There seems to be a huge amount of ignorance in the comments, so I'll clear up a few things. 1. Waiters and Waitresses get paid much below minimum wage (~$2.55 where I live), but they figure your tips into the wage. 2. If a waiter REPORTS (yes, that's reports their tips, not what they actually make) less than minimum wage with their hourly rate + tips, the employer pays so that they do make minimum wage. 3. If you're a good waiter, in a decent establishment, you can make much above minimum wage by just being courteous and prompt. 4. Waiters are not entitled to a tip. As said before, their employer will bring the difference to minimum wage if they don't make it in tips. 5. Most of the time, if a waiter consistently makes less than minimum wage in tips+rate, they will usually be fired for poor service. 6. Some establishments split tips between a combination of waiters/chefs/hostesses. Now, on to the opinion part. A tip is a tip, not a requirement. It only is a requirement when they add a fee to parties of usually 6 or more, and that's understandable as it can get fairly hectic. A tip is something that says that it was excellent service, and they should be commended for their efforts, however fake they may be. If a waiter is rude, argues with me, messes up my order, and ESPECIALLY doesn't refill my drink quickly without a good reason (such as it being very busy), then they will recieve a reduced or no tip. If a waiter speaks with the manager about an issue and gets the matter resolved, resulting in some sort of cut in my bill, I will pass down the savings on to the waiter. Tips are based on service, not the price of food. I may give a $5 tip for a $8 meal with great service, and I may give nothing for a $90 meal with poor service. That's just my $0.02

you mean THEIR horns.... geez , people and their lack of grammar. I suppose the world needs ditch diggers too. FML

Why the **** does it matter how he spells their? We're on the internet you douche! That's like me yelling at you for not capitalizing things.

Yaaaaay, fml rants!!! yaaaaay!!

To clear this up with everyone.. That tip you got, OP, was Hilltop Hood lyrics... They're an Aussie H"Sammy and the Gravy Spitter"..

To clear this up with everyone.. That tip you got, OP, was lyrics from "Sammy and the Gravy Spitter" by the Hilltop Hoods... They're an Aussie hiphop band..

No he just forgot the comma, he meant "thats so true, there horns might stab you" he was referring to the place where unicorns dwell not to the horns that the unicorns possess... Dick, if your gonna correct someone for using the wrong there/their/they're make sure you know that they didn't use the wrong one..... And i agree with the advice, like it or not unicorns are hard to jump....

grammer Nazis...

#95: There seems to be even more ignorance in your comment, because you do not know how to use the reply buttons correctly. If you were making a general reply, you should have used the general reply button. FAIL!

i think thats a crappy system in america. people are like really mad there if you don't give a tip, here in europe you only give a tip if the food was really good

No, but I thought it was because in USA they get paid so little, and tips usually make up for that. Our waiters and such have a larger wage?

just because something is different than what you're used to, doesnt make it wrong..it JUST makes it different. bashing the U.S. doesn't make you or your country look any better. it just makes you look ignorant.

THANK YOU!!!!

You sir, are an idiot. A dummkopf if you're in Germany. Eating establishments in the US are handled differently then Europe if I understand you correctly, but if you go and bash us for that, you have your head farther up your ass than that of an American Conservative.

He's not ignorant, numpty. Just pointing out his opinion. Which is pretty sensible in my eyes.

lol!! thats SO true!! actually...that might feel really good...i want to try that!

Back when i worked as a barman for my local pub i got minimum plus tips so around £8 per hour. Peace Out x

The tip they gave you can be very useful. attempting to play leap frog with a Unicorn can end terribly. you may think at first "Oh, I can totally make that jump" but in reality, the protruding horn will affect your aero dynamics as you jump over, ramming into the horn. LOL DISREGARD THAT, I SUCKS COCKS

fyl. whoever read all of 95s comment, I got exshausted just scrolling through it :|

that's a good tip lol

call me ignorant but I have only been to Europe once. I know the tipping process is different than in the Americas but wouldn't it be best to tip on your server and not the quality of a meal? Your server doesn't make the meal and you're not tipping the chef. I don't know, just my thoughts.

I'm going to have to agree with this.

lol I like your name.. it made me giggle.

