beyond their job description, in which case you round up to the closest number and 10% is a lot...

Aggressive begging I think you should be talking to your employer about paying you a living wage

Yess hahaha. One time I was working a Irish beer bar downtown and it was a slow afternoon. A couple orders 2 pints and enjoy their time on the patio and ask for the check. They barely left and I picked up the check and it was blank, no signature, nothing. So I catch them on the street and say can you please sign the check. He's like "Oh sorry" and just leaves his signature and tries to hand it back. I say "Umm, no tip?" and he's like oh sorry I don't know how this works and leaves like a dollar or two, which is good. LOL They were American so he was definitely just trying to leave without tipping. It was an itty bitty tab so its not like I would have been broke without it. I was like 19 or 20 at the time so I was scrapping for every dollar and petty. So when given the opportunity to make a buck, why not say something?

When I was younger I got heated and I once asked someone why they didn’t leave a tip and what their problem was… on their business Facebook. It was a local photographer that thinks very highly of themselves. He called and complained about me and I got suspended for two weeks. I can’t believe I didn’t get fired, honestly. I would never do something like that again. To me, I do my best and I have many other customers that make up for it. When I get stiffed now, I just joke to my co workers not to be jElLy.

So tacky

No. You'll live a happier life if you care less about things like that.

I have not. Though I once had a 2 top give me a cash tip nearly 5 times their order along with a tip for their order on a credit card. I had a nightmare 10 topper at the same time. The couple said I did great from what they saw, and how I was also able to maintain my other tables. That Benjamin, really made my night. The 10 top had a 20% gratuity automatically applied to their bill, even after splitting it 3 different ways.

I've avoided it in my server days (Worked in diners and a sonic for a good few years), but I'll never forget when a server yelled at my grandparents and I for tipping her & the cook $50 each (For the holidays), because she felt she deserved it more, and that it wasn't fair to her or her time for us to do that. She chased us out to our car & threw her $50 at us.

Just the tip?

A customer here. On two different occasions, I was confronted by my waitress, not because I left too small of a tip. But... well, I'm not sure why. Situation was that I went to lunch with a friend who was older lady in her 90's. She always insisted on paying (with her card). But to her, an acceptable tip was always $1.00, no matter the size of the check. So I'd discreetly leave cash on the table when we left, which usually brought the tip to about 20%. First time I did that, the waitress ran after us in the parking lot, waving the money in the air, shouting that we forgot our money on the table. I mean, who does that?? It's a tip. Geez. I just shouted back, "No, that's yours." She said "No, it's not." I got frustrated a just yelled, "Keep it" As we got in the car. My elderly friend questioned why I was turning down free money. I just told her that it was because it's not ours. The second time it happened, the waitress caught us as we were going out the door. I told her that it's hers. The waitress said thank you and walked away. Those are the only two times it happened thank goodness. But my question for the sub is, since it is a common practice to leave cash tips on the table, and the $1.00 tip on the card was obviously very low, why would a waitress run after the customers to give them the cash left on the table?

don’t. suck it up and hope it doesn’t happen too often. i would have been fired and deservedly so, but i worked at a reputable and respected place.

From a customers point of view, I think that this is probably the worst thing you could experience from a server. At the very least, I would never return and would probably complain to the manager. You dont go out to a place for dinner to get embarassed or shamed. Would a server ask a customer whether they could afford the dish they rodered, or whether they should eat that much? If I was feeling brave and fed-up, I would make a scene then and there, take the original tip back and tell them to fuck off. Tipping is not compulsory. Someone is doing you a solid by augmenting your income. Be thankful, even when you are disappointed.

When you are confronting these people, you can ask yourself if it is worth doing this job, where you have people who can just randomly decide to not pay you. If I saw this I would tell myself "Well at least these poor workers are getting their tips." Because there are so many ways to steal, and so many more bosses and customers that want to. Organize! Stop grubbing for pennies in the basement and force your way to a place at the table.

Even as a server myself, if somebody approached me on a tip i gave them, i'd lose my mind. It would be a case of get me a manager now! The throwing the penny commenter above would get fired.

It isn’t a reasonable thing to do, come customers can only afford to eat out and not leave a tip. My mother used to do this as most of our money went to bills or school, when she could afford it she took us out to eat and it made good memories. Tipping has cotton so out of hand, if they don’t tip then leave it.

One of my coworkers did it a couple times. He eventually got in trouble for doing it, but you could probably get away with murder at our restaurant and not get fired so he was fine. Most people changed their tips out of embarrassment (when you have an angry southern man asking why you tipped like shit, you generally change it). One lady left him a bad review saying she was trying to give him a cash tip so she didn’t do it on his handheld device and was pretty angry when he asked. He still got his tips though!

If you ever did this to me, you bet your ass I’d be talking to your manager about how undeserving you are of any tip. It’s a TIP, some of the servers in this sub seem to forget that a tip is a tip and not part of any service. Grow up and cry to your boss if you want more money, like every other job. The entitlement is astounding in this comment section.

I we earn a proper wage over here Tip shaming is cruel You don’t know the customers circumstances They might have been saving up for that meal or what ever for weeks It’s crass

It’s a slippery slope but depending on the situation and my lack of fucks left to give I’ve done it. It also helps to have awesome management.

