Derek Jeter, Bad Mexican, and the Surprise Omelet

Definitely have not left a tip before. Tips are suppose to be for good service and if you don’t receive it they don’t deserve it. Good for u!

I have actually left “2 cents” a few times. It is my “2 cents” of what their service was worth. That way they know it’s because I was upset with the service and not just cheap. I’m not saying you are, but leaving nothings seems like it. I always leave a note with the 2 cents so there is no question. If it makes them a better server, good for them. If it doesn’t, they won’t last long anyway.

One time I left a penny for a tip because in an empty restaurant the server never made it back to the table the entire time until she came to leave the check! Of course, she didn’t find it amusing that I left a penny and tried to comment when I left. I told her and the manager that if she wanted a tip, she needed to provide better service!

A few times my wife and I had gone out to relax and enjoy ourselves. You expect reasonably good service from a restaurant. If the water never gets filled up and nobody checks on your from the delivery of your food on, that is when we do NOT leave a tip.

I rarely have to – but I will leave a SUPER BAD tip (a nickel or a couple of pennies) before I leave nothing at all. It sends a bigger message IMHO. Leaving nothing could be interpreted as an oversight – leaving a few pieces of change says “Here’s what your bad service deserved”

Definitely haven’t left a tip before. Ordered a water didn’t get it till halfway through the horrible tasting meal and then only saw here once after ordering and it was to drop the check off which she didnt split like we asked earlier so on the tip line she got “get a better job”

Funny!- it was in a Mexican restaurant also. I asked for a little rice – they gave me half a dinner plate. I asked for more refried beans – they gave me a tablespoon amount. I asked for a side of tortilla and I got none. I ate half of my pepper and all the beans and got up. When the waiter came with the bill for $22.50 I just signed it and left. No tip. When people with a pad and pencil can’t get an order right, they don’t earn a tip.

On the very, very rare occasion of really, really, really bad sercice instead of no tip, I have left a one penny tip and on the receipt clearly spelled out that the service was terrible. My intent was that there would no way that the server would not understand that the service was unacceptable. Hopefully this method flaged the terrible service not only the waiter, but also to the management. I don’t know if it worked but it sure made me feel like I was making the world a better place!

Never stiff the wait staff. It makes you look like a jerk. My advise, if you are having bad service discuss it first with your server then if necessary the manager. There may be a reason why the server is having a bad day (like he just put his dog down- true story) or maybe the kitchen or bar staff is the cause. If he is truly a bad waiter, telling the manager is more useful than stiffing the waiter. Not only does it give the manager a chance to make your bad experience right but he is ultimately responsible for the terrible service.

Had a waitress that got our order wrong…accused me of giving the wrong order…never came back to see if we needed anything…but the busboy was super attentive…so I gave HIM the $10!!

They must be deporting undocumented Mexicans in mass because i got the same or worse service as well when i went to a Mexican REstaurant that i also heard was a great spot.

To make things worse,

the food took forever to come out,
the salsa for the chips was watered down and sucked
the waitress was not warm or pretty as usual and spoke perfect English
and worst of all, my favorite guacamole that comes almost identically standard in all mexican restaruants was so horrid that I had to make sure that wahat they brought was actually edible.

and check this out.

I went to the Italian restarunt yesterday and they were going crazy with their sevice and opoligizing for being slow with the service. the food great as usual, but apparently the Mexican waiter mentioned that 3 other cooks were a no show.

Hmm…..that was ironic.

Somethings happening and its kinda scary to think that i might not be able to get great service and great tasting food as usual.

One time a waiter shouted at me in front of everyone about a mistake that he made. I quietly ordered him to fetch his manager, correct his mistake, and left a few cents, just because I was too irritated to wait for change :)

A few years ago, I went to a nice restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA with my then-boyfriend. Maybe it was because we looked young and naive, but the service was horrible. We didn’t get the drinks we ordered – at all – and we were given the wrong food. When I politely pointed this out to the waitress, she got upset and stomped off to go get the food we had really ordered. My steak, when it came, was overcooked instead of medium rare, the veggies were limp, and the potato was completely bare of any toppings. My date’s food was no better – his pasta was not thoroughly cooked and the sauce was lackluster. Needless to say, we TRIED to leave no tip due to the really bad service we received. As we were walking out, the manager actually ran out after us and demanded we leave a tip for the waitress. We NEVER went back there again!

My bugaboo is those places that decide to add a mandatory 18-20% gratuity when it’s a large party. I have no problem leaving a generous tip. I DO have a problem 1) with it added to my bill (usually guarantees service won’t be good because they know they’re gonna get a generous tip) and 2) with an ADDITIONAL tip line below that! How many people have added another 20% forgetting the “service charge” is actually mandatory gratuity?