I was tempted to agree with this, but I think it's some very valuable advice.

The only thing in the world WORSE than ICP is the people that love them. It's a fact.

amen

I was totally going to say that! I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking it.

The only reason i clicked YDI is because her name is Juggalette. @#87 AGREED.

yeah it sounds like they were tripppppinnnnnnn haha

It's not exactly hidden knowledge that waiters make almost all of their money from tips. Don't be an asshat :

Yeah, really.

It's not exactly like they were forced into that particular area of employment, is it? I don't mind giving tips at all, and I always do as long as I get good service. However, Americans seem to think it's their God given right to receive them.

If someone is working as a waitress chances are they don't have a lot of other job prospects at that time... Americans act like it's their right because their very low wages are based on the fact people are expected to tip unless the service is below average.

Maybe I'm just negative towards the whole thing due to the abuse I seem to see when they don't get their tips. Fair enough, expect a tip if you actually worked hard for it, but unfortunately most seem to expect them regardless.

I don't think I've ever seen someone get mad publicly about not getting a tip... They probably wouldn't keep their jobs if they did. And you're meant to tip if they do their job as expected, not work especially hard for it. If they're rude or screw up your order, of course you don't tip, but otherwise you're kind of being a jerk. At any rate, the OP had spent an hour serving openly drunk people and cleaning up what sounds like an excessive mess, and none of them tipped.

I've seen it plenty of times. My parents ordered a medium rare steak and it came out burnt. They didn't leave one and were chased down the street by the furious chef demanding an explanation for the lack of a tip. I guess I just get all the idiot waiters/chefs. :p

Chefs don't get tips, and I'm pretty sure chasing a customer down the street would get most chefs fired. I really don't think this would be a common occurrence..

I always tip but it depends on the service. someones awesome they get a big tip but if they forget me or just ignore me I give em a penny

I know it certainly wouldn't be common, but it must happen. I thought it was pretty funny to be honest. This was the Outback Steakhouse in Vegas if I recall correctly. Anyway, apart from all this, OP deserved a big tip. However, she should accept that some people just won't give damn about leaving one, unfortunately.

Most waiting jobs will pay below a minimum wage expecting them to make it it with tips for exceptional service . And on top most places now a days report an income to the gov at 15% of how much their tables took in that night so if you don't tip someone pays the difference . You're a dick if you did'nt pay a tip just because you did'nt think you don't have to and they gave you good service .

Below a "minimum wage" you say? Surely being a minimum, they wouldn't be allowed to pay below it? I know you certainly would not get away with paying below the minimum wage here in England.

Maybe not in England, but "tipped employees" (waitresses) get paid almost four dollars less than regular minimum wage in the United States.

And why is that allowed, if it's a 'minimum'?

In several states, minimum wage for servers is less than five dollars. You can double-check Wikipedia for this information -- it's all there. I'm a server in New York and minimum wage for servers is $4.65 -- a ridiculous amount less than standard minimum wage. We are expected to receive tips and must claim a certain percentage of our net sales every night as "tips received," regardless of whether or not we actually made that percentage. I work in the ass-end of Brooklyn, where people apparently never learned how to tip. I'm an excellent server, as are many of my co-workers, and there are nights we'll leave with 10% of our net sales, rather than the standard 15-20%. I've had parties I gave great service to, gotten along with, and dropped the check on a positive note, and then had them come back and take back some of the tip money they've left before I can get to the table to clear it. If you can't afford to tip, don't go out. Your server isn't being nice because s/he wants to be, but because s/he won't be able to pay his/her bills if you think s/he's not. The shit I've had to put up with in restaurants is ridiculous and disgusting, but if I'm serving you to the best of my ability with a smile on my face, I expect you to tip me. I think everyone should work as a server for a week, as a requirement. If they did, no one would think twice about tipping. Respect your servers, man, if they're respecting you.

