Really poor food and sevice....left a negative tip!

kgruber

kgruber

Final Approach
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The food and service was so poor at a restaurant in Westport.............that I left a negative tip.

Minus 5 $$$

And I am a big tipper, usually!!
 
Did you complain to the manager or leave a comment card so they know why you left a negative tip?
 
kgruber said:
The food and service was so poor at a restaurant in Westport.............that I left a negative tip.

Minus 5 $$$

And I am a big tipper, usually!!
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Well? What’d he or she do? Ignore you, call you names, hit you, dump your food in your lap, ........ And me too, WTF is a negative tip?
 
Go have a conversation with the management. They can't address a problem they aren't aware of.

If the service is that bad I can usually figure it out before the order or at least before the food arrives. When that happens I just leave.

I'm very forgiving so you have to be really slack for me to walk. Whether I ever come back, and who I tell about the horrible service is another matter ...
 
Are you saying that you stole from the restaurant because the wait person did not provide good service? WTF is a negative tip?
 
Seems like just talking to the manager would have likely given a better outcome.

In the rare occasions service has actually been that bad, most managers will simply give comps and move on.

I’m super easy to please, but I’ve had a couple of free meals in my day.

Never would bother being passive aggressive about it. Just speak up politely. Everybody in the service biz knows why they’re there.
 
I understand the frustration with awful service. But restaurants around here pool tips for the entire crew. So the entire service staff paid in this case.

Also, when you negative tip, the management does not know if you are normally a high tipper or just someone who is trying to weasel out of tipping. I agree that communication with the manager was the right path to take.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I dislike the practice of tipping. I do it, but we are pretty much the only country that does it.
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Tipping is a practice that only serves the merchant. It allows them to appear to be charging less for their goods than they really are. It’s unfair to the employees that have no idea what their wage will actually be, and it’s unfair to the customer who has to guess as to what is “fair” since they have no window into what the service provider is being paid by the merchant.

A buyer, seller, and employee should all know what they are agreeing to beforehand. If a service person impresses, then a tip should be a totally unnecessary addition that is not expected as part of the deal.
 
I hope the restaurant and server did not know you are a pilot. I can only imagine the conversation with the manager - "wow, that rich a-hole pilot didn't even pay for his meal! What an entitled jerk."
 
No matter how disappointed I may be with a meal out, I always at least pay the full bill. And if the food was garbage yet the service good, the waitstaff still gets a 20% tip. THEY didn't cook the food, so I'm not shooting the messenger. If I'm displeased with the food, that restaurant is off my list and I will not return, that simple.
 
The thing is many times poor service is due more to the kitchen than the wait staff. Unless the waiter is rude I would still tip the waiter and complain to the manager.

Negative tipping sounds like theft to me. Some places make the wait staff responsible for the check.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I dislike the practice of tipping. I do it, but we are pretty much the only country that does it.
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Plenty of countries tip. We're pretty much the only country that tips as much as we do. When I lived in Germany, the tip on a meal would generally just be rounding up to the next full Euro or two.
 
Salty said:
Tipping is a practice that only serves the merchant. It allows them to appear to be charging less for their goods than they really are. It’s unfair to the employees that have no idea what their wage will actually be, and it’s unfair to the customer who has to guess as to what is “fair” since they have no window into what the service provider is being paid by the merchant.

A buyer, seller, and employee should all know what they are agreeing to beforehand. If a service person impresses, then a tip should be a totally unnecessary addition that is not expected as part of the deal.
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Tip expectations in the US are out of control. The same employer who squeals over a $15 minimum wage has no problem suggesting a 25% tip on their menu.
 
ColoPilot said:
Did you complain to the manager or leave a comment card so they know why you left a negative tip?
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The few times I have complained to a restaurant manager, I realized that the bad service is not fault of the individual server. If the manager gave a %%%% about the quality of the service, the performance of that server would have already been addressed.
 
Clip4 said:
Tip expectations in the US are out of control. The same employer who squeals over a $15 minimum wage has no problem suggesting a 25% tip on their menu.
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Sure, because it’s not coming out of their pocket.
 
The OP is a thief and is bragging about it. I find the behavior reprehensible. The service could have been poor for reasons out of control for the server. If things aren't to my satisfaction I may forego a tip, but I also let the management know my beef. I've never been comped anything in the very few times I've done this, but it is a service to the management. Just because they didn't make me happy doesn't mean the staff didn't earn their keep. Most of these folks are poorly paid wage slaves as it is. And recent events haven't made things any better for them.
 
