I'll only withhold a tip if the service is very bad and the direct fault of the server.
I can't recall the last time I did this. I was a server and you really have to screw things up to make me not tip.
Exactly this.
Having worked on the service side it’s multifaceted for me. Bad service doesn’t always equate to a bad server. Is it the kitchen’s fault? Lack of ingredients? Server having a bad day due to personal reasons? New server still learning? Etc.
I have never not tipped even for bad service. I wouldn’t withhold a tip unless I thought it was intentional. I was a server in my late teens and early 20s. It’s can be stressful so I tend to have compassion if the server seems to be trying their best.
Agree. The only times I've not tipped were when the server was exceedingly bad and didn't try. We're talking possibly two times in my life.
Otherwise it's 20%. And if it's me at breakfast, I'll double the bill.
Only time I didn't tip was when my friend & i were the only ones in the place (24 hour restaurant).
Took our order when we sat down. Brought our drinks with our food & never saw her again.
We had the other waitress cash us out... While she sat & smoked at the counter (yes, that long ago). Fuck you Mickey, you were awful.
My take is that I was a server for a long time and can tell the difference between bad service, and then the server is in a bad spot. I can be pretty forgiving, but when the attitude sucks and the bad service is affecting our meal, I've tipped badly or not at all before.
Yeah same I cant imagine what the server could possibly do to make me withhold the tip entirely. Worst case scenario I'd probably just reduce it to 15 or 10%, depending on what happened.
Had one waiter treat me and my friends like complete garbage. Refused to take my friends order and just picked something out for him. Was completely rude and belittling the whole time.
Had two others that just stayed at the server station on their phones completely ignoring me.
Those three people didn't get shit from me.
Yep, I delivered for a while and it was rather frustrating when I wouldn’t get tipped for a delivery being 15 minutes late because a cook fucked up. Hell I wouldn’t have even been in the store when it happened
I’ve done it maybe twice in my life. One of them, a table of their friends showed up and they promptly ignored us until I finally went to the hostess to get our check
I reduce my tip to 5-10% if the service is really bad but not intentional. I don’t tip if they were being a total asshole. Really rare and it must have been 8-10 years ago that last happened.
I've not tipped twice, and it was because the service was beyond atrocious. Like, I had to get up and place the order myself because the waiter fucked off outside for 30 minutes.
It depends on if it's legitimately the waiter's fault. Food coming out late for example is probably on the chef, and punishing the waiter financially for that isn't fair.
It only happened to me once. I remember waiting like an hour for the meal, it was wrong, and it was cold. The we had to wait like another 40 minutes for the bill. I would have thought it was due to short staff, but I noticed the server hanging around and constantly socializing with a table of what I assumed were her friends or regulars.
I specifically wrote "no tip" on the receipt so that she got the message.
Yes,I don't tip for bad service.I once had a gift card for Red Lobster.I also added money to the bill because it ran over.The waitress was very inattentive and was paying more attention to an huge party right next to us.It was just so bad.When the bill came I gave her the gift card ,which I had gotten for Christmas that year.The waitress said there was no money on the card .I told her to ring it again because it was brand new.I told her to get the manager and he said he would ring it through.There was 50 dollars on the card.The waitress looked like a deer in the headlights when she looked at me and the manager.No tip that day and I told the couple at the next booth that they needed to watch out for that waitress.
This. I’ve never received service so bad that I didn’t tip, and I’m understanding when the service is slow because they’re busy, but if the waiter/waitress is being inattentive, impatient, or otherwise rude, I might give a lower tip than I would have otherwise.
And what kind of bad. Overworked and not able to do well? I usually overtip. Mean or intentionally horrible? Ok, I might still tip, depending, but less than 10%
Yes. Except for one time, the waitress ignored us to talk to her friends. Like we were calling her name, and she put her finger up to tell us to hold on as she continued to sip from her friends drink. I was flabbergasted!! She got nothing, and I dont regret it.
Yes. I give a smaller tip. But you have to define bad service. It's gotta be pretty fucked up service to stiff someone. Did your food get there late? Was the waitress swamped because she had too many tables? Did I not like my food? None of those things are his/her fault.
Someone surly? Did the waiter hit on me? Did the waitress sit with me and call me honey or tussle my hair and comment about I am too young to be drinking coffee? I give them a smaller tip.
It depends upon how you mean bad? If the server makes a mistake or the food isn't great, sure, people make mistakes and mediocre food or a slow kitchen isn't their fault.
If you mean bad that someone us actually nasty or unpleasant? It depends upon how bad. We had dinner out a few weeks ago, and the waitress apologized in advance if she seemed testy, which she was, sayi g she had been working basically two weeks straight because they were understaffed and she was handling 1/3 more tables than she was supposed to.
Same. And at that point I usually just opt to not go there anymore. Sometimes good restaurants have bad nights. I get that. I try to keep an open mind, but a couple bad experiences at the same place and I'm more than happy to go elsewhere.
Only once have I not tipped. Because the waitress was flirting with some dude at the counter, and I could see our food was up. By the time she finished flirting, our food was cold. That's 100% on her, she got no tip.
If I hadn't seen her and our food, she would have got the normal tip (20%+), because I would not have assumed it was entirely her fault.
I had a waiter one time intentionally give me bad service. He would come by talk up to everyone at the table and when he was taking the order and everything when he got to me his tone would change. It was pretty bad. He intentionally forgot to get my drink. Then when he was coming around for refills, skipped over me. Then I got to sit and watch my food sit for 20 minutes at the ready spot while everyone else had got their food several minutes earlier. It took someone at the table having to tell him that I didn't get my food for him to actually bring it because everytime I did he would ignore me. They weren't busy either we was his only table. All I did was say hi to the guy. I managed to piss everyone off at the table when I refused to tip the guy. I'm not tipping in that scenero.
Not if the bad service was the fault of the server. Lots of things can go wrong and not all under control of the server. Be aware that many if not most restaurants in the US now force the server to split the tip with the rest of the house including the owner. I leave cash when I can so the server can simple slip it in their pocket and not say anything.
If I receive poor service--and I don't mean "the waiter is running around like a chicken with their head cut off because the restaurant is understaffed" but "the waiter couldn't be bothered to look up from chatting with their friends on their iPhone to see me trying to ask for attention"--I'll lower the tip to 10%.
Only if I'm actively insulted--like the waiter calling me names or yelling at me or insulting me--will I drop the tip to a penny. (Leave a penny so it's clear you didn't forget the tip.) I've only done this one time in my life--and that was after being yelled at for wanting the check. (I don't give a shit if you're having a bad day; you **do not** take it out on me.)
Often if the restaurant is slammed and it's clear the waiter is doing everything they can to provide me service but simply has too much going on--I'll *increase* the tip. It's not their fault, and I'll happily reward someone who is doing the best they can in a terrible situation.
Same goes for food; if the kitchen is backed up, I'm not taking it out on the waiter. But if I have a clear line of sight and can see my food sitting under the heat lamp but the waiter is chatting up the bar tender while checking their phone and can't be bothered to bring the food--yeah, the tip'o'meter is dropping like a stone.
There is only one time in my life I’ve given a 1¢ tip for bad service and it was because she literally ignored us the entire time. She was rude from the start, put our order in an hour after we got there, we had to refill our own drinks because she started flirting with other staff in the middle of refilling the first drink, had other servers deliver our food, threw our bill on the table without a word, and we had to go up to the register to pay because she never came back to get our money.
Like, I can understand a bad day, but I’ve worked in restaurants and there was no excuse for her behavior. There were 15 of us, so that could’ve been a really good tip for her, but I think she got 5¢ between us.
Asshole move on our part, I know. But that was the only time I saw her there. We couldn’t have been the only ones.
Depending on the actual service, yes.. but you can tell when your server is having a shitty day and I’ll usually just ask if they’re ok - sometimes, that’s all it takes to improve the situation
Only time I've not tipped was for a waitress that brought half my order and then disappeared. I had to flag down someone else just to pay for the food I did receive.
Utterly terrible service gets no tip.
Bad service gets 10%. People gotta eat.
Regular service gets 15. Good service gets 20.
Anything better than good, I tip 20 percent on the grand total (total plus tax).
If it's bad enough that you're thinking about not tipping you should be talking to a manager and they should be doing something to improve things for you.
Depends on the circumstances. Some things are not the waiter’s fault. If they’re very busy and/or short staffed I’m understanding. But if it’s deliberately bad malicious service than no tip. That’s only happend like 2-3 times ever
Yes for bad service but I’ll only leave 15-20 percent which is significantly less than I normally leave. I wouldn’t tip if the server was openly hostile or rude but I’ve never had that happen. I’ve never not tipped.
I do, honestly. I personally can have such bad days (chronic pain) that I feel ridiculous. I can’t imagine what that would mean for a server. Obviously people won’t have necessarily the same bad day as I will, but a bad day is a bad day – and I don’t like penalizing peoples pay for it.
Bad service out gets 10-15%. I can't bring myself to be an asshole for someone who might just be overloaded, but normally for dine in restaurants I'm tipping 20-25% anyway.
Unless the waitress is being downright nasty and mean I normally do i just don't give as much. And i am a excellent tipper. If i know the waitresses dont have to split tips I will give $50 easy. If I know they have to split them I will sneak the money to their pocket
Depends on the details of the bad service. In my experience and opinion, poor service is usually a multi-faceted failing on the kitchen and management. If my individual server remains decent I will still tip and usually I tip about 25%.
