Pay cash? What's that supposed to mean? If you pay cash, you're not tipping?

You mean like at gunpoint?

I had a waiter run after me once in NYC because I didn't leave a tip. The service was bad and food was terrible. I didn't want to say anything but I wasn't about to leave a tip. He ran out into the street after me, and basically screamed at me to ask why I didn't leave one. Seeing his reaction, I felt even more justified for not giving him one.

I'm certainly not upset with the server when there is autograt added. However, I don't leave anything additional regardless of how good the service is. In my mind management has removed my discretion, and they don't just get to remove the downside. If the server doesn't like that he should encourage management to eliminate autograt.

QL

It used to be rare, but now it is quite commonplace in London for restaurants to add an "optional" 12.5% gratuity onto the bill (this is post-tax since VAT is included in all prices here).

Do also bear in mind that professional waitstaff in the UK have much high base wages than their American counterparts.

Occasionally, I will ask for the "optional" gratuity to be removed if I feel the service hasn't warranted it (i.e., the time that the ice cream dessert was delivered 20 minutes late, half-melted, and the server tried to blame it on me for ordering something non-standard. ).

Like you, I find it inappropriate to add an additional tip after the "optional" gratuity has already been added and have never done so.

The thing is, I haven't removed your discretion. If you think I did a <18% job, you can ask to have the grat removed.

And, as I've stated several times in this thread, I have approached management regarding this issue.

Chris

Again, you choose to work where you're working. The 18% group tip is there so that the waiters don't get stiffed by a big party. It's a bit like insurance. Maybe you could have gotten 25%, or you might have gotten 0%.

I eat at sit down restaurants much more outside the US, and if the service charge is 10% or more, I won't increase it unless I think the service is extraordinary. I've given as much as a 500% tip in certain occasions, but it's quite rare.

I was in Saigon recently, and went to a number of restaurants that had a 5% service charge. They got a bit extra. I will say that it's quite nice to be places that the the service charge is reasonable (Hotels, restaurant, etc). That way I don't have to worry about tipping porters and bellman and so forth.

In most places being a server is not a lifelong career path. It's something you do while you're a student, trying to get a better job, or something you fall back on. You don't run into too many first graders who say, "When I grow up I want to be a waiter"!

Earning $200 for a 4 hours is a great salary. If you're made it your career, great, you're obviously doing something right. I'd guess that 80%+ would not want to do it for their rest of their lives.

Again, the grat is not a hot-point issue for me. It just seems to be an issue for many of the people on this forum. It doesn't really bother me at all. Like you said, it's an insurance policy. Over the long run, I probably would get more if I didn't have it on there, but it certainly doesn't make or break my day.

But, I just don't understand your point. Every person here (unless self-employed) has some minor policy at their employer that they don't particularly agree with. They don't quit just because of that. And, if I wanted to stay in the same industry (which I don't for much longer...anybody hiring?), I don't know of a single restaurant that doesn't have some kind of auto-gratuity policy.

Chris

I recall you saying that at your current place of employment, the management said they'd take the autograt off if everyone agreed. And they didn't.

There are always some wait staff that are just going through the motions. They like big tables, since they get a big tip at the end, no matter what. In the US, I'd say that I get excellent service 10% of the time. Very good 20%, Average 40%, Bad 15%, Very Bad 10%, and Horrid 5%. Sometimes the excellent is at a Denny's and the horrid is at a nice restaurant.

Being a server is not a lifelong job, as it may be in Europe and other parts of the world. I can only think of one place off the top of my head, Durant's, here in Phoenix, that you'd see the same waiter 10 years later.

I personally don't think I'd say that an autograt policy (or not) is a minor policy I happened (or not) to agree with. YMMV.

As with many things in the food-service industry and beyond, price is not always an indicator of quality.

It's kind of funny when a server has a problem with the amount of money he/she receives in tips.

I have eaten every meal for the last 20 years in restaurants and find a couple of common threads.

The first is that the successful servers never complain about tips left from customers. Mostly, this is because they are too busy concentrating on their work to try and count the money while they are working. Instead they look at their "roll" at the end of the week and usually find they are satisfied with the amount they earned. Also, strangely enough, the successful ones will tell you they never give a customer lesser service because that customer left them an insufficient tip on a prior occasion. Star servers seem to have a certain mindset.

Second, those who are not as successful are that way primarily because they are not suited for this type of work. They complain that they don't like the hours, they don't get paid enough, the management treats them unfairly, on and on. As a result they don't make as much money because they haven't earned it. I know, it's a term we don't like to hear much...earned it? That's no deal.

Hopefully you're not referring to me, because I haven't complained about any tips in this thread.

Agree wholeheartedly. I don't ever count my money until the end of the night, and even if it's less than average, I just assume it will all even out at the end of the week. As to taking care of those known to tip a little more frugally, you always have to take care of them just as well, because if you give them superior service, they might tell one of their well-tipping friends .

Chris