Bad Service vs. Good service: Tipping Opinions

[Vortex]

and now (drumrollllll) a double post...

I had a table the other day that reminded me of what it would be like to wait you lords....

ill walk you through it..


3 professional looking black women sat at my table (hate to stereotype but black people are some of the hardest to please...usually something gets sent back or not liked somewhere...)...i greeted them we joked cuz they were in a good mood it was one of their birthday.....

drink order taken (1 iced t, 1 water with lemon and straw, 1 raspberry lemonade)

[during this time i got 2 other tables sat]

went to my computer to order the lemonade because the bar makes it, i dont. While waiting for that i took the 2nd drink order and told the 3rd id be right with them. Rung in the 2nd drink order and alas the lemonade was just getting poured so i made my tea and water and grabbed the lemonade (took 2 minutes...at the most)...dropped it off and they werent ready to order. Since my 2nd table all had blended drinks thats gonna take another minute. so i got my 3rd drink order....while chatting with them the 3 lovely ladies started screeching my name....(i put my finguer up and said ill be right there)...finished my 3rd drink order to an annoyed couple who didnt like being inturrupted (i would be pissed too)...

back to the 3 lovely ladies (as i have deemed them) she said her lemonade was too sweet and she wanted something else....cept it took her forever to decide...coke or something else...settled with coke....now my 2nd table just had to wait a little longer because of the 3 LL (lovely ladies).

drinks out to 2nd table....2nd table wants to order....done....run to kitchen to hurry with 3rd tables drinks bread etc...

the lovely ladies are now ready to order...the raspberry lady orders the same thing cuz its her favorite and insisted her friends have the same thing. (ordering while eating bread at the same time mind you).......if the one girl wouldnt have said it was her favorite i would have encouraged a different dish because it isnt all the conventional (http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu.htm angel hair pasta...first item under pastas). It just isnt for everyone so i usually steer people from it cuz most dont care for it that much.....but it was her favorite im not going to make her feel bad when most dont like it.........

table 3 is now ready i take their order....to hear my name being screeched yet again.....apparently they want more bread...and couldnt wait for me to finish with my other tables dining experience...

now the horror really begins

food goes out and they all start picking at it like i set alien pods down in front of them.

"what is this (they went from professional to ghetto in 2.3 seconds)" "can we get more sauce"

absolutely...i rush to the kitchen because its made per dish it was going to take 1-2 minutes to cook it.

other 2 tables are doing fine everything is well...

Suddenly im in the kitchen getting a refill for another table (yea those horrible refills) when another server is chasing me saying table 4 needs me now....(groan)

i get there ask what i can help is something wrong what can i do (the usual)...the 2 LL's who got their food ordered didnt like it....(as im setting their extra sauce at the table ....the pasta was a little clumpy (as only angel hair can....i hate that pasta its so inconsistant at times) They ask for new ones ...no problem i suggest maybe they change the pasta to something like penne that wont clump.....they loved the idea...no problem....im in the kitchen getting it done and have a manager to the table...(for the 2nd time...first time for the lemonade).

The pasta is almost done...just gettin a garnish (it takes 3-4 minutes to cook that one thank goodness)...and im giving at table some dessert menues when my name gets screeched yet again (i think they were howler monkeys and not people at this point)....

rush over....we change our mind and want something different (the one is still eating hers because, if you remember, it was her favorite)

fine hamburger and chicken sandwich (neither on the menu, at least in the pure form, but i get to the kitchen to get it done)

....manager visits yet again....meanwhile my service is begging to fade at my other 2 tables because i have to devote so much time at this table....but just trying to make them happy....

oh the burger she wants well done....great...thats a 9 minute minimum cook time....6 minutes into cooking they me down again and say they dont want those now...(my manager hears this and gets PISSED) they just want to go and want their check. and they are yelling and screaming on how horrible this is and blah blah blah.... I print out the check hand it to my manager and basically say (shaking cuz im so frustrated there is no pleasing them)....and i say im not going back to that table...no tip is worth the circles im jumping through for them.

the manager wasnt happy and chatted with them...not sure what he told her and dont want to know but she apologized TO ME and decided they wanted a dessert cuz it was her birthday. I had them decorate it for the bday and put the candle in it and sang happy birthday (all the while wanting to slice their throats out) because im still trying to do the right thing.

they sat at my table for another 30 minutes (guess they werent in a hurry anymore) and their lingering presence was like a black cloud....my other tables at the time always gave me these "i feel bad for you eyes"

at the end 55$ worth of food and drinks removed from their bill....which now totald 30bux....and they left me 8 dollars

Tell me lords...was this good or bad service on my part?

 

[Outlaw2747]

Mmm..seafood....that's about what a dinner costs at my Chowderpot...Maybe I'll try Red Lobster next time I'm in the mood for seafood but don't wanna wait 2 hrs for a meal.