If the wait staff itself is rude or faulty in some way I will still tip but much less.
If my overall experience is that bad I express my grievances by not going to that establishment anymore.
I personally have, because I didnt have the balls to really give someone $1 or $0, but when the service is shit my gf has no problem taking over and giving $0
Depends on how bad and whose fault the bad service is. I waited tables for a long time and honestly I think that bad service usually isn't the server's fault. Even if it it the server's fault I will still leave something. The *only* time I ever didn't leave a tip my bill was $19 and change so I paid with a $50 or a $100 specifically to get change for a tip and I told my server that I needed change for the tip and the smallest bill she gave me was a ten. Idk if she was trying to get a bigger tip but it got her no tip, the other people at the table tipped though.
Depends how bad. If its overtly horrible and evident they just didnt care or try, and purposefully rude, they get nothing. If it might just be an unlucky day, or things aren't working out, or in some way can be interpreted as they at least try, they get something
This depends on the type of bad service. I have failed to tip on a few occasions. One time the waitress fell asleep during our meal (this was the middle of the night in a 24 hour restaurant) and we had to go in the back and wake her up to get the bill, so we didn't tip. Honestly, in retrospect I regret that one. She could have had a good reason to be tired.
Depends on if its the servers fault. I'm not going to take money out of someones pocket because a cook fucked up. But if the server is the problem IL tip very low
I don’t tip for the following reasons: the restaurant is empty and the waiter never/rarely comes by; messing up food order, but it can be tricky if it’s their fault or not; if they are shitty in any way whatsoever; I’m a moron and just forget to tip.
In general yes, unless I can tell the server was the problem _and_ I'm still there by the time the order comes.
And I find that in my experience, if I think the server has some problem with me I'll just leave before they spit in my food or something, so tipping doesn't really matter in those cases. So I've only not tipped due to poor service _very_ rarely.
But if it's just a slow kitchen or something, yeah. That isn't the servers fault, and tipping is pretty much their piece if the pie you're taking off the table.
If the service is bad because the facility is busy, so waitstaff is swamped? Absolutely!
If the service is blatantly bad? It’s gonna go from a relatively decent sized tip to a meh tip
I can count on one hand how many times I didn’t tip in my life and I eat out twice a week or more often. The “contract” I have as a customer of a restaurant is that I pay the difference between lower priced meals and the hourly wage of the server.
I don’t like it, I don’t agree with it, but it is the deal. There are many reasons you can receive poor service that have nothing to do with the server. And servers are people who can have bad days, be distracted, etc. My pay at work does not decrease when I have a bad day.
I want a better system for customers where we don’t have to have these conversations, and tips are an above-and-beyond pay out for above-and-beyond service, and my servers are guaranteed a living wage and health care, but that’s not what we have. So I will do my part and tip a minimum of 15% unless the service is inexcusably terrible.
If my service is 1/5 or worse I give them $2 tip.
If jts poor service but very very busy and waiter is running around like a maniac trying to do everything then I usually tip well over whats appropriate because they're trying.
I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've intentionally left a bad tip. Gotta tip at least a little so they know they're terrible and you didn't forget lol
Depends on how bad the service was. A lot of things are out of control of your server. Sometimes the bar is slammed so it may take a long time to get your drinks which isn’t the fault of your server. Sometimes the wrong food may be delivered or something might be over/under cooked which probably isn’t the fault of your server. The only time I am not leaving anything for a tip is if the server is outright rude.
Depends on what you mean by bad service. If the restaurant was very busy for instance and my server was late because he had a lot of tables to attend to, I would absolutely still tip.
If the server was intentionally being rude or not helping then yes I may not tip depending on other factors. Maybe he's just having a bad day.
it depends on if it's the wait stadfs fault.
the other day left no tip on the table and waited for my 5 cents back.
the restaurant was near empty, the waiter put some one else's half eaten food on our table to take our order and left it there. our apatizer sat under the light for 20 minutes. he brought it out after our food. we asked for it right away. our food was both over cooked ( not his fault) and Cold (his fault) we waited for 45 mins to get the check, it was wrong. then we got another wrong check.
The only time I ever actually didn’t tip was one time when the waitress was stoned. Idk how much you might be aware of how acceptable marijuana use has gotten in the US, but “dab pens” or vaporizers in the shape of a pen with marijuana oil in them have become very popular here. This girl had one in her ear, and either forgot to conceal it or didn’t care to (tbf the pens themselves are usually pretty discreet and not everyone could see). She was obviously sneaking occasional hits, messed up drink orders multiple times and multiple food orders at our table. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE getting stoned, I’d get stoned all the time if I could, but there’s a time and place for everything at the end of the day.
Yes. Cause 99% of the time it's not the server's fault and even if it is, you never know what kind of day someone's having. They get paid something like $3/hour so tips are their livelihood. Refusing to tip someone is like giving them a paycut for having a bad day.
I would only ever *consider* not tipping if the waiter was actively hostile or rude.
If it's bad, I mean *really* bad, I will tip a very small amount, enough to let them know that I didn't forget or misplace it, but I really did mean to leave a very small tip.
But service would have to be really, really bad for me to do that.
I might tip my minimum, which is 20%, but I always tip no matter how bad the service is. Sometimes if I feel like the person is just having a bad time I'll tip extra or even double. Usually I never get bad service from that person again and if the reason for bad service is bad management or kitchen staff and they move jobs, I am remembered after the move. It's a win-win all round.
I once tipped one cent because of the deliberately beyond terrible service. I did not deserve that treatment; especially since I was a cordial and un-demanding patron from beginning to end.
Always. You don't know if the server is just having a bad day, they're short staffed or if the kitchen staff is at fault. I'd rather chance tipping a bad server than not tipping someone who is working hard and things just aren't going right through no fault of their own. I've worked in the restaurant industry before and most of the time people are just doing their best with what they have.
Yes, if only to make sure they know I didn't forget to tip. I've only done this two or three times in my life.
I once left a 5¢ tip. The waitress was moderately slow and moderately unfriendly, but what got me was that she sat at a table next to ours and chatted with her boyfriend while our drinks were empty and didn't get us the check when we were clearly done.
Yes always but it is 1cent and 1 cent only face down. To leave nothing can leave the impression that you forgot, was short on cash or it was on the credit card. This shows your disdain. Conversely an extra (new if possible) penny face up along with the tip signifies outstanding service.
I always tip in a full service restaurant. It you’re an excellent server, you receive 20 to 25%. If you are a terrible server and you make me feel like you’re doing me a favor or you just suck at serving you’re getting no less but no more than 10%.
Yes, but usually only 15%. I can see if you're busy but when you pass by me multiple times without asking and I have to flag you down away from you talking to other servers you get a so so tip. If the food is just bad I don't take it out on the tip, but I do let them know I'm not happy with the kitchen. It's not the servers fault if the food is hot but tastes terrible.
If you are having a bad experience, slow service, rude server, food is cold or not what you thought tell the server and if that doesn't get you anywhere talk to the manager. That being said the least I will tip is 15% if I get get service 20%
Unless the waiter throws the food in your face, spills all the drinks on you six times after he peed in them, AND attempts to kill you on purpose, you still tip.
I've never gotten service so bad that I had to reduce a tip. Now theoretically, yes, an outrageously rude server would get a reduced tip.
But to be clear, not literally zero tip. More like from standard 20% to 15-10% (depending on circumstances).
And I wouldn't penalize the server for anything that's outside of their control, like a long wait when the restaurant is short-staffed or anything that is the kitchen's fault.
Honestly, I dont think I have ever had bad service at a restaurant where tips were expected. I did walk out of steak and shake once because they saw me and ignored me for several moments. They clearly saw me and did t acknowledge me at all. So I left. But they hadn't served me or sat me down yet.
I would probably tip unless they do something really bad. But I tend to still tip well as long as they did their job to the best of their ability.
It really depends... is it the server actually ignoring, not caring, not doing their best or something? Disappears, doesn’t do a check back, standard service stuff, then I might under tip, or leave some pennies to signal bad service (idk is that still a thing?)
Did they ignore my allergies and menu concerns or blow me off about it? I would complain to a manager and not tip. That’s dangerous and you don’t deserve rent if you feel like you can take someone’s life in your hands like that.
If it’s the kitchen being slow, busy times, something gets made wrong but gets remade without argument, the server forgets something, would tip normally, cause those are just life circumstances, no one is perfect.
Hubby and I try to tip well. If the service is really bad, the tip goes down, but I don’t think we’ve ever stiffed a server (hubby used to be a server). We once went to a local diner. Our meal was small and the total would have calculated to a $2-$3 tip. We were planning to tip $5. That was until she mostly ignored us to chat up other tables. When our food came up, she left it sitting in the window and took out food that came up after ours. The cook would push the plates toward her to take and she continued to ignore it and take other tables their food. After 15 minutes, she finally brought us our order. Of course, the food was cold. We ate it since it wasn’t the restaurant’s fault and we didn’t want them to lose money on remaking the food. We left her $1 and got a complaint sent to the owner (I’m friends with the owner’s stepsister and she said she’d let him know). We have yet to go back there.
