Have you ever left NO TIP at a restaurant?

[bluestateguy]

I ask this because I was tempted to do so today. I went to breakfast at a well known chain restaurant and I was seated and then ignored for the next 15 minutes. No waiter came up to my table. No water, no nothing. I gave my order, and the waiter ignored me again. It was not that busy at the restaurant either. The food took forever, which may by the kitchen's fault, but the waiter should not have ignored me. I finally I ended up leaving a 15% tip, but only because I was in a good mood. I feel like I would have been within my rights to leave no tip if I wanted to. A tip is a reward for good service--or at least satisfactory service--not an entitlement.

[Aristus]

1. Once, when the food was awful and the service deplorable.

I still hated myself for not leaving even a token tip. I was more angry with the management than the staff. It's like I always say: If you pay minimum wage, you'll get minimum effort.

[havocmom]

2. Leave no tip and they just figure you are a jerk.

Leave two cents and they get a message.

[bluestateguy]

3. I did that once

I left a penny tip.

I was having lunch with my friend, and we asked for separate checks. The waitress was snotty and ignored us the whole time. Meanwhile, we saw her chatting and paying careful attention to her other tables. It became clear to us that she thought we were two gay men on a date. We were not, and we are not gay either, but that should not have mattered. After getting the check, which we had to hound her to get to us, I left a 1 cent tip. My friend left nothing.

[havocmom]

5. a penny or two makes a much louder statement

and I commend you for doing it under those conditions.

Snotty does not feed the cat.

[rocktivity]

4. I tip from five to twenty percent--but always depending on service.

It's not the waiter's fault if the kitchen's slow (but a good waiter will let me know if there's going to be a delay). Nor do I don't blame waiters for bad food--if it's that unsatisfactory, I simply don't eat there again.

:headbang:
rocknation

[DarkTirade]

6. I don't like doing it

but if the service is truly HORRIBLE, (and I mean the service, not the food. The waitstaff doesn't control the food. Just the service.) then it's understandable.

Even for very bad service I still leave at least something.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Right. You never know if the person is someone nice just having an off day. (Well, aside from

clear out and out rudeness or what have you.)

[DarkTirade]

8. The way I see it...

Bad service = bad tip. Good service = good tip. It takes some TRULY horrific service to get no tip from me.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. You want to see some bad service, come to my house for dinner sometime. :^P

[AwakeAtLast]

9. A few times - the latest was mind boggling

I had an hour and 15 minutes to eat lunch and get to a meeting. A friend and I went to a local restaurant. They looked a little busy, but not totally full. We put our orders in. Two more people joined us later on and put their order in. 30 minutes later, their food arrived - but wrong. Server told us to keep it but would also reorder. We then inquired about our order since it had been placed first. Got a lot of hemming and hawing but we understood it would be on its way. 15 minutes later the reorder arrived and our order STILL HAD NOT COME. We asked again about it - still more excuses. We never did get our food. I had to drive through Wendy's and scarf down a sandwich just to make my meeting on time. We think the server never placed our order and then didn't check on it -twice. I walked out without paying for my drink and therefore, no tip either.

I have never had that happen to me. It was horrible!

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. That's just freaking bizarre. What kind of server does that?

[AwakeAtLast]

13. I guess a really poor one.

Or maybe an unemployed one? By now, anyway. :shrug:

[Inchworm]

12. Yup

if they suck.. or their system does.. screw em.

:hi:

[harmonicon]

14. I can't remember - I've been tempted

I had a girlfriend for several years who really liked this one Lebanese restaurant and always wanted to go there, which was fine, but it wasn't even the best one around. Anyway, one time we got super super shitty service and I refused to go there every again, which I think has more impact than not leaving a tip. I can remember arguing about whether or not to leave a tip that time. I am the type of person who would not leave a tip and just never go back to the place.

What I don't ever do is complain - I can't stand when people complain at restaurants and especially when they have food sent back. Don't like it? Don't go there again. If you really wanted something just the way you like it, you should have cooked it yourself.... ok, now I've cleared that rant from the deck for awhile.

[Generic Brad]

15. Once. It was the worst dining experience of my life.

We had to wait three freaking hours for our dinner to be served. We were pretty good natured during the first hour, but when we saw multiple diners who came in after us get served and leave we started getting a little pissed off. They took our order right away, but then just left us sitting there. No water or anything.

Then I was served after two hours, but my wife and small daughter were not. The waitress kept coming by and telling us it would only be a few minutes. But it took another hour before their food came. By that time my dinner was completely cold.

