Do You Expect Change Sir?

[stefen]

Dear Abby,

A prime irritant and obvious height of lazyness is when a waiter or waitress askes if you expect change.

I get this so often anymore that I now tell them ouitright that if they expect a tip, I expect change...(even if the eventual change will equal a normal tip...)

Am I right in taking this stance?

Signed
Stefen in SC


Dear Stefen,

You bet your sweet A$$.

Signed
Dear Abbey

[Captain Trips]

Dear Abby,

A prime irritant and obvious height of lazyness is when a waiter or waitress askes if you expect change.

I get this so often anymore that I now tell them ouitright that if they expect a tip, I expect change...(even if the eventual change will equal a normal tip...)

Am I right in taking this stance?

Signed
Stefen in SC


Dear Stefen,

You bet your sweet A$$.

Signed
Dear Abbey

Such a request would cause me to lower the amount of tip I would otherwise have left.

I'm a strict believer in the concept of a tip. Servers already get paid for performing their job. A tip is for performing that job better than one normally expects for that basic pay. The question of "are you going to tip me" is actually a bit of an insult, and when someone insults me, I feel less inclined to reward them for it. Good service gets a tip. Basic minimum service gets no tip. Bad service gets a $0.02 tip -- to let them know I didn't forget to tip them, and to further say "it isn't a penny that fell from my pocket." (Only ever had to leave a 2 cent tip once. Left zero tip several times. But then again, I've left a 20-25% tip several times also, when the "standard" is 15%.)

And a tip for fast food counter service? Huh? Because you did a great job pushing buttons, and can't even figure out the change without the register telling you? How's that again?

[hollowpointred]

around here youd be lucky to find someone who knows how to make change. true story. on my way home from work today, i stopped at a 7-11. i got a bottle of soda and a bar of soap. the bill was $1.98. i gave the guy $2.00. he stared at the money, stared at the register and proclaimed "do you have 3 cents?" i said "dont worry, you can keep the change!" how the hell can you get through 20 odd years of life and not be able to make 2 cents in change?!

[jeff of pa]

around here there are small dishes at most registers.
some have a note "Give a penny, take a penny"
they contain Pennies, nickels & dimes.
If you need a few cents you grab them, If you don't want your change you throw it in.

On tipping.

I have given $5.00 tips at the truck stop for a Cup of coffee.

I have also given 7 cent tips,
for a full meal.

Once I orderd an Ice cream, for desert, Let it Melt all over the counter,
threw 50 cents in the mess, for a tip.

Waitresses get what they deserve from me.

there is one restaurant here, where they calculate your tip and add it
to your bill. I will Not patronize that restaurant since they started this.
there is no incentive for the waitress to care.

[hollowpointred]

Once I orderd an Ice cream, for desert, Let it Melt all over the counter,
threw 50 cents in the mess, for a tip.

hahaha!! thats brilliant!

[jeff of pa]

My after thought that day, I should have let a Dollar Bill soak in it

[Captain Trips]

there is one restaurant here, where they calculate your tip and add it
to your bill. I will Not patronize that restaurant since they started this.
there is no incentive for the waitress to care.

I think the only time that is excusable is when there is a large group -- it requires extra effort on a server's part just to make sure that table is treated equally to their other tables. But to automatically add it on otherwise? I agree -- it removes any incentive to go "above and beyond."

[Arakronn]

I was out at a restaurant with a rather large group of friends one time, large enough that generally the gratuity would have been calculated into the bill, but not this particular establishment. One of the guys, a salesman, asked the waitress if she knew what "tips" stood for. She, as well as most of us, didn't. He went on to explain that it meant "to insure prompt service" and that she would recieve a "tip" according to the service. Needless to say, she got a very large tip. Make them realize they have to earn it, and that "tips" aren't automatic.
Up here in NE Wisconsin, we're lucky with figuring the tip. Tax is 5.5%, so...the tax times 3 = 16.5%

[ClonedSIM]

around here youd be lucky to find someone who knows how to make change. true story. on my way home from work today, i stopped at a 7-11. i got a bottle of soda and a bar of soap. the bill was $1.98. i gave the guy $2.00. he stared at the money, stared at the register and proclaimed "do you have 3 cents?" i said "dont worry, you can keep the change!" how the hell can you get through 20 odd years of life and not be able to make 2 cents in change?!