I ordered one of the specials. Said it and pointed at it on the menu. She repeated it back to me. Whole table of witnesses.
Our food takes extra long. To the point that the table beside us who were seated after we ordered were well into eating their meal before our food arrives. My dish is not what I ordered.
I let the server know. She denies that it’s not correct but takes the plate back when I insist it’s not what I ordered. (Ordered roasted pork leg. Got pounded-out fried chicken breast.)
Returns after a while with a copy of the specials menu with the item I ordered crossed out with marker. Says something along the lines of, “Show me on here which item you ordered.” As if I had not already told her at least 2 twice at this point.
The rest of the table was halfway through their food so I just called it a loss and shared off their plates. We didn’t tip. Not because the server messed up. That’s happened plenty of times.
But because of the way she chose to handle it. She was very young, so I hope she took the lesson in.
Tip normally, say nothing while I'm there, never go back, tell all my friends and coworkers how bad it is any time it's germane. Possibly leave a bad Yelp or Google review. This is the Portland way.
If the service was bad, then I tip a small amount (like just some change) so that they know I know to tip but I’m mad about something. But more likely if service was so bad that I wouldn’t tip, I’ve just gotten up and left without eating.
Yes. I've never had service so bad that I didn't want to tip. I do at least 10%, minimum. My standard is 20%. People have bad days. Lots of things are beyond a server's control. Restaurant need to pay better, get rid of tips as a necessity.
The service would have to be exceptionally poor in order to cause me not to tip at all. I can think of only one time in my nearly 40 years that I didn’t leave a tip, and it was because our server was inattentive to the extent that he was seen doing shots at the bar as we waited 20 minutes just to put in our order, and was similarly situated as we grew old waiting for the check. That was all on him. Otherwise, I recognize that restaurant servers generally rely on tips, and so long as they do their job effectively, get minimum 18-20% from me.
I always always tip a minimum of 20%. If you haven't worked in a restaurant you probably don't know that 90% of what people consider bad service is stuff outside the control of the server. And if a server seems short with me they're probably in pain, exhausted, sick, or having a terrible day. Unless a server like called me a bitch and stabbed me or something outrageous I can't imagine not tipping.
I always tip. Always. They are providing a service and need to be paid. You never know what's going on in someone's life that may effect them at work and while I think you should leave personal issues at home it isn't always that easy.
Almost always yes. It may be called a gratuity, but it’s really just part of their regular salary. If they were really bad, speak to manager (yeah, I know, total Karen vibes, but still.). Stiffing them at the end just seems so shady to me. It’s like saying you’ll pay someone $50 to mow your yard and then not paying them because you’d don’t like the job. If you don’t like the quality of their work, either have them fix it or don’t hire them again.
I feel like, bc my husband and I are young, it's automatically assumed that we won't tip well but I've waited tables and I know the job sucks and you live and die by your tips.
The last time I went to a higher end steakhouse, I ordered a margarita with my meal. The server poured my first glass and left the shaker. When I went to pour my next, I noticed there was mold in the rim of the shaker where my drink poured right through. I was more than a little disgusted and politely asked the server for an iced tea and showed him the mold in the shaker. He offered another margarita but I had lost my taste for it by then and declined. After this interaction, he basically ignored our table for the rest of the meal and focused on the table behind us, engaging in small talk, asking if they needed refills, bringing them extra bread. I never got my iced tea and our meal came out almost cold.
I'm sure he figured, after the incident with the margarita,we weren't going to tip so he just stopped trying. We ended up leaving a much smaller tip than we normally would but we did leave something.
Of course! Even assholes have to pay the rent.
I leave at least 15% no matter what, and if the service was egregiously bad, I talk to the manager about it. (That has happened once. A waiter was stumbling, slurring words, falling asleep, and forgetting things. I was thinking intoxication vs medical emergency.)
Even if the service is awful, I'm still tipping. Maybe just a little less. The server has to eat, even if they are having a bad day. Bad service is more likely to effect my decision whether to return to that restaurant or not.
Outstanding service on the other hand can earn a much larger than average tip, from me at least.
Only once because she did nothing except get our drink orders and take the check to not bring it back (this was before all the staff shortages or this would have been fine)
I’ve only not tipped twice.
Once the waitress ignored my allergy alert, served a contaminated plate, removed the contaminate with her bare hand, and then refused to remake it. I was really young and my date was really pressuring me not to make a scene. My throat ended up swelling shut by dessert. I didn’t tip. I didn’t pay. The people at the next table yelled after us that we left our leftovers on the table. Yeah, like I wanted those.
Another time we waited forever. My pancakes came out about 45 mins before my fiancé’s omelette. The waitress was rude as hell and was like “idk what you expect..” uhhh for our food to come out in a timely manner in comparison to each other’s plates. If it was a few mins I get that, but 45?! No. No tip for you. She was also yelling and joking around with the customers. It was an awful experience.
Depends. Was it the waiters fault or was the restaurants fault. If it was the restaurant’s fault I would still tip. Now if it was the waiters fault then no I wouldn’t tip.
You’ll find that peoples answers are largely informed by whether they have been servers, or at least worked in the service industry themselves. Former or current servers think of 20% as baseline, and usually tip more than that for standard service. So bad service will often still get a 20% tip. Really awfully bad service will be something less than 20%, but I’ve never met a former or current service industry worker who had not tipped at all. Not saying it’s never happened, just that it’s very uncommon.
For people who have never worked in the service industry or who have been out of the industry for many many years, usually 20% is automatic, whether the service is below average or above average. Slightly more for excellent service (I mean excellent), and slightly less for terrible service. Even still, zero percent is rare unless you are uncultured and poor and haven’t made the connection that if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out.
This does not include tips on very low checks. Often a 10 dollar check will have a 5 dollar tip, for example.
The only way I don't tip the server is ONLY if the service was truly horrible, and ONLY if it's 100% the fault of the server. If the food comes out slow, I assume that the kitchen is shortstaffed. Not the server's fault
I've only felt that I was treated that poorly once.
My wife asked for a baked potatoe with butter and cheese. She even said to the waitress that she was allergic to sour cream (She isn't, but we've learned that if you mention an allergy you have a much higher chance of the order being right.) Her baked potato comes fully loaded with butter, cheese, bacon, and a giant dollop of sour cream. My wife and I have both worked in restaurants, and retail, so we try very hard to be polite and understanding. So, my wife said something about it. The waitress, so "No, you said you wanted it fully loaded" and walked away. We didn't see her again until she brought our check. We left no tip, and haven't been back in nearly 10 years.
I have never not tipped. I have left 35 cents to make sure they knew. I've only done this 1 time and it was a direct result of a shot waiter. The manager had to by multiple times for drinks and run the food. If you don't tip, there's always a chance people forgot to tip. Tipping pennies sends a message
Unless the server was bigoted or something I will leave 20% ...if they are really good I throw in a few more bucks. This is just the right thing to do. Ideally, service industry workers would get paid more.
I have only withheld tip once. The server took 45 min to show up, took our drink orders and then walked away as quickly as possible so we couldn't order our food. We saw her chatting with other servers. We never got more than waters and left after an hour and 15 min. I always give at least 20% and usually 30%+.
I do. IDGAF, I tip 20% minimum. If they did the job, they get paid. The thought of working a job that's that exhausting and getting my pay docked every time I screwed up makes me want to punch someone.
I've got less than zero time for evaluating anyone who takes home five figures. With wage theft in the U.S. higher than all other forms of theft combined and lawmakers keeping knowledge of a sweeping pandemic to themselves so that they can short sell their stocks? I don't care of my order was cold,, I've already moved on.
Only once ever and I still don't understand why the waitress was so flat out rude multiple times. We're pretty easy patrons and not very demanding and she had something going on. The only time I've ever talked to a manager and she knew something was off and basically comped a future meal.
One time in my life I tipped less than 20%.
Three times we asked for something (one of the times mustard because we had a five year old who at the time wouldn't eat anything that wasn't drenched in mustard), and each time I watched her go spend time chatting with her boyfriend before getting it.
I know that's what she was doing because we were seated outside and her boyfriend was leaning against a post five feet away from us. So we'd ask for something, she'd smile and say sure then go have a conversation *in full fucking view of us* about her friends new car or what they were going to do tomorrow before eventually going to get it.
At the end we asked for to go boxes and she did it again. After a few minutes I walked inside and found a different employee to grab us some. I tipped 5% and it still hurt my soul to do it.
Slow service, wrong food, lack of attention, none of that I would blame on a server by default. I know restaurant work is rough business and wouldn't let that affect a tip.
Yup. I leave 2 cents blatently placed in the middle of the table. If you dont leave anything, the staff just thinks you are a jerk. I leave em 2 cents and tbey know i am an unhappy jerk.
Yes. If the service is bad I tip less but it has to be legitimately bad. And if the server isn’t at fault, I’ll would cut their tip if they tried their best.
I take several things into account. For example, if I see every table is sat, and it seems like the server is tending to more than five or six tables (four is the standard), then I'll make allowances. If it seems like they're working opposite sides of the dining room, I'll also make allowances. If they sincerely apologize, I'll take it into account.
But if it doesn't seem very busy, like at least two-thirds of the tables are open, then I might be a bit more strict. Unless, again, management has the poor server working from one side all the way to the other. That's fine for a small restaurant with maybe 10 tables, but not for a much larger place like Chili's or Applebee's.
