Had late lunch/early dinner today at a fast casual place. Total check came to $9.77. Put a $20 in the little wallet thing the waitress takes. She returns it and walks off. Inside there is a $10 and 23 cents. Correct change, but created a problem.

How do I tip? I was hoping she would have brought a $5 and five $1s, but she didn't. Waited almost 10 minutes for her to swing back by and break the bill, but she never showed. Finally left the 23 cents, plus 50 cents I had in my pocket. Beyond that, all I had was two more $20s.

What would you have done?

I would've went to the register and got the bigger bill broken into what I needed. Or asked someone to do it for me.

+1

So basically, she just paid to serve you. Servers are taxed 10% on their sales regardless of how much they make in tips.

It's definitely dumb on her part not to break it up, though.

I would have told her to break it up into a 5s and 1s in the first place. Maybe she was new to serving or hoping for a larger tip? Who knows?

Servers are taxed ON 10 percent of sales, not taxed 10 percent of sales.

Let's say, for argument purposes, that she is in the 16 percent tax bracket.

She received 77 cents. Her sale of 9.77 means she would be taxed on 98 cents. So, her tax liablity, at our assumed rate, would be about 16 cents.

Or at least that's the way I meant it.

Yes, it is a small amount to be taxed on, but that's the way the system is set up.

That doesn't even account for tipping out busboys or bartenders when applicable. She was dumb for not bringing you a 5 and 1s and sometimes servers do this to see if they can obtain a bigger tip. Not all the time, but it does happen on occasion.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2014 10:24PM by Itzpapalotl.

I was pointing out that your original claim that servers are taxed 10 percent of sales is simply wrong.

They are taxed on 10 percent of sales, a vastly different thing.

Look at the bigger picture. If a waitress has $150,000 in sales in a year, her tax bill is not going to be $15,000.

The IRS will assume she received 15,000 in tips and will tax her accordling. Again, using our 16 percent assumed bracket, sh will be taxed $2,400. That, of course, does not take into account standard and other decuctions and exemptions.

To suggest the waitress today paid more in taxes than she received on my sale is simply not accurate.

A lot of places give you the option to write in your tip amount when you pay the bill.

I might have done something similar to you, but i also always keep a few ones or a five on me.

Had I paid with plastic, I certainly could/would have written in a tip. With cash, that isn't exactly an option.

Seriously? 23 cents should be plenty. That's what she set you up for.

Your concern about this is sweet. Coming from one who waited tables through college, don't beat yourself up about this. Just leaving what you had is fine as long as you were a nice patron. I guess you could have left a note explaining that you were hoping that she would bring you ones. When I would see a bunch of change, I just assumed that was what they had and appreciated that they look the time to dig out the change. More often than not, people were very generous tippers. It all works out. :)

Not beating myself up.

Interestingly, I have a friend with a daughter working her way through college waiting tables at a sports bar. She was shocked any waitstaff would not make it simple for a patron to tip. She said she would have left nothing if that happened to her.

Her take was that it was no accident and that the waitress was gambling I would leave the $10. Said that is why she didn't swing back past the table.

lol....professional wait staff sometimes make the worst customers....

I have heard many current and former servers complain LOUDLY and anal-retentively about their wait staff when I was at restaurants with them.

Wow you guys are cheap. If I don't have the correct bills to tip the server I get up, walk over to the cashier, ask for change, then tip appropriately. I don't leave chump change because the server didn't give me back my cash in denominations to my liking.

You call her back and explain that she should always break the change so there are some ones. It will increase her chances of getting a better tip.

Speaking of getting a better tip, a study server personality and tips revealed that overtly friendly, pleasant servers get lower tips than those who simply do their job competently and with the least amount of intrusion into the guests' dining experience.

I cannot stand being interrupted every few minutes by waitstaff. Same with aggressive salespeople in stores. If I want help, I'll let you know.

And they always wait until your mouth is full before asking if everything is okay.

I actually told one server that he was making things less okay by constantly asking me if everything is okay.

Look, good servers can tell which customers need constant attention (that is, which ones are demanding, self-centered, pains in the @ss) Sure, glance my way now and then to check if I'm trying to get your attention, and clear the table and bring the check when you see the plates are empty, or we've set them aside and our napkins are on the table, but otherwise, go tend to those who need their hands held and leave us normal people alone.