Sluggo63 said:
Plenty of countries tip. We're pretty much the only country that tips as much as we do. When I lived in Germany, the tip on a meal would generally just be rounding up to the next full Euro or two.
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A long time ago I went on a business trip to Luxembourg, had a nice dinner, and left a decent tip. The waitress chased me down to give it back, but she barely spoke English, and I barely spoke German (or Luxembourgish - kind of a combination of French and German). The owner, her mom, spoke very good English and had been to the US many times came out and explained the deal. They have a server tax that's added to the bill, and it's normal to simply round up to a nice number. We got it all straightened out with no hard feelings, and the guy I was traveling with said, "I think you just got married!" I sometimes wonder how my Luxembourg wife is doing and how many kids we have now.
 
Worst service I got was at a chain restaurant, late, and on New Year's Eve. We were travelling over Christmas and trying to get back home after a long drive. We stopped at a place about an hour from home. We really needed to stop for a break, it was getting late, and there likely wouldn't be much open when we did get home.

Well, the kitchen was slow, they were short staffed, tables were piled with dirty dishes, but the waitress did the best she could to get us away from as much of it as possible. This was one of the very few times I was ready to just walk out. I don't remember why, but we stuck it out. Food was very slow to come out, and when it did it was cold, undercooked, all sorts of things wrong with it. Again, the waitress was doing the best she could, but there wasn't much she was able to salvage. I talked with the manager, but I got the feeling she was "manager" only because nobody else wanted the job. The next day I left a message, and later that day the franchise owner called, apologized, said he had "fixed the kitchen problem", and offered all sorts of comps. I did tell him that we wouldn't stop there again, the experience was bad enough it would be all we would remember. He ended up mailing a whole package of gift certificates that we gave away - it's a chain that does have a few locations here, but it isn't a place we normally visit.

The short story is, sometimes things go wrong, sometimes things go very wrong, but sometimes the people you deal with face-to-face don't have any control over it and are trying to do the best they can with what they have to work with. Take it out on the manager.
 
On the other side of the coin....if the server impresses you, not only leave a tip, but tell the manager! Most of the time, the manager only hears bad news. When a server (or multiple staffers) are on top of everything, let the manager know.
 
Everyone gets $5, unless they suck. Then nothing.

This percentage nonsense is a byproduct of underpaid staff.
 
Sluggo63 said:
Plenty of countries tip. We're pretty much the only country that tips as much as we do. When I lived in Germany, the tip on a meal would generally just be rounding up to the next full Euro or two.
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The waiters compensation is typically 10% (less in expensive restaurants) and already built into the price listed on the menu. At the end of the shift, the waiter 'buys' everything rung up on his printout at 90% of the list price from the restaurant, whatever the overage is his to keep. The tipping expectation has increased in recent years, its not at US levels but it would be typical to leave a few percent extra, not just the few cents to round up to the next full euro. If you give a 10% tip, you have now doubled the waiters take from that table.
 
murphey said:
On the other side of the coin....if the server impresses you, not only leave a tip, but tell the manager!
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A few places around here (actually, 3 that I can think of.. a beer/brewery place and two barbeque joints) offer a "buy a round of beers for the crew" - it's an extra $10 menu item and it legit goes into a extra tip fund for the kitchen crew

Which, to be honest, the waiter/waitress is just one ingredient to the overall restaurant experience.

I didn't know if it was real or just a gimmick but I've been told it's genuine, $10 is not much so the last few times I've been at this one particular barbeque joint I've pitched into it
 
IK04 said:
This percentage nonsense
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Depends on a few things. Two people ordering expensive bottles of wine, I agree.. the waiter's workload is not that much higher than if you'd ordered a salad. But if you show up with 6 people and 4 kids that's a much higher workload for the waiter

Same thing for delivery.. if you're ordering 10 pizzas and two boxes of wings for a party the driver should get a bigger tip than he would for a simple large pepperoni
 
..I've known a few professional waiters who work at high end restaurants.. some of these clean house.. a number of years ago right after I got out of college one guy was banking a little over $100K/yr.. I remember being annoyed that I had a "real job" and was making well below that
 
When, on the rare occasion when I am highly pleased with the service, I will tip a ridiculously large amount. I do it to make the poor bastard who carried 200 pounds of groceries to my front door know how much I appreciate the hard work.

I had a good friend who was a professional juggler (really!). He worked as a waiter during the off season and made huge money on tips by entertaining the patrons while serving them. He lived well and always had a nice car.

If only I had had the talent to toss three running chainsaws and an axe over my head, I could have pulled in the big bucks, too!

