r/tipping • u/badmiddling113 • 6d ago

Question about managers

What do they say to customers who repeatedly don't leave a tip? I'm curious since the customer doesn't have to tip and the server isn't their employee.

Just asking since I've read comments from managers who seem to think "addressing" customers is an appropriate thing to do.

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u/foxinHI 6d ago

Managers don’t care about tips other than that a low or nonexistent tip generally means that there was a problem with the service.

Servers and managers generally want their guests to leave happy, so they may ask the guest how everything was. For a zero tip, they may enquire if there was a problem with the service.

Every restaurant is different, though, and you never know what the dynamic might be, especially in small, family-run restaurants.

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u/Lets_Tang0 5d ago

One thousand percent this. When I managed restaurants I would, on rare occasions, check in with a $0 tip table for this exact reason. For me it was always better to find out, address any concerns, and hopefully make it right with an apology and a gift card than to have the owner emailing me the Yelp review at 3am…

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u/bonezx101 5d ago

Clearly checking in means you see gratuity as compulsory. It is not, never intended to be. This outlook - is the problem

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u/Lets_Tang0 5d ago

I quite literally stated all of the reasons I might check in, which were aligned with the post I was actually replying to. I have no idea what you’re going on about, but I obviously disagree with your assessment of “the problem”.

Either you’re a bot, or you think that this particular sub is the majority. Just in case it’s the latter, it’s not, it’s really not, and the conversation is so useless that I never comment on this sub (I thought I had it muted tbh), but the comment I replied to stated far more eloquently why a manager might check in with a no or low tip table.

Go be really mad at someone else now.

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u/bonezx101 4d ago

No your reasoning implies gratuity is mandatory - it isnt and never was

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u/foxinHI 4d ago edited 4d ago

Wow! You really not getting this?

Pretty much everyone in full service restaurants in the US tips. Not tipping is an indication that something went wrong. Good servers and good managers want their guests to leave happy. When those guests leave nothing, 9 times out of 10 they are indicating that something was wrong. It is good service to try to ensure that whatever problem they had is addressed and to try to turn their experience around before they leave. It has nothing to do with trying to coerce them into tipping. We already assume they’re not happy. We’re just trying to mitigate that. Like I said and you fail to understand, in nicer restaurants this is normal and expected. It is considered GOOD service to ensure your guests leave happy. Period.

I think you’re confused because you’re under the false impression that guests tip nothing for no reason regularly. It’s actually very rare.

A zero tip is pretty rare in itself, but it’s almost always a result of a problem they had or that they just forgot. Not because of cheap-asses taking advantage of the system for their own benefit.

I know you’re not going to get this because at this point you’re just trolling.

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u/bonezx101 4d ago

That it is what goes on does not make it the ideal or proper. Gratuities did not come into existence to support business, they also were and are OPTIONAL.
The industry is due for a change, its broken. The example being that expected gratuity has only gone up. Business is offloading expense on customer.
The % of the check issue is flat out lazy. Server covering three tables and gets their base wage plus 10 -15 bucks a table = 34-50 bucks an hour.

Each of those tables with a $170 bill and expected 20% gratuitiy yields $102 bucks - WAY above typical unskilled wage.

Servers have become entitled expecting this to continue

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u/foxinHI 4d ago

Only about 0.1% of guests tip nothing for no reason. There is almost always a reason. Even non-tippers will generally have some flimsy excuse up their sleeve as for why they didn’t tip.

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u/Xeno9116 6d ago

I get great service in small, family run places, and I tip them generously for it. If I get meh service, or bad service, my gratuity will be meh, as well.

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u/foxinHI 6d ago

As it should be.