21 Things Waiters Dread
Throw an extra buck or two in next time you tip. They earned it.
2. “No, you’re not breaking up, the WAITER just keeps interrupting me.”
3. “Hey, don’t I know you?”
Yeah, I’m the guy who just asked you what entree you want. Stop taking a picture and read the menu.
From Reddit: “At a sushi restaurant in Santa Monica, ‘The Sherminator’ was my waiter!”
4. “What is this ‘tipping’? We don’t have it in my country.”
Regardless of whether it should or shouldn’t be, gratuity’s not included in the bill here, buddy. Fifteen percent.
5. “Yes, I’ll have the cheeseburger, but can you replace the patty with four mozzarella sticks?”
7. “It has been TEN MINUTES! Where’s my well-done steak?!”
Buddy, you can have it quick or you can have it well-done. Take your pick.
8. “Yeah, I’ll have — hurr hurr guys shut up, I’m gonna do it — I’ll have a water, with seven lemon wedges.”
9. “I said MEDIUM-RARE, not bleeding! I want to speak to the chef.”
Of course, ma’am, I’ll bring out the chef and you can teach him what his 19 years of professional culinary experience haven’t.
10. “My steak was overcooked, and I refuse to pay for it. It took me the whole steak to realize it.”
11. “No dessert, but another round of waters, please. We’ll be here a while.”
Sure, no problem. I’ll just be over here watching that family of paying customers get seated in someone else’s section.
12. “But I didn’t order those sliders, I just assumed they were on the house. They were delicious, though, thank you!”
14. “$21.32 on the VISA, $25.64 on the Amex, $17 out of this twenty, $8.23 out of this twenty, and can you make change for a fifty?”
18. “I didn’t tip you because of my religious beliefs.”
“I give God 10%, why do you get 18?”
19. “Our customer was an unreasonable jerk, so you’re fired.”
We’re looking at you, Applebee’s.
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meganm42 2 months agoI leave tips based on service as well. I remember one instance where the bill was $20 and I tipped the girl $20 because she was doing all the work around the whole place while everyone else was just standing around doing nothing. Also, I have equally had a bill at a nice restraunt that was $150 and I tipped a dollar, and my reasoning is because she was being disrespectful and rude. She expected to just be handed a tip after being cold, unknowledgeable about the menu, basically calling us fat b/c we finished the appetizer the size of my fist so fast,telling us our food would be something else it’s not, and looking right through us when she spoke to us. Rude Rude, now I am suppose to tip her? No. I would have gladly given her the 30 dollars if she had just not been so rude.
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miui2013 3 months ago* AS YOU CAN SEE THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE THAT REPRESENT CUSTOMERS THAT WE HATE AND THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE THAT REPRESENT CUSTOMERS THAT WE LOVE, NO NEED TO ARGUE, READ ALL THE COMMENTS TO SEE WHAT SERVICE INDUSTRY PEOPLE HAD TO DEAL WITH EVERYDAY. THIS IS A GOOD EVIDENCE OF HOW PEOPLE ARE JUST SELF ABSORB AND EGOISTIC* I have been working in the restaurant business for 10 years. Working from a small business to the big name hotel, I have seen everything and more. I enjoy food, I enjoy learning how to deal with issues and practicing my patience which is why I have been working in this industry. From this experience, I learn to ignore customers that ruin your whole day and praise the customers that made my day. Being in a Philosophy and Political Science major, I took my experience and realized that humans are capable of being rational but not all live up to their ability. Humans behavior is driven by self-interest. Anything that will benefit ourselves is not “wrong” and we tend to blame other people for our misfortune. Working in the restaurant business is something everyone should try once in their life time. It will enlighten your view on society, human character and psychology. I disagree when people think that this job is low and oppressing. I think that people who have worked in this position is more well-rounded and level-headed. We (service industry people) should be sympathetic to those that does not have the opportunity to witness the reality of human being interaction. At the end of the day, I know that my kids will know how to treat people and they will be respected in return.