As someone who lives off tips, what your server did was a rookie mistake. I always give at least five ones when giving change. I learned this after only one week of delivering pizzas. You gave what you could which is all anyone could ask for.

Would you please bring me some ones in change :) ?

While in China I ate at a nice restaurant. Left a typical American tip between 15 and 20 percent of the tab. When we were out in the street I saw the waiter chasing after us. I thought maybe he was dissatisfied with the tip or we had forgotten something.

Much to my surprise he insisted that we take the tip back. I guess they don't like tipping in China.

When I was in Australia I took a taxi ride around Alice Springs with a very friendly aborigine driver. He pointed out all the sights and explained who owned what etc. All great until I tried to tip him at the end. You'd think I'd have just told him that his mother was a prostitute the way he reacted.

So basically - don't even think of tipping in Australia. Thanks to all my Aussie friends for not warning me before I went.

Most of asia is against tipping...They fell like you are insulting them. I had some great help from the concierge at a hotel in Seoul korea but I couldn't tip him, nor the taxi drivers..

Most of the rest of the world doesn't tip. Asia doesn't, not does Europe for the most part.

Tipping in the UK is pretty much restricted to restaurants and taxi drivers.
[even though Britsh restaurants *pay* their waiting staff..... yah know, like 'a wage']

Same way in Okinawa Japan. We were stationed there for four years. One of the briefings that we had to attend was a Japanese culture.

They told us that "If you tip in Japan — you're imposing the customs of your country where they don't belong. It's bad travel karma."

People may get confused if you tip them. They may run after you with your change.

If your server does understand it's a tip — they might not know how to pay taxes on it. They may feel the need to report the incident to their employer. Worse, they may take it as an insult since they take pride in everything that they do!

Basically, a simple bow is all they need from you, and they will bow back! It was really nice once we got used to it!!!

Oh the joys of living in a country where tipping is not expected!

As we travel fairly extensively we have become accustomed to tipping. But on our first visit to the US 30+ years ago as budget conscious newlyweds we thought we were magnanimous leaving even small change.Friends quickly put us to rights.Many Aussie travellers will brag about being steadfast and refusing to tip in other countries.I now find this culturally crass and insensitive.

At home we would be considered over generous tippers. We will tip in a restaurant or for very good service, but it is not expected in cafes ,bistros and DEFINITELY not in a fast food store.You would be viewed as a sleaze bag on the make if you tried that.

I love being able to decide to tip if I feel it is warranted and not through a sense of obligation.

I would have left her the ten.

But then I often tip more than needed, people work hard and deserve more than we give them.

Really??? You would have tipped over 100% of what the lunch bill was??

Yes I would have. I've done it many times.

I've done it many times. Servers do the same amount of work regardless of the price of my order.

It's their bad luck that this table is a party of one ordering, say, just an appetizer instead of a group with a much larger tab. That's part of their shift they won't be making a good tip.

Exactly!

I do it all the time in cheap diners like Waffle House -- places like that where my bill was less than $5. I don't even see how leaving the server anything less than $5 makes serving me worth their time.

Either ask to have your ten broken down when the waitress brings back the change, or have the cashier break it down.

For the record...that irritates me too. Good servers know to bring dollars of change in some mix of ones to make it easier for the customer to tip them. I would get change to break the ten...BUT some probably don't, so to me, it is the servers fault for not wanting to get paid.

I agree. The servers fault and she should have known better. Her loss.

Yet another reason I love traveling in Asia. It's a non issue.

I've never had a job where I received tips, so having never been on that side, I used to be stingy on tips.

I'm much better now.

I love Uber, no tipping - it's included.

I love room service - it's included.

One place I never tip is hotel housekeeping. Even $5 a day would cost me over $100 a month. I try and leave it decent. Trash in the trash containers. Towels in a neat stack on the floor.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2014 10:24AM by Levi.

hand payment to server and say, Thank you." That's code for "Keep the change." The server might ask if you want change, and that's when you say, "No, thank you."

ETA: or forget the thank you part and say, "May I have ___ back?"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2014 11:11AM by Beth.

What about Sonic? These girls skate out to your car. I like their drinks but not their food. Do they get paid minimum wage or waitress pay?

When in doubt (in the US), tip.

Go to the cashier, or ask for what kind of change you want back, or plan ahead and keep some change, and ones on you. When I know I am going out, I make sure I have a variety of bills and change for that purpose.