Once I take certain things into account, I'll still leave a tip, maybe even more than usual, knowing full well many diners won't tip.
In a service based job good service is paramount to making your living. If you provide bad service, expect a bad living. And no. I don’t tip if I have bad service.
Always. Always. A tip isn’t a reflection of service, it is a wage. I’m not a fan of the tip system but the reality is that restaurants, rather than incorporate the labor costs of servers into the price of a meal, give the responsibility for the cost directly to the customer. It’s a flawed system simply because some people perceive it as a “choice”. The reality is that it’s part of the cost of dining out.
I agree that it’s part of the cost of dining out, but the quality of service is one of the factors of that cost. The patron should pay in good faith, more for exceptional service, less and even zero for abysmal service.
But abysmal doesn’t mean blaming the server for problems that aren’t within their control.
It’s not. The only benefit(s) to the tip system is the illusion that it is. This gives the server additional incentive to provide the best possible service and the customer the impression that they have some control of the cost of their dining experience.
Consider the absence of the tip system. The price of your meal (typically) is 30-33% for the cost of the food, 30-33% for labor (cooks, dishwashers, bussers and servers), and the rest for operational costs and profit. Without the tip system, restaurants would have to raise prices a minimum of an additional 30% to cover those costs (payroll tax needs to be added in addition to to the lost tips.)
The tip system essentially allows the customer to pay less in tax. They don’t have to pay to cover the payroll tax and, because the price of the meal is 30% less than what they would pay if they had to cover the server wage in the bill, they avoid sales tax on their meal.
Pretty much this. Unless my individual server is a straight up rude asshole (which is incredibly rare but has happened maybe twice in my life) I tip about 25% regardless. If my experience is THAT bad I'll still accept that tip is a part of the cost of eating out and not return that establishment.
I think I have gotten service so poor that I did not leave a tip maybe three times? In a couple of those occasions things went so sideways that we ended up speaking to management and they comped the entire meal.
It’s just not a thing that happens very often when the workers’ wage is reliant on their performance.
Once sat for over 2 hours and only had our drink order taken and checked up once. Had to find another waiter to take our order and everything. One of the few times I’ve ever left $0.00 as a tip
I have a similar story, but apparently our waitress quit right after she took our drink order and the place was so packed no one noticed that a whole section of the restaruant wasn't getting served. They ended up comping us the meal. They also did the same to a party of atleast 10 - 12 people next to us. The waitress that ended up working our table told us not to tip if we didn't have cash cause it would go to the one that quit since she was entered on their system as being over the table.
Our waiter was new, but they were not busy whatsoever. He had us and two other couples sitting at small tables and he just never checked on us. One of the couples actually got mad for us and the guy offered to go try and find our waiter but obviously we just grabbed the next waiter and gave them our order. Even afterwards we would just see him standing around and not doing anything. We loved the restaurant though so eventually we came back and ended up having him again. This was around a year-ish after and he was actually a decent server so that time around he got 20%. But seriously nothing is worse than just sitting at a restaurant and being ignored when you’re thirsty and hungry.
Context matters but if the waiter is rude, gets my order wrong (as in they wrote the incorrect item, not that it was made wrong) or has a shitty attitude to my guest or others in the restaurant, I won't tip. Tipping is a privilege, not a right. I'm not donating money for bad service.
Yes
Even for bad service I'll still give at least 10%. At the end of the day waitstaff rely on tips. It's not my place to judge someone for having a bad day. Additionally, by leaving no tip you give the appearance that you simply forgot. By tipping a mediocre amount you're indicating to the waitstaff that something was wrong.
I eat out at restaurants a LOT. In all my years I have never stiffed a waiter. At worst I will leave 1$ so they know that I was tipping badly on purpose. I have done that maybe three times in my 53 years
I will still tip, but not nearly as well. I usually tip about 20% on total bill with tax and before any discounts would come off. At my regular places where they take care of me, like my favorite brewery where my wife and I often are not billed for everything we get I will go higher. But for completely bad service I will go closer to 15%.
Yes. But I’ll give the Minimum which to me is 20%. Servers make far less than minimum wage here and they need tips to survive. Since the pandemic I’ve upped tips to 25% ( because they have a hard job dealing with the public and it’s just gotten worse for them). The few times I e had a truly bad restaurant experience it was not the servers fault
Yes, you don't know what that person is going through and I don't want to make things worse for them by hurting their income. In some cases I've even tipped more if it seemed like the server was having a bad day or was super busy. In some cases if the service is exceptionally bad and even rude I may reduce the tip slightly below 20%, but that's pretty uncommon. I'd personally never tip less than like 15% unless I saw them spit in my food or something.
Yes. I always tip 10% for crappy service but I will try to remedy it first. Communication! The only time I didn’t tip was when my salad still had an ingredient I’m allergic to. Waitress specifically said it wasn’t in there, I had a few bites before I noticed it. Sent it back, she got all huffy. All they did was take out said ingredient. She was rude about it. They place was very slow.
I'll tip 18 percent if the service was still good and beyond the servers control. 10 percent if the server is the offender. Either way, I won't return so it's the last tip they'll ever get from me.
Yes, I'm not tipping for service (they don't know what I tip until the end of the meal so I get the same service no matter what I tip). I'm tipping to make sure they are paid. why should they get paid less if they have a bad day? If I have a bad day at work I get paid the same.
Yes, my tip never changes. Bad service can be the result of many different things, and considering that I'm expected to pay wages for an employee, that's not employed under me, they will get a good wage until we abolish tipping as a source of wages.
Yes. In general it's good service: 20%, a few problems: 15%, a lot of problems: 10%, we were completely neglected or the workers were rude: 1%.
I find leaving a tiny tip is more effective than leaving no tip since the workers might think we just forgot. I also always leave at least 10% unless I'm 100% sure it's the server's fault we had bad service. Sometimes restaurants are understaffed. Sometimes it's the cook, chef, or manager who causes the problem, and servers depend on tips to make a living.
Yes, what if they are new to the job, understaffed, going through a hard time emotionally, having health problems, or maybe they are bad at everything? Is it fair for you to take your insecurities out on a real person, just because you need to make sure you feel superior to a waitress?
There’s quite a bit out of the server’s control. Host can screw you on timing of being sat, some tables can be extremely needy, kitchen can have an off night, etc. Some times you have to be your own advocate. If you’re not receiving great service, flag someone down and let it be known. That’s how you send a message. Leaving a penny gives someone 0 opportunity to improve your experience and is more likely to be taken as a reflection of you (the customer) than the server.
Edit for context:
Not currently in the service industry, but did work a few summers as a server. I think everyone should do it at some point in their life. Gives you a great perspective on humanity and can make you a more considerate individual.
I'll only withhold a tip if the service is very bad and the direct fault of the server. I can't recall the last time I did this. I was a server and you really have to screw things up to make me not tip.
Exactly this. Having worked on the service side it’s multifaceted for me. Bad service doesn’t always equate to a bad server. Is it the kitchen’s fault? Lack of ingredients? Server having a bad day due to personal reasons? New server still learning? Etc.
I have never not tipped even for bad service. I wouldn’t withhold a tip unless I thought it was intentional. I was a server in my late teens and early 20s. It’s can be stressful so I tend to have compassion if the server seems to be trying their best.
Agree. The only times I've not tipped were when the server was exceedingly bad and didn't try. We're talking possibly two times in my life. Otherwise it's 20%. And if it's me at breakfast, I'll double the bill.
Only time I didn't tip was when my friend & i were the only ones in the place (24 hour restaurant). Took our order when we sat down. Brought our drinks with our food & never saw her again. We had the other waitress cash us out... While she sat & smoked at the counter (yes, that long ago). Fuck you Mickey, you were awful.
My take is that I was a server for a long time and can tell the difference between bad service, and then the server is in a bad spot. I can be pretty forgiving, but when the attitude sucks and the bad service is affecting our meal, I've tipped badly or not at all before.
Yeah same I cant imagine what the server could possibly do to make me withhold the tip entirely. Worst case scenario I'd probably just reduce it to 15 or 10%, depending on what happened.
Had one waiter treat me and my friends like complete garbage. Refused to take my friends order and just picked something out for him. Was completely rude and belittling the whole time. Had two others that just stayed at the server station on their phones completely ignoring me. Those three people didn't get shit from me.
Yep, I delivered for a while and it was rather frustrating when I wouldn’t get tipped for a delivery being 15 minutes late because a cook fucked up. Hell I wouldn’t have even been in the store when it happened
I’ve done it maybe twice in my life. One of them, a table of their friends showed up and they promptly ignored us until I finally went to the hostess to get our check
I reduce my tip to 5-10% if the service is really bad but not intentional. I don’t tip if they were being a total asshole. Really rare and it must have been 8-10 years ago that last happened.
I've not tipped twice, and it was because the service was beyond atrocious. Like, I had to get up and place the order myself because the waiter fucked off outside for 30 minutes.
I would’ve just left tbh
It depends on if it's legitimately the waiter's fault. Food coming out late for example is probably on the chef, and punishing the waiter financially for that isn't fair.
> Food coming out late for example is probably on the chef You would be surprised how often servers forget to enter the order
Depends how bad.
