Why do waiters & waitresses expect tips?
By Contributor • Feb 28th, 2011 • Category: FamilyQuestion by Binks, The day dreaming cat: Why do waiters & waitresses expect tips?
I went to Olive Garden in the morning today becuase It was close to where I bought some books.
I waited in line, order my meal, ate it & paid for it all. You would think that would be the end of it right? .__.
Nope.
Once the waitress return for the check she was like “Wheres the tip?” in a kind of joking manner.
I said “Aaah sorry…I can’t give a tip” in a modest voice becuase I honestly have very little self confidence at certain times.
Her tone then changed to a snappy almost street talk tone. She went on & on about how tips are to be expected & how costumers like me are cheap.
ALL SHE DID WAS BRING OUT A PLATE! WHAT THE HELL!? =(
I don’t make much money. I go to school & work part time. Whatever I make go’s to my parents to help with bills & the rest is to be saved in a bank. I rarely buy anything besides food, books & stuff for my dog. Today I just felt like spending a bit on some food is all. Im not sure if that makes me cheap but who was she to call me that in a restaurant full of people?
Before this whole commotion with the bill I had asked for a tray & bag to pack what I couldn’t finish.
She didn’t bring one. I had to ask another waiter to get me one. -_-
I get that costumers can be jerks at times but thats no way to treat someone whos only expecting what shes PAID to do. =/
I hope she breaks one of her over sized & decorated nails. I truly do wish that.
[Side notes]
1: The trays & bags where stored in the back where only employees could go. I would get it myself if it weren’t for that.
2: Why do they expect tips for doing their jobs?
Best answer:
Answer by Pizzachu
The minimum wage for tipped jobs is lower than the minimum wage for jobs that don’t receive tips.
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Their jobs incorporate it into their pay, the less tips they get the fewer pay. I always leave 20%. They are paid less than most other jobs. Next time take it to go…
You did nothing wrong, if she’s like that she doesn’t deserve her job. I’ve had a similar experience with a waiter treating me like garbage for being a “kid” well he certainly earned what he wished for, no tip. You did it wrong, however. If you are going to give no tip, you put the money down and run out of there.
A lot of restaurants pay less than minimum wage because of the tips that they get. Unless your service was awful, you should always tip. Even if its just 2 dollars.
When I was in college, I just avoided restaurants where you have to tip because I did not want to be rude. If a server is bringing you a plate, cleaning up after you, refilling your drinks, asking if you need anything extra, you need to tip them. If you knew you could not have afforded the tip, you should have just ordered something to-go.
I understand her getting upset, but she was wrong to yell like that. My theory is, if you can’t afford to tip, don’t go to eat out. It’s a few extra bucks out of your pocket to thank her for her service. Just put yourself in her shoes.
I was a waitress for 4 years and our minimum wage is 2.13 not 7.25
So a waitress works making 2.13 per hour and highly depends on tips.
I used to be like that wen I was a server and I remembered faces. Y attend someone if they’re not gonna tip. U go to work to make money not to waist time.
The federal minimum wage for any employee who is expected to receive tips is $ 2.13 – it can be a bit higher depending on what state you live in (where I live it is $ 3.40). So yes, wait staff do expect tips as part of their salary.
However, it was wrong of her to humiliate you the way she did. I think I would have asked to speak to her supervisor – that is no way to treat a customer.
Waitresses and waiters expect tips because just about EVERYONE tips. The money you’re paying doesn’t go straight to her, after all – she gets paid the same amount by the restaurant whether she provides you good service or not. People in service professions rely on tips for a fairly substantial part of their income, and I’m sorry – going to a restaurant and not tipping (unless the service was atrocious) is rude. When you go to a restaurant, ALWAYS plan to pay a little extra for tip. Even just another $ 5 is better than nothing, although standard is 10-15%
And they don’t just bring out your plate – they take your drink order, take your food order, bring out your drinks, bring out your plate, take away plates, make sure you have your glass filled, and most importantly they (usually) do so with a good attitude and friendly disposition DESPITE having to deal with aggravating customers all day – and trust me, customers can be very very aggravating. It would be very easy for them to do nothing more than scowl at you and take your order and then drop your food in front of you, but they put in that extra effort to be friendly and make sure you have a nice dining experience – THAT’S what you’re tipping them for.
edit: Wow, I didn’t even KNOW that about the minimum wage thing being lower for tipping jobs! Yikes! Even more reason to make sure to leave a tip if they do their job right.
Actually we’re suppose to leave them but a lot of people don’t, my mom and dad ordered at pizza hut last night and the delivery women ole’ them $ 5.00, she told my parents I’ll just keep it for my tip and they said I’m sorry hun, but you need to give me my change,lol, people that work in restaurants are different, if I have a very good host or hostess I’ll leave the tip.
