Many are tipping less, survey shows. How about you?

I know this goes without saying on this forum, but we always make sure to tip based on the full price taking into account and food or drink specials.

....So what I hear you saying is that if the prime rib is regularly 24.95 but the restaurant runs a day of the week "special" on it for 14.95.... or if a pint of Ale is regularly priced at 6 bucks but during "Happy Hour" they sell it for 3 bucks, that I'm supposed to tip based on the "regular" price ? I can tell ya right now that ain't happening in my world.

Lonnie Turner wrote:One abomination is tip jars in counter service food & coffee places where you order at a counter and pick up there. What service am I paying for? So you think you are more deserving of a tip than the people who do a similar job at KFC, Taco Bell, Mac's? Get a clue! When there are tip jars in situations like that it is just pan handling. If you don't like the wages at Heine Bros. or wherever, trade places with the folks at Dairy Queen. Or do something else but, do not labor under the delusion that any customer in that situation is anything less than a sucker to put money in a tip jar.


I'm with you Ronnie. I have two tip jars at AJ's one at the drive thru and one at the counter. It is up to the individual if they want to tip or not. When we hand them their charge slip to sign, they have the option then to leave a tip or not, some do, some don't. If they don't I usually immediately think of the last line of the Julie Walters Two Soup Sketch - look it up, but that is meant as a joke!!! It is not a biggie, it is generally just a bonus on top of my employees wages which by the way according to experience and length or service are above the minimum wage and some well above what they would get working in retail.The comment one poster made that if a business can't afford to pay their employees then they can't afford to open a business is naive in the extreme. Takings go up and down. My business is entirely dependent upon the weather, so I staff accordingly. Yes, sometimes I could have done with an extra pair of hands, but as I am considered Speedy Gonzalez I cope, and yes, at other times there is not enough for employees to do. I really don't see anything wrong with having the tip jars because as I said it is up to the individual customer whether they put something in it or not.

I know this goes without saying on this forum, but we always make sure to tip based on the full price taking into account and food or drink specials.

....So what I hear you saying is that if the prime rib is regularly 24.95 but the restaurant runs a day of the week "special" on it for 14.95.... or if a pint of Ale is regularly priced at 6 bucks but during "Happy Hour" they sell it for 3 bucks, that I'm supposed to tip based on the "regular" price ? I can tell ya right now that ain't happening in my world.

Interesting. Do you also tip on the reduced amount after a gift card has been applied? How about if something is comped off your check? Are you that Groupon user that gets two entrees for the price of one and tips on the one?

Because if so, your world sucks.

The comment one poster made that if a business can't afford to pay their employees then they can't afford to open a business is naive in the extreme. Takings go up and down. My business is entirely dependent upon the weather, so I staff accordingly. Yes, sometimes I could have done with an extra pair of hands, but as I am considered Speedy Gonzalez I cope, and yes, at other times there is not enough for employees to do. I really don't see anything wrong with having the tip jars because as I said it is up to the individual customer whether they put something in it or not.

Well that was me. And, after 15 or 20 years in the restaurant business, And being married to a restaurant professional for years AND my family having owned 2 restaurants and a hotel I have a bit of background here. It's not naivety, it's business and math. You gotta figure in those slow time, those snow days, those days when the kitchen floods, the freezer stops, the blender burns out. You can't say "oh, the dishwasher is on the fritz and I wasn't expecting that bill so can you guys pick up the slack with my employee wages?" Too many businesses start up with next to no capitol and expect to turn a profit the first year. All I'm saying is if a restaurant owner has a good line cook/cashier/counter help and they want to keep them they might consider paying them more rather than putting a tip jar on the counter and relying on others to do it for them.

(Allison I am in NOWAY referring to your restaurant specifically.)

I know this goes without saying on this forum, but we always make sure to tip based on the full price taking into account and food or drink specials.

....So what I hear you saying is that if the prime rib is regularly 24.95 but the restaurant runs a day of the week "special" on it for 14.95.... or if a pint of Ale is regularly priced at 6 bucks but during "Happy Hour" they sell it for 3 bucks, that I'm supposed to tip based on the "regular" price ? I can tell ya right now that ain't happening in my world.

Interesting. Do you also tip on the reduced amount after a gift card has been applied? How about if something is comped off your check? Are you that Groupon user that gets two entrees for the price of one and tips on the one?

Because if so, your world sucks.