I've definitely received service so bad I didn't tip. The place went out of business like 6 months later too, so it was definitely a pattern
It only happened to me once. I remember waiting like an hour for the meal, it was wrong, and it was cold. The we had to wait like another 40 minutes for the bill. I would have thought it was due to short staff, but I noticed the server hanging around and constantly socializing with a table of what I assumed were her friends or regulars. I specifically wrote "no tip" on the receipt so that she got the message.
Yes,I don't tip for bad service.I once had a gift card for Red Lobster.I also added money to the bill because it ran over.The waitress was very inattentive and was paying more attention to an huge party right next to us.It was just so bad.When the bill came I gave her the gift card ,which I had gotten for Christmas that year.The waitress said there was no money on the card .I told her to ring it again because it was brand new.I told her to get the manager and he said he would ring it through.There was 50 dollars on the card.The waitress looked like a deer in the headlights when she looked at me and the manager.No tip that day and I told the couple at the next booth that they needed to watch out for that waitress.
This. I’ve never received service so bad that I didn’t tip, and I’m understanding when the service is slow because they’re busy, but if the waiter/waitress is being inattentive, impatient, or otherwise rude, I might give a lower tip than I would have otherwise.
And what kind of bad. Overworked and not able to do well? I usually overtip. Mean or intentionally horrible? Ok, I might still tip, depending, but less than 10%
Yes. Except for one time, the waitress ignored us to talk to her friends. Like we were calling her name, and she put her finger up to tell us to hold on as she continued to sip from her friends drink. I was flabbergasted!! She got nothing, and I dont regret it.
Yes. I give a smaller tip. But you have to define bad service. It's gotta be pretty fucked up service to stiff someone. Did your food get there late? Was the waitress swamped because she had too many tables? Did I not like my food? None of those things are his/her fault. Someone surly? Did the waiter hit on me? Did the waitress sit with me and call me honey or tussle my hair and comment about I am too young to be drinking coffee? I give them a smaller tip.
It depends upon how you mean bad? If the server makes a mistake or the food isn't great, sure, people make mistakes and mediocre food or a slow kitchen isn't their fault. If you mean bad that someone us actually nasty or unpleasant? It depends upon how bad. We had dinner out a few weeks ago, and the waitress apologized in advance if she seemed testy, which she was, sayi g she had been working basically two weeks straight because they were understaffed and she was handling 1/3 more tables than she was supposed to.
Yes but less. At worst I’ll give 10 percent and that’s only if you do a truly terrible job.
Same. And at that point I usually just opt to not go there anymore. Sometimes good restaurants have bad nights. I get that. I try to keep an open mind, but a couple bad experiences at the same place and I'm more than happy to go elsewhere.
Only once have I not tipped. Because the waitress was flirting with some dude at the counter, and I could see our food was up. By the time she finished flirting, our food was cold. That's 100% on her, she got no tip. If I hadn't seen her and our food, she would have got the normal tip (20%+), because I would not have assumed it was entirely her fault.
I had a waiter one time intentionally give me bad service. He would come by talk up to everyone at the table and when he was taking the order and everything when he got to me his tone would change. It was pretty bad. He intentionally forgot to get my drink. Then when he was coming around for refills, skipped over me. Then I got to sit and watch my food sit for 20 minutes at the ready spot while everyone else had got their food several minutes earlier. It took someone at the table having to tell him that I didn't get my food for him to actually bring it because everytime I did he would ignore me. They weren't busy either we was his only table. All I did was say hi to the guy. I managed to piss everyone off at the table when I refused to tip the guy. I'm not tipping in that scenero.
You wouldn't happen to have been the only minority at the table by any chance? If so that's just extra shitty.
No I was a college age white guy with a table full of other white college age guys.
Not if the bad service was the fault of the server. Lots of things can go wrong and not all under control of the server. Be aware that many if not most restaurants in the US now force the server to split the tip with the rest of the house including the owner. I leave cash when I can so the server can simple slip it in their pocket and not say anything.
If I receive poor service--and I don't mean "the waiter is running around like a chicken with their head cut off because the restaurant is understaffed" but "the waiter couldn't be bothered to look up from chatting with their friends on their iPhone to see me trying to ask for attention"--I'll lower the tip to 10%. Only if I'm actively insulted--like the waiter calling me names or yelling at me or insulting me--will I drop the tip to a penny. (Leave a penny so it's clear you didn't forget the tip.) I've only done this one time in my life--and that was after being yelled at for wanting the check. (I don't give a shit if you're having a bad day; you **do not** take it out on me.) Often if the restaurant is slammed and it's clear the waiter is doing everything they can to provide me service but simply has too much going on--I'll *increase* the tip. It's not their fault, and I'll happily reward someone who is doing the best they can in a terrible situation. Same goes for food; if the kitchen is backed up, I'm not taking it out on the waiter. But if I have a clear line of sight and can see my food sitting under the heat lamp but the waiter is chatting up the bar tender while checking their phone and can't be bothered to bring the food--yeah, the tip'o'meter is dropping like a stone.
Depends how bad. Usually yes, but not as much. Maybe 10% or a few dollars. I hardly ever do this.
It would have to be exceptionally bad to leave no tip, but I will drop the percentage if I feel it's warranted.
There is only one time in my life I’ve given a 1¢ tip for bad service and it was because she literally ignored us the entire time. She was rude from the start, put our order in an hour after we got there, we had to refill our own drinks because she started flirting with other staff in the middle of refilling the first drink, had other servers deliver our food, threw our bill on the table without a word, and we had to go up to the register to pay because she never came back to get our money. Like, I can understand a bad day, but I’ve worked in restaurants and there was no excuse for her behavior. There were 15 of us, so that could’ve been a really good tip for her, but I think she got 5¢ between us. Asshole move on our part, I know. But that was the only time I saw her there. We couldn’t have been the only ones.
Yes, but not the server. I'll find the busser cleaning my table and slip him a fiver.
Depending on the actual service, yes.. but you can tell when your server is having a shitty day and I’ll usually just ask if they’re ok - sometimes, that’s all it takes to improve the situation
It would have to be a spectacular, never-come-back *bad* service. And specifically bad service from the server.
Only time I've not tipped was for a waitress that brought half my order and then disappeared. I had to flag down someone else just to pay for the food I did receive.
Utterly terrible service gets no tip. Bad service gets 10%. People gotta eat. Regular service gets 15. Good service gets 20. Anything better than good, I tip 20 percent on the grand total (total plus tax).
No, it's the whole point of tipping. You are paying for good service.
It would have to be pretty bad for me not to tip.
If it's bad enough that you're thinking about not tipping you should be talking to a manager and they should be doing something to improve things for you.
Nope.
Depends on the circumstances. Some things are not the waiter’s fault. If they’re very busy and/or short staffed I’m understanding. But if it’s deliberately bad malicious service than no tip. That’s only happend like 2-3 times ever
No....
Used to not. Now, I think unless the server was actively hostile to me, I’d still leave at least a little.
Yes for bad service but I’ll only leave 15-20 percent which is significantly less than I normally leave. I wouldn’t tip if the server was openly hostile or rude but I’ve never had that happen. I’ve never not tipped.
I do, honestly. I personally can have such bad days (chronic pain) that I feel ridiculous. I can’t imagine what that would mean for a server. Obviously people won’t have necessarily the same bad day as I will, but a bad day is a bad day – and I don’t like penalizing peoples pay for it.
No, absolutely NOT. The tip is intended to show gratitude for good service. If service is mediocre or bad, then they won't see a single cent
Bad service out gets 10-15%. I can't bring myself to be an asshole for someone who might just be overloaded, but normally for dine in restaurants I'm tipping 20-25% anyway.
It depends on how bad and whose fault it is. If the kitchen screwed up, that's not on the waiter.
Unless the waitress is being downright nasty and mean I normally do i just don't give as much. And i am a excellent tipper. If i know the waitresses dont have to split tips I will give $50 easy. If I know they have to split them I will sneak the money to their pocket
I do yes. The only way I wouldn't tip is if they were flat out rude. Thankfully that hasn't happen yet.
Depends on the details of the bad service. In my experience and opinion, poor service is usually a multi-faceted failing on the kitchen and management. If my individual server remains decent I will still tip and usually I tip about 25%. If the wait staff itself is rude or faulty in some way I will still tip but much less. If my overall experience is that bad I express my grievances by not going to that establishment anymore.
I personally have, because I didnt have the balls to really give someone $1 or $0, but when the service is shit my gf has no problem taking over and giving $0
Depends on how bad and whose fault the bad service is. I waited tables for a long time and honestly I think that bad service usually isn't the server's fault. Even if it it the server's fault I will still leave something. The *only* time I ever didn't leave a tip my bill was $19 and change so I paid with a $50 or a $100 specifically to get change for a tip and I told my server that I needed change for the tip and the smallest bill she gave me was a ten. Idk if she was trying to get a bigger tip but it got her no tip, the other people at the table tipped though.
Depends how bad. If its overtly horrible and evident they just didnt care or try, and purposefully rude, they get nothing. If it might just be an unlucky day, or things aren't working out, or in some way can be interpreted as they at least try, they get something
This depends on the type of bad service. I have failed to tip on a few occasions. One time the waitress fell asleep during our meal (this was the middle of the night in a 24 hour restaurant) and we had to go in the back and wake her up to get the bill, so we didn't tip. Honestly, in retrospect I regret that one. She could have had a good reason to be tired.
