Non-NonRev

Only our sensibilities

(I will correct the post - thanks for the catch).

Devildawg13

Another view:

BAD service deserves N O tips.

It also be a rule that bad food should be returned to the kitchen un-eaten and with NO bill paid as well.

bk3day

Many years ago, I was dining with a number of friends in New Hope, PA.

The waitress began to take our order but wrote nothing down. Some of our party were surprised and since there were quite a few who were placing orders for several dishes, we asked her to please write the orders down.

She assured us she didn't need to. We politely asked again, explaining it would make us feel better. She still refused.

Needless to say, every order brought to the table was wrong in some way. There may have been other issues as well (but as this was now several yrs ago-I can't say for sure)

My friends and I are usually good tippers but in this case, everyone was not happy with the service.

The waitress followed us out to halfway across the parking lot to ask for her tip.

No tip was given and we certainly told her why. That was my singular experience.

nkedel

If the service is bad enough that I can't tip at least a 10% tip, in general, it's bad enough that that I feel obligated to speak to the manager. Also, if the service is terrible, and the manager is unhelpful, a very tiny nominal tip (a dollar in quarters, say) gets the point across better than just no tip, since it makes clear you didn't just forget to tip.

iainbhx

San Fran last year. A co-worker insisted on eating at an obvious cheesy tourist trap *sigh*. The waitress informed us at the start "As you Europeans don't know how to tip, the standard tip is 25%, good service is 35%". Service was as bad as you'd expect with that attitude, we left $5 which was just under 10% quite deliberately. She screamed at us down the street, to which I turned round and said "You lost that when you tried to rip us off, I used to live in Arizona".

I normally leave 15-20% in the US depending on service level.

TimF1975

I'm always surprised when a server decides not to write down orders. Is it that difficult to write the stuff down? A server at Dairy Queen the other day took my rather complicated order without writing it down and proceeded to come back to clarify about 5 times -- and still got one thing wrong.

The only case I've seen where it wasn't necessary was a server at my Grandmother's Scandinavian Club. The girl could tell you what you got each time you visited in the past. It would be years in between my visits and she would remember.

patgarrett

I'd have left nothing if I'd been told that, and looked forward to the confrontation.

indianwells

I wouldn't have ordered anything, just got up and walked out while laughing at her.

mike_asia

This is a classic example that i was looking for. I can't believe she greeted you like this

mapu

Bad service never deserves a tip!

entropy

My "best" experience in this matter was at the W Montreal. I was there with my BF, in the bar; it was mostly empty, perhaps a dozen patrons (definitely not busy by any stretch). Our drinks took about 10 minutes for the first round. The second round, they came out 5 minutes apart. Third round same deal, long wait and they came separately; perhaps excusable if the bar was busy, but it was not, at all.

I left a pretty small tip, a couple bucks. The waitress came back to me and said that in Montreal customary tip is 10-15%. I explained that the service was lacking, and proceeded to inform the hotel manager the service deficiency, and that the waitress confronted us about the tip. He apologised and said he would discuss with the employee.

When I was in Eilat a few years ago I also had bad service, waiting 45 minutes for the bill and such. The bills in Israel all say SERVICE NOT INCLUDED (undoubtedly for the EU folks who are used to all-in pricing), I circled that and paid exactly. No complaint, clearly that waitress was too lazy.

nkedel

Did the orders get corrected promptly? If not, this would strike me not just as a no-tip situation, but one where I'd have been asking the manager for some redress on the bill itself.

I don't know how I'd avoid just laughing in her face then and there.

Why did you stay at her table? Assuming it wasn't enough to sour the group on the whole restaurant, I'd have asked the manager for a different waiter or a table in a different waiter's section.

While I'd have initially thought "maybe she just chose a lame attempt at humor" (sort of like the bad waiter humor that leads them to say "one ___ with extra ____" when you've asked them for "no ____") this seems to disprove that.

I know quite a few folks of an older generation who routinely tip 10% because it's what they grew up with - I'm very surprised just under 10% elicited that strong of a reaction. I guess she was really disappointed that you guys hadn't fallen for her line. Yeesh.

neuron

You are more generous than I. I would have left nil and spoke with her manager, esp for the rudeness and clear attempt to deceive the customer.

mike_asia

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8330m/4.5.0.186 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

After you get your food or before?

neuron

After, when I pay for the food. I prefer not to have spit or other non-essential food items in my food!