I leave nothing when the service is lousy. They KNOW why you leave nothing.

Have definitely left change for service that was horrible. It was a dinner for my husband for his birthday and the waitress just couldn’t get anything right. Frogetting to give us our packed leftovers sent me over the top. I had to leave soemthing but wanted to send a message. She was in the wrong line of work.

Definitely have not left tips…..but then I am an Aussie and we only ever give tips for outstanding service! Can’t quite understand why I should pay the wages of restaurant staff, but don’t mind rewarding someone who has gone the extra mile to make sure I have a great night out.

The American concept of having to tip everyone and their dog is rather novel to me. Some people do tip in the country where I’m from (Easter Europe), but where I currently live (Iceland), the people insist on giving you the exact change at the supermarket or restaurant. The idea of tipping is foreign to them and some find it almost offensive. If you want to get rid of some small change, many stores and some restaurants have donation boxes for UNICEF or whatnot.

Add to this that the vast majority of people don’t use cash when paying, only cards.

I did leave tips when I went to Mexico with my company – for the guides on a particularly awesome trip and for the room cleaning staff who made funny shapes out of towels every morning. I thought they really deserved it.

I not only didn’t leave a tip, but our whole party walked out of the restaurant the service was so bad. We waited to be seated for 90 minutes, then we couldn’t get menues. After flagging down a waitress (and being told this was not her station!) I went in search of a manager. The manager said he was sorry but they were very busy. I told him I had a party of 10 who were very hungry and if we didn’t get service in the next 10 minutes, we were gone. We waited another 15 minutes (still looking for menues), a waitress finally came over and took drink orders (but no menues). After we waited another 20 minutes for our drinks and menues to show up we gave up and left. I told the manager on the way out that he blew it and we were gone. The restaurant? I HOP.

Having worked as a waiter when at college I knew you had to earn tips. Move forward 15 years. Having just flown from UK, then US immigration decided to keep us sitting on the plane for 45 mins because they were on lunch. Got stuck in traffic getting into NY. First thing I did on checking into Hilton on Avenue of the Americas was order a beer from room service. 35 minutes later after 3 further calls the beer finally arrived. The guy stood there expecting a tip – no way. It was only later I realised that he probably blamed it not on his crap service but rather that I was a cheap Scotsman!

You bet! Actually several times. When I order something I expect it to be edible. If not, I let the server know how I feel then leave. NEVER SEND IT BACK! Pissed off kitchen people will mess with your food!

There have been plenty of times I have left little to no tip; I usually write on the back of my credit card receipt why, so that anyone who looks at it knows exactly why. It is a liitle harder to hide bad service when more than your server knows why no gratuity was left.

Went to a restaraunt and the waiter took our order. Food didn’t come and found out waiter had left. Went there another time and got the same waiter. I asked him if he was going to stay this time. My tip was pursue another profession

I was with my folks, sister and niece for breakfast. The waitress had a major attitude. We took more time than usual I guess. She asked if we were ready…I said sure and she rolled her eyes and said “FINALLY” with a major attitude. The food took forever and others she waited on after us got their food already. We finally got the food and it was as if she was just throwing it at us. I’m the one to try to calm people down and said “thank you”…she said “right”. Then I got up to ask for our table to get a refill of coffee after 30 minutes and she said “I do have other customers you know”. Now me Mr. Nice guy is about to get verbal back…lol I ‘ve had poor service before but this floored me. I then go the washroom and hear her talking about the prima donnas sitting in the corner. Well the prima donnas she was talking about was us. I’m serious we were looking for the cameras as we thought we were on a show. My family and I laugh about it now but it was the worst experience ever and we also felt very uncomfortable. Well to say the least we left no tip. As I paid the bill I explained the situatuon to the manager who knows as the regular Sunday crowd. She apologized and gave me a gift certificate. So Joel there are times when not leaving a tip is justified. I mean one can have a bad day but to be outright rude and even verbal is unacceptable. The odd thing is i still feel very guilty as I like you tip generously since I believe the personnel are serving us .

Yes I have! In fact, one bad experience made us leave w/o paying for the salad & (non-alcoholic) drinks! Ages ago on Prom night, we went to one of the fanciest restaurants around. We sat there for 2 hours w/o ever getting our food! We kept asking about our meals and kept getting the run around. The waittress was not apologetic or polite. And we were not being rude or rowdy teenagers at all!

After finally requesting to speak w/a manager, he bluntly told us, and I quote: “Your food went into the oven and never came out.” Alrighty.