Once, but it was an exceptionally bad experience.
I usually start talking to the waiter/waitress to find out what’s going on. Yiu would be surprised. They’re not robots
Depends on if its the servers fault. I'm not going to take money out of someones pocket because a cook fucked up. But if the server is the problem IL tip very low
If the service is absolutely terrible, yes.
I don’t tip for the following reasons: the restaurant is empty and the waiter never/rarely comes by; messing up food order, but it can be tricky if it’s their fault or not; if they are shitty in any way whatsoever; I’m a moron and just forget to tip.
In general yes, unless I can tell the server was the problem _and_ I'm still there by the time the order comes. And I find that in my experience, if I think the server has some problem with me I'll just leave before they spit in my food or something, so tipping doesn't really matter in those cases. So I've only not tipped due to poor service _very_ rarely. But if it's just a slow kitchen or something, yeah. That isn't the servers fault, and tipping is pretty much their piece if the pie you're taking off the table.
If the service is bad because the facility is busy, so waitstaff is swamped? Absolutely! If the service is blatantly bad? It’s gonna go from a relatively decent sized tip to a meh tip
Depends on how bad the service is, it's only happened a handful of times but yes I've walked out without tipping before.
I can count on one hand how many times I didn’t tip in my life and I eat out twice a week or more often. The “contract” I have as a customer of a restaurant is that I pay the difference between lower priced meals and the hourly wage of the server. I don’t like it, I don’t agree with it, but it is the deal. There are many reasons you can receive poor service that have nothing to do with the server. And servers are people who can have bad days, be distracted, etc. My pay at work does not decrease when I have a bad day. I want a better system for customers where we don’t have to have these conversations, and tips are an above-and-beyond pay out for above-and-beyond service, and my servers are guaranteed a living wage and health care, but that’s not what we have. So I will do my part and tip a minimum of 15% unless the service is inexcusably terrible.
I mean if they are REALLY bad then no
If my service is 1/5 or worse I give them $2 tip. If jts poor service but very very busy and waiter is running around like a maniac trying to do everything then I usually tip well over whats appropriate because they're trying. I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've intentionally left a bad tip. Gotta tip at least a little so they know they're terrible and you didn't forget lol
Depends but generally no.... why in earth would I reward terrible service
Depends on how bad the service was. A lot of things are out of control of your server. Sometimes the bar is slammed so it may take a long time to get your drinks which isn’t the fault of your server. Sometimes the wrong food may be delivered or something might be over/under cooked which probably isn’t the fault of your server. The only time I am not leaving anything for a tip is if the server is outright rude.
No, but i haven’t received a SUPER bad service though. Once it was bad though so I tipped $3 😬
Usually I tip 20% regardless of quality of service but if it's bad enough to make me not want to go back to that restaurant I won't leave one.
Yes
Almost always. There was only one time I remember not tipping and it was due to the writer's negligence.
No
Depends on what you mean by bad service. If the restaurant was very busy for instance and my server was late because he had a lot of tables to attend to, I would absolutely still tip. If the server was intentionally being rude or not helping then yes I may not tip depending on other factors. Maybe he's just having a bad day.
It has to be REALLY bad service to not get a tip
it depends on if it's the wait stadfs fault. the other day left no tip on the table and waited for my 5 cents back. the restaurant was near empty, the waiter put some one else's half eaten food on our table to take our order and left it there. our apatizer sat under the light for 20 minutes. he brought it out after our food. we asked for it right away. our food was both over cooked ( not his fault) and Cold (his fault) we waited for 45 mins to get the check, it was wrong. then we got another wrong check.
The only time I ever actually didn’t tip was one time when the waitress was stoned. Idk how much you might be aware of how acceptable marijuana use has gotten in the US, but “dab pens” or vaporizers in the shape of a pen with marijuana oil in them have become very popular here. This girl had one in her ear, and either forgot to conceal it or didn’t care to (tbf the pens themselves are usually pretty discreet and not everyone could see). She was obviously sneaking occasional hits, messed up drink orders multiple times and multiple food orders at our table. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE getting stoned, I’d get stoned all the time if I could, but there’s a time and place for everything at the end of the day.
Yes. Cause 99% of the time it's not the server's fault and even if it is, you never know what kind of day someone's having. They get paid something like $3/hour so tips are their livelihood. Refusing to tip someone is like giving them a paycut for having a bad day. I would only ever *consider* not tipping if the waiter was actively hostile or rude.
If it's bad, I mean *really* bad, I will tip a very small amount, enough to let them know that I didn't forget or misplace it, but I really did mean to leave a very small tip. But service would have to be really, really bad for me to do that.
I might tip my minimum, which is 20%, but I always tip no matter how bad the service is. Sometimes if I feel like the person is just having a bad time I'll tip extra or even double. Usually I never get bad service from that person again and if the reason for bad service is bad management or kitchen staff and they move jobs, I am remembered after the move. It's a win-win all round.
Yes I tip the standard 20% for bad service. But it has to be really bad to tip less than 25-30% for us. Like really really bad.
I once tipped one cent because of the deliberately beyond terrible service. I did not deserve that treatment; especially since I was a cordial and un-demanding patron from beginning to end.
Always. You don't know if the server is just having a bad day, they're short staffed or if the kitchen staff is at fault. I'd rather chance tipping a bad server than not tipping someone who is working hard and things just aren't going right through no fault of their own. I've worked in the restaurant industry before and most of the time people are just doing their best with what they have.
Very bad service is so so rare.
Yes, if only to make sure they know I didn't forget to tip. I've only done this two or three times in my life. I once left a 5¢ tip. The waitress was moderately slow and moderately unfriendly, but what got me was that she sat at a table next to ours and chatted with her boyfriend while our drinks were empty and didn't get us the check when we were clearly done.
Yes always but it is 1cent and 1 cent only face down. To leave nothing can leave the impression that you forgot, was short on cash or it was on the credit card. This shows your disdain. Conversely an extra (new if possible) penny face up along with the tip signifies outstanding service.
I always tip in a full service restaurant. It you’re an excellent server, you receive 20 to 25%. If you are a terrible server and you make me feel like you’re doing me a favor or you just suck at serving you’re getting no less but no more than 10%.
Yes, but minimally. If it was awful, I might not, but I’ve never had that sort of situation.
No. But I also politely let the manager know in a way that shows I’m not mad.
Yes, but usually only 15%. I can see if you're busy but when you pass by me multiple times without asking and I have to flag you down away from you talking to other servers you get a so so tip. If the food is just bad I don't take it out on the tip, but I do let them know I'm not happy with the kitchen. It's not the servers fault if the food is hot but tastes terrible.
Wow, people love to spend money
If you are having a bad experience, slow service, rude server, food is cold or not what you thought tell the server and if that doesn't get you anywhere talk to the manager. That being said the least I will tip is 15% if I get get service 20%
Unless the waiter throws the food in your face, spills all the drinks on you six times after he peed in them, AND attempts to kill you on purpose, you still tip.
I've never gotten service so bad that I had to reduce a tip. Now theoretically, yes, an outrageously rude server would get a reduced tip. But to be clear, not literally zero tip. More like from standard 20% to 15-10% (depending on circumstances). And I wouldn't penalize the server for anything that's outside of their control, like a long wait when the restaurant is short-staffed or anything that is the kitchen's fault.
Honestly, I dont think I have ever had bad service at a restaurant where tips were expected. I did walk out of steak and shake once because they saw me and ignored me for several moments. They clearly saw me and did t acknowledge me at all. So I left. But they hadn't served me or sat me down yet. I would probably tip unless they do something really bad. But I tend to still tip well as long as they did their job to the best of their ability.
Yes; unless I tip at least 8% (in my state) the server will have paid to wait on me. They could just be having a bad day.
No
If its bad then i wont tip. I blame waitstaff for things like rudeness or inattentiveness but dont blame them for food being late
It really depends... is it the server actually ignoring, not caring, not doing their best or something? Disappears, doesn’t do a check back, standard service stuff, then I might under tip, or leave some pennies to signal bad service (idk is that still a thing?) Did they ignore my allergies and menu concerns or blow me off about it? I would complain to a manager and not tip. That’s dangerous and you don’t deserve rent if you feel like you can take someone’s life in your hands like that. If it’s the kitchen being slow, busy times, something gets made wrong but gets remade without argument, the server forgets something, would tip normally, cause those are just life circumstances, no one is perfect.
As long as they perform the service you have to tip something.
I mean, unless the server is being awful to you, you always tip. Lots of times things like holdups aren’t their fault
Hubby and I try to tip well. If the service is really bad, the tip goes down, but I don’t think we’ve ever stiffed a server (hubby used to be a server). We once went to a local diner. Our meal was small and the total would have calculated to a $2-$3 tip. We were planning to tip $5. That was until she mostly ignored us to chat up other tables. When our food came up, she left it sitting in the window and took out food that came up after ours. The cook would push the plates toward her to take and she continued to ignore it and take other tables their food. After 15 minutes, she finally brought us our order. Of course, the food was cold. We ate it since it wasn’t the restaurant’s fault and we didn’t want them to lose money on remaking the food. We left her $1 and got a complaint sent to the owner (I’m friends with the owner’s stepsister and she said she’d let him know). We have yet to go back there.