Believe it or not, mine usually takes a half hour or so.

By the way Lords, did you ask any of he mods why you were having problems? I am sure one of us would be glad to fix your problem as opposed to making two accounts.

 

[angie]

Believe it or not, mine usually takes a half hour or so.

By the way Lords, did you ask any of he mods why you were having problems? I am sure one of us would be glad to fix your problem as opposed to making two accounts.

LOL that 2 hours is just waiting to be seated!! But the bread they serve you while you're waiting for your order is awesome.

 

[skategreen]

Vortex


NO, when I previewed my posts, I got a baby picture with a message that I NEVER put on my posts. So, I am NOT going to let someone put a picture on MY POSTS. I am still Lords, I am for now posting as Lords1, because of this person that did this.

In other words, I COULDN'T get the baby picture off the posts, so I registered under Lords1.

Ohhhhhh yeah?.......hahhahhahahah...

THIS

ought to be good!

 

[Cogito Ergo Sum]

Vortex


NO, when I previewed my posts, I got a baby picture with a message that I NEVER put on my posts. So, I am NOT going to let someone put a picture on MY POSTS. I am still Lords, I am for now posting as Lords1, because of this person that did this.

In other words, I COULDN'T get the baby picture off the posts, so I registered under Lords1.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

I'm sorry, you have triggered the GF automatic BULLSHIT ALERT SYSTEM. You have been detected utilizing 2 seperate accounts under the same IP address and this is NOT permitted.

Consequently, Lords1 has been BANNED, and Lords has been placed in the Idiot Box for 48 hours. While in the Idiot Box, you may reply to posts, but not start them. In addition, you will be unable to edit your posts for changes.

Please do not attempt to create another account or then your entire IP address will be banned.

That is all.

THIS HAS BEEN A SERVICE OF THE AUTOMATIC GF BULLSHIT ALERT SYSTEM.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

 

[Cogito Ergo Sum]

Lords...Lords1...Lords2 (there had better not be anymore Lords!)

You need to read this please:

http://Off Topic Forum.com/showthread.php?p=168902#post168902

Enjoy.

If I see you go and log back in under your Lords account and stay there, I shall grant you immediate release from the Idiot Box and return your account to normal status.

I checked for the picture you stated, and nothing was there, so it had been removed I guess.

 

[Outlaw2747]

Oh so you went Angie? What did you get?

 

[Big Momma]

Lords you are ****ing INSANE! That's all there is to it. You can't even be grateful for a gratis cake.

A lady was nice enough to make your nasty ass a cake and instead of being grateful you complain about the type of cake it was? I'm sure the rest of your co-workers were grateful for that cake, and also sure that most of your co-workers wish you washed away in the NOLA floods.

 

[Lords]

Vortex

Tell me lords...was this good or bad service on my part?

It was VERY, VERY GOOD service. GOSH, they were VERY PICKY. I have NEVER change my mine like that, EVER. Those customers were RIDICULOUS. You seem to have tried your very BEST to satisfiy those picky people.

I have ordered something that I wasn't sure I'd like once and I even told the waitress I'd pay for it, but she ended up not charging me, so I gave her a MUCH BIGGER tip. I don't think it's right for me to try something new on the house. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean that it should be free. If the restaurant staff didn't do ANYTHING wrong, I am willing to pay for what I ordered. I have done that with a margarita I didn't like. Sure I drank like 1/4 of it, but it wasn't good, I still gave the waiter his tip and paid for the drink in full. I believe in if you order something that you don't like, it isn't the restaurant staff's fault if they got everything right and it's piping hot. I didn't ask, (it happen to be a certain salad) for free. I just asked her if I could have something else, but I'd pay for the salad I ordered. I think I should have though, but since she didn't charge me, I gave her a much nicer tip. I feel the wait staff didn't do anything wrong, I just didn't realize that I wouldn't like that type of salad. I really didn't do it on purpose. All the other times though, I have ALWAYS kept my food, even if it wasn't to my liking. It's NOT the staff's fault I don't like my food, unless they made it WRONG, then it would be then. Sometimes it's the COOK'S fault for cooking something wrong like a steak.

I am NOT like those people at all. That was HORRIBLE that they only gave you LESS than 15%. I figured out, it would have been $8.25 at 15%. It wasn't your fault they didn't like their food. They should have gave you 20% at least.

 

[Vortex]

Vortex

It was VERY, VERY GOOD service. GOSH, they were VERY PICKY. I have NEVER change my mine like that, EVER. Those customers were RIDICULOUS. You seem to have tried your very BEST to satisfiy those picky people.