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tyy 4 months agoI’ve been a server/bartender for a collective eight years. I was able to pay for college and then, 10 years later after I was released from my job, it has sustained my life for the last three years. Depending on what state you live in, it can be a good gig. I make $4.80 per hour plus tips. I haven’t cashed a paycheck since I started, but I do average about $20 an hour. Sure, we have to put up with stupid people. But what I tell all the other servers and bartenders I work with is that we tend to only remember the worst. Do you remember the best? In my state and where I work, we do pretty well, relative to the rest of the world. Every situation is different. To expect everybody to be 20-percent tippers and nice as all Hell is unreasonable! Take the good with the bad, but understand we’re not digging ditches in the hot or cold for minimum wage. I went to this FB site called Overheard by Your Server and was blown away by the stuff we get to hear. Cherish it. I doubt anybody chooses serving as a career. Look at it as a chance to witness the good, bad and ugly of life.
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stephalina 4 months ago
If “tipping” is now 100% expected for every dining experience involving a waiter , why don’t we just increase the cost of the meal, give the servers the extra $, and do away with the whole “tipping” process anyway? If social norms will “require” me to tip (which I always do, TYVM) then why does it need to be a special thing that just ends up getting people in hot water? If I choose to leave more for exceptional service (what a TIP actually should be) then I could if I chose to. Its always seemed so silly to me.
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miui2013 3 months ago
some people complain about the current cost of the meal, what make you think this will solve the problem? Some customer will say that, it is not their responsibility for the customer to pay since the restaurant are getting business partly from providing service, so therefore the restaurant should cover the cost. . There are many ways to make excuses so that they wont have to pay. At a place like Chicago, the cost to run a small business is very high with all the employee tax, soft drink tax, income tax, outdoor cafe tax, oh AND RENT ..etc If we were to pay for the employee which mean that we will need to claim all of our income then we will get taxed even more.. what is left for the hard work of opening a business? The only way we survive is the cash tip that the servers are getting from customer because it won’t show on our expense. Restaurant business is more complicated than what people think from the outside. Yes, some people might say…”why don’t you just get another job? if this is too much work for you to handle.. Just deal with it!” There is no way to win that argument without trying to gain sympathy.
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amandat20 4 months agoI can’t speak for everyone, but I am trying to make it through college while working as a server. Unfortunately, the student loans I receive only cover about half of my school costs (thus, I have credit card debt on top of my student loans), and the living I make by being a server barely covers my actual living expenses. So I work my ass off and give amazing service to the customers that come in, hoping that they will recognize my hard work and compensate me for it. Some do, some don’t. Whatever. After work, I go home and do homework. The next morning I wake up and go to school for 5 hours. I bring my uniform with me so that I can go directly from school to work. And the cycle starts all over again.
All I know is that servers are USUALLY in this industry temporarily, and if they’re anything like me, they’re working their asses off. Serving is one of the few jobs that pays above minimum wage (mind you, minimum wage does not cover living expenses) that you can get without a college degree, so it is perfect for college students. If you don’t want to tip me, I will probably have to drop out of college because I can’t afford it. Then I will become stuck in this industry forever because I will have no other recourse. However, if you have some extra money to spare after you are finished indulging yourself, it would be kind of you to help me pay my college expenses for these 4 years so I can get out of this hell hole of an industry. Thank you. -
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Elizabeth W. 4 months ago
@ Rob Oliver. I was on-board with you till you said you didn’t need to pay taxes because you work hard. I work hard too, but I pay my taxes. It sucks. I miss my money, but it’s the price I pay for the services my community and nation offer me. I tip 20% minimum on every check, usually more than that. I used to be a server and I was very honest about reporting my wages then, too. I’m sympathetic as to how hard servers work and truly appreciative of the service I receive when I go out. Because of my experience as a server I can figure out that the service may be slow because my server has too many tables and I can understand that everyone has a bad day every now and then. I’m pretty understanding about work culture in a restaurant. But you aren’t getting my sympathy because you prefer a cash tip so you can cheat on your taxes. All that just did was confirm that I need to be sure and pay/tip with my credit card from now on.
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fossilgoth 4 months ago#13 actually HELPS the business as pics of the actual food pull in way more customers on review sites like Yelp versus text reviews or what the business supplies as stock photos.
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clairew9 4 months agoThis article also left out the people who pay with a gift card and don’t tip on the original amount, or pay a portion in cash and the rest on a card and then only tip on the amount on the card; the server deserves the tip on the full bill, and they are required to tip out a percentage to the restaurant regardless of what people tip them
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clairew9 4 months ago
This article is only wrong in that it says that 15% is a standard good tip, 20% means that you got good service, and any more than that means that it was great or exceptional…in most states servers only make $2.13 an hour which is $0 after taxes are taken out, something that most of the dining population is unaware of, so think about it next time you go out to eat, and don’t go out if you can’t afford to give your server the money that they deserve!