We got up and walked out. I assume he wouldn’t have dared attempt to charge us for the salad & sodas but we didn’t even bother to offer. Ate at McDonalds for Prom that year and had excellent service! Go figure.

I don’t think the waitstaff should automatically get a tip. (And I was a waittress during high school & college.) It’s a bonus, meant as a reward for exceptional service. They should feel like the jerk for not getting cash on the table, not the other way around. Unless the server did do a good job, of course!

It hurts me when I get bad service because my ego sometimes get the better of me when I’m tipping and I like to do at least 20% if it’s deserved.

On occasion I’ll even tip 100% if I’m truly impressed. Especially if it’s a young person who I can tell could benefit from some extra cash and is having a tough night.

When a group of us were in vegas, they royally screwed up our order and made us late for the rest of the night – even though they didn’t deserve a tip and we didn’t leave one – I still felt embarrassed not leaving one.

Tip definitely needs to be earned in my opinion.

Great story Joel and I could just see your face while you were waiting for your beverage – pure agony on your face! I guess Lisa is figuring out how to manage you in these situations? ha

I totally agree with some of the commenters above regarding tipping. You should tip for good service and adjust up or down according based on what you deem to be an adequate level of service.

Seems like everyone in the service industry expects a tip these days for even the most menial task. Like I should tip a driver just because he pulled my bag out of the back of his van. PLEASE!?!

The entire tipping concept has good way to far IMO.

After having abysmal service at an expensive Restaurant I walked out with my Wife half way through the meal and refused to pay. We then went to a smaller retaurant down the street fro mthe first. The young Lady serving us was so attentive and was there any time we looked up for anything, – after the meal my wife and I sat for about 20 mins finishing our Wine and then asked for the bill – a different waiter brought the bill out which was £86 ( approx $170), I asked where the young waitress was and the manager came over and asked me if there was a problem with the service, I told him no but I wanted to speak to the waitress, he said she was now off shift but hadn’t left the building and he called her back to my table; the poor girl looked terrified, but I explained about the awful service I ‘d received in the previous restaurant, I hgave her a £20 note (about $38- 40) and thanked her for her terrific service – she looked stunned.

I always give compliment where it is due for good service

I’ve had occasion to sit through abominable service with surly waiters where the food was fit for a king (if king was the name of your dog). I am generally very generous with the waitstaff as I know how difficult the job can be. There were times when my order was wrong, or my food was undercooked and no reparations were to be done that I would take the top off of the saltshaker, turn it upside down then put the top on top of the bottom part of the shaker that is now at the top of the shaker. Then I put one penny there and wait until they come and clean off the table. When the salt spreads all over the table, hopefully they’d know my dissatisfaction.

Several years ago, my husband and I, and another couple went to a nice restaurant before going to a concert. The food was wonderful and the service was okay. Until the waitress filled my water glass and dumped the whole thing into my lap. She did clean the table, but did not apologize, and did not take anything off the check. We did tip 20% in cash, but stick the bill in a full water glass and turned it upside down. Hopefully by cleaning up that mess, she learned a lesson…

I have to say, I have not left a tip before. BUT…my favorite thing is to just leave loose change for really bad service. Then the server can’t just think “that cheap ass didn’t leave me a tip”, they know what’s up. That the service was not even worthy of a dollar. Don’t plan on going back to a place after you do this though…it doesn’t get forgoten very easily.

TIP means To Insure Promptness. If you give a tip up front before the service is rendered, you will always be a giver and you will probably not have to wait for your beer. Paying the tip first is a great way to declare you know they are a great waiter! Kind of irresistible to rise up to, don’t ya think:)

Just last Wedsnesday, I had horrible service at a restaurant. (Also, Mexican dining but in AZ not FL). While my boyfriend waited for his beer and I for my water (we saw it sitting on the bar), our waitress proceeded to chat it up with her co-workers, play with someone’s child and walk out of the restaurant. When she finally brought us the bill, she didn’t even notice that we had gone to the bar and gotten our own drinks. Even so, I did leave her a tip…89 cents. My sister-in-law says you need to leave an insignificant amount so they get the point. Otherwise, they figure you don’t tip. I also left a note saying she needs to pay more attention to her customers. The wait staff doesn’t need to fawn over me BUT at least bring me my order.

It was an after wedding thank you that we took my whole crew out. We ordered and the waitress was rude from the start, and then we never received our appetizers. The main course came out and we still did not have everyone’s drinks. We had under cooked chicken and some rotten cucumber in the salads and then she tried to give us our appetizers at the end with desert. Still being rude mind you and not apologizing. At the end minus 3 drinks still and a $350 dollar food bill I left her a penny and told her she should treat her customers the way she would like to be treated.

