server complains about tip

Get back to work, Jeremy!

Joel, check your tip line carefully when I come in next week

Maybe one location was Jeff Rubys and the other was Jeff's Ruby. They get confused ALL the time.



/sarcasm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------<

Maybe one location was Jeff Rubys and the other was Jeff's Ruby. They get confused ALL the time.



/sarcasm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------<

I was telling someone IRL, can't remember who, about this thread, and they asked, "What is Jack Ruby's?"

Joel, check your tip line carefully when I come in next week

Oh snap!

I have just returned from 3 weeks in the UK where I ate out three times. Once for dinner - a party of 7, The bill was split three ways with one of my brothers and myself paying separately and my other brother picking up the rest for him and his family. I put down enough to tip 20%. My brother put down enough to cover his with no tip and my other brother paid for five with about one pound extra. When I questioned this, I was told that the norm is to just leave a few coins as the servers get paid a normal wage and do not have to make their wage up with tips. Also, they do not have to declare them for tax purposes. Unlike the States where they get paid around $3.00 an hour.

The same thing happened when I was being treated to lunch. My friend left a couple of pounds on a 60 pound bill. The third time my Dad paid for a pub lunch when ordering at the bar, so I don't know if he left a tip.

If England and a lot of other countries in Europe can afford to pay a normal wage for their staff and keep the cost of the meals affordable why can't this happen in the US? A tip is meant to be voluntary not mandatory and the server at Ruby's was way out of line even if the tip was only 10%.

If England and a lot of other countries in Europe can afford to pay a normal wage for their staff and keep the cost of the meals affordable why can't this happen in the US? A tip is meant to be voluntary not mandatory and the server at Ruby's was way out of line even if the tip was only 10%.

I agree that tips should be voluntary and not mandatory -- there are way too many professions in the US now in which a tip is considered "mandatory," and not everyone knows what they are -- it's impossible to know. Just charge me what you need to charge me to pay your employees -- ALL of them -- or charge me what you really feel your service is worth instead of expecting a tip, even if I may not know I'm supposed to be giving one.

Those that wish to revisit their previous posts may visit one of several threads on this subject. Here is one: http://forums.louisvillehotbytes.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8890&hilit=+tips

If you factor the actual costs of things, you are probably actually getting out cheaper by tipping, even 20%. Consider that noone would work in a restaurant for a low wage because the work is way to hard. So lets say at a restaurant a server clears 20k per year in tips. Therefore even the lowliest chain restaurants would probably have to pay their servers the equivalent of about 30k per year and pass the costs on to you. That would be about a 7-8 times increase in labor costs from the 2.13 wage.

With tipping, servers are essentially getting paid tax free (at least i always was...never got in trouble ) by the customers, eliminating that tax cost which would have been passed on to you.

Also diners who want to splurge bear more of the burden of the server's salary. You might get that one good $50 tip per night, and then you don't so much mind the other people that just wanted soup and salad and only left a couple of bucks.

At fine dining establishments, they would probably have to pay some of their servers upwards of 100k, otherwise they could just go work somewhere easier. There would be a huge cost difference there for the customer. I have no idea how they do things in England though and make it work...maybe server just have lower expectation of wages there. I'd definitely be interested to know how that works.

If you factor the actual costs of things, you are probably actually getting out cheaper by tipping, even 20%. Consider that noone would work in a restaurant for a low wage because the work is way to hard. So lets say at a restaurant a server clears 20k per year in tips. Therefore even the lowliest chain restaurants would probably have to pay their servers the equivalent of about 30k per year and pass the costs on to you. That would be about a 7-8 times increase in labor costs from the 2.13 wage.

While your calculations may be correct they don't translate directly to how much the price of menu items would have to be increased. If you looking at $15.00 an hour as a typical servers wage to get to the 30k you mentioned and break it out per diner it gets pretty interesting. If you say that the table will turn over in 90 minutes for a casual restaurant and a server has four tables he would probably have 9 or 10 patrons. Between them they would have to contribute about $20.00 to raise the server's salary to the $15.00 you mentioned. That means each person would need to contribute about $2.00. $2.00 is only a 15% tip on $13.00! Since the average bill is normally quite a bit higher than this it seems like the patrons would come out ahead. Obviously you can use many different numbers into this is just an example but.....

If England and a lot of other countries in Europe can afford to pay a normal wage for their staff and keep the cost of the meals affordable why can't this happen in the US? A tip is meant to be voluntary not mandatory and the server at Ruby's was way out of line even if the tip was only 10%.

Keep in mind too that in the UK they have a different kind of healthcare system and the restaurant needn't have to supply coverage to the workers unlike here in the US. But that's another discussion that can - and has- get out of hand here quickly

Can you guys do this in kilts?
Just asking.

Carla- I've done a few plays in a toga so a kilt would be a breeze, so to speak.

Are we at the point that we can't discuss anything? I'm beginning to feel that way!

He lost a customer, and I don't post much on this board because of the "circling the wagons" approach I see when people have valid questions/complaints.

You're not the only one. I followed this board for almost 2 years before I was so tired of the server-bashing that I felt I had to get involved. I don't post much either, but still feel the need to chime in when the prima donnas want to get on their high horse and hold court.

If England and a lot of other countries in Europe can afford to pay a normal wage for their staff and keep the cost of the meals affordable why can't this happen in the US? A tip is meant to be voluntary not mandatory and the server at Ruby's was way out of line even if the tip was only 10%.

Keep in mind too that in the UK they have a different kind of healthcare system and the restaurant needn't have to supply coverage to the workers unlike here in the US. But that's another discussion that can - and has- get out of hand here quickly

I was about to post the exact same thing.. Carla, I find myself agreeing with almost all of your posts. You must be really, really smart. <wink>

I was about to post the exact same thing.. Carla, I find myself agreeing with almost all of your posts. You must be really, really smart. <wink>

Awww shucks... (blush).
(and thanks!)

@Mark you may be right and i did think about that. A two dollar cost per person definitely wouldn't be too bad, nor would a little more at fine dining. I've never managed a restaurant so I can't say how the cost structure would exactly break down but maybe it would work.

It may be a case where no restaurant wants to be the first one to do it because the only thing consumers will see is higher menu prices compared to the competition.

This happened to me a couple of years ago.

Bill was something like $24.30. I paid by credit card, & left a 70 cent tip on the card, and stuck a $5 bill with the receipt. All tickets picked up. Manager came to table, and asked if we all liked our meal.

Turned out that another of our party also wanted to leave $5 in cash, but only had a $10. He had put down the $10, and (without my seeing it) taken my $5 as change. Looked like I was a cheapstake leaving a 70 cent tip, and he was generous (while in reality he was tipping about 15% while I was tipping 20%+). It was nicely handled by the manager, and we all had a laugh about it at the time.

Could that be what happened here, but without the correct handling???