Letting server know you tip like a local

[YorkshireT]

I would have called a manager and asked for it all back also. This is a buffet, 20% is ridiculously generous as it is. These people are plain greedy. $35 for serving at a buffet- we have lost all sense of reality, and reward for an unskilled job. She'd have had many tables. The money being earnt is more than a doctor in the NHS, it is crazy.
At WDW I leave a maximum 15% in table service unless absolutely exceptional, maybe 5% at a buffet, if decent, exceptional could stretch to 10% but that would be v rare. I have now had it from the horses mouth, after reading many similar things online, that these servers at WDW are earning money totally out of proportion to what should be paid for a wait staff job.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Sioux

The manager was called and we did get an apology and offered free dessert but it really bothered me that they just wanted to get us out as quickly as possible.

See more...

I believe many Americans want to get out as quickly as possible. They don't want to spend precious time sat in the restaurant. Hence why they bring up the bill sooner rather than later. It gives the customer the option to leave quickly or to order more drinks and dessert (in which case the bill would be revised).

We've had that before. They aren't being rude. It's normal and they are doing what they think the customer wants.

Sometimes I think it's that us Brits have different expectations regarding the service. If you want to seem like a local then expect to receive the bill earlier than you would here in the UK.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by silver_age

The thing is I don’t expect, or indeed require, any level of service beyond taking my order, getting it right, bringing it out and taking the remains away and bringing the bill, all reasonably promptly. That should be included in the price as the bare minimum the establishment should be providing.

See more...

It should... but it isn't in the USA. The charge for standard service (what you just described) is not included in the stated price - well, some of it isn't included anyway. The "tip" is you paying the server for doing (some of) the job you've just described. You are directly paying for the service.

It's different to here in the UK. Here, the standard service is included in price of the meal. Many Brits usually only tip if the service is better than the bare standard.

As a Brit, I wish it was the same in the US as it is here in the UK. Unfortunately, I doubt the idea of a "tipped position" (with its own set of rules and regulations alien to us Brits) will be removed from the American culture any time soon.

[MrsBC]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

It should... but it isn't in the USA. The charge for standard service (what you just described) is not included in the stated price - well, some of it isn't included anyway. The "tip" is you paying the server for doing (some of) the job you've just described. You are directly paying for the service.

It's different to here in the UK. Here, the standard service is included in price of the meal. Many Brits usually only tip if the service is better than the bare standard.

As a Brit, I wish it was the same in the US as it is here in the UK. Unfortunately, I doubt the idea of a "tipped position" (with its own set of rules and regulations alien to us Brits) will be removed from the American culture any time soon.

See more...

Standard service is taking the order, bringing the food and drinks to the table, and clearing away. So if we didn't pay tips, would we be expected to go to the kitchen ourselves and collect our meal?

[duchy]

Originally Posted by MrsBC

Standard service is taking the order, bringing the food and drinks to the table, and clearing away. So if we didn't pay tips, would we be expected to go to the kitchen ourselves and collect our meal?

See more...

No, you'd be expected to choose a counter service rather than table service establishment ... so you do have a choice.

If you want to eat somewhere a tip isn't customary you'll hardly starve in Orlando !

If you want to be waited upon , ît comes with a gratuity expectation in the US. Maybe try Japan, there's no tipping culture there ... and they have Disney too

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by MrsBC

Standard service is taking the order, bringing the food and drinks to the table, and clearing away. So if we didn't pay tips, would we be expected to go to the kitchen ourselves and collect our meal?

See more...

Unlike here in the UK, the tip you pay at an American restaurants pays (in part*) for that service.

You pay for that service after the meal. So the server takes your order, brings the food, clears away the plates and then expects you to pay them for that service. Just like anyone providing a service would - eg. a gardener or window cleaner would expect you to pay them after performing the service. Here in the UK, someone who had provided that service - and the service was "reasonable" - would lawfully be able to demand you pay for that service. The difference in the US is that the service payment is voluntary; the customer decides whether to pay for the service and how much. Here in the UK it's mandatory and included in the cost of the meal.

If you know before going into a table service restaurant that you don't intend to pay for the service that goes with that meal then don't go into the restaurant. Go to a counter service restaurant or somewhere else where you don't have to pay separately for the service. Similarly, if you know you aren't going to pay someone for mowing your lawn, then don't hire a gardener to mow your lawn in the first place.

