Wow! It's been a week since I've blogged! Time flies when you stay busy! Well, I really don't have time to be blogging right now either. I'm supposed to be working while my mom watches my kiddos for me...but I just needed a break and plus...I've been wanting to blog (gripe) about a particular thing for a whole week now! So...this is my topic: Restaurants & Tips.
I've started self-critiquing restaurants lately and I've come to realize it is really hard to find a restaurant that has it all. For instance, my mom and I ate out at a Mexican restaurant while we were out of town last week. It was a nice, sit-down, chain restaurant. We were served hot chips and yummy salsa right away. They gave the kids color-menus and crayons. We ordered our meals and a bowl of queso for $3.99. When the waiter came back, he brought the queso which was barely warm cheese sauce from a can (yuk). The kids liked it (go figure) but mom and I were not impressed. Then a little later he brought out our food---except for mine. No biggie, I thought, he probably just had to go back and get it. But NO....20 minutes later, I hadn't seen the waiter ever again nor had I gotten my food. Of course, by that time, I had decided if he did bring it, I would just send it back since mom and the kids were already completely done and ready to go. So finally, this new waiter walks over to our table and asks if we are doing okay. I tell him that I never got my food but not to worry about it now since we are ready to leave and all he says is "oh, ok" and hands us our ticket. So, I am pretty irked and I mention to mom that we should at least get our (nasty) queso for free since they forgot my food...but mom tells me to just forget about it. Well, we take our ticket up to the counter to pay where this older man in a tie and slacks (I'm figuring he's the owner) rings us up. As he is ringing us up, he looks right at me and says, "How was everything?" Seeing this as my golden opportunity, I lean forward, lower my voice and say, "You really want to know?" His eyebrows perk up as though he's very interested in what I am about to say and he says, "yes, of course." So I proceed to tell him about what happened....to which he says...................nothing. Absolutely nothing! He just finishes ringing up the bill, looks at my mom, tells her the total, she pays and we walk out!!!!! Oh BOY...now I am really ticked! But....she tells me to just settle down and forget it so I do. Still...because of this...I will probably never go back to that restaurant.
Okay, now...Scenario #2. This past Saturday Matt and I went out for lunch. (Mexican again-also a well-known chain). This time we have a really sweet young girl for a waitress and she brings us out chips and salsa first thing. We order our food = Matt quesidillas, Me tortilla soup and Caesar salad. I told Matt how Wonderful the soup sounded and I read the description to him "Our famous Chicken soup is served chock full of shredded cheeses, crispy tortilla strips and sour cream. Served with a Caesar salad." Well, when she brings our food out...I look at my plate and I am like, "huh?". The bowl of soup shows no sign of "crispy tortilla strips" and very little cheese or sour cream. So I ask the girl and she's like, "Oh---it probably all just melted down into the soup." So she leaves and I start stirring the soup around and there are about 2-3 SOGGY tortilla strips floating in there and I never did find the cheese or sour cream. Also, the "Caesar salad" is a little pile of shredded lettuce on the side of my plate with a few diced tomatoes on top. I was so disappointed. The girl was really nice...so I hated to make a big fuss...but really...this is NOT what I was wanting. Then she gets side-tracked talking to someone and completely forgets about refilling our drinks so we are sitting there eating the ice from our cups for about 10 minutes waiting on her. When she finally does come back...she gives no apology...just a sharp, "I didn't forget about you." Am I asking too much to actually get what I want, when I want? Then on top of all this........I am supposed to leave these people a tip? What ever happened to tips being indicative of the kind of service you receive? I know I have been called "cheap" before...but really....I don't believe waiters/waitresses who don't take good care of you deserve the same kind of tip you'd give a good waiter. I typically tip $2.00 b/c our meal is usually somewhere between $15-$20, but if I have a really good waiter/waitress...I will tip more. However, at these two restaurants, if it had been up to me...I wouldn't have tipped at all. Is that bad? I realize that they don't make much per hour...but that's not my fault. I am certainly not getting any kind of discount on the food. Anyway...what are your opinions about this? Do you feel it is wrong not to tip? Am I being unreasonable? Why can't these dang restaurants pay their people fair wages so we can go out to eat and pay for our food and that's it?