What on earth are you talking about? The exact same thing happens in the UK. The loophole allowing employers to assume that tips make up the minimum wage for waiters has only recently been closed. It takes a lot for me not to tip someone. If you've ever worked in that environment you'll know how crappy it can be and it can be especially bad as tips don't always get to those who earned them. Polite customers who appreciate good service can make a big difference.

wow, what a lot of comments. :)

National minimum wage for waitstaff is 2.89. I'd like to see you live off that. Some states and/or cities set it higher, but nationally it's 2.89. There are very few situations where you shouldn't tip, and if you don't, you probably ought to leave a note (maybe even to the manager?) explaining why. For example "You spilled hot soup on me, did not apologize, did not bring me anything to clean myself up with. Charged me for the replacement soup that you brought me that I hadn't asked for." I would have still left the tip if my server had actually apologized about the soup. Yeah, it was burning on my lap, but people make mistakes. I also would have appreciated her bringing me some napkins of a cloth to try and clean myself up with. As it was I had use all the napkins at my table, and then make my way to the bathroom to clean myself up a little more. On top of that, customers should NEVER be charged for a food item they didn't order.

moonfire, that's what I was thinking. Tip your 15-20%, then ask for the manager, explain the situation, and you will most likely receive some sort of compensation for your discomfort. Managers are usually very accomodating when the complaintant(s) are kind and patient about their complaints.

Actually I was wrong. It's 2.13 http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

Even if it's terrible service?? If I get terrible service I sure won't be tipping.

"If you can't afford to tip, don't go out." what? I go out for convenient food, not to see the waiter's "fake happy face" or whatever. in fact I'd rather all waiters be replaced by bots so I don't have to deal with all that. and restaurants paying below minimum wage is NOT the customer's fault. we should all stop tipping so restaurants will be forced to properly take care of their employees!

That really sucks. It works fine over here, as all jobs are required to adhere to the minimum wages, or risk very serious consequences. I'm guessing the minimum differs between jobs then? If so, that's a pretty terrible policy.

Just over $2 an hour for some states, seriously? I'd give you that for nothing, nevermind working for an hour. I'd probably rather work at Mcdonald's, and that is bad!

velvel - They don't pay below minimum wage though. It was pretty clearly explained above that minimum wage is lower for people who earn tips. The price of your meal is partly based on the fact you're expected to tip, because the restaurant then has to pay it's staff less. If you go out to have your food cooked and brought to you by someone else are you really such an asshole you expect them to do it for the 20c they're probably getting paid for that time??

Would if not be a whole lot easier if your silly country just did what the UK does and give a minimum wage for all jobs, and not a stupidly low one either? No wonder relative poverty rates are so high in the US compared with most other industrialised countries. Then, add your crappy healthcare costs on top. I feel sorry for you guys.

I agree with 31. No one forced you to be a waitress. Did you honestly expect a group of rowdy drunks to tip you in the first place? Your job has to pay you minimum wage in the end, so stop complaining. A tip is a privilege for doing a good job, not a right. To them, the service might have been terrible. I personally tip on a scale; - If my service is extremely poor, I have to wait more then 10 minutes for a waiter, or something is wrong with my food / drink and isn't corrected, they get no tip. - If my service is poor, meaning the waitress never checks back or my drink never gets refilled, they get 5% of the check. - If my service is okay, meaning I got my food and drink and my wait time wasn't bad but the server didn't do anything special, I give them 10% of the check. - If my service was good, meaning I got waited on in a timely manner and checked on at least once, I'll give 15% of my check. - If my service was excellent, meaning I was served in a timely manner, treated respectfully and friendly, and checked back on more then once to see if all was okay, recommended something that I liked, or took the time to answer questions on request, then I'll give them 35% of the check total. Needless to say, I rarely tip more then 10% because wait staff seems to think they can get back with crappy customer service and deserve a tip. In the end though, you can rake in a huge chunk of money an hour just by being polite and on top of the customers needs. When I was a waiter, it was 8 tables to waiter. The work was hard, but if you were nice, you could pull in close to $50 an hour just by going that extra mile.

no one cares about your faggott scale... **** off.

