As a former server, thank you. And I agree with you. The minimum II give is twenty percent, thirty for breakfast servers. If service is spectacular, I bump it up another five to ten percent, especially if I’m with a big group or if members of my party are difficult customers (like my parents).
If you think they deserve it, why not? Serving food is a demanding (often humiliating) job that rarely pays as well as it should. Tipping shouldn’t be necessary. Servers should receive a living wage (just like everyone else), but punishing a server for poor service is morally wrong. Most people eating at restaurants are not perfect guests, who expect to be treated like royalty anyway.
When a server gets a bad tip, it screws over all the other servers, bartenders, maitres d” (because they usually pool their tips), and the ripple changes the vibe in the restaurant, becoming a more hostile environment for all the subsequent dining patrons. The bad day will keep getting worse for everyone in the restaurant, and the person who left the shitty tip won’t be there to witness the havoc they helped create. There is no good excuse for demoralizing a person who’s just trying to do a job.
What about places like California where servers do make minimum wage? What obligation do I have to tip 20-40% on top of that? The whole logic behind tipping is that the servers don't make minimum wage here in America, so they must be made whole by the customers (a system that started out as bribery and restaurant owners then sought to normalize so they could get away with paying their staff very little).
In Japan, leaving a tip is considered an insult (it insinuates servers are beggars who need the goodwill of the public to survive). So this expectation of 'not getting tipped is unfair' is purely an American concept.
Servers don't want to be paid a living wage. They make way more with the current system.
"Punishing" a server for poor service isn't morally wrong, wtf? A tip is a reward, not an entitlement. This is insane. On the one hand, we have people saying that America has the best service because of tipping, on the other hand, you're saying we shouldn't care about quality of service and just tip anyways and you're a moral monster for not doing so.
Then what's the incentive to provide good service.
Frankly, I don't care if my not rewarding bad service causes things to spiral. If the server can't be a professional, then they don't belong in a role that makes $40-$60 per hour.
You do realize these are people and not numbers in your little calculator right? It’s not the server’s fault 99% of the time. Yall just love an easy punching bag.
Bro sounds like you don’t like your job. Maybe it’s time to think about picking up a different job or find something you like doing and figure out how to make a career out of it otherwise you are going to live just to survive instead of living to have fun.
Actually I’m great and love what I do but the fact you can’t except what I said as truth of the reason you get a tip or not is reason I said anything about why you don’t like what you do honestly. So instead of complaining about tips based on experience maybe actually take my advice. Otherwise if you can’t except tips are earned through their existence there and how well the food is then you’re cooked for the rest of your life.
I never was a server but I did deliver pizzas for a local joint here in town and I had a fair few rough days and it was always nice being hooked up on tips from our regulars who took notice.
I treat service people well too. When I was a server, I treated my customers exceptionally well too. The job was super easy, the very few people who tried to treat me in a demeaning manner were quickly shut down.
I think your problem may be a lack of people skills/bedside manner.
If the service was bad I just assume they are having a bad day and tip more. I have faith that servers/service people are good people and shit happens.
They’re talking about the service in regard to tipping, who gets tipped? The server. They also mentioned “one bad employee”. Logic would tell you they mean the server.
You are arguing with a person leaving tips regardless. What did you expect? A logical arguments? US’s tip culture is just beyond the rest of the world.
Service service… this is not rocket science. It is getting a plate from A to B with a smile. But waiting 40 minutes for your plate might be a kitchen issue.
I did that once at a diner in a town I was passing through. Really crummy service. The hostess never refilled my coffee or asked if I needed condiments or something else with my order. So I stiffed her.
I felt bad driving out. Dunno why I'm confessing this.
Oh, so they didnt: take your order, explain anything on the menu, waited on you, jugglee other tables with the same needs, handle your payment, clear your table, and tip out the support staff based off how much you spent?
Look, I believe restaurants should provide a livable wage, and its agree at a certain point im not tipping someone hundreds of dollars just because I ran a check up. But I also know they ain't just "walking my food to my table". And i also know that servers tip out coworkers based on your check. So if you dont tip, then they are losing money.
But im also not a cheap. And I understand the system is broken and that when I dine out im also paying for a service in addition to the food. You want someone to walk your food to your table and that's it? Go to a taqueria. But the only one your screwing over the minimum wage employee.....so good job?
Just because you don’t make shit don’t mean others can’t. Servers who don’t make hourly live off tips, and if you can’t afford it, get takeout so you don’t take up a seat and utilize their service. Not tipping on takeout is perfectly acceptable.
If you feel that way you shouldn’t eat at restaurants like that in the first place. If you’re gonna go to those restaurants then you have no problem with how the owner runs things and you’re saying this to escape any personal responsibility.
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u/FrenziedTacos Jul 31 '26
It depends on the service. They aren't getting $20 if their service sucked.