We in the US have a habit of forgetting that a "Tip" is actually "gratuity"..that means it is OPTIONAL and based on the quality of service the customer has received. It is not required, especially in cases of horrible service.

Now, I almost always tip, even for mediocre service. For good service I tip better. But for bad service, a really rare thing, I don't tip at all and try to add insult to injury. A few stories:

Wife and I went to the old Brewhouse in Pasadena, CA. When we got to the hostess was on the phone, obviously with a girlfriend from what we could gather from her conversation, and she gave us the "hold on a sec, finger" for 2 minutes. Got to our table, ordered drinks..20 minutes for them to arrive. And then we waited to have our dinner orders taken....for 2 hours. YES, 2 hours. I let it go so long just to see how long it would take. Out of curiosity.

Finally someone asked us if we had been served and took our orders, telling us that because of our trouble, they would comp one dinner and the drinks. It was another hour before the food came..and 25 minutes from asking for the bill to actually getting it. Now we are here for almost 4 hours. And when the bill came, they DID NOT COMP ONE DINNER AND THE DRINKS..so we had to get that sorted too.

In the end, I threw to pennies into my dirty pint glass as a tip.

On business once in Colorado springs a colleague and I went into Blondies and sat at the bar, ready to order dinner. The place was empty except for us. The two girls behind the bar were too busy taking shots of their own. Finnally they take our orders. 45 minutes go by, I get mine. My partner is still waiting for his. He asks...they claim sorry, it's sooo busy. But nobody was there! Finally they bring it, and it had obviously been sitting out ready for pick up for awhile. Stone cold. Dry. He complained and they did nothing about it.

So when the bill came, I paid with my card and in the tip section put $0.00 with happy faces in the zeros.