Because of people like the ones in this story, I always tip extra. Waiters and waitresses have such a hard job and have to put up with some really shitty people. I once watched a waitress serve a table of about 10 high school kids. They made a disgusting mess, they were rude, and they tipped her TWO DOLLARS. My friends and I were so annoyed by that, we ended up tipping her about 50% of our bill. If I get bad service, I tip 15-20%. Anything better than that, and it's usually between 30-40%. I feel bad tipping anywhere below 15%. I just feel like it's rude. I understand that I'm paying for the convenience of having my food cooked for me and served to me, having my drinks refilled, and enjoying the company I'm with. I also pay attention to how many people the waiter/waitress has in their area and how other people are treating my waiter/waitress. If it's busy, it's rude to expect that they are going to be hanging on your every word. If someone is being really crappy to them, they might not be the most chipper. I just wish that people would understand that a waiter/waitress is a person and is not infallible. Also, I hate when people act like they are better than their server. Also, I have no problem judging people on how they treat servers. I actually refused to continue going on dates with one guy because he was consistently rude to whoever was serving us. I gave him the chance to take me to another restaurant only on the condition that he was not allowed to talk to or complain to the servers.

I'm with you 105, about tipping extra most of the time. I watched a friend of mine serve a party of 20 (or technically 10 parties of 2 who insisted to be treated as a unit except when i became time for the bill, when they insisted they weren't together to get out of having the tip automatically added) and get tipped less than a dollar TOTAL between the party(ies) and of course, I didn't have enough cash on me to give him much more than 30% of my own meals cost. :(

boatkicker: that is so awful. It's a privelege to get to sit down and be served at a nice restaurant. Therefore, we should be doing our part to pay for that.

then maybe your not an execelent waiter... you sound extremely arrogant

Which is awful? The party of 20 for not tipping my friend, the waitress who didn't apologize for burning my lap, or me for not tipping that waitress?

The party of 20. I can actually understand the situation where you were burned and there was no apology and you were charged extra. That's just ridiculous and your entire meal should have been comped. The part about restaurants being a privelege was more towards the other commenters who feel that tipping is a privelege.

#109, why is it a privilege? Are you even aware of what that word means? We're talking about going to restaurants, not some special, once in a lifetime place...

Wow, does it really ******* matter?

@109: You ARE doing your part to pay for that. It's called "the bill."

it's not that she got no tip, the drunk was mocking her about it!

Just reread what you said, and realized that the 'awful' comment was directed at me for not tipping. I should have tipped her even though she hurt me and didn't say sorry? Even though she charged me for something I didn't order or eat? As I said before, I would have tipped her if she had apologized. I've had quite a few serves spill things on me; she's the only one I didn't tip. In fact, that the only time I've ever not tipped. First of all, if you spill something on anyone you apologize for it, regardless of the rest of the situation. Second of all, if its something that will cause physical harm (a burn which lasted for a week) you DEFINITELY apologize. Third, you don't charge a customer for something they didn't order. End of story. I did not order two soups, I ordered one. That one was ruined. I was not going to order a second soup. I decided after that I didn't really want soup. And yet, I was brought a second soup, which I did not eat, and then had to pay for it. Pain + costing me extra money = no tip. If that's awful, then I guess I am.

#31 not really, but if someone intentionally left a literal TIP, and a dumb one at that, just to mess with you, then you'd probably be mad too.

It's become a social custom,such as opening the door for people behind you. If you see someone and slam the door in their face,your an ass. If you take up a servers table for an hour and don't tip,your an ass. Maybe the social custom isn't "right",however it's how servers survive and it's the polite thing to do.

I do want to mention that most of the time,the kitchen screws up orders. The server shouldn't be punished because of someone else's mistake. The server can't pick through the food to make sure the cook made it correctly,and sometimes someone else brings it to the table. As long as the server tries to fix he mistake,a server should never get stiffed because of simple human error

Until there are robots(which would raise food prices exponentially) you'll have to deal with things the way they are. If you don't want fake smiles(which servers are forced by managers to wear) go to a buffet or make your own burger at home,get all the condiments yourself,all of the extra napkins and all of your own drink refills.

Actually, there are some really attractive employees at the IHOP by my house... and no, I'm not attracted to white trash, fat, disgusting, old people.

na, thats waffle house or denny's, theres a difference

no the ppl at the international house of pancakes r pretty cool

I think most people would already know not to play leap frog with them though.

Adages are best :D 1 for anyone who gets it