You shouldn’t be dining out if you cannot accept the society’s expectation of tips for those who bring your food. They have to pay taxes on tips whether they got them or not so if they didn’t get a tip at all, they lose money for serving your cheapness.
She actually said “tips are to be expected”?
if she did say that, you should have just got up and left right there and then. She seems a bit smug.
Tips are obviously optional and completely up to the customer it was very unprofessional of her to make a scene like that.
tips are expected since they are paid under minimum wage- BUT they are not required to give- the way this waitress acted was way uncalled for and over the top- I would have asked to speak to the manager and I would have told the manager about you asking her to bring a to-go box and she never did and you had to ask another waiter to bring it- I feel for you- next time order it to go and eat it in your car- I do that a lot since my job has me on the road (i’m a big tipper since I used to be a waitress and the to go saves me a lot of money)
The reason that waitresses expected a tip is because that’s what society has generally accepted over the years. Because of this, these workers make far below minimum wage (usually only $ 3 or $ 4 an hour) – the rest is supposed to be made up in tips. Her reaction was over-the-top and unacceptable, but you attitude toward the service industry is pathetic. If you can’t afford to tip, don’t eat out.
It’s stupid. You get a tip if you deserve it – that’s the point.
Servers here make $ 10 / hr and still expect tips ! I tip for great service, always – but never ask or expect it.
Well it’s nice to give tips they don’t make too much but it’s pretty bad for them to freak out when they don’t get one
They pay the server to carry plates out of the kitchen. The other term for tip is gratuity. Gratitude is the base of the word. If service is less than stellar, why display monetary gratitude? If a server is rude in their representation of the house they work in, they need to be reported to management. If they are management, you should eat elsewhere.
edit; In Calif, servers make minimum wagem just like farm labor, there is no exception to paying the state minimum wage which is higher than the federal minimum wage. Around 8.00 an hour. Why should a guest be required to give them a percentage over and above the ticket price, unless they thought it was worth it. We don’t tip farm laborers, and they work a lot harder!
This is something I have noticed in different regions.
IN some states (a lot of states) the wait staff make below the minimal wage. Way below. You have to actually put down how much tips you make and you get taxed on those tips.
I see this discussion come up a lot because a lot of people don’t think they should have to tip but then the restaurant would have to pay the wait staff minimal wage and just jack up the prices of their menu items.
I tip 20% or more in the service is extremely good. I noticed in some regions that some people hardly tip their server or some leave no tip. I noticed it in Indiana. It is a shame though when it happens and you know the sever did a good job. When I lived in Indiana I saw a lot of people hardly leave much of a tip or nothing. It was embarrassing. I would leave something. Someone asked me about it and I told them, they get paid like $ 2 and they depend on these tips. They did a real good job here and I want them to know it is appreciated.
HOWEVER, I have seen some HORRIBLE service. I leave very little or if it that bad nothing. Which has happened a few times. I think it is unprofessional for any wait staff to be questioning the customer about what they will be leaving or berate them for leaving little or none. That should NEVER happen. I would be asking to speak to the manager right then and there. If I were you, I would go and STILL ask to speak to the manager. I do think you were wrong to not leave a tip but no way she should have went off on you like that.
I worked in Country Clubs, Casual Dining, Hospitality during high school, college and after college, in South Florida, Seattle Washington area and Indiana and a few other places here and there.
My mother was a dining room manager and then a general manager for a country club.
Believe me there is more than just running your plate out to you.
They expect tips because they forget their place. Waiters and Waitresses should not expect tips. Tips are a gratuity not a mandatory. No matter how much the hourly pay.
If they shirk on service like with you, they better not mention anything about tips.
If they served you well and you didn’t need to ask for anything, you can give them 15% of the meal cost but only if you have the 15%.
tips are how they get paid for their jobs. Minimum wage in most states is about $ 7-&7.50 an hour, but waiters and waitresses only get about $ 3.15
Your bill pays for the food and beverages, etc., but very little of that goes to the servers.
General rule of thumb is that however much your bill is you should leave about 15% extra as a tip. (if your bill is $ 10, you should leave an additional $ 1.50 as a tip. If your service was really good, then you tip more, or if it wasn’t up to your standards you can tip less. The only time you should leave NO tip is if the service was really really bad (waitress ignored you or made mistakes multiple times). People who don’t leave a tip when the service was fine are generally considered not only cheap, but also inconsiderate and rude.
If you don’t want to pay to tip someone, then go to a fast food place where you don’t have a waiter or waitress.
Most service oriented positions are set up with low wages which are compensated in tips.
That was very rude of her. She seriously should have told you in a calmer tone and not shouted.
But if you think about it, they really don’t get very much. It’s polite to give little tips when you eat at a restaurant.
But then again, they should be getting tips from other people. Maybe she was having a bad, no-tips day.
