"Do you need any change?"

My wife and i had dinner at one of our favorite Highlands places yesterday. The food was excellent, but the service was distracted and unobservant. While picking up our payment, the server asked "Do you need any change?". My response to this now often asked question was "I do now".

Does this drive anyone else crazy? I'm asked this when we pay cash at whatever type of restaurant it might be.

Let me be clear - we always tip and tip well. BUT - tipping and the amount is optional. It irritates me when a server assumes how much their tip should be.

Am I old school or is this something that should go away?

I agree with you . . . a server can get the identical point across by saying, "I will be right back with your change," giving you the option to say that that the amount is correct and no change is required!

[Robin Garr]

My feeling is that it would seem inappropriate at an upscale place but might be all right at a casual place, provided the server had been interactive with us and friendly. But I like Andrew's "be right back with your change" suggestion best.

[Robin Garr]

By the way, welcome to the forum, Monty! Good question for breaking the ice!

I always tip 20% no matter what and don't look for reasons to tip any less. If the problems were indicative of a deep seated issue I just wouldn't go back.

My stock response to: "Do you need any change?"
Sure, I'll take whatever you can spare.

I'm going to provide a glimpse from the server side. I was required to bring 20 dollars in bank to work daily. It had to be in small bills and change and if I didn't have it, I was sent home. I was not allowed to go to the bar and ask the bartender for change nor did I have access to a cash drawer. (I know the POS terminals look like cash registers but they aren't.) If I needed more change, then I had to find a manager to get it for me OR trade out with some other server. This was a huge pain in the rear and took a lot of time away from all my tables including the one waiting for change. Then, once the change was delivered, more often than not the entire sum remained in the book.

I agree it's a little tacky to ask if folks need change. Andrew's suggestion is a little better but, honestly, it's the same question. However, if folks can see that it could save a server tons of time the next time they're out, maybe the drink that gets refilled or that plate that gets cleared might be yours.

from the title alone I thought this was going to be a thread about reverse panhandling in Louisville.

I think Andrew's suggestion is really the best, and here's why; say a $60 meal. w/tip, that's $72. If I put down 4 x $20's and the server says "do you need change?", that's an insult to me and makes the server seem greedy. a "no-win" for either of us.

I was at a nice cafe in St Matthews around 3 pm. I sat the bar where one other couple were seated chatting with the bartender. After a lengthy wait ( where I said nothing ) the bartender finally approached me and with a sigh simply said,
"Yes?"
Not, can I help you or what will it be? Just "Yes?"
I ordered a G&T. I was served and immediately told my drink was $6. Hand the guy a 10 bill and got ,
"Are you going to need change?"
"What would be your guess?"

[Robin Garr]

a nice cafe in St Matthews

Yesssss?

....sat the bar where one other couple were seated chatting with the bartender. After a lengthy wait ....

at *that* point....I'm outta there!

My wife and i had dinner at one of our favorite Highlands places yesterday. The food was excellent, but the service was distracted and unobservant. While picking up our payment, the server asked "Do you need any change?". My response to this now often asked question was "I do now".

Does this drive anyone else crazy? I'm asked this when we pay cash at whatever type of restaurant it might be.

Let me be clear - we always tip and tip well. BUT - tipping and the amount is optional. It irritates me when a server assumes how much their tip should be.

Am I old school or is this something that should go away?

Mmmm...Skyline Chili. My favorite.

When I was serving, back in the day I would never ask about change or tip. I would just assume all cash required change and if they left it, it was mine, if not then they were tipping what they thought I was due. It wasn't as though I wasn't going to go back to the table anyhow so why make the awkward ask in their presence? This was just my thinking at the time and I may have been a crappy waiter.

Making change as a server is a huge pain in the rear. Lets be honest, who the hell has time to stop at a bank every day on the way to work. Very few servers bring a full bank to work, so then you have to go to the bar and get change until your bank fills up throughout the night. Now...maybe it would be a good idea to keep a full bank of money on hand at all times, or ask for a wad of 1s at the end of the night so you are well prepared for the next shift tomorrow morning, but I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Most (or at least a high percentage of) people that work in a restaurant aren't the most responsible people in the world. They go out drinking after shifts, live paycheck to paycheck, etc.

Anyway, when a server asks if you need change or says the more polite "i'll be right back with your change"...they aren't making any assumptions about you as a tipper. Frankly unless they sat there and counted the money before they asked that, they have no idea what you are tipping anyway. You may have put exact change in the book and left no tip.

But what happens a lot of times is you go and spend time to bother the bartenders, count out the change, bum 1s from other servers, bring it back to the table and then the table says "Oh, just keep it we didn't need change." So you wasted all that time. It happens all the time and eventually you start just hinting or outright asking if they need change.

I seriously don't see what people get offended about unless you are a bad tipper. Yes there are exceptions...if the bill was $50 and there is a $100 on the table, the server should keep his mouth shut and just make the change. But if you are handed a closed book of cash, they probably are just genuinely wondering if they need to go make change, not trying to extract a few extra dollars you didn't want to leave before they asked.

I probably would be more sympathetic to the patron in a high-end restaurant where the servers are held to a higher standard, but in most casual restaurants with college-kid servers just trying to make a buck, I seriously don't see the big deal.