Do you know bartending etiquette as far as tip cups?

Question

I am having a disagreement with a kid who bartended at a party of mine. We told him that we'd pay him cash rather than put out a tip cup. We thought it was tacky and inappropriate. The bar only offered beer and wine in small glasses and the party was a house party. It was also a promotional party for a gallery. He put out tip cups against our wishes (we found out later) and we ALSO had paid him very well.

Do you know what the tip cup etiquette is?

Answer 1

tips are for good service...shoots!!

Answer 2

As a catering supervisor...it is up to the owner/host to allow tips. You said no and he disobeyed you. Never hire him again. You are in the right

Answer 3

usually when your bartending its a very normal thing to have a tip cup out. people wont tip unless they think the bartender deserves it and is working hard or well. I've worked for some banquets and they would'nt alow tip cups but people would come up and ask me where my tip cup was even though I didnt have one they gave me money anyway, so I would hide the tip cup so no one knew I had one and would accept the money they threw of course, so it was more of just a place to put the money instead of there being a bunch of ones just scattered behind the bar, that might have been what happened if so in that case I think its acceptable

Answer 4

You have every right to be upset.  You hired him, paid him well, told him up front no tip cup and he is in essence, your staff.  A tip cup at a house party no less... Holy moley.  Never hire him again as this was very inappropriate and went against your wishes.  Major no, no!

In a nutshell, you were his boss, told him no and he did it anyway.  He would have been fired if he was my husband's staff.

Answer 5

I am a bartender and I think you have every right to be mad.  $20 an hour isn't very much if he is a professional bartender but that was the price he agreed to.  I think if someone wanted to slip him money that wouldve been fine for him to take it.  But he absolutely shouldn't have put out a tip cup.  

I'm not sure how you found him but make sure you let whoever he works for know what he did.  Or if its craigslist, post a little message about him

Edit- then $20 an hour is plenty of money! I was thinking along the lines of he gave up a shift at work to work for you. Bartending school is a scheme.  Most bars won't hire grads of bartending school.

Answer 6

I don't know the etiquette behind the tip jar. But I too think if you made the agreement up front and you paid him really well, then you are correct in saying no tip jar. He is violating your contract with him (if you had a contract)  

Answer 7

For one, you refer to this bartender as a "kid" and what do you expect from someone you think so little of?

You don't say the amount you paid, perhaps it wasn't a great deal of money. I've been a bartender and I could make $20.00 and more per hour and that was nearly ten years ago. If this "kid" is a real bartender, he's used to making real money.

He did go against your wishes and a promo at a gallery always offers free wine so to have a bartender does take it up a notch. I really have mixed feelings about this because I don't know what the hourly pay was. You know if people didn't feel like tipping they wouldn't, so I doubt that any guests/patrons were offended. Really, the bottom line is I don't think it's a big enough deal to need to address. So what if he made a few more bucks. Bar tending is difficult and thankless work and managing drunks takes a real skill set. Hiring help puts you in a cushy position that you should be grateful to be in, not everyone can afford to hire help.

Count your blessings and let go of being a control freak. I hope the party went well and was successful for the gallery. Did YOU have fun?