The short answer to questions one and two is: No, of course not. The answer to the second question is: "it depends"...My experience has been that if someone is going to "comp" something on your check, it's probably not because they love you....Someone...somewhere...screwed something up and in such instances I feel zero compulsion to tip based on the price of said item. Same thing applies when someone wants to "comp" me a separate unrequested item (usually some lame ass dessert that I probably won't even eat that has been proffered by the manager because of some kind of kitchen screw up)...on those -rare- instances when things like that have occurred, no...no I don't feel compelled to include that in the tip amount....Basically 99.23% of the time I tip based on the numbers beside the little word "total" on the check.


As for my world...it may indeed suck...but it is MY world and it's a pretty groovy place to be.

So the kitchen overcooked your $40 steak and it is removed from your bill. Although the server has done nothing wrong, you don't feel compelled to leave that extra $8?

You're awesome.

Speaking of tipping...

Starbucks recently updated their app for iOS. In addition to being a little buggy and a new look, they now allow you to add a tip when paying via the app. It's not really pushy or anything, but the "Leave a Tip at.." option is conveniently located on the main page well within prime thumb-punching distance.

I have no problem with them adding this function and I'm interested to learn more about how it works and how many people use it. To be honest, I've liked not having the option as my habit has been to get my large dark drip coffee, pay with my phone and skedaddle. On occasions when I'd forget and leave my phone in the car I'd leave the change from my $2.39 dose of caffeine, but I was fine not tipping when using my phone.

I'm thinking I'll tip more often now that it's right there on my phone.

Staring at me.

Cheers,

Doug

Carla, I stand corrected I do take into account snow days etc, which is why I cut down on staff on those days. I will have been in business 10 years this June, and, yes, there have been sometimes when I almost didn't make it this far. I will never get rich from AJ's, what it will do is pay for those extras that I like, like holidays and it enables me to take time off whenever I want.

The comment one poster made that if a business can't afford to pay their employees then they can't afford to open a business is naive in the extreme. Takings go up and down. My business is entirely dependent upon the weather, so I staff accordingly. Yes, sometimes I could have done with an extra pair of hands, but as I am considered Speedy Gonzalez I cope, and yes, at other times there is not enough for employees to do. I really don't see anything wrong with having the tip jars because as I said it is up to the individual customer whether they put something in it or not.

Well that was me. And, after 15 or 20 years in the restaurant business, And being married to a restaurant professional for years AND my family having owned 2 restaurants and a hotel I have a bit of background here. It's not naivety, it's business and math. You gotta figure in those slow time, those snow days, those days when the kitchen floods, the freezer stops, the blender burns out. You can't say "oh, the dishwasher is on the fritz and I wasn't expecting that bill so can you guys pick up the slack with my employee wages?" Too many businesses start up with next to no capitol and expect to turn a profit the first year. All I'm saying is if a restaurant owner has a good line cook/cashier/counter help and they want to keep them they might consider paying them more rather than putting a tip jar on the counter and relying on others to do it for them.

(Allison I am in NOWAY referring to your restaurant specifically.)

So the kitchen overcooked your $40 steak and it is removed from your bill. Although the server has done nothing wrong, you don't feel compelled to leave that extra $8?

<chuckles>...It's always the "kitchens fault isn't it ? You (and I use that word generically) just got done taking an order for four and didn't write a -word- of it down and I'm supposed to believe that my soup is cold (or my steak overdone) because it's the "kitchens fault" ?....On a somewhat more serious note, "work" is usually performed in a "team" environment...so personally I don't care -who- screwed up my order, I'm -not- going to pay (or in this case tip) for the failings of another member of the team. If -that- pisses the server off, fine...take it up with the kitchen...That or start writing down the damn order.

You're awesome.

Well thank you, my wife told me the same thing last night

So the kitchen overcooked your $40 steak and it is removed from your bill. Although the server has done nothing wrong, you don't feel compelled to leave that extra $8?

You're awesome.

My wife and I visited what is arguably the most popular restaurant in town the week it opened. Although our entrees took about 45 minutes to come out I attributed it to a new business getting its sea legs and was in no way upset. Still, when the check came the owner had taken off those entrees and the bill was about $15. I tipped the server the amount that had been taken off the bill, plus my normal 20%. I think we were all happy in the deal. We'd go back more often, but it's difficult to get a table (even more so now, from what I hear).

So the kitchen overcooked your $40 steak and it is removed from your bill. Although the server has done nothing wrong, you don't feel compelled to leave that extra $8?

You're awesome.

My wife and I visited what is arguably the most popular restaurant in town the week it opened. Although our entrees took about 45 minutes to come out I attributed it to a new business getting its sea legs and was in no way upset. Still, when the check came the owner had taken off those entrees and the bill was about $15. I tipped the server the amount that had been taken off the bill, plus my normal 20%. I think we were all happy in the deal. We'd go back more often, but it's difficult to get a table (even more so now, from what I hear).

You are a great American.