The "Tipping if the service is bad? How Much? How Little?" thread
When we were visiting my mother last weekend, we ended up at a local chain restaurant for dinner on Sunday. While they were busy, they weren't swamped, and we had bad service. The server dropped off our food and check at the same time, and after brining drink refills then, she didn't stop back during our visit. There were two other employees, including a manager, who were at tables next to us after our drinks were empty, and neither offered drinks, or said, "I'll tell your server." Since we were with my mother, I didn't want to make waves, so I didn't say anything during our meal. Really, it wasn't anything that demanded that management know, but just enough that I'd ask not to be seated in that server's section again.
At this chain, you pay for your meal at a register near the door, and a manager was running that. He asked, "How was your meal and service?" I explained the situation, gave him the credit card, he took 20% off of the check, I paid, and put in about a 10% tip. He asked if I wanted to leave a tip, and when I said I felt bad not leaving anything, he repeatedly told me that if I didn't receive good service, I shouldn't leave a tip. I didn't leave a tip then, but I'm still having the, "Should I have left something?"
Would you leave a tip if you received bad service?