Why would anyone consider 10-15% for good service a decent tip for a server?

Question

20% is considered a good tip for great service.

Answer 1

A guest who feels taken care of is going to take care of his or her server most of the time. Regulars = money! Being a server is not hard, but if you are good at it you are often rewarded well. You are definitely counting on money that you can not control. The bad part of this is that when times are hard people usually will not go above and beyond... they will give the minimum more often. Right now times are hard.  If you work at the right place and make money consistently you should be doing fine. Fact is... Being a server is a job where you have to look at the big picture. You need to be working at a restaurant with high enough volume so that you can get enough tables who tip you great and cancel out the poor tippers. As a server try to think about how much money you make in a week... Or weekend... Not daily. Unless you have a huge day... Those are always great!

Answer 2

I always pay 15-20% but feel like it is unfair for the patron to pay the server's salary.  Why do restaurants get away with paying sub-standard pay when other businesses can't do this?

Answer 3

It depends where you are, geographically and what kind of establishment you're in.  I think the general standard across the country is 15%, or double the tip for us in NY.  In some places it's actually 10% and in some places it's more like 20.  Give as much as you'd like.  

why do you ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer?  15% is considered standard.  No one is preventing you from giving 20% or more.  It is completely up to you.  You can't force the entire country to raise the standard.  That's just the way it is.  I personally think 15% is fair if the service was good.  If it was above and beyond, add more to the tip.  But like I said, in other places in the country, they have their own standards.  Somebody told me that 10% is really considered the standard where they live (I want to say Mississippi, but I don't remember for sure).  It's probably 20% in LA although I've never been there or asked.  There is no tipping in certain other countries.  Basically it's subjective.  Do whatever you think is best.

Answer 4

I wonder about that too. I work in fine dining and you would think people dining at this level would tip better.

But there are two factors:

1) There some people that exist who believe servers make a decent hourly wage. So they tip low

2) There are people who sincerely believe in not tipping. A friend of mine is one of them. So unless they get the chance to wait tables, they will never know.

All you can do is suck it up. But you also have to consider that maybe you did not give them the optimal service that you believe you have. I know I give better service than some friends of mine. I will go out of my way for guest when I can.

For example, I had a gentleman order iced coffee. We don't sell it, but it was really slow. I let him know, "we don't usually serve it, but I'll get you a glass." Not only did I make him iced coffee, I brought him some simple syrup to pour into the coffee because I know sugar won't usually melt quickly in cold drinks. You may have nicely let him know that you don't serve it and ended it there.

I didn't have to make him the iced coffee, but because I did and went an extra step of bringing simple syrup, he left me a nice tip.

Answer 5

If the service was great and the waiters were nice 15% would be good enough. Other than that don't give them a tip. :P

Answer 6

I would be pissed at 10% and would roll my eyes at 15%.  People who tip like that just don't know any better.

Answer 7

You might have answered your own question - if 20% is considered a good tip for great service, 10-15% may be considered a good tip for decent service.

It wasn't all that long ago that 10% was considered the appropriate amount to tip - I know that when I was growing up, we were taught to tip 10% by parents and teachers.  Sometimes older people don't change habits as easily - (example, I default tip 20%, my parents default to 10%).  

Also, while in the US we tend to tip well unless something is done poorly, in other cultures people tip well when something is done extra well.  My waitress/service industry friends have all commented on a variety of tipping from international customers.  

Last thought - when at dinner, many people do not tip on the cost of wine.  If they've ordered an expensive bottle, their tip may seem small to one looking at the overall bill and not just the cost of food.