We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to share what's a telltale sign that a customer isn't going to tip well, and they really spilled the inside deets.
1. Being overpraised and complimented to death:
"Verbal tips. If the table starts over-complimenting about how amazing the service is, they feel like they can tip less because they gave you praise."
"Über-praise for my performance throughout the dining experience."
"I call them the 'verbal tippers.' If they rave and gush about my service and are all smiles and pats on the back, I know I’m going to get stiffed on the actual tip."
2. Answering in the form of a question:
"When people order everything as if it’s a question:
‘What can I get for you?'
‘Um…water??’
‘How is everything?’
‘Good?’"
3. A large group of younger people:
"Kids. At the restaurant where I work, I can get parties of 10–15 people, and all of them are high school kids. They choose the cheapest thing in the menu and they don’t even leave a dollar."
4. Speaking in short, incomplete sentences:
"People who don’t use full sentences, but just one-word orders instead. Like, they'll say 'Splenda!' instead of 'Can you bring some Splenda?'"
5. Needy customers with complicated orders:
"I have noticed that a sure sign that they're not going to tip is when they are the needy kind of people and yell at you for doing your job."
—Van
"When they demand to send the food back more than once."
"When they make their order so over the top and complicated, with additions, substitutions, and wild cooking instructions. Usually, it's done with the purpose of trying to trip me up and get their entire meal for free."
"Extra this, more of that, and any chance of a free something? Then the smallest thing that you’re not able to get them straight away, they use it as a reason to tip poorly — even if it’s something that’s beyond your control, like giving them a free dessert."
6. Pressing the tip directly into your hand:
"When the customer presses the tip money in your hand at the end of the meal and praises how good you are. It's always a fraction of what you should have been tipped."
7. Mentioning that they are a server too:
"Anytime a customer immediately declares themself to be a server or bartender, they are going to be very demanding and leave a bad tip. And 95% of the time, they work somewhere corporate and don't actually have any experience working in real bars."
8. Tip braggers:
"People who promise they are over-the-top good tippers."
"When a customer indicates that if they're well taken care of, they will, in turn, 'take care of you.' It implies a hefty tip, but it NEVER results in that. Generally, it's far below the average."
"Hearing, 'Don’t worry, we’re gonna take care of you.' Good tippers don’t brag about it."
"When they say, 'Make it good, I’ll take care of you.' It means that they'll tip you maybe 50 cents more."
9. Snapping their fingers at you:
"When they snap their fingers at you to get your attention."
10. Actually joking about not tipping:
"When you make a mistake, like setting the wrong drinks in front of the wrong people, and one will make a joke like, 'No big deal, I don’t tip servers anyway.'"
11. Starting off an order with "I need...":
"If they start their order with 'I need...," I know the tip is going to be trash, no matter how well I do."
12. When the bill is different from what they expected:
"When you drop off the bill and their eyes get all wide or they make an 'OOF' sound."
13. Being frugal and penny-pinching the order itself:
"When the customer asks how much each individual item they're ordering costs."
"When they ask if anything we have has free refills or is available in all-you-can-eat."
"If they order a Long Island iced tea. They want the most alcohol for the cheapest price."
15. And when they're overdressed and appear wealthy:
"People who way overdress for the restaurant will not tip."
"Wealthy people. Those with nice jewelry, fancy cars, and entitlement to exemplary service. But they still leave less than the minimum tip. Every. Single. Time."
"In my experience as a bartender, it was the air of arrogance. Always knew by the smug, condescending look or attitude, and most of the time it was men who looked like they had some money."
—kwit
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.