BTW: Tips stands for
my dad taught me that, he used to work for Dino’s Pizza where he made pizza and delivered them, and got tips from that. I love pizza. 
To
Insure
Proper
Service
She did not deserve a tip.
call me mr pink(thats a reference to reservoir dogs in case u didnt havent seen the movie)
i NEVER tip. when i worked at a sales job in college, i never got tipped, i made minimum wage, and i did a lot for customers(carried furniture to their car and loaded it, took them around the entire store to help them find every item on their list in stead of having htem look for it, making phone calls to other locations to see if they carried items in the store which were out in our store). i never expected a tip and i never got one. i did this all with a smile b’c this was MY JOB. my friend who was a waitress, made less than me in terms of what the restaurant paid her , but she rec’d so many tips that she made triple what i made and all of this was never reported to IRS so it was all tax free.
the restaurants give servers less in terms of hourly wage b’c they expect they will earn more in tips. thats why i dont do. they should be paid minimum wage like everyone else and then there will be no need to tip at all. in most countries, there is no tipping. when you go to mcdonalds u dont tip but u do if you go to olive garden, when your mailman brings you mail u dont tip but you have to tip your paperboy or bartender.
what i do now when i eat out, is i pay with a credit card. that way its not obvious that im not leaving a tip and i dont have to deal with that kind of s h i t t y behavior that you experience; no confrontation and no bad feelings.
I have been serving for a good majority of the past 3 years. Where I work we tip out the kitchen 1% of our daily sales, and on Saturday and Sunday, we tip an additional 1% to each of our bussers. I always strive to provide exceptional hospitality and service to our customers, in the hopes or receiving a gratuity. Lets say your bill comes to $50.00, and you do not tip, even though I went above and beyond your expectations; I just lost $1.50. Or lets say your steak was not exactly how you liked it, even though I put your order through correctly, and you decided not to tip me; the kitchen still gets a gratuity from me, however I am out that money.
So…
Do I expect tips; yes. Am I upset when I do not receive one; yes.
However, if my service was not up to your expectations, and I have not done everything in my power to salvage an enjoyable dining experience then please, do not tip me. “I” do not deserve it.
If I hired you to paint my house, and, after preparing the surfaces, stirring the paint and spending your time completing the job to my satisfaction, I was only willing to pay for the cost of the paint, you’d be okay with that? As a server in a fine dining restaurant, my paychecks are always the same amount $0.00, taxes you know. Can’t afford to tip? Cook at home.
Ahhhh………….I’ve been wanting to comment on this subject for quite some time now. TIps are not mandatory, but you should tip when you dine out. If you can’t afford to tip, then please go to a drive thru or a fast food restaurant. As a server, we actually have to tip out to the restaurant on our sales regardless of if you tip us or not. So, if you do not tip, it actually COSTS ME MONEY to serve you. You should tip on average 15%. 20 is better, but please, please, do not ever, ever tip less than 10%. If you can’t afford it, go to a coffee shop or McDonald’s! Better yet, get a job as a server and gain some perspective .
I don’t know where some of you are getting your information, but servers average about $2.13 an hour. Tip, or don’t bother sitting down in my section, dumb asses.
I work at a big wings & sports bar place in CO. We are constantly busy so I spend like eight hours running around non-stop to please my customers and do my part to keep the place running. Also, my company has implemented a competition between servers for the best shifts, mostly based on the tip percentage you claim. So if I don’t make at least 15% at the end of the night, I have to lie and say I still did, or get stuck with terrible shifts. I get a check of $0.00 every two weeks, so that I depend on tips to support myself while I go to school. So yes I do not get paid by my company I get paid by the people I wait on. If you don’t have money to tip, don’t go out. If your boss didn’t bring enough money to pay for his lunch & your paycheck on Friday, you don’t not get a pay check do you? So why is it fair that I do my job and because you don’t have the class and thoughtfulness to bring enough to tip, I don’t get paid?
Oh and after reading all these comments I want to respond to the person that thinks they shouldnt tip waiters because she was a customer service rep that carried furniture to peoples cars all day. On this subject: you are doing a brainless job that requires you to do nothing but CARRY furniture to a customers car. That is not even close to what a server has to go through. Waiters have to study the menus and updated promos vigorously and they have to know EVERY function of that restaurant. Its A LOT more work then carrying furniture all day. Get a brain and open your eyes the next time you go out to eat.
People that justify being cheap are really pathetic and if you dont tip, its most likely theyll remember and you might encounter them at a billion other restaurants in the future. Theyll also be letting all the other servers know when they see you again that “that table doesnt tip” or “they give 50 cents”. Do you want them to spit in your drink out of retaliation that you think theyre your slave? Because if you dont tip im going to remember the insult and im going straight back to the dish pit and giving you a dirty cup. Thanks.