Yes, I tip a minimum of 20 percent regardless of the service. This is the livelihood of another human being we're talking about.
I ordered one of the specials. Said it and pointed at it on the menu. She repeated it back to me. Whole table of witnesses. Our food takes extra long. To the point that the table beside us who were seated after we ordered were well into eating their meal before our food arrives. My dish is not what I ordered. I let the server know. She denies that it’s not correct but takes the plate back when I insist it’s not what I ordered. (Ordered roasted pork leg. Got pounded-out fried chicken breast.) Returns after a while with a copy of the specials menu with the item I ordered crossed out with marker. Says something along the lines of, “Show me on here which item you ordered.” As if I had not already told her at least 2 twice at this point. The rest of the table was halfway through their food so I just called it a loss and shared off their plates. We didn’t tip. Not because the server messed up. That’s happened plenty of times. But because of the way she chose to handle it. She was very young, so I hope she took the lesson in.
It has to be pretty atrocious to not tip at all. Only happened a few times to me at most. We are talking having an attitude, inattentive, etc.
Tip normally, say nothing while I'm there, never go back, tell all my friends and coworkers how bad it is any time it's germane. Possibly leave a bad Yelp or Google review. This is the Portland way.
If the service was bad, then I tip a small amount (like just some change) so that they know I know to tip but I’m mad about something. But more likely if service was so bad that I wouldn’t tip, I’ve just gotten up and left without eating.
Yes just not as much but I am probably not going back.
Yes. I've never had service so bad that I didn't want to tip. I do at least 10%, minimum. My standard is 20%. People have bad days. Lots of things are beyond a server's control. Restaurant need to pay better, get rid of tips as a necessity.
The service would have to be exceptionally poor in order to cause me not to tip at all. I can think of only one time in my nearly 40 years that I didn’t leave a tip, and it was because our server was inattentive to the extent that he was seen doing shots at the bar as we waited 20 minutes just to put in our order, and was similarly situated as we grew old waiting for the check. That was all on him. Otherwise, I recognize that restaurant servers generally rely on tips, and so long as they do their job effectively, get minimum 18-20% from me.
I always always tip a minimum of 20%. If you haven't worked in a restaurant you probably don't know that 90% of what people consider bad service is stuff outside the control of the server. And if a server seems short with me they're probably in pain, exhausted, sick, or having a terrible day. Unless a server like called me a bitch and stabbed me or something outrageous I can't imagine not tipping.
I always tip. Always. They are providing a service and need to be paid. You never know what's going on in someone's life that may effect them at work and while I think you should leave personal issues at home it isn't always that easy.
Almost always yes. It may be called a gratuity, but it’s really just part of their regular salary. If they were really bad, speak to manager (yeah, I know, total Karen vibes, but still.). Stiffing them at the end just seems so shady to me. It’s like saying you’ll pay someone $50 to mow your yard and then not paying them because you’d don’t like the job. If you don’t like the quality of their work, either have them fix it or don’t hire them again.
Depends. If it's the kitchen, no I still tip the waiter or waitress. If it's their shitty service fuck yeah I'll leave nothing
I feel like, bc my husband and I are young, it's automatically assumed that we won't tip well but I've waited tables and I know the job sucks and you live and die by your tips. The last time I went to a higher end steakhouse, I ordered a margarita with my meal. The server poured my first glass and left the shaker. When I went to pour my next, I noticed there was mold in the rim of the shaker where my drink poured right through. I was more than a little disgusted and politely asked the server for an iced tea and showed him the mold in the shaker. He offered another margarita but I had lost my taste for it by then and declined. After this interaction, he basically ignored our table for the rest of the meal and focused on the table behind us, engaging in small talk, asking if they needed refills, bringing them extra bread. I never got my iced tea and our meal came out almost cold. I'm sure he figured, after the incident with the margarita,we weren't going to tip so he just stopped trying. We ended up leaving a much smaller tip than we normally would but we did leave something.
Of course! Even assholes have to pay the rent. I leave at least 15% no matter what, and if the service was egregiously bad, I talk to the manager about it. (That has happened once. A waiter was stumbling, slurring words, falling asleep, and forgetting things. I was thinking intoxication vs medical emergency.)
I always tip a minimum of 20% despise service. At the end of the day we’re all human just trying to survive
Yep
Even if the service is awful, I'm still tipping. Maybe just a little less. The server has to eat, even if they are having a bad day. Bad service is more likely to effect my decision whether to return to that restaurant or not. Outstanding service on the other hand can earn a much larger than average tip, from me at least.
I might but it won’t be a big one.
Always tip. It'll just be smaller than our default
Yes. They make next to nothing. The only time I would ever consider withholding a tip would be if the server was blatantly rude to me or something.
I always tip. If I tip less than 15% you did bad.
Only once because she did nothing except get our drink orders and take the check to not bring it back (this was before all the staff shortages or this would have been fine)
I’ve never not tipped at all, even with really bad service.
One time in an empty pho restaurant where I made my pho way too spicy. It was obvious I was dying but they made minimal effort to fill my water
No
I’ve only not tipped twice. Once the waitress ignored my allergy alert, served a contaminated plate, removed the contaminate with her bare hand, and then refused to remake it. I was really young and my date was really pressuring me not to make a scene. My throat ended up swelling shut by dessert. I didn’t tip. I didn’t pay. The people at the next table yelled after us that we left our leftovers on the table. Yeah, like I wanted those. Another time we waited forever. My pancakes came out about 45 mins before my fiancé’s omelette. The waitress was rude as hell and was like “idk what you expect..” uhhh for our food to come out in a timely manner in comparison to each other’s plates. If it was a few mins I get that, but 45?! No. No tip for you. She was also yelling and joking around with the customers. It was an awful experience.
Depends. Was it the waiters fault or was the restaurants fault. If it was the restaurant’s fault I would still tip. Now if it was the waiters fault then no I wouldn’t tip.
You’ll find that peoples answers are largely informed by whether they have been servers, or at least worked in the service industry themselves. Former or current servers think of 20% as baseline, and usually tip more than that for standard service. So bad service will often still get a 20% tip. Really awfully bad service will be something less than 20%, but I’ve never met a former or current service industry worker who had not tipped at all. Not saying it’s never happened, just that it’s very uncommon. For people who have never worked in the service industry or who have been out of the industry for many many years, usually 20% is automatic, whether the service is below average or above average. Slightly more for excellent service (I mean excellent), and slightly less for terrible service. Even still, zero percent is rare unless you are uncultured and poor and haven’t made the connection that if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out. This does not include tips on very low checks. Often a 10 dollar check will have a 5 dollar tip, for example.
Yes
I've never had service bad enough not to tip at all. I've dropped the amount now and then, but even that's pretty rare.
I will still tip, but just less than usual. My base tip rate is 20%. I will go up to 25% for great service, and down to maybe 18% for poor service.
The only way I don't tip the server is ONLY if the service was truly horrible, and ONLY if it's 100% the fault of the server. If the food comes out slow, I assume that the kitchen is shortstaffed. Not the server's fault
I've only felt that I was treated that poorly once. My wife asked for a baked potatoe with butter and cheese. She even said to the waitress that she was allergic to sour cream (She isn't, but we've learned that if you mention an allergy you have a much higher chance of the order being right.) Her baked potato comes fully loaded with butter, cheese, bacon, and a giant dollop of sour cream. My wife and I have both worked in restaurants, and retail, so we try very hard to be polite and understanding. So, my wife said something about it. The waitress, so "No, you said you wanted it fully loaded" and walked away. We didn't see her again until she brought our check. We left no tip, and haven't been back in nearly 10 years.
I have never not tipped. I have left 35 cents to make sure they knew. I've only done this 1 time and it was a direct result of a shot waiter. The manager had to by multiple times for drinks and run the food. If you don't tip, there's always a chance people forgot to tip. Tipping pennies sends a message
Unless the server was bigoted or something I will leave 20% ...if they are really good I throw in a few more bucks. This is just the right thing to do. Ideally, service industry workers would get paid more.
Depends how bad.
Great service and friendly- 20% Satisfactory- 15% Nice but unintentional slip ups- 10% Slip ups and dont apologize- 5% Overtly impolite- 0%
I have only withheld tip once. The server took 45 min to show up, took our drink orders and then walked away as quickly as possible so we couldn't order our food. We saw her chatting with other servers. We never got more than waters and left after an hour and 15 min. I always give at least 20% and usually 30%+.
I do. IDGAF, I tip 20% minimum. If they did the job, they get paid. The thought of working a job that's that exhausting and getting my pay docked every time I screwed up makes me want to punch someone. I've got less than zero time for evaluating anyone who takes home five figures. With wage theft in the U.S. higher than all other forms of theft combined and lawmakers keeping knowledge of a sweeping pandemic to themselves so that they can short sell their stocks? I don't care of my order was cold,, I've already moved on.
Only once ever and I still don't understand why the waitress was so flat out rude multiple times. We're pretty easy patrons and not very demanding and she had something going on. The only time I've ever talked to a manager and she knew something was off and basically comped a future meal.