Usually we share our portion of a meal when with guests equally, or figure it out per person and I'm usually the "banker" so I figure each person's order, plus tax and 20% tip first verifying they are OK with that. Then we leave all our money on the table in the tray with the ticket. The waitress will ask if we want change back and we say: "no". Works very nicely.

Some people are adamant they only pay for their correct bill to the penny. I prefer to divide the ticket equally as we have nearly the same costs per person, maybe a dollar difference. If it's a big difference, then I don't even suggest it.

I pay 20% of the grand total, and round up. Keeps it easy.
$9,77 would be $10 in my head, and I would leave a $4 tip if the service was reasonable.

I've been known to walk out if I'm ignored, or leave a penny if the waitress is nasty. Only happened once in each case but it was really bad!

If I know I am in the company of a tipper that is still in the 50's and only tips 10% or double the tax, and takes it to the penny, I wait until they leave, and go back and slip extra tip money under my plate.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2014 12:20PM by SusieQ#1.

SusieQ#1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Usually we share our portion of a meal when with
> guests equally, or figure it out per person and
> I'm usually the "banker" so I figure each person's
> order, plus tax and 20% tip first verifying they
> are OK with that. Then we leave all our money on
> the table in the tray with the ticket. The
> waitress will ask if we want change back and we
> say: "no". Works very nicely.
>
> Some people are adamant they only pay for their
> correct bill to the penny. I prefer to divide the
> ticket equally as we have nearly the same costs
> per person, maybe a dollar difference. If it's a
> big difference, then I don't even suggest it.

This is why I specify separate checks. Or I just pay for the whole thing. I HATE the circus of figuring out how to split a check. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard, turned up to eleven. "I owe $27.34 with tip? Uh, all I have is two twenties. Who has change? Or, wait, put my part on my card." Avoiding all that crap is SO worth the cost of me paying the whole bill.

Stray Mutt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SusieQ#1 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Usually we share our portion of a meal when
> with
> > guests equally, or figure it out per person and
> > I'm usually the "banker" so I figure each
> person's
> > order, plus tax and 20% tip first verifying
> they
> > are OK with that. Then we leave all our money
> on
> > the table in the tray with the ticket. The
> > waitress will ask if we want change back and we
> > say: "no". Works very nicely.
> >
> > Some people are adamant they only pay for their
> > correct bill to the penny. I prefer to divide
> the
> > ticket equally as we have nearly the same costs
> > per person, maybe a dollar difference. If it's
> a
> > big difference, then I don't even suggest it.
>
> This is why I specify separate checks. Or I just
> pay for the whole thing. I HATE the circus of
> figuring out how to split a check. It's like
> fingernails on a chalkboard, turned up to eleven.
> "I owe $27.34 with tip? Uh, all I have is two
> twenties. Who has change? Or, wait, put my part on
> my card." Avoiding all that crap is SO worth the
> cost of me paying the whole bill.


Yes. I prefer separate checks also, when in a group. But some places don't do that which I think is odd. If just two or three of us, we do one ticket and our meals are almost the same anyhow. Some places include an 18% tip in the total.

I think I've spoiled them as I can figure it all out quickly and tell them how much they need to pay. I also bring a variety of bills to change a $20! Ya.. we're all senior gals!

I often tell the gals your portion is $_____, they give it to me and I pay with a credit card. (Saves me a trip to the bank also! :-) Method to my madness!

My plan was to leave two singles plus the 23 cents, a 22.8 percent tip.

My rule is generally 20 percent, plus $1 for every alcoholic drink on the tab.I round up to the nearest even dollar.

However, when all I have is $20s, I will not be shamed into a 100 percent tab. I have talked to a number of servers (about a dozen) about this.

The place I went to does not hire rookies. Must have two years table service to get in the door.

Every server said it was done on purpose. It seems there are enough people who will just leave the $10 rather than leave the quarters and dimes or whatever.

Servers say it is a common tactic and servers who use it generally end up ahead.

So why the anxiety over that tip? If she did it on purpose then she earned the few cents.

I've also had an anxiety attack, (so to speak) when I've left the restaurant and realized later that we didn't leave a tip as we got distracted about something.
I actually went back the next day, left a generous tip and apologized and admitted we each though the other left the tip! The gal was so surprised!!