Restaurants penalize diners by asking them to leave tips - Hawa...

Are you one who leaves tips in restaurants just because everybody else does it or tells you to do it? Tip if it pleases you but consider this: Most restaurants are chains owned by multimillion-dollar corporations.

[zat]

TIPS is an acronym for, "To Insure Prompt Service". Tip according to the quality of the service, not the check total.

[Sylvia]

what do you do if they add the tip to your bill? In NY they told me I had to pay it

[enufalready]

No mention made in the article that waiters are very often not provided health insurance, vacations, holidays; and they work long hours on their feet catering to the whims large numbers of people. Their pay is sub-minimum wage and they often have to share the tips with the bar, the busboy, and the kitchen, What's more, they are taxed on a schedule that assumes a fair tip regardless of the times they are stiffed. The attitude of the writer is deplorable and disrespectful of the value added to his evening of leisure while being served. Waiting is a hard job ... having to deal with cheapskates makes it a type of slavery. Imagine your income being determined by people like the writer; in no other profession does the whim of some hungry tourist decide if you will be able to pay your rent.

[aiea1]

I tip according to service not by what is dictated by standards. If I get excellent service of course I tip more, but lousy service does NOT deserve a tip.

[kawela]

If it concerns you that much, or "taxes" your ability to pay, or if you're just that cheap, eat at home. Restaurant staffers are not overpaid, and margins for owners and franchisers are slim. It looks great from the outside looking in, but check out the failure rates in this industry. The tip is a courtesy, not a demand, but I think virtually everyone accepts it as part of the cost of dining out, and part of the experience. It's not as easy to "hide" costs in the purchase price on a menu as it is in other businesses. How much does it cost to check baggage on one of your airlines these days? Is that a "tip" for superior service? Your smug attitude of entitlement is disgusting.

[school]

further your education so you dont have to be a waitress...

[Honolulu Resident]

If service is bad, you should not tip. If service is what you should expect, then 15% seems fair. If service is better than one should expect, we often give 20% tips. It is our hope that those who don't get a tip will be encouraged to provide better service to "earn" a tip. But don't withhold a tip from good waithelp, just because someone in the kitchen screwed up your meal.

[low standards]

I can't be the only one appalled by this guy.

First, the waiter is taxed on 8% whether he receives it or not. This writer actually TOOK money from the waiter's pocket. Let him to to the IRS with his argument and THEN be too stingy to tip.

Second, nine minutes, eleven minutes?? If he's in more of a rush than that, grab takeout! The restaurant may recognize that most folks don't like to be hustled in and out and want to relax instead. And who "asks repeatedly" for bread in the first nine minutes? My god, if you're starving, say so right away.

From the outside, everyone else's business looks cushy. Let me say that I resent airline gouging at holidays, bad service, charging for basics, dirty planes and waiting areas, surly workers, and I don't think this guy should have made any money until his customers were fully satisfied - but I know he did.

Sauce for the goose, pal - you're just cheap and you're miserable on top of it.

[Lord Haha]

I eat at home. Solves all of the tipping problems. I save on food cost and get a better more statifying meal.

Stay away from the Dinners and L&L's food is rubbish and quality is bad. Boil some macaronni and add mayonaise...these cheap shops cannot even cut up an onion, a stalk of celery or and add couple of shreads of carrot.

Food looks pale and sick. I'll eat at home thanks.

Try getting an order in at a Chinese restaurant without getting barked at. I leave them spare change ..just like the spare ribs.

[Alex -S-]

I think the bigger point here is that "The man" absolutely should not be asking us to tip - yes! BUT: until the big chains, and restaurant owners in their luxury cars start paying their staff decent liveable wages, we should help the staff out wherever possible, when earned by good service etc :)

(Actually I don't know many rich 1 man shop restarauntuers myself, and that's having been in the biz for many yrs.

Overall i agree, but stopping tipping doesn't actually hit "the man" in his wallet - only his waitstaff unfortunately - therefore ALWAYS tip your waiter/waitstaff :)

[StateTaxPayer]

If you want good service, always talk to your wait service people and get to know them a bit. Don't want to pay the tip? Then it means, you can't afford to eat there. You are mentally very cheap and have no class.

[Pau]

What this letter writer fails to mention is that there is a majority of tourist who come from places where gratuity doesn't exist.

In Australia, the servers, bartenders, et al, are compensated in their hourly pay. It's a sign of disrespect to tip. It's a no brain-er how careful the Asian culture is with their money.

The tip suggestions are nothing more than a friendly way to let the travelers from outside the US know how things work here when dining out.

[Yeah]

enufalready wrote:

No mention made in the article that waiters are very often not provided health insurance, vacations, holidays; and they work long hours on their feet catering to the whims large numbers of people. Their pay is sub-minimum wage and they often have to share the tips with the bar, the busboy, and the kitchen, What's more, they are taxed on a schedule that assumes a fair tip regardless of the times they are stiffed. The attitude of the writer is deplorable and disrespectful of the value added to his evening of leisure while being served. Waiting is a hard job ... having to deal with cheapskates makes it a type of slavery. Imagine your income being determined by people like the writer; in no other profession does the whim of some hungry tourist decide if you will be able to pay your rent.

Are you talking about the owner or diner when it comes to pay or money? Shouldn't your income be determined by your employer? Seems to me you have this all backwards.

[Yeah]

StateTaxPayer wrote:

If you want good service, always talk to your wait service people and get to know them a bit. Don't want to pay the tip? Then it means, you can't afford to eat there. You are mentally very cheap and have no class.

I've left restaurants for less than that. I didn't know you people feel it's the customer's job to make the restaurant staff feel happy.

[LOL]

Lord Haha wrote:

I eat at home. Solves all of the tipping problems. I save on food cost and get a better more statifying meal.
Stay away from the Dinners and L&L's food is rubbish and quality is bad. Boil some macaronni and add mayonaise...these cheap shops cannot even cut up an onion, a stalk of celery or and add couple of shreads of carrot.
Food looks pale and sick. I'll eat at home thanks.
Try getting an order in at a Chinese restaurant without getting barked at. I leave them spare change ..just like the spare ribs.

Where is Dinners? Is that a new place? Or should we assume it's Diner's, taking your four other spelling errors into consideration?

[Yeah]

kawela wrote:

If it concerns you that much, or "taxes" your ability to pay, or if you're just that cheap, eat at home. Restaurant staffers are not overpaid, and margins for owners and franchisers are slim. It looks great from the outside looking in, but check out the failure rates in this industry. The tip is a courtesy, not a demand, but I think virtually everyone accepts it as part of the cost of dining out, and part of the experience. It's not as easy to "hide" costs in the purchase price on a menu as it is in other businesses. How much does it cost to check baggage on one of your airlines these days? Is that a "tip" for superior service? Your smug attitude of entitlement is disgusting.

Check caterers. In many cases it's in your contract that the amount is automatically added, regardless of the level of service.

[cheapskate]

Franco Mancassola, founder of Discovery Air is cheap. No wonder his businesses keep going bankrupt.

[cheapskate]

Hey waiters and waitresses, do a google search and find out what this loser looks like. If he happens to sit in your section when you wait on tables, spit in his food.

[KENO MAN]

school wrote:

further your education so you dont have to be a waitress...

Good cocktail waitresses that roam the casino floor in Vegas, announcing "cocktails" easily make in the six figures. A nice body and skimpy clothes count more than a degree for those waitresses !!!

[Bus Boy]

Canidians , Indians (India), and Pakistanis are the worst tippers because they don't tip at all.