Tipping a bad server?

Japanese Knives - by Tokushu Knife
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10-20% like everyone else. I am not afraid to leave 0 if the service is bad. The last poor service I left nothing at was the worst service I had in my life on a 30 dollar casual ticket for 2. Came twice and had to ask for everything, which I don't usually mind since I drink around 4 of the big cups of water at a meal, but this time was pretty horrible. Maybe I should start telling them why they aren't getting anything. I usually and pretty easy going and understanding, if the issue is poor communication with the kitchen or something that isn't a problem, lack of care is.
 
What gives me heartburn is the way a tip affects waitstaff at either extreme of the scale. I've left a $5 tip on a $10 bill at a breakfast joint when a waiter busts a hump. But what do you do with so-so service on a $150 meal? Do they really deserve a $30 tip for less work than someone who really takes care of you at breakfast?
 
This is why I have a problem with the server at the tavern that I frequent each week. She gives us great service, but the bill isn't much. The fact that she's a dog person doesn't make it any easier!
 
For those places that a lot of money isn't spent, but the staff treats you like long lost family, I usually do something for them around the holidays: a nice bottle of booze, a gift card for someplace nice, or even a ridiculous tip ($20, maybe even $50) to show them I really appreciate the way they treat me & mine.
 
SpikeC said:
This is why I have a problem with the server at the tavern that I frequent each week. She gives us great service, but the bill isn't much. The fact that she's a dog person doesn't make it any easier!
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If I'm reading this correctly, you believe that you are limited to a particular percentage for a tip, like 20 or 25%?

My wife and I often split a meal when we aren't that hungry, so the bill is only around $20, but if the server is known to us and has provided great service, I have no problem with leaving a tip of $10.

Just my two cents.
 
That is why I give a 50% tip at that place. Now I think that an Xmas tip is in order!
 
My Dad has been known to generously round up a 66 Euro bill to 68 Euro. But that was in Germany where waiters get actually get paid and tips are generally much smaller than in the US. Whenever I have German visitors, it really hurts them to pay 20% in tips, just a different culture. Not that German waiters wouldn't be happy about tips also, I think it has become more common to tip higher in recent years. I usually tip somewhere between 15 and 25%, but I also occasionally tell waiters if I am not happy with something.

Stefan
 
At a bar, when paying cash, a dollar a drink should be the norm. When leaving, another dollar (or two) can be left for good service. So, four beers = $5.
 
One job I always wanted to do to was and never got to was wait tables....I just LOVE to serve people. At dinnere parties I'm the one that always walks around removing emply plates and dumping the trash...I JUST CAN"T HELP IT!!!! So with that I have great respect for wait staff. My daughter was also wait staff for some of the more up scale places and whenever we would go to one of them when she was on we would of course do 50%+ which she always very graciously shared.....but then when she was at the table with us, whoever served us would get 30%+. We got to be known as THE OTs...OBSCENE TIPPERS (no not OLD TIMERS). We used to have this one little hole in the wall Japanese place we would go to just for the garlic chicken wings and beer....unbelievable garlic wings. Our waitress there was so GOOD that she would see us drive up and have our table preped w/ our favorite drinks etc. ready to go. Wings were always "on the way" and then we would get something off the menu...this girl would get 30-35%++++mad cash.

Honestly, I cannot ever remember getting poor to bad service.

OH wait..I do remember one...the valet lost our car at aan art show opening and we had to wait almost 30 mins. to leave. Took back my $10.
 
I put the question to my shuffleboard team, and we are going to give our barmaid a Xmas bonus.
 
I don't go out a lot and most of my eating out is done when I am attending shows, and I usually eat at places where I can get a meal for $10 or less. I don't drink unless my hotel is within walking distance. I used to get half a dozen $2 bills before going to a show to leave them as tips. I worked in fast food for 14 years and I know things are not the same, but I do know what it is like to be treated like **** by your customers. If there are issues with the food I don't take it out on the wait staff, but if the service is poor then it affects the tip. I usually leave 20%, but I have left a quarter a few times when I am ignored, especially if the place is less than busy. My needs are usually modest, a single warm-up on the coffee and making sure I get the right food. I have noticed lately that there is almost always more food on the plate than I can eat, so I never order dessert of any kind. In fact at some places i just order a side dish, because its more than enough for me by itself.
Over the past 20 years I would say I have left the quarter maybe 3 times.
I think it is part of the job to be curteous at the minimum, and friendly at best, if they can't handle the first then maybe they should be doing something else.
Del
 
i usually tip 15-20% for restaurant meals. I've heard that Canadians are poor tippers compared to americans. Judging from this thread, that might be true. If I had really bad service, I have in the past tipped 10% when I *really wanted* to tip 5% (hey, they have to tip out the kitchen...). Long string of dating servers (and eventually marrying one) has changed my tipping habits.

Having also been 'in the industry' for a little while myself, the tipping sometimes got out of hand. I'd be fed a lot of free drinks, so when a buddy would actually let me pay for something, I'd end up tipping 2-500%, just to make up for all the comp'd stuff. Ditto for friends and family discounts and the like - tip generously on what the bill would have been without the discount is the usual route.

What really drives me crazy though, is that everyone seems to want a tip these days. I buy a donut and a coffee and there's an option to tip. Screw that, I'm not tipping for counter service or if you made me my shawarma to go. forget it - where's the service in that? I'm always wondering whether I need to tip when I pick up a takeout pizza also...
 
Well, the expectation over here (Ontario) is 10% standard. 15% for good service.

Tipping delivery guys is something I always do. My dad used to run deliveries. Taught quite a few friends in highschool about the need to tip these guys.

No idea where the tipping for counter service thing started. Maybe it started with the "got a penny, leave a penny; need a penny, take a penny" bins.
 
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