Two more sets of people came and left before we all finally got served. I just wanted to get up and leave, but my wife was insistent that we stick it out. Then they came and gave us a "complimentary" dessert for our troubles (which we did not order) that we also were charged for up on our bill.

So, no. They did not get a tip. And none of us will ever go back there again.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. I was once trying to grab a bite to eat before a concert at Northrop

It was at a pasta restaurant (now understandably defunct) on University Avenue, and they clearly didn't have their act together.

The whole menu was pasta, and at a similar restaurant in Portland, they had it down to a science: several pots bubbling on the stove at once, one cook to watch the pasta, one to serve the sauce, one to grill the meat and/or veggies, etc. You generally got your meal in ten minutes or less.

I could see into the kitchen at this Minneapolis place, and it was clear that each pasta dish was a matter of reinventing the wheel. A different cook started each pasta dish, so they were bumping into one another and standing around wondering what to do next. I got real concerned when it was 30 minutes before the concert and most of the people who were there when I arrived had not yet been served.

I finally got my meal at 15 minutes before the concert (after nagging the waitress). It was like it had never occurred to her that people at one of the restaurants closest to Northrop might be hoping to see the concert. I had to gobble down my meal and run to the concert, which fortunately started late.

I did tip the waitress, since the chaos in the kitchen wasn't her fault, but I never went back.

[tigereye]

25. three hours!

that's horrible. They should have paid you for that! :wow:


there must have been something bizarre going on in that kitchen....

[Generic Brad]

29. But I will not name the restaurant

The Republican convention is coming to town this summer and I'm sure that some of their convention goers will dine there. I don't want to deny any of them the same experience I had.

[Bennyboy]

16. I can't do it....

many times I have thought it was appropriate but left a tip anyway. But I did complain to the manager.

I know when I used to work service as a batender, when someone left no tip it was a sign that they were an tight ass, not that I gave bad service. I have friends that are servers and they tell me the same thing, that when someone leaves no tip it is never because the service is bad it is always the tight ass they served. So a conference with a manager is the thing to do...

[jmm]

17. Normally I'm a great tipper but

there have been a number of occasions where I've either left just a few pennies or told the manager why I was leaving nothing.

A few years ago while I stepped away to use the bathroom our waitress asked my date what he saw in me. A couple of weeks later while eating at a different restaurant a waiter tried to give me his phone number while my ex was in the bathroom. We joked about it being my turn to be the better half but we spoke to the manager at both of those restaurants and didn't pay for the meals or tip.

My mom is very allergic to strawberries but one time when we ordered sundaes the waitress gave them to us with them on top. When we questioned this the waitress got argumentative and said it was standard even thought the menu didn't mention this. When my mom mentioned she was allergic the waitress picked the strawberries off hers with her un-gloved hand.

Once my table didn't tip because the waitress brought out everybody's meal except mine then walked away. Seemed a bit rude but I initially thought maybe she just couldn't carry it all at once and would come right back. Ten minutes later I'm still waiting for my ribs and when I see her across the room I flag her down to ask about it. She just looks and says, "I didn't tell you? I gave the last rack to that man," then she points to another table. She asked if I wanted to eat and I asked for a Caesar salad instead because I wanted something quick. 15 minutes later she brings out a bowl of iceberg lettuce with mandarin oranges on it. When I questioned this she claimed it was the house Caesar.

Needless to say I've had a lot of bad luck with restaurants.

[stuntcat]

18. no

I've never had bad service though, maybe because I'm too cheap to eat out.
I tried to wait tables once and FAILED, it was so tough. Having to rely on tips must suck.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. Yes, but only once

I was on the road and stopped at a family restaurant type place. There was a big round table full of ten or twelve middle-aged men, but I was the only other customer.

It took forever to get waited on, and then the waitress rudely slammed my food down in front of me and hurried over to the round table to flirt with the men. She seemed to be making her way around the table.

She continued to do so, even though I was signaling to her to refill my water glass. I also wanted to order some of the delicious-looking apple pie that they had on display in the front case. I did everything but send up flares, and that waitress would not look in my direction.

Finally, I gave up and went to pay the check. But first, I left a note behind (no tip, of course) and said, "I saw you working the men for tips, and that's fine, but you probably think women don't tip. Well, you're wrong. I DO tip, but not when I'm totally ignored and treated like a nuisance. Oh, and your rudeness cost this restaurant a dessert order, because I would have ordered pie if you had once looked in my direction."

At the cash register, the cashier asked if everything was all right, and I said, "No, read the note I left on the table."

So my advice is to stiff the wait person AND leave a note explaining why.

