How hard is it to ask the server after being seated, or even better ... before.. being seated, "Do you accept credit cards?"


As I said, be careful in NYC as there are many places that do not accept credit cards, and they WILL NOT advise you when you sit down that cash is a good way to pay.

In this case, the restaurant should take their CC savings and pay their waiters better.

Exactly that is my point. Next time I eat at a restaurant Ill do a spreadsheet analysis to determine the fair tip amount for the waiter . Hence, I need to reconsider eating at restaurants since that is not practical for me.

Thanks to tipping, restaurant service is one of the most erratically paid professions in the United States. In some states, tips comprise 100 percent of a server's income, and all but seven have separate, decreased minimum wages for tipped employees. On the federal level, the minimum hourly wage for tipped employees is $2.15. In Kansas, it's $1.59.

The Center for Hospitality Research lists a number of other factors that affect your tip, many of which are completely out of a server's control. Good weather, good moods and a piece of candy with the check are all important tip boosters. For the server, being attractive improves your tip, being a woman improves your tip, and being an attractive woman exponentially increases it.

http://www.wiretapmag.org/stories/34988/

Why did you have to walk back to your hotel? Weren't there any ATMs around? Did you have cash at your hotel? If so why not just carry some with you?

You were eating by yourself? Your post suggests that there were other people dining with you. They did not have any cash either? Did everyone stiff the waiter?

Can you give the city and name of the resturant, so we can get thier side of the story? And so other posters that don't believe in cash can stay away, and learn from your experience.

My, how enlightened is the OP....Submerged in too many lattes, too much self-indulgence and not much caring for others in any personal sense.

First, he ignores the fact that the restaurant (which could have embarrassed him, forcing someone else to pay, or holding him - presumably to wash dishes for the meals) lets him off on his honor - piffle, what honor? Likely no more than fear of pursuit - to fetch his cash.

Punish them? How novel; he "stiffs" the waiter for the tip, mindless that the waiter is unlikely to be the house policy maker.

I'm am far more troubled by the OP's cultural and economic blindness of anything beyond his own self interest, suggesting he starts asking before dining, as I can still think of any number of restaurants which don't take cards, including one semi-upscale boite which "renders an account" to me on sort of a monthly basis or when the owner-chef needs cash.

:-P

I'm a good tipper, but I think it is a horrible custom. I also think it is an anachronism that a restaurant of that price range doesn't take CC. It makes me think they're probably crooked in their accounting and hiring practices.

I think the OP's question has been sufficiently answered.

If you have anything related to the topic to add, please do so, but lets all try to lay off the snarky commentary and digs at the OP

Peter Luger Steakhouse http://www.peterluger.com/ is always on the list of best steak houses. They only take the Peter Luger Card.

and doesn't the wait staff have a choice of working at a place that doesn't accept Cc's?

veggie_lover's contention is still valid. I venture to say that VERY few fine restaurants in the U.S. do not accept credit cards. Knowing that Peter Luger Steakhouse is one of them allows me to write it off as a place that I am interested in eating. There are plenty of great steak houses around.

"Estimated" is the operative word here. Waiters are not "required" to pay taxes on someone's estimate or guess of what they made. When April 15th comes around, they are required to pay taxes on their actual income. Good documentation can easily overcome any inequity caused by a faulty estimate. Documentation is the responsibility of both the employer and the employee. In order to avoid IRS problems, some restaurants provide their servers with a printout of all of their invoices on a daily basis. The employee is then required to annotate any tips received in cash.

The problem with taxes on tips is underpayment due to underreporting, not the other way around.

I think that in 2008 the norm is for more expensive restaurants to accept credit cards. And most customers expect this. If a pricey restaurant does not, then they have a duty to make it known to their customers before they place their order. This can be done by signage as one enters, a notice on the menu, and even by the server taking the order. They should be just as concerned about the possibility of embarassing a cash-less customer as they are about receiving payment for the meal.

In the situation described by the OP, I don't really have enough info to know if the policy was clear (or should have been clear to the average customer) ahead of time or not. Regardless, it was probably not right to take out his frustration by not tipping the server unless he also received bad service. I will admit that how much I tip is based on many factors, not just the price I paid, but there are intangibles (quality, presentation, ambience, etc.) which affect the tip (usually to increase the amount of the tip above my baseline). I am sure I have stiffed a server at some time in my life for extraordinarily bad service, but I can't remember it. Generally speaking I will decrease the tip for ultra slow, surley, or disrespectful service.

By the way, since I am always out to maximize FF miles, I rarely go to a cash only restaurant. And I always make sure I know up front if they take plastic. If no signage is out, I always ask before being seated. I carry more than one card in case there is a problem, but carrying sufficient cash to pay for a night out at a fine restaurant is impractical for me (at best), and could be dangerous in some areas. EXCEPTION: When I am in Japan, a highly cash oriented country, I carry a lot of cash to the point that my wallet is bulging and uncomfortable, and I still worry, not that someone will rob me, but that I will lose my wallet, or possibly still not have enough cash to cover a purchase. I never have that worry when I can carry and use credit cards.

Veggie_lover,

Would you be willing to share the name of the restaurant and the city it is located in for us?

Thanks,

William