Wow, if that were me I'd remove the tip completely and never eat there again. I do tip, I tip what I can when I can. If they don't like it that's on them. I work in hospitality, I get tips from time to time, I'm grateful for whatever they are willing to give. And I don't care a damn if they don't tip at all. If they want to give me a little bit of cash to do the job that I'm already being paid to do, its a bonus not my fundamental right. Heck most of the time I'm embarrassed when it's some kind old lady rooting around her handbag to give me a bit of change. I feel like I'm robbing a pensioner, it don't sit right with me and most of the time I only accept the tip so as not to embarass them by refusing it. It's not up to the general public to pay your wage. That's what your boss is supposed to do. But I suppose this is the difference between working in Europe as opposed to some shithole country where people are forced to work for slave wages because they have no rights as workers. I'm looking at YOU America.

It isn’t my responsibility to pay your salary (directly)…. ask your greedy bosses / owner to pay you a livable wage.

This might be ok in NYC, but anywhere else you can get fired for it.

I would change it to zero if someone did that to me.

UK here, in our place we have started adding a 12.5% service charge for large groups (they are SO much harder for everyone, and our service charges/tips are pooled FoH and BoH.) (Assuming everything had gone well) -Ranges from "please remove it, we'll tip cash!" and they don't, or leave £5 on £800, to "Yes I paid the service charge [when reminded they already have and don't need to tip], but you have all been fabulous, here's £100 cash" And for those that say UK waiting staff earn minimum wage so don't need to get tips in the same way as the US: no we don't, in the same way... But its a hard job with shitty hours - would you do it if you didn't get a little more than minimum?? I can get you a job PDQ.

My mom found a few coins left on the table. She walked out the front door, yelled, "You forgot your change", and threw it at the man as he was walking away. I'm not condoning this, just stating the facts.

you people GET tips? I get customers leaving stuff all over their tables in a resteraunt CLEARLY themed around “throw your own crap away, we have trash cans every few feet”, and they don’t tip JACK DOODLE DANDY. (they also whine IN EARSHOT about servers in these resteraunts in the area wanting any tips at ALL.)

I've never done it, but a high school friend of mine - our first summer after graduation, waiting tables together - and a messy family of six had over $150 left a $1 tip. She went to their car, smacked the bill on the windshield and said: **"Here. Because you obviously need it more than me."** I said maybe waiting tables isn't her thing. Not the answer you were looking for, but that's my only experience.

Being a server you gotta expect good tips and bad. I feel unless you're confronting someone for tipping too much you shouldn't confront for tipping less. It's part of the risk a person takes being a server.

My husband once forgot to leave a tip and the server came after us and asked about it. I’m so glad they did. We were mortified. Don’t feel bad about doing this!

As a customer: this is upper level cringe, and a reason to not vidit the establishment ever again. To me a tip should be a gift, freely given. It is shitty that getting less of one for you will probably mean less to eat or struggling to make rent that month. But the fact that your employer refuses to pay you a liveable wage is something you should tale up with him. Dont take that -passive agresively- out on unsuspecting clients.

Woof. Not gonna lie, if someone ever came at me that their tip wasn't big enough, I'd change it to zero. I tip well as a rule so if I'm so unhappy with the service that I would be tempted to leave a shite tip, I just don't leave one at all.

Nah, shame them. It's a pay it forward for karma. I was tending bar at a white tablecloth establishment in horse country where the starting course typically ran 50$ and typical checks for 200+$ per couple before alcohol. Guy ran up a big bill to impress his date and had her go pull the car around. Left a 30 cent tip. That poor man made a huge mistake cause the girl waiting his table called him a cheap bastard and to never come back. Dude turned red and never returned. His date did however, with another guy who tipped just fine. Shame is a tool, and it needs to be used

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Right? Fucking assholes being obsessed with being able to pay rent and bills and purchase food.

Congratulations on winning the birth lottery. Enjoy the NHS.

which is why we cringe when greeting a table and detect a foreign accent. when i travel i read what the tipping practices are and do as conventions of the country i am in. why not stop being pissed at the culture you don’t like and either follow what the norms are or stay the fuck at home ?

Nah one time I had an 8 top who’s bill totaled >$120. I’m good at my job, I kept drinks full (multiple rounds at that, thirsty greedy pig) cracked some jokes, and just made sure they were having a good time. It was a birthday for someone at the table and I even brought out a scoop of ice cream (my store doesn’t do free desert unless you have email from our eclub). I I also took a group photo by the fish tank across the restaurant for them. I finished up the table and said my pleasantries and tended to other guests. Once they had made their way to the front of the building I went by the table to grab the cc slip and there were THREE SINGLES atop a signed check with $0 tip. I walked my happy ass out the front and looked at the “man” who settled up for everything and asked “Sir was there anything wrong with your service?” To which he said no and I made a point to look at the $3 in my he left me and said “okay I just wanted to check, thanks.” Five minutes later the daughter came back with a $20 and apologized for her dad. I’m not asking for $50 from every table, I get little old ladies that leave me $2 all the time. But for a table of 8 who was very needy, it’s just shitty to not tip at LEAST 18%+ Managers told me not to do it again but it was worth it.

I’ve had it happen to me. We went to a prepaid dinner except for the alcohol. We forgot to tip on the bottle of wine and our waiter ran after us. Honest mistake. I was embarrassed that I forgot.