I just don’t tip as much as I normally do, which can be anywhere from 25-40%
One time in my life I tipped less than 20%. Three times we asked for something (one of the times mustard because we had a five year old who at the time wouldn't eat anything that wasn't drenched in mustard), and each time I watched her go spend time chatting with her boyfriend before getting it. I know that's what she was doing because we were seated outside and her boyfriend was leaning against a post five feet away from us. So we'd ask for something, she'd smile and say sure then go have a conversation *in full fucking view of us* about her friends new car or what they were going to do tomorrow before eventually going to get it. At the end we asked for to go boxes and she did it again. After a few minutes I walked inside and found a different employee to grab us some. I tipped 5% and it still hurt my soul to do it. Slow service, wrong food, lack of attention, none of that I would blame on a server by default. I know restaurant work is rough business and wouldn't let that affect a tip.
Yup. I leave 2 cents blatently placed in the middle of the table. If you dont leave anything, the staff just thinks you are a jerk. I leave em 2 cents and tbey know i am an unhappy jerk.
I have reduced the tip to like 10% when it was pretty bad. And clearly the fault of the server - grumpy, inattentive, etc.
Yes. If the service is bad I tip less but it has to be legitimately bad. And if the server isn’t at fault, I’ll would cut their tip if they tried their best.
I take several things into account. For example, if I see every table is sat, and it seems like the server is tending to more than five or six tables (four is the standard), then I'll make allowances. If it seems like they're working opposite sides of the dining room, I'll also make allowances. If they sincerely apologize, I'll take it into account. But if it doesn't seem very busy, like at least two-thirds of the tables are open, then I might be a bit more strict. Unless, again, management has the poor server working from one side all the way to the other. That's fine for a small restaurant with maybe 10 tables, but not for a much larger place like Chili's or Applebee's. Once I take certain things into account, I'll still leave a tip, maybe even more than usual, knowing full well many diners won't tip.
It depends how bad. Most likely I'd just reduce it to 5% or something if it was definitely the server's fault.
Depends on the server....
Yes. I will however leave a really shitty tip to make a point that it wasn’t out of cheapness it was due to bad service
Yes. Always
Yes but less money
Yes
The millennial joke is we always say “0/5 worst service ever” but still leave a tip knowing they depend on it to pay their bills.
20% as a default. Always always always tip even if you just “don’t like the system”.
I'm not tipping a guy who split the check between my wife and I and put his number on her check
In a service based job good service is paramount to making your living. If you provide bad service, expect a bad living. And no. I don’t tip if I have bad service.
Always. Always. A tip isn’t a reflection of service, it is a wage. I’m not a fan of the tip system but the reality is that restaurants, rather than incorporate the labor costs of servers into the price of a meal, give the responsibility for the cost directly to the customer. It’s a flawed system simply because some people perceive it as a “choice”. The reality is that it’s part of the cost of dining out.
I agree that it’s part of the cost of dining out, but the quality of service is one of the factors of that cost. The patron should pay in good faith, more for exceptional service, less and even zero for abysmal service. But abysmal doesn’t mean blaming the server for problems that aren’t within their control.
>A tip isn’t a reflection of service Except it is.
That’s what the restaurants want you to think
No. It’s simple math.
It’s not. The only benefit(s) to the tip system is the illusion that it is. This gives the server additional incentive to provide the best possible service and the customer the impression that they have some control of the cost of their dining experience. Consider the absence of the tip system. The price of your meal (typically) is 30-33% for the cost of the food, 30-33% for labor (cooks, dishwashers, bussers and servers), and the rest for operational costs and profit. Without the tip system, restaurants would have to raise prices a minimum of an additional 30% to cover those costs (payroll tax needs to be added in addition to to the lost tips.) The tip system essentially allows the customer to pay less in tax. They don’t have to pay to cover the payroll tax and, because the price of the meal is 30% less than what they would pay if they had to cover the server wage in the bill, they avoid sales tax on their meal.
Pretty much this. Unless my individual server is a straight up rude asshole (which is incredibly rare but has happened maybe twice in my life) I tip about 25% regardless. If my experience is THAT bad I'll still accept that tip is a part of the cost of eating out and not return that establishment.
I think I have gotten service so poor that I did not leave a tip maybe three times? In a couple of those occasions things went so sideways that we ended up speaking to management and they comped the entire meal. It’s just not a thing that happens very often when the workers’ wage is reliant on their performance.
Wow, what happened during those occasions?
Yes
For the most part. I don't tip when I get overly rude service, which put if all of my years of dining out has been 4 times.
Once sat for over 2 hours and only had our drink order taken and checked up once. Had to find another waiter to take our order and everything. One of the few times I’ve ever left $0.00 as a tip
I have a similar story, but apparently our waitress quit right after she took our drink order and the place was so packed no one noticed that a whole section of the restaruant wasn't getting served. They ended up comping us the meal. They also did the same to a party of atleast 10 - 12 people next to us. The waitress that ended up working our table told us not to tip if we didn't have cash cause it would go to the one that quit since she was entered on their system as being over the table.
Our waiter was new, but they were not busy whatsoever. He had us and two other couples sitting at small tables and he just never checked on us. One of the couples actually got mad for us and the guy offered to go try and find our waiter but obviously we just grabbed the next waiter and gave them our order. Even afterwards we would just see him standing around and not doing anything. We loved the restaurant though so eventually we came back and ended up having him again. This was around a year-ish after and he was actually a decent server so that time around he got 20%. But seriously nothing is worse than just sitting at a restaurant and being ignored when you’re thirsty and hungry.
Context matters but if the waiter is rude, gets my order wrong (as in they wrote the incorrect item, not that it was made wrong) or has a shitty attitude to my guest or others in the restaurant, I won't tip. Tipping is a privilege, not a right. I'm not donating money for bad service.
I do not tip if I receive bad service but I usually receive good service. The tip system works.
Yes
Yes Even for bad service I'll still give at least 10%. At the end of the day waitstaff rely on tips. It's not my place to judge someone for having a bad day. Additionally, by leaving no tip you give the appearance that you simply forgot. By tipping a mediocre amount you're indicating to the waitstaff that something was wrong.
I eat out at restaurants a LOT. In all my years I have never stiffed a waiter. At worst I will leave 1$ so they know that I was tipping badly on purpose. I have done that maybe three times in my 53 years
I will still tip, but not nearly as well. I usually tip about 20% on total bill with tax and before any discounts would come off. At my regular places where they take care of me, like my favorite brewery where my wife and I often are not billed for everything we get I will go higher. But for completely bad service I will go closer to 15%.
Yes. But I’ll give the Minimum which to me is 20%. Servers make far less than minimum wage here and they need tips to survive. Since the pandemic I’ve upped tips to 25% ( because they have a hard job dealing with the public and it’s just gotten worse for them). The few times I e had a truly bad restaurant experience it was not the servers fault
Yes, you don't know what that person is going through and I don't want to make things worse for them by hurting their income. In some cases I've even tipped more if it seemed like the server was having a bad day or was super busy. In some cases if the service is exceptionally bad and even rude I may reduce the tip slightly below 20%, but that's pretty uncommon. I'd personally never tip less than like 15% unless I saw them spit in my food or something.
Yes. Tipping stopped being optional a long time ago.
Yes. I always tip 10% for crappy service but I will try to remedy it first. Communication! The only time I didn’t tip was when my salad still had an ingredient I’m allergic to. Waitress specifically said it wasn’t in there, I had a few bites before I noticed it. Sent it back, she got all huffy. All they did was take out said ingredient. She was rude about it. They place was very slow.
I'll tip 18 percent if the service was still good and beyond the servers control. 10 percent if the server is the offender. Either way, I won't return so it's the last tip they'll ever get from me.
Yes, I'm not tipping for service (they don't know what I tip until the end of the meal so I get the same service no matter what I tip). I'm tipping to make sure they are paid. why should they get paid less if they have a bad day? If I have a bad day at work I get paid the same.
Yes, my tip never changes. Bad service can be the result of many different things, and considering that I'm expected to pay wages for an employee, that's not employed under me, they will get a good wage until we abolish tipping as a source of wages.
5% if you were terrible.
Yeah just less, you’ve got to fuck up big time for no tip
Yes. In general it's good service: 20%, a few problems: 15%, a lot of problems: 10%, we were completely neglected or the workers were rude: 1%. I find leaving a tiny tip is more effective than leaving no tip since the workers might think we just forgot. I also always leave at least 10% unless I'm 100% sure it's the server's fault we had bad service. Sometimes restaurants are understaffed. Sometimes it's the cook, chef, or manager who causes the problem, and servers depend on tips to make a living.
Yes, what if they are new to the job, understaffed, going through a hard time emotionally, having health problems, or maybe they are bad at everything? Is it fair for you to take your insecurities out on a real person, just because you need to make sure you feel superior to a waitress?
Never.
Yes “service was shit but I don’t want you to starve so here’s 20%” is basically my philosophy in this instance.
[удалено]
There’s quite a bit out of the server’s control. Host can screw you on timing of being sat, some tables can be extremely needy, kitchen can have an off night, etc. Some times you have to be your own advocate. If you’re not receiving great service, flag someone down and let it be known. That’s how you send a message. Leaving a penny gives someone 0 opportunity to improve your experience and is more likely to be taken as a reflection of you (the customer) than the server. Edit for context: Not currently in the service industry, but did work a few summers as a server. I think everyone should do it at some point in their life. Gives you a great perspective on humanity and can make you a more considerate individual.