I have ordered something that I wasn't sure I'd like once and I even told the waitress I'd pay for it, but she ended up not charging me, so I gave her a MUCH BIGGER tip. I don't think it's right for me to try something new on the house. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean that it should be free. If the restaurant staff didn't do ANYTHING wrong, I am willing to pay for what I ordered. I have done that with a margarita I didn't like. Sure I drank like 1/4 of it, but it wasn't good, I still gave the waiter his tip and paid for the drink in full. I believe in if you order something that you don't like, it isn't the restaurant staff's fault if they got everything right and it's piping hot. I didn't ask, (it happen to be a certain salad) for free. I just asked her if I could have something else, but I'd pay for the salad I ordered. I think I should have though, but since she didn't charge me, I gave her a much nicer tip. I feel the wait staff didn't do anything wrong, I just didn't realize that I wouldn't like that type of salad. I really didn't do it on purpose. All the other times though, I have ALWAYS kept my food, even if it wasn't to my liking. It's NOT the staff's fault I don't like my food, unless they made it WRONG, then it would be then. Sometimes it's the COOK'S fault for cooking something wrong like a steak.

I am NOT like those people at all. That was HORRIBLE that they only gave you LESS than 15%. I figured out, it would have been $8.25 at 15%. It wasn't your fault they didn't like their food. They should have gave you 20% at least.

This wasnt the response i was expecting...you have just earned some respect on my part...i was able to juggle all that crap and still maintain my poise (cept with that table...i was shaking so bad cuz i was so frustrated....) Ive been doing this for over 10 years....customers are mostly the same...till you deal with this ilk...and then its like playing jenga...something is gonna fall and it will always be your fault..no matter what......

Now im glad you said that...because you could have been at the second or third table that got their service go south ( that isnt a new orleans jibe it was just an expression)...and my other 2 tables coulda got pissed because i couldnt be with them like i wanted to be...

we have a thing at the cheesecake factory called "prestaging"

now prestaging is if they oredred someting with french fries or a burger we should have katsup at the table before it comes out. IF they want their salad with the dressing on the side it shoudl be at the table before the salad reaches it....it just makes sense...(although i have had a 1 top and had 5 tables sat at the same time and reached the table about 30 seconds after and felt horrible.....but it wasnt my fault i was dealing with customer issues and looking for a manager to get it fixed)......but our food runners if they have to bring stuff to your table that should have been there before the food was there....they are the first ones to get down hard on the server who wasnt doing their job.....and it always seems to be the same ones....and those are the ones that the rest of us say "why are they working here again and making us look bad"?

on that note....one of those other tables didnt get a katsup cuz i was trying so hard to please these 3 ladies...and i felt bad...im a trainer for god sake...the food runners should never have had to go back for katsup because of my error....it irked me off more that i forgot that because of them then the entire nasty table experience....

Lords i just want you to actually go into a place...watch what is going on....you can tell how many tables the server has...if its over 4...then the service can go quite sour...and its not your servers fault...they are trying to help you in the alloted time they are given..and thats usually not much...


back to the "prestaging thing" we do...(where stuff is at the table before the food is out)...sometimes you just cannot get to it like you want because of one talbe.....for instance i had 4 women at my table that all wanted seprarte checks...fine no problem..cept they told me when i had a dessert presentation to do, drinks at the bar, and needed to see how the food was tasting at yet another table........all 4 had a 20 dollar bill and watned change (each bill was under 10 bux)...soi i had to go to the cashier to get change and low and behold the whip creme machine was down...2 managers was trying to bail them out of thier crisis and i couldnt get everything done...(the 4 ladies were in a hurry all of a sudden)...i ran to the bar and sweet talked a bar tender to give me change cuz i only had enough change for 2 of them.....

they threw me in a such a tailspin it took me 2 hours to recover.....

you have to realize that sometimes another customer is at fault of you getting bad service...it happens all the time....if your in a hurry dont go to a sit down restaurant...it spells bad news for you..your server...and many other customers all the same..........

i am normally an expo now (not on the floor serving much)..so its my job that everything comes out on a timely mannor...

i have had servers come bitching at me because something is taking 9 minutes (yet they rang it in 5 minutes late) and expect me to fix it for them in a nasty way...frankly ill do my best...but im not letting a chicken breast go out of my kitchen raw or half ass cooked...so i get a manager to the table because it isnt my fault...

i forgot where i was...so ill just end this now

 

[Lethalfind]

I give a good tip when the service is good, the inner workings of the restuarant and how many tables the server has is not my problem. I expect my food to be brought to me in a timely manner, in the manner I ordered it, hot, not luke warm. If they can't do this then they don't get a good tip. Simple as that.
Of course if I am in a packed restraurant I don't expect the food in the same time as if the place were empty.
If a server has been overloaded with tables or someone else is making the food or drink, that is the problem of the manager of the restaurant.
I have returned dishes if they are not brought to me in the way they are described in the menu or if they are cold, not just because I don't like how they are made.

