Bad Service vs. Good service: Tipping Opinions

[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 shit 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.

[GrayGal]

This is my thing with good customer service....

Say i sit at my table with my glass slipping away on the water the ice is leaving very loudly..I sit stir my straw around and began slirpping again. I if not noticed WANT ANOTHER FUCKING DRINK! Now if i drink all my soda or whatever and set my glass aside i am finished! Usually when i got out and a waitress takes 15-30 mins to come BACK to my table to see if I need anything SHE HAS PISSED ME OFF! I expect to be asked if noticable asap if i need anything (if not busy)..If she is friendly, refills and is nice enough to check in every once in awhile she will recieve a great tip...7-8 bucks but if my drink is NOT refilled i am pissed and she gets maybe 2 dollars..and thats if i feel "sweet"

[Lords]

Mohammed_Rots_In_Hell

I left 50 cents for her dumb ass! (I have a low tolerance for stupidity, I should have just stiffed her all together!)

I probably wouldn't have left anything, depending on HOW the mistake was handled. She should be writing the order down, whether or not she feels she has a good memory or not. It always HELPS to write the order down I feel. It isn't a guarantee though. I have had a server bring me the COMPLETELY wrong entree and he WROTE it down. I have also had MANY of times where I asked for a condiment or condiments with my meal, which the server wrote down, and of course, it doesn't arrive with the condiment or condiments I ordered.

 

Did she at least apologize? If she did apologize profusely, ONLY then would have I given her a tip, like 5%, but if I got an apology plus something free for my mess up, around 10%-13%. Otherwise, if she only said "Sorry about that", that's NOT good enough for me. I feel a server that messes up my whole order needs to say they are "SO sorry" and try to be able to take something off the bill for the mess up by asking their manager. That would be the CARING thing to do and it would help the server's tip tremendously because most people would not as pissed about the mistake.

 

When will servers learn they have to get the order correct for customers to be happy? I have even read on a website about that a person said something like "If I order beans as my side, don't bring me fries." It's common sense that these servers need to write the order down and compare the plate of food with the order. That's why a lot of mess ups happen. I find MOST servers just don't care if they make a mistake. MOST servers don't say their sorry and that REALLY pisses me off to make their tip lowered. I am a person that has feelings and they need to be nice enough to say their sorry I feel. It seems like servers don't think "If that was my meal, HOW would I feel?" They just don't care.

[Vortex]

lords maybe its a southern thing......every server i know apologizes and feels like crap when the screw up.....

[Lords]

Vortex

Every server i know apologizes and feels like crap when the screw up.

I truly, rarely get an apology, even for some HUGE mistakes like in 2003. My husband and I went to Applebees. Everything went pretty well, not perfect, but pretty well, no food mistakes. Then the bill came which was around $35 or $36, which was correct. He took my credit card to ring it up and the credit card receipt came back with $47 and something cents I believe. Around $11.00 he overcharged my credit card. He left so quickly, he was already at another table by the time we realized this. I went up to him when he was at another table already and told him "This is wrong" as I was holding up the bill. He just keep taking the people's orders(I think it was drink orders), and NO apology. So, I went up to the manager and the manager said he rung up my credit card on the WRONG table. After the manager returned the money to my credit card, the waiter was standing at the computer terminal along with the manager. The manager then asked the waiter "Is this what they had?" as the manager pulled up what we had on the screen. The waiter didn't even look at it and told what we had from MEMORY. That pissed me off and made me think that he did this on purpose to get a friend's table cheaper, so we'd pay the higher bill. Anyway, NO apology from either manager nor waiter. Left him ZERO tip for being so uncaring about the situation and I even told the manger I thought he did it on purpose. The stupid and gullable manager said "No". That pissed me off that he would defend his waiter, when HONESTLY, the manager had NO CLUE if the waiter did this on purpose or not. It's not like he apologized or fixed the problem right away. This waiter was SUCH an asshole.

