WHEN do you NOT leave a tip and have you ever sent your food BACK to the kitchen?

Question

At restaurants, Have you not left a tip before and why? How much do you usually tip?

Did you ever send the food back? Weren't you afraid because the chef considers this an insult sometimes??

Answer 1

Don't leave a tip if you had a bad dining experience due to something the SERVER could control. Too many people are under the false impression that they're gonna punish the restaurant by not tipping. THE RESTAURANT DOES NOT MAKE MONEY OFF OF YOUR TIPS, SO IT DOES NOT SUFFER WHEN YOU DON'T TIP! The server (and only the server) gets shafted when you don't tip. In Texas, restaurants are only required to pay servers $2.13/hr, so if I waited on you for an hour and you failed to tip me, I basically did not get paid for working that hour. If the Kitchen messed up your food, ask a manager to either fix it or remove it from the table AND your bill. The server is not even allowed behind the line, so if the food comes out incorrect or less than satisfactory, the server has no control over that - other than to insure your order gets rung in correctly in the first place. Whether he gets offended when you send it back or not, that cook still gets paid no matter how badly he screws up. He could care less what you tip because that money doesn't go to him anyway. Now, if the server is neglecting to bring refills, failing to periodically check to see if you need anything, spilling drinks on you, etc., you should be mad at the server. But things like food cooked to the wrong temperature, food taking longer to cook than expected, the restaurant running out of a particular item, or waiting an hour to be seated at a table when you were told it would be 40 min., are factors the server has no control over, and should not be penalized for.

Answer 2

Oh my  mother was the queen of sending her food back and not tipping.  I'm not saying it is ok but really if you get c**p service or your food isn't the way you wanted it, you have the right to do so.  Companies should be looking out for their customer.  Of course that's not how some companies or restaurants act but again, you paid for it so you should get what you want.  Who cares what the chef or anyone else thinks if they are the ones that screwed it up?

Answer 3

I was reading something the other day that said if you pay with a credit card and don't leave a tip some restaurants will add on the 20% to your credit card later! I wish I would have saved the article because I don't know how widespread this is or how new, but I personally don't think it is fair.

I usually leave a tip because it is hard to know if it is the waiter who made the mistake or the cook, and if it was the cook I would hate to punish the waiter by not giving them a tip.

I have not left a tip on the occasions when the waiter doesn't write down your order and then somehow it ends up wrong and of course he/she blames the chef not their poor memory

Answer 4

no i usually always leave tips wether the service was crappy or good. but i do leave less if it was crappy.

i usually tip around 5 to 10 dollars depends on the service, food and how many people im dining with.

no i never had to send food back. but i would if it was not what i wanted.

Answer 5

It depends. Realizing that waiters/waitresses work c**p jobs with low pay and in essence rely on tips to make a decent wage does create some incentive to add some dollars. However, never view it as a social obligation. You're paying for service- if its bad, let it be known, so at least the server knows to do it right next time.

My general rule-

tip 10% if the service time was mediocre/unattentive but the server was nice

tip nothing if the server was both inattentive, careless and of course rude. of course, never let the food quality affect your tipping.

You also need to weigh if this is a restaurant you frequent, so you dont get the burnt hamburger on your next visit. Servers have elephant memories for bad tippers, and they can create problems if you're a serially bad tipper. As for food, if its bad, send it back, but politely. I usually offer some compliment with the return.

Answer 6

First, let me say that most of my restaurant meals are with business associates and customers, so I tend to eat in nicer restaurants with good recommendations from others, and a so-so average service tip can be as much as $50 or more.

If you leave NO tip, the server gets the impression that everything was OK but you just stiffed him/her. If you tip for poor service, it doesn't help the server to get better, it just propagates poor service. If I get really bad service, I will leave something like $0.13 tip on the credit card tab, so the manager as well as server knows there was a problem. If a poor server gets consistently low tips, he or she will realize the job is not right for him or her and go to something they can succeed at. There are plenty of people waiting to get a shot at those jobs, and they deserve a chance to show they are better than the poor server that is there now.

As for sending food back, I have done this on rare occasions, where the food is significantly underdone, cold, over-salted, or some other significant issue. When I've done this, I've made it a point to be polite, not being confrontational, and describe the problem and what I suggest to remedy it, all in conversational tones to avoid including other diners in my conversation. I have never had  a server upset with my requests and even have had the management visit my table to reassure me that there would be no further problem.

Answer 7

I have, and I still feel I had reason to, but I felt bad afterwards about it. I should have just left them a penny... I'll never go to that restaurant location again, though.

Usually I double the tax to tip.

I only send food or drinks back if they come in dirty dishes, because I'm not a fan of food borne illnesses and hopefully all will understand.

I've been more afraid of insulting the waitress/waiter than the cook. You never know when or where you'll have to deal with them again.

Answer 8

I've never NOT left a tip.  I was a waitress in college for 2.5 years.  There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff at restuarants and the waitstaff is usually overworked, underpaid and under supported by management.   So, I always leave something.

I have sent things back and asked for things to be fixed.  Generally, the waitress isn't going to be upset with you, if you approach the situation nicely.  I never blame her, the kitchen or the restuarant.   Food is difficult to prepare.  I give people who do that credit.    I just simply state what's wrong with the food and can I please have it fixed.

Answer 9

i don't leave tips when the tip is included in with the total. Also i send my food back when its not what i asked for.

Answer 10

We usually tip 15 per cent.  If the service was bad or indifferent,  then we won't leave a tip (or it will be minimal--rounded off to the nearest dollar).  I've only had to send back food twice--both times because it was pork or chicken that was undercooked.  I didn't worry about what the cook thought--we like steaks rare to medium rare, but pork and chicken has to be properly cooked, and you can get really sick if it's not.  If it's not cooked right, I won't eat it.  If I get a hard time from the cook, I'm not going to pay for it.  End of story.  And if my wife gets sick, they'll hear from me--and it won't be pleasant.

Answer 11

Once i went to pizza hut. The waitress was awful. She looked dirty, tried to seat me and my young children right next to the door on a cold windy day, she was very unpersonable. Never told us about the specials.But the final straw was when she tried to pass a hot drink right over my 2 year olds head and almost spilled it on him. I told her to forget the whole order and forget about a tip

Answer 12

I've never not left a tip before. I've left SMALL tips -- I figure that'll give the waiter or waitress the message. I've given BIG tips -- especially for pizza or other food delivery services.

I've also never sent anything back to the kitchen. You do know they'll spit on what they send back to YOU -- not ALL places, but the "family" places like TGIFridays and Applebees. YOu might not see it layin' right there on top, but believe me, I would NEVER eat anything that had been sent back and "done over".

Answer 13

I'm a waitress and I always tip. I think once I didn't tip. Of course if the service is crappy, I don't tip as well. A waitress almost always tips good, so you never know who you are actually waiting on!!!

I never sent food back. I guess I'm afraid to. But if it's something I didn't order, then yes, I would send it back.

I tip good. I leave at least 25% if the service was fine. But I always figure to leave between 15%-20%.

Answer 14

I don't ever do that since when I worked at a Tahoe Casino when I was a hostess, I went to the kitchen and some lady kept sending the soup back.  The 3rd time she sent it back the chef said "gimmi that!" and took the bowl behind and peed in it.  When I came back later the waitress told me she drank every drop!  True story.  I never send food back and I always tip something. Even if poor service I'll tip just 5% because I know how hard it is.  I could never do it, I'd get fired because people are so rude and take out their frustrations on the server so much.  It's a tough/thankless job...and now they have to give part of their tips to the government which I personally feel is so wrong, just another government fleecing of the little guy!