 

[Vortex]

you should send it back if it is cold or not hot enough.....

its how the server fixes your problem when it was the cooks fautl...

plus the server isnt going to know if it is not hot...unless you want us to start a new policy of stiking our fingers in the middle of it to test it before its brought to you...

 

[Lords]

Lethalfind

I have returned dishes if they are not brought to me in the way they are described in the menu.

I can't believe there is FINALLY someone that has my point of view. I feel if the customer knows the menu better than the server, that's a problem. The server should KNOW that if something comes with a side of marinara sauce or something like that. It's NOT the CUSTOMER that is suppose to remind the server. That's not good service when a customer has to remind the server of something. That shows that the server doesn't care about their customers, because if they did, they'd make sure they'd have EVERYTHING that is described on the menu BEFORE taking the food to the customer. I am not saying the menu has to be memorized, just read over before bringing the food to the customer. It makes the server look STUPID when the customer knows the menu BETTER than the server. I had to point out to a food runner, these chicken tenders are suppose to come with bar-b-que sauce and I had ordered a side of honey mustard. That's just STUPID. A customer should NEVER have to remind the server about at least the stuff that comes with the food. The bar-b-que sauce was completely forgotten and I told the food runner that we ordered honey mustard. He only brought the honey mustard and I had to tell the waitress when she came by that "The menu says this is suppose to come with bar-b-que sauce." That's PATHETIC to me to have to remind the server of what's on the menu. I don't even work there and I had only been there once before, which I didn't even order chicken tender the last time I was there even. It just pisses me off when the customer knows more than the wait staff about the restaurant's food.

 

[Vortex]

well i hate it when they schedule newbies on as food runners...They dont know the food well enough to be trusted in my opinion...but servers who know their job dont usually food run because it doesnt make enough money....sad fact but i digress

once i actually walked to my table in horror when i saw a woman shredding apart a salmon dish then look up to me and say "this chicken doesnt look cooked"

politely i said ill fix it...thats salmon and not what you ordered....


i let the food runner have it because i was so ticked off.....fortunately for my table the chicken dish was still in the kitchen and i got it right out to her....but the poor table that ordered the salmon probably had to wait an extra 10 minutes.....

 

[Lethalfind]

Today my daughter and I did a little shopping. We ate at Olive Garden.
We had fabulous service from a very cheerful girl (I later found out her nickname was Bubbles which was fitting), she brought us our food in a timely manner, when an error was made in the kitchen about the kind of sauce on my pasta, she brought me more in less time then I would have thought it would have taken to get to the kitchen. I even told her it was not necessary to do so. They are having that never ending pasta bowl thing right now so you can order more of a different sauce anyway. She anticipated my need for a take out box, for drinks etc. I never once had to go and find her. My meal cost $15, I gave her a $5 tip AND wrote a note to the manager about her and another woman I had spoken to about something else telling him how helpful they both were etc.

 

[Vortex]

Good for you...

people constantly bitch when they get lousy service...but when they get good service they dont tell anyone....and it goes unnoticed....every time that happens to me i get a little extra spring in my step (im gonna walk into something with that line)....and it makes my night...


last night i had a latino family that didnt speak much english (the younger ones did and the 2 fathers did...the wives really didnt)...but the older guy pulled me aside to ask my schedule because he wanted to come back and ask to sit in my section....

always nice to hear that...

groan i dont want to go to work tonight tho...corporate will be there and managements panties will be all bunched up....sigh

 

[Mohammed_Rots_In_Hell]

Hey Vortex,

I just got back from Waffle House where the waitress took our order with no pen or paper, acted like she had no problem remembering the order, and of course screwed it all up. I left 50 cents for her dumb ass! (I have a low tolerance for stupidity, I should have just stiffed her all together!)

 

[Vortex]

i hate it when a server doesnt write my **** down. it never seems to work right because im a little picky and usually order something without something....


plus....waffle house? i wouldnt have expected anything else than crappy service

but those crazy folks at burger king gotta have a dream and somewhere to move up to!

 

[Mohammed_Rots_In_Hell]

... plus....waffle house? i wouldnt have expected anything else than crappy service

LOL! Yeah, what in the hell was I thinking? I doubt seriously that Waffle House recruits their wait staff out of MIT or Stanford!

... but those crazy folks at burger king gotta have a dream and somewhere to move up to!

I would consider it a demotion!

 

[ToriAllen]

LOL! Yeah, what in the hell was I thinking? I doubt seriously that Waffle House recruits their wait staff out of MIT or Stanford!

I don't know they can be pretty strict. Down here they have a minimum teeth requirement.