Interesting situation happened a couple of days ago. My better half and I were eating at an Asian Place in Spokane. My Chicken Sticks came out undercooked. The wait person said that my entree would be deducted, and she took the chicken back to be regrilled. It appeared about 5 minutes later and was perfect!
The entree was still deducted even though I ate absolutely everything.

What is an appropriate tip for a meal like this, where one essentially is comped the meal and polishes it off.

(I tipped the amount of the entree, about $7. because I felt that the wait person might have to cover the cost of meal.)

My understanding is that in this situation ("fixed and comped") that the tip should be calculated on the basis of what the entire check would have been. Thus, if your check would have been $30.00, but you were charged $23.00, tip on the basis of the $30.00. The server does not have to pay out-of-pocket for a kitchen error.

However if the waitperson initially tried to fob you off with an excuse or belittle the situation, the tip should be nothing.

This is somewhat akin to using an "Entertainment Book" where one of the meals is free. The waitperson should not be held responsible for the acts of management (undercooked food, advertising promotions, etc.). I always calculate the tip on the gross amount*.

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* now having said that my wife and I have engaged in a years old debate of whether the tip should be based upon the pre-tax amount, or after tax. My premise is if I want to give a 15% tip for average service it should be on the pre-tax. The tax rate in my home county is 8.25%! Et ux argues otherwise.

Agree with this.

If your server is bringing you lots of freebies, then the tip should be increased.

I agree the tip should be as if everything was as it ended up, UNLESS the problem was not handled properly.

The comment about EC 2-4-1's is as the book suggests, HOWEVER some places run weekly 2-4-1 as they over price their food. At these places I modifly the tip to reflect a realistic comparable price. If you would not eat there unless the coupon existed, because of the absence of value, then I believe in moderation and equivalency in tipping.

THIS is NOT the case with all EC places, just some that also run regular newspaper specials. They continue to exist only because of the specials.

I thought you were discussing a new accouting rule until I reread the thread, realizing you were refering to the Entertainment discount!

I would tip as if I paid for the meal. It was interesting at the Hilton the other day, they rang up the breakfast, deducted the entire amount, and had a note printed on the receipt about The value of this meal for tip calculation was...

A bit rude on Hilton's part IMHO, particularly if you were there on a bed and breakfast rate.

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I miss Canadian Airlines

I would tip based upon the original meal cost and also if it was the action of the server that caused the item to be removed from the bill, put a good chunk of that savings into the tip (after all, you got a good meal). If I got a bad attitude from the server, the tip would suffer horribly.

You can tip more than 15% if you wish, but is properly figured on the amount before tax.

If you are comped a meal or use a coupon, figure the tip on the amount before the comp or coupon, that is, as if there was no comp or coupon.

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

Once a restaurant automatically added in a tip figuring it on the amoutn after tax. I complained and insisted that they correct it even though I would have voluntarily left a larger tip if they did not add it in automatically. In retrospect I think I overreacted.



[This message has been edited by AllanJ (edited 08-03-2002).]

OK, so here to have another opinion. I think tips have gotten too high in the uS. Restaurants are counting on us to pay most of the cost of the wait staff. (not to mention with mandatory tip splitting in many places, that we are also supporting other restaurant staff).

That is not to say that one or two of us can make any difference, but I think we should talk about it.

10% should be enough if the staff gets a sufficient base wage. I feel as if I am trying to stop a speeding train. If we take the whole Penny bunch out to dinner, we often get a mandatory 18% tip. Yes, there is a warning on the menu...sometimes, but that is far too much.

Yes, in the past I've worked in situations where I got (and needed) tips, but this is ridiculous!

We're stuck with tipping, it's a well ingrained custom in the U.S. and many parts of the world.

But that is what coupons are for, to get a discount on the food so there is money left to tip with.

Or just don't go to such upscale restaurants. That'll induce them to issue more coupons.

A question for those of you familiar with southern Florida. In most of the US there is no service charge included in the final check, but in "tourist" Florida there sometimes is. In these cases is any further tip expected? If so, how much for "average" service. If not, why are credit card slips still left open with a "Gratuities" line.

If the gratuity is already added to the bill (18% is a bit much), no further tip should be left, I think. Of course if the waiter did something really extraordinary (what could that possibly be?), some more could be left, which is not to say that the waiters don't expect/hope diners will be confused and leave more. If the service was absolutely atrocious, I would even cross off the 18% "mandatory" tip, as this shouldn't really exist. In a really extreme case, you might even consider stealing an ashtray. The credit-card printouts include the extra tip line because that's the way they're programmed; the card companies don't really think a restaurant would add a "mandatory" tip.

[This message has been edited by Track (edited 08-04-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Track (edited 08-04-2002).]