Nope. Became a pilot and we all know how that turns out. :cool:
 
Tantalum said:
..I've known a few professional waiters who work at high end restaurants.. some of these clean house.. a number of years ago right after I got out of college one guy was banking a little over $100K/yr.. I remember being annoyed that I had a "real job" and was making well below that
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In DC, the strongest opposition to the $15 wage ordinance came from the waiters and bar staff.
 
weilke said:
In DC, the strongest opposition to the $15 wage ordinance came from the waiters and bar staff.
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I was going to mention that. Not just DC. My BIL is a server at a high end restaurant in Phoenix. He’s opposed to a wage hike in favor of tipping going away. He figures he’d take a pretty significant pay cut if that happened.
 
Sluggo63 said:
I was going to mention that. Not just DC. My BIL is a server at a high end restaurant in Phoenix. He’s opposed to a wage hike in favor of tipping going away. He figures he’d take a pretty significant pay cut if that happened.
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I think the angle here is fast food worker and other menial positions that normally don't receive tips.
 
I guess tipping is a tax on heavy drinkers.
 
Uh uh, I don’t tip. No, I don’t believe in it. … Don’t give me that, if she don’t make enough money she can quit. … I don’t tip because society says I have to. All right, I mean I’ll tip if someone really deserves a tipping, if they really put forth the effort, I’ll give them something extra, but I mean this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds. I mean as far as I’m concerned they’re just doing their job. … She was okay. She wasn’t anything special. … Look I ordered coffee all right? Now we’ve been here a long [darn] time, she’s only filled my cup three times. When I order coffee I want it filled six times. … The words “too [darn] busy” shouldn’t be in a waitress’ vocabulary. … [gosh darnit], these ladies aren’t starving to death. They make minimum wage. I used to work minimum wage and when I did I wasn’t lucky enough to have a job that society deemed tip worthy. … You know what this is? It’s the world’s smallest violin playing just for the waitresses. … So is working at McDonald’s but you don’t feel the need to tip them do you? Well why not? They’re serving you food. But no, society says don’t tip these guys over here, but tip these guys over here. That’s [rubbish]. … [screw] all that. … I mean I’m very sorry the government taxes their tips. That’s [messed] up. That ain’t my fault. I mean it would appear that waitresses are one of the many groups the government [screws over] on a regular basis. I mean show a piece of paper that says the government shouldn’t do that, I’ll sign it, put it to a vote, I’ll vote for it, but what I won’t do is play ball. And this non-college [rubbish]... I got two words for that: learn to [gosh darn] type, ’cause if you’re expecting me to help out with the rent you’re in for a big [darn] surprise
 
Bill said:
I think the angle here is fast food worker and other menial positions that normally don't receive tips.
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Fast food is usually not a tipped position, they already fall under the minimum wage, whatever it may be.


In DC, there is a difference between someone who waits a few tables in some family restaurant in southeast vs. those who cater to the swamp and the tourist trade.

The initive was supposed to establish a $15/hr floor with the waiters/bartenders able to keep whatever they make above that. Everyone hated it. The small family places said they can't afford the $15 and the waiters didn't want their tip revenue dry up if the diners now consider the included amounts as sufficient. In a quirk of DC law, the council just repealed the ordinance that was passed by referendum.
 
Deelee said:
Uh uh, I don’t tip. No, I don’t believe in it. … Don’t give me that, if she don’t make enough money she can quit. … I don’t tip because society says I have to. All right, I mean I’ll tip if someone really deserves a tipping, if they really put forth the effort, I’ll give them something extra, but I mean this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds. I mean as far as I’m concerned they’re just doing their job. … She was okay. She wasn’t anything special. … Look I ordered coffee all right? Now we’ve been here a long [darn] time, she’s only filled my cup three times. When I order coffee I want it filled six times. … The words “too [darn] busy” shouldn’t be in a waitress’ vocabulary. … [gosh darnit], these ladies aren’t starving to death. They make minimum wage. I used to work minimum wage and when I did I wasn’t lucky enough to have a job that society deemed tip worthy. … You know what this is? It’s the world’s smallest violin playing just for the waitresses. … So is working at McDonald’s but you don’t feel the need to tip them do you? Well why not? They’re serving you food. But no, society says don’t tip these guys over here, but tip these guys over here. That’s [rubbish]. … [screw] all that. … I mean I’m very sorry the government taxes their tips. That’s [messed] up. That ain’t my fault. I mean it would appear that waitresses are one of the many groups the government [screws over] on a regular basis. I mean show a piece of paper that says the government shouldn’t do that, I’ll sign it, put it to a vote, I’ll vote for it, but what I won’t do is play ball. And this non-college [rubbish]... I got two words for that: learn to [gosh darn] type, ’cause if you’re expecting me to help out with the rent you’re in for a big [darn] surprise
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You do understand how the 'tipped minimum wage' works ?
 
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