 

The thing I didn't like at the beginning he did. Instead of just taking our drink order since we had waited 15 minutes to be seated, NO, he asked us "How our Mardi Gras was?", because it was Mardi Gras day. I am thinking in my head, "SO WHAT", when he was asking this and that I just wanted to order. When customers wait for tables, they TRULY don't want to wait longer for small talk. I say, save that stuff when it's not busy and when the order is already put in. Our food took a LONG time, because it was so busy. I was going to leave him $6.00, but he messed that up by overcharging me without an apology and not fixing the mistake right away by not saying to the people at the table "Be back in a minute or so". WE, were in there MUCH LONGER than the people at the table were, so if there's a mistake, it DEFINATELY should take PRIORITY over ANYTHING else. I found a website one time that had a lady that stated "She didn't come to the restaurant to make a friend." MOST people want to talk with the people they came with, NOT the server. When people are hungry and thirsty, that's what they are. MOST customers want their food and drink, NOT to chit-chat with the server.

[Vortex]

Chatting with my tables i do very infrequently and only if they chat with me first....ill pretty much do the minor server ramblings that dont take any time away...

 

like if dessert is ordered ill say something stupid like "coffee, espresso, shot of tequila"? chuckle had by all....shrug

 

i have done that before tho...about 2 years ago i charged someones credit card to the wrong table.....but i also gave them the wrong check first...(of course the check i gave them was 5 dollars cheaper)....and i correctd it after they left....their total never changed...but my tip went down 5 bux. it was my fault i paid for it...oh well....

 

 

15 minutes to be seated.....where i work thats pretty slow....customers wait 45-2 hours during peak times.....

[Lords]

Vortex

Did they tell you it was the wrong bill? If so, did you at least say you were sorry? See, I can forgive servers for most of the mistake if the server is NICE about it. Like if the waiter would have said he was sorry and fixed the problem right away, but he really acted like he could care less, so I cared less about his tip. I feel, the server is nice to me, I'll be nice back by giving a nice tip. I really think the server did it on purpose, really, not to at least say one "sorry." I can't understand why servers wouldn't care about HOW MUCH they are going to get? Heck, even if my whole mean is ruined, if the server acts like they care, they'll get something, not nothing at all. Even a 2 or 3 bucks for a party of 2's bill that would be $30, would be something for a messed up meal. If I were a server, I'd rather say that I would be "So sorry" and get a "CHANCE" for a tip at all, than not to say it. Although, honestly, I'd still mean the sorry anyway, because I would actually feel SO bad for the customer that got a meal messed up because of me. It seems like some servers I have had, just don't care about the customer or their tip.

 

Customers wait 45-2 hours during peak times.....

It's like that here now, because of Katrina damage. There's not many restaurants open still, even in October a lot of restaurants haven't reopened yet because of lack of employees or damage. It sucks, everywhere you go almost around here, there's a CROWD and VERY long wait times for a table. One time at around 8:00p.m. on a friday night about 2 weeks ago, we got turned away, because there were just SO many people. The hostess said "Sorry, but we aren't taking anymore customers." I have never been turned away before for too many customers. I can't wait until more restaurants start opening back up.

 

Usually, at this Applebees, I didn't have a wait, but because it was "MARDI GRAS", there were a lot of people eating out places.

[Vortex]

Vortex

Did they tell you it was the wrong bill? If so, did you at least say you were sorry?

 

 

Nope...i was "weeded" printed out the wrong bill set it on the table....they put a card in i ran it...asked if they wanted more coffee or water.....came back a few minutes later to remove their dessert plates and then they left...

 

picked up the check presenter and put it in my apron because i had to get some drinks before i closed it out....but then i printed another tables check (the same one) and when i went to run their card i realized to my horror that a credit card transaction was attached to it....

 

so i basically ate the tip...either they didnt know they paid the wrong bill...or they knew and was being cheap...after all if the bill was over their bill im sure they would have said something.....

 

far as i know no one knew and im the one who suffered for it...but it hasnt happened since and i tripple check my tabs since that day .....