I have only not left a tip once, and I actually did worse than that. This was back in high school and I definitely had my evil streak back then. A friend and I were eating at a Denny’s (remember, I said high school) and our waitress was HORRIBLE! It took forever to get our food, she came back ONCE when we were done eating and I told her I wanted a piece of pie. She said okay and left. Fast forward 25 LONG minutes and she still didn’t come back. No pie and no check. So I “went to the bathroom” and went to the car and my buddy followed shortly thereafter. We did leave a penny though, so we weren’t totally mean :) That’s the only time. I am a good tipper. Generally I start with 20% and go up or down based on service. I have had a few stellar servers that have gotten 35% or better. It’s a tip, you either earn it or you don’t.

Sure if the service is rubbish then I leave no tip. Means I have more money to leave a good tip if the service is good. But then I’m british and we just don’t tip like you guys do. 10% is considered a good tip here. Personally I tend to do a bit more than that, possibly because I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the states.

I just think you should give people credit where it’s due, and part of that is not giving credit where it’s not due.

I one time had such bad service that I wrote “See back” in the tip line and wrote this on the back of the check: “Tip? You want a tip? Here’s your tip – Bring people their beverage in a timely manner and check on us every once in a while. If you do that you’ll probably get a better tip next time!” The funny part was I forgot to turn it back over and sign my name on the signature line so the waitress had to chase me out the restaurant to get my signature! THAT was funny!!!

My wife and I arose early in the morning on our trip. Stopped at a Denny’s for breakfast. They were busy and I asked that we sit at the counter. Got our coffee and they forgot us and couldn’t get any attention short of yelling at them. After 20 minutes I wrote a note on a business card “thanks for the coffee, we will have breakfast down the road!” and since there was no check, I left no cash and never heard a word even though they had my name, address and phone number. I think they got the message.

A couple of years ago, my sister and I stopped at our mall here to grab a bite before hitting the stadium for some real rugby. We dived in at the Wimpy restaurant (something like Mcdonalds with waiters), and man oh man, was the service crap! First: we waited for flipping 25 MINUTES just to get the waiters’ attention; then this one with an attitude to match the face took our orders. We waited another 15 minutes for that meal to come, and afterwards we were ignored like a stop street sign. Luckily the food was OK, otherwise…. When we got the bill, I took it and paid it. No tip, no thank yous, nothing. We wanted out as fast as we could, and haven’t returned since. The other incident had me almost killing the waiter twice over, so bad was that service.

Didn’t leave a tip once when I was alot younger and way dumber (so I didn’t bring enough cash)…from then on always left at bare minimum 20% UNLESS the server just SUCKED. Then I left a crap-tip (1 cent anyone) just to drive the point home.

I was tempted once not to tip because the service was really bad. The waitress was nice, but she was definitely not with it. Then I remembered my best friend growing up. In high school she waited tables a couple of summers and she would come home in tears. She was a wonderful person, but artistic and dreamy and evidently was a terrible waitress. So in honor of my old friend, I left a tip in spite of the very poor service. However, I probably would not have had the waitress been obnoxious.

ive always given a tip, but if the service is bad, i like to make it a point to give a a crappy tip, like instead of my usual 15% and up, i give em like a 5% or less. like the service was awful, and all they did is screw up my dinner, quite a few times, they didnt offer me refills on my lemonade, i had to ask for them while ive been sipping on the ice at the bottom for like a good easy 5 minutes. they didnt bring out napkins as we asked a few times and it wasnt like the place was packed and the waitress had too much on her plate. if it was, i cud be a lil more understanding, but that was just bs and she smiles as she brings out the fat check, thinking shes gona get her full 15%.

Hi JM. Can’t speak about walking out on a tip, but Saturday I walked out on a bill. Enjoying a virgin Mary on mod carb day in Kailua Kona at Lulu’s. I was bulking up on the Celtics hammering on Orlando, up by 30 at start of 4th. Maybe 20 people in the place. Some dufus comes over loud speaker: ah, this game is over…we are going to shut it off and put music on. After a minute of What? so put the music on, so you have to shut off the tv to put music on. Whichof course was not the case, but on my celtics screen now appered some war monster video game! “I am outta here,” I announced, “and I am not going to pay my bill. But I am going to leave a tip.” So I peepled off five singles, stuck ‘em under my water, and we left.

Hi!!
We tip every time we go to a restaurant, the hairdresser, the barber – in fact just about everywhere we go we tip – I just think that people in the service industry have got it tough – I know how it feels to work in a restaurant and it is exhausting – so yes we definatley leave a tip – their salaries are also so small – im sure every bit of extra cash they get helps them