[northzax]

20. no, a tip is payment for services rendered

at a restaurant or bar at least. Under our system, you are paying for food, drink and space on your tab, and you are basically forced to pay an additional amount for all the people who work there. What would your reaction be if your employer said 'sorry, you've been in a really bad mood today, and your work has been off because you are sick, so sorry, but I am not going to pay you for your work today, but i will still report your non-existent income to the irs that's basically what you are doing when you don't tip a waiter. I am a bartender on the side, and my employer reports a straight 15% of my sales to the irs as taxable income, as required by law. Don't tip me and you are quite literally taking money out of my pocket. if you used the service, you should pay for it, don't come back or complain to the manager, but don't ask me to work for free, after the fact.

[Ikonoklast]

26. Your beef is with your employer, not the customers

Crummy service, crummy tip. Why should I be forced to reward poor service?

Do you volunteer to report tips that are over 15% ?

[northzax]

30. Ok, what do you do for a living?

and if someone refused to pay you after your work was completed, became they though it was 'crummy' you'd be fine with it? The way the us system works is that the customer pays for service. That's how it works. Everywhere else in the world service is built into the cost of your drink or meal. How is not paying for labor used a progressive value?

And are you accusing me of tax fraud? I report all income that federal and dc law requires me to report.

[Gormy Cuss]

31. Your employer is the one asking you to work for free.

If your employer reports a flat 15% and you receive less than that you are allowed to report actual tip income under IRS rules. It's a pain in the neck and your employer would probably be unhappy about it but you are not obligated to pay taxes on tips not received. Similarly, if you average more than 15% in tips you are obligated to report the higher amount.

Tips are voluntary. A flat service charge added to the bill would probably be a better way to handle it, but that's not typical here and customers are expected to assess the worth of your service by leaving a tip. It's become flat out crazy now with servers expecting higher percentages in tip to make up for the stagnant base wages. A 20% tip twenty years ago was considered very good -- now many servers see it as the level for decent but not extraordinary service.

I really think our system of tipping needs to be thrown out the window and replaced with a flat service fee. That would mean that customers were able to throw more on the table for excellent service and leave nothing for bad service without any guilt attached. The burden of determining your pay should be shifted back to the managers and owners, the way it is in most jobs outside of the service sector.

And no, I don't leave without tipping, ever. I don't even remember the last time that I was so unhappy with the service that I left under 15%. If I go into a restaurant I expect to add 20% onto the total, sometimes more.

[quakerboy]

22. I have

its only happened a couple times. 2, exactly. Both times, I wrote (no tip, terrible service) on the CC slip on the tip line. One served me the worst food i have ever seen, and then gave me attitude about it when I mentioned that my steak was VERY well done, not mRare as requested. The other... well, our waiter was something out of this world. Imagine having service provided by Dick Cheney on a bad day.

[ContraBass Black]

23. No, when I want to make my displeasure known, I leave $0.01-$0.04

So that they know I didn't just forget.

[tigereye]

24. no, I've been tempted once or twice, but I was a waitress in college

and I just don't think it would be right. Waitressing is really hard work.

[Silver Swan]

27. I'm usually a generous tipper...

The only time I left no tip was way back in the 1970's when a ditzy waitress did not even know what the menu included in the item I ordered. She charged me for a salad, but the menu said it was included in my "meal." Even after I asked about it, she refused to acknowledge her error. Funny thing, the salad was the same amount I would have left as a tip, if she hadn't been so bitchy.

The only other time I left a bad tip was at a restaurant where we were regular customers, and usually got good service. That night, the waitress took our order, and then disappeared. The kitchen staff brought us our food, and we had to go to the bar to get our drinks refilled. The waitress then appeared when we were finished, and asked how our meal was, then she giggled, and said, "I guess I missed it!" We left her ten cents. She was fired a few weeks later.

[datasuspect]

28. i usually say,

"you want a tip? go back to school and get a real job, commie."

[Contrary1]

32. Yep, I have...

But earlier tonight, we were so impressed with our waitress; that we left 50%.

[Fox Mulder]

33. Yep.

If I get a waiter that has poor people skills and doesn't do a good job, then I don't leave a tip.

[elleng]

34. If I want to make a 'statement'

about bad service, i leave a nickel; I did it once.

[Whoa_Nelly]

35. Yes

Have had that job, and am somewhat hypercritical, but am usually fair to 15%.

In recent past have had one wait person so bad, and then so ugly about the service, that it was definitely a no tip and a manager moment.

[Tektonik]

36. No, any restaurant I get table service at, I tip

If the service is bad sometimes I'll write a certain number, cross it out, then add a lower number below.

[leeroysphitz]

37. Yes. Rarely and only when the service TRULY deserves a 0% gratuity. n/t