Originally Posted by
veggie_lover
It is pretty low for a decent restaurant not to accept credit cards. That's the first time it has ever happened to me and last I checked the date is 2008, not 1988. From what I read online, one reason restaurants do it so waiters can pocket the cash tips and not report all the income for tax purposes.
What you read is wrong. Waiters' tips, for income tax purposes, are estimated based on the take of the restaurant -- whether they are tipped or not, the waiters are required to pay tax on this amount. Restaurants (and other businesses) that do not take credit cards do so because there is an added fee charged by the credit card processor, ranging from 2-7%. Margins on restaurants are very slim, which is why so many go out of business after only a year or two. The extra fee charged by the credit card processor can make the difference between a successful restaurant and one that goes bankrupt.
As a customer it is not my job to double guess my server's intentions .
As a customer who dines out at a restaurant, it is your responsibility to be sufficiently familiar with how restaurants work to understand that the server is not responsible for restaurant policies, is paid well below minimum wage by the restaurant, and depends, entirely, on tips for making a living. Like it or not, that's the way it works in the U.S.
If I am unsatisfied with the experience, I am not going to tip regardless of whose fault it is.
You will, of course, do what you want, but you're completely wrong in this regard.
IIt is the server's responsibility to notify the responsible staff/management of things that are wrong.
And I'm sure the server does. The server does not, however, manage the restaurant, or have input into the prices or whether credit cards should be charged. The waiter is an employee and must follow his or her employer's policies and procedures.
The advice people are giving is ridiculous that I should fully tip the waiter AND go and give a piece of my mind to the dishwasher, cook, manager etc for each thing I was dissatisfied with. Please, get real.
We are very real. It is you who does not seem to understand that directing your dissatisfaction at a server who has no control over the circumstances punishes the wrong person. If your belief is that all employees are responsible for management policy, then you might want to reconsider eating at restaurants with wait service. Your problem is with restaurant management and that's where you should have directed your complaint. Punishing the waiter may make you feel better, but all you're doing is depriving some poor guy or gal for something beyond their control. It may make you feel better, but it's mean, petty and vindictive.
This is the way restaurants work in the U.S., like it or not.