(*I say "in part" because some of the service is paid for in the cost of the meal. But not all/most of it).

[JoJo88]

Originally Posted by silver_age

The thing is I don’t expect, or indeed require, any level of service beyond taking my order, getting it right, bringing it out and taking the remains away and bringing the bill, all reasonably promptly. That should be included in the price as the bare minimum the establishment should be providing.

I work in retail sales and it seems to me what tipping has become in the US is what we refer to as “upselling”. You get the customer in for what they came for (food and drink) and then attempt to get more money out of them for additional non-essential items.

In your IHOP example, why did you feel the need to leave any tip? It sounds like every aspect of the service was poor. We had a similar experience at a Denny’s near Disneyland a few years ago. Glacial service, a couple of things wrong that took ages to sort out. I didn’t leave any tip, because what would it be for?

See more...

But service isn't included in the price. That's the whole point of the tip isn't it?! Service not included?! The server did take our order, bring our food, bring the bill, but she was very slow. So I left a lower tip to reflect that. She didn't get anything wrong, was pleasant enough, just very slow. There was a table nearby, locals (I'm assuming as she seemed to know them), and one was celebrating a birthday, so they literally got a song and dance from our server (along with some others), perhaps they were there for the long haul, but we just wanted to be in and out, and we thought she was just very slow.

And I said in my original post, they are not attempting to get more money out of you, they are giving you the opportunity to pay less. That was my reasoning in response to someone suggesting they should just add 20% to the bill in the first place.

[dpmcalister]

Originally Posted by MrsBC

Standard service is taking the order, bringing the food and drinks to the table, and clearing away. So if we didn't pay tips, would we be expected to go to the kitchen ourselves and collect our meal?

See more...

In the UK you are right, but the US do things differently. If you don't want to tip, that's fine, there are plenty of fast food places in Orlando.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

Unlike here in the UK, the tip you pay at an American restaurants pays (in part*) for that service.

You pay for that service after the meal. So the server takes your order, brings the food, clears away the plates and then expects you to pay them for that service. Just like anyone providing a service would - eg. a gardener or window cleaner would expect you to pay them after performing the service. Here in the UK, someone who had provided that service - and the service was "reasonable" - would lawfully be able to demand you pay for that service. The difference in the US is that the service payment is voluntary; the customer decides whether to pay for the service and how much. Here in the UK it's mandatory and included in the cost of the meal.

If you know before going into a table service restaurant that you don't intend to pay for the service that goes with that meal then don't go into the restaurant. Go to a counter service restaurant or somewhere else where you don't have to pay separately for the service. Similarly, if you know you aren't going to pay someone for mowing your lawn, then don't hire a gardener to mow your lawn in the first place.

(*I say "in part" because some of the service is paid for in the cost of the meal. But not all/most of it).

See more...

There are some distinct differences in your analogy.

There is a minimum wage, 8 dollars odd, which the restaurant owner is legally obliged to pay if customers don't tip.

The goalposts also keep moving. Originally a decent gratuity was seen as 5%. Then for decades, 10%. Then for decades 15%. That has quickly gone to 18%, then 20% and now even (NYC) 25%.

In the same period food prices have risen. Concentrating on WDW, I once did an analysis of a few restaurants, and it's massively above inflation. So if the tip had stuck at 15%, the staff would still be ahead of the game.

But the hospitality industry force changes by massaging expectation and using guilt, as they want bigger tips for staff. This means they can enforce larger tip pools, and pay more backroom staff so they don't pay themselves. They can attract and retain staff easier- at no cost to them.

This has expanded into areas such as hotel housekeeping. It was one of the big chains who started putting out tip envelopes for housekeeping- and faced a backlash. It wasn't for the good of the housekeepers, but for the corporate bottom line.

I agree you should tip in USA, but the issue is the greed we now see, as highlighted by the OPs post. I also agree I don't see this changing anytime soon, and it wouldn't surprise me to see a 'suggested' 22% on WDW bills soon.

[T.jenni]

Originally Posted by kipperphill

You are assuming it goes to your server and not split to the server, welcome desk, welcome server, bus boy, chef x 5, etc

See more...

I can testify that even in the UK where tipping isn't necessarily required as a server I pay a percentage of every single bill to runners, barstaff, chefs and bussers. Tipping is an everyday part of life even in the UK.