I am interested to hear what you all think about this subject....
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5 comments:
I always leave a tip if the serivice is good, most of the time the waitresses have no control over the food quality or speed, and some times complaining is unapreitiated by uper managemnt. if the food is not of good quality a better option is just not to return to that restaurant. 'cus chances are the waitresses are counting on the tip money to pay for food for themselves and their familys. and i know how hard it is to try and live on those salerys, chances are that crappy food is better than the food your tip money is buying
I am SO glad you brought this up! I HATE paying $2.19 for a glass of coke!!! But I do most of the time anyway...but when they can't even get over to me to have it re-filled and I am sitting there thirsty...well...I get ticked then!
I DEFINATELY would have asked for my bill to be reduced...OMG...they forgot your meal?? That's insane!! I would have asked for the whole bill to be taken care of b/c of how crazy that is!!
As for your anonymous comment...I say that if it's the food thats the problem and you tell your server and they don't act like it's a big deal or try to fix it for you then YES you should reduce their tip!! They didn't do their job!! If the food is bad and they atleast acted like they cared or tried to so something...then definately do not reduce their tip. I know what anonymous was saying about the server's paying the price for bad cooks or food...true...that is wrong...but if you ask them for 'help' in the matter...b/c that IS their job and they do nothing...then...reduced tip! On the other hand...I have never understood why someone would 'risk' working for two something an hour. I would never do a waitress job b/c I want a guaranteed income. If you have a family to feed...waitressing is not the best profession for you. We all have needs and families.
If I were a manager then I would DEFINATELY want someone to tell me about those things!! I would definately do something for the bill to make you feel better so you WILL come back. How much $$ will they now loose b/c of that...poor management there!
AND I HATE it when they ask you how your service was and if you say something negative then they act like you have said nothing...that has happened to me too and it's IRRITATING!
In summation...bad service DOES equal bad tip (in my opinion).
WOW...that was long...sorry...
I come from a family where no matter how bad the service or food was, nothing is ever said. It's more because they are all incredibly shy that they don't say anything - but no matter what happens, they won't complain.
I, on the other hand, feel that when there is a problem with either my food or the service, something needs to be said and done about it.
I won't pitch a huge fit in the middle of a restaurant - but I will make it known or speak to a manager about what went wrong.
And if I have crappy service - then I'm not tipping. I've had several waiter friends tell me that they can't believe I won't tip sometimes, to which I am really surprised.
The idea of a tip is to reward someone for a job well done, not to help supplement their wages.
If I have great service then I tip very well, above the norm - but I refuse to give someone more of my hard earned money if they haven't earned it themselves.
If we have great service, we reward the waiter/waitress for their efforts. We usually then give them a $4-$5 tip.
However, if they don't do their job, then we have left without leaving tips before. (hopefully they would learn from this, and treat their next table a lot better).
If we get horrible service (in your case of not even getting your food), I always ask to speak to a manager! We will then usually get a discount or our whole meal free, depending on how bad the situation is.
One time we went out to eat with my parents, and got the whole meal for FREE because (at a well known mexican food chain) a waiter was serving the table next to us, and dropped a RED "alcholic beverage" on my husbands shoulder! The glass shattered into a million pieces and splashed all over my dad too. My dad and husband were covered in liquor (we had just come from church, and they were both in their suits...how does that look, for a Pastor to be covered in liqour and stink to high-heaven! haha We can laugh about it now). The manager came over and apologized over and over, he even covered our bill, and also offered to cover the dry cleaning or even re-place the suits (if it wouldn't come out). We were very impressed with this manager. But of course we knew it was an accident so we just let them cover the meal, and we paid the dry cleaning. It all came out thankfully!
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