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kyrski 4 months agoi think everyone should work a year as a waiter, it will put your dining experience into perspective. i was screamed at, humiliated, sexually harassed, and sometimes completely screwed over with tips, but those instances are not frequent. i kept a smile on my face through it all, always apologized, was never rude, but i’ll tell you, some days i wanted to upturn people’s tables. there are just plain assholes out there, end of story. i had coworkers who sucked, so it isn’t only customers, but we get paid minimum wage (sometimes less) and rely on tips to compensate for that. if we are giving you decent service and have a friendly personality, take it into consideration. i would have tables of twelve who would leave me less than $5 total because they assumed someone else would leave a bigger tip so they didn’t think they had to chip in. shit sucks and you just deal with it. but have a little respect.
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Becky J 4 months ago
Something which *seems* to be fairly widespread in the US (I’m more than happy to be corrected!), and is certainly on the rise in the UK, is the automatic inclusion of a % tip on the bill which then supplements the income of the establishment rather than rewarding the individual. This bothers me. When I tip (and I do, always - it’s simply not true that we Brits refuse to tip ‘as a rule’) I like to know that my tip has gone to the server, to reward and thank them for good service. Unfortunately, when the tip goes to the establishment, they often use this to ‘top up’ what are already insultingly low wages. I’m also not necessarily interested in seeing the money I tip split amongst the team - not *all* of whom have been actively involved in providing me with my meal and experience that day. I just wish that some of the less ‘honest’ establishments would be more transparent about where the money from our tips actually goes. This isn’t ever enough to *prevent* me from tipping (only catastrophically bad service would make me do that), but I admit I do tend to tip more if I can tip in cash directly to the server rather than as part of the bill on my credit/debit card. In places where the latter is the case, I have serious doubts that the server(s) see any meaningful amount of the tip anyway.
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alaynap 4 months ago#10 That, that would make me want to kick something very very hard when I was a server. Even more frustrating when I was bartending was making a drink for a table and having the server bring it back 15 minutes later 3/4 empty and tell me the customer thought it was too strong/weak/sweet/salty on the rim and wanted a new one. FML >.<*
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Sasha Lala 4 months agoI agree. There’s been one instance of me not liking a drink, and I took one sip of it, and asked the waitress if she would take the extra that I charged them for making another drink for me(I left a hefty tip for her though, for being so kind). She refused and said she wouldn’t charge, but I don’t understand people who finish their meal/drink and then complain. Makes no sense!
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velvetknight 4 months agoI once had a girl in a party of six who ordered a chicken sandwich off the menu. Ate the whole thing, no complaints. Everyone’s happy. Then they get the bill and she says, “That piece of chicken was too small for me to pay $X (the price on the menu).” Needless to say, the manager wouldn’t change the price and they gave me a $2 tip, laughing about it the whole time.
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Gor05751 4 months ago
This is amazing. Except tipping should be 20 percent. There are a few things I would add but go to whitegirlshanee.com under the “how to- act in public” and it says it all right there, it’s a little harsher but some of the people who don’t like tipping should def. read it.
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Melanie 4 months agoI waited tables for years, all through college, and some of these are legitimate gripes and some aren’t. Servers who have a lot of problems with rude customers and bad tippers are almost always crappy servers. The job really isn’t for everyone. Kids, splitting checks, special requests, and people hanging out long after they’re done eating are all things that go along with the job. I’d much rather deal with kids than drunk people - kids aren’t any louder or messier and they don’t get grabby or belligerent.
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kimbakervidasd 4 months agoi used to wait tables, too, and some of these things make me want to slap the waitstaff complaining about them. sure, sometimes you get a family with lots of kids and it’s messy and difficult. that’s what you’re paid to deal with. and if you’re surly about it, don’t EXPECT a tip. if you wait on customers with a good attitude and attention to service, i can guarantee you that the good tips you receive will FAR outweigh the times you get stiffed, and by a much broader margin. *shrugs*
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gcsapo 4 months agoAs a former waiter, I have to say it is actually disgusting how some people treat you. It kills your faith in humanity a little, especially when you lost a bit of dignity having to smile politely while they do all of the above, and then leave without giving you the measly 10% tip THEY KNOW they should have left. And you get to experience that at least 20 times a day.
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