Originally Posted by
QueenOfCoach
A truly top-notch server would probably be extra generous with the tip-outs, just so they can continue to provide top-notch service to the customers. Hot food, timely, efficient service, fast table bussing and great drinks.
So true... A diner tips the server as a reward for the service he provides; a server, likewise, tips the bar and the busser for the service they provide. Just as the diner is the server's customer, so to is the server, essentially, the busser's customer.
Originally Posted by
TrojanHorse
the moment i see one added to the bill, that would be the max i'd ever pay, if anything I go downward based on service.. i can't say i've ever even considered adding to the service charge ( I presume you mean tip)
the most obnoxious thing ever is a second line to add more
I have no problem at all with a line for additional gratuity, as the amount added is not always as high as the customer would like to leave. What bothers me is when you see the automatic gratuity added as a line item on the bill itself, so that the credit slip doesn't clearly indicate that a gratuity has already been charged.
Originally Posted by
Analise
Is it the server's choice to do so? It seems most of what QoC is saying is that tips belong to everyone who makes the evening at a restaurant a success. But then she says the tip is "the server's money to do with what they want." Which is it? Simple question..
That's specific to the individual restaurant, and can't be generalized accurately. At the restaurant I worked at several years ago (a major national "casual-dining" chain), there were suggested amounts for the server to top to the bar and to the busser, but the actual tip-out was not required or monitored by the company. As mentioned, though, failure to tip out fairly would result in the server, and thereby his customers, receiving poor service in the future from the affected employees. If a busser has 6 tables to clean, it's easy enough for him to first clean the tables of the generous servers, and only the help the cheap one on he has nothing left to do.
Originally Posted by
PeteTheBrit
I would also feel less guilty for not tipping when service/food is of a poor quality knowing now that tax is paid on estimated tips.
Am i the only one who thinks this is logical?
While I, as a former server, have absolutely no qualms about tipping poorly or not at all for terrible service (while also tipping generously for excellent service), it is absolutely wrong to base tips on the quality of the food. The server doesn't control the food quality; all he can do is serve what the kitchen puts out. The kitchen doesn't suffer when you tip poorly, the server does, and that's why the level of the gratuity should be based solely on the performance of the service.