Maybe he was out of pennies and wanted to give you a nickel back?

[hollowpointred]

i thought about that after i left, but judging from the perplexed look he gave me when i handed over the money im not so sure. lets hope thats what it was!

[ClonedSIM]

LOL!

[BuckleBoy]

Once I orderd an Ice cream, for desert, Let it Melt all over the counter,
threw 50 cents in the mess, for a tip.

Waitresses get what they deserve from me.

My kind of story. Nice one, Jeff. You probably should have cut a dollar up into tiny pieces and stirred it in with a straw.

[gollum]

I live in SoCal as well, and hear that all the time. I don't pay it any attention. Sometimes, I would have tipped more, but since they ask, I tell them "No you keep it." Their loss.

Usually though, when I get good service, I heavily overtip! It's like Steve Mat=rtin in "My Blue Heaven" when he says to Rick Moranis, " It's not tipping I believe in, it's overtipping!"

Best,

Mike

[jeff of pa]

on the other side of the coin, when I was working the door
at a local Night Club, I would go to the Truck stop every morning
about 3AM for Breakfast & Coffee.

There was one Waitress there, who, on some nights would
put my order in the moment she saw me hit the Parking lot.

if the place was very busy, she would go back and make it
herself.

There were even a few times she took her break and sat down to chat
while I was waiting for my meal. she was 19, and just a very sweet
young lady. there was never any discussion of reason why.
needless to say, her tips showed that.

[buscadero]

As someone who's spent 35 yrs in the Hospitality Industry, I have been on both sides of the Gratuity question! I personally feel that Tipping
is an outmoded system used by Restaurants to have Customers partially pay their employees wages. It allows them to avoid paying a Living Wage! A good percentage of the better places Pool the tips so even if you receive Poor Service, It hurts the Server little.
Most people do not use the Tip as a leverage for good service. They don't have the Nerve!
I'm sure you will find most Servers prefer the Tipping System, as it allows a Full Time Server to Earn probably $40K a yr. in an avg Chain
Restaurant, & $50-100K in High End Places! The Avg Server earns every Penny, as it is Stressful, Hard, Tiring Work!

Joe

[RON (PA)]

I expect change back on all of my purchases. I want to tip 10% min, but my wife says that I am too cheap and she always talks me into tipping more. I have no problem tipping more if the service is great.

A few days ago, we were at a restaurant, where we had to ask other servers to get us what we wanted. Our server never came around after he delivered our meals. I spoke with the manager who was offended at the service we received. My wife was embarrassed because I told the manager that we were treated like the was feeding pigs. He just put the food down and walked away. We did get our meals for free plus a coupon to come back and make it right.

I don't have a problem with the "Give a penny - Take a penny" dishes at the registers. What I do have a problem with is the jars at registers that are labeled "Tips". Why should I give you my change when you did nothing special except the bare minimum. You are asking for a portion of my money before I even place my order. My wife thinks I should put my change in the tip jars, but I save it to build a house.

[Postalrevnant]

Once I orderd an Ice cream, for desert, Let it Melt all over the counter,
threw 50 cents in the mess, for a tip.

YES that's the trick. Someone's getting this soon. Thanks for the idea.

Postalrevnant

[Glenns5900]

One time I worked for a pizza restaurant as a bartender. One of our best waitresses waited on a table with 4 guys. Pizza and beer. I had to get the order for the beer because the waitress was below the minimum age to serve beer. The pizza came out promptly and she checked on the table as usual. For 2 pizzas and a pitcher of beer they left a 35 cent tip when they left. Upon finding it when she went to clear the table she ran outside to them at their car saying "Sir - sir - sir. You forgot your bus change" as she put the coins into his hand.

TRUE STORY

[ClonedSIM]

Nice!

[gollum]

Yes. An ols girlfriend of mine was a waitress, and when somebody would leave her a really weak tip, she would pick it up, and hand it back to them, and say, "If that's all you can afford, then you need it worse than I do."

Mike