Author |
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 8:16 am
Eeyores, I put that movie in my Netflix queue. What do you think about diners who ask for individual checks / bills? I occasionally go out to eat with my neighbor. She immediately asks for separate checks. Puleeease. That's embarrassing to me. Split one check down the middle or approximate what each should pay.
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Denecee
Member
09-05-2002
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 8:58 am
I have to admit that I tip differently depending on where I am eating and how the wait person does their job. I don't expect smiles all the time because people have bad days, but you can still do a good job. I was a waitress at one point and smiles do get you more tips, especially if you are attentive. A smile will go a mile with me! When I waitressed in high school, I loved the tips. My sister works at a sonic and makes decent money because she is good and people tip her good. My sister is 38 and makes twice as much in tips as her teenaged co-workers.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:05 am
Color, I rarely carry any cash, and always use my check card to pay. We always ask for separate checks because of this.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:28 am
I don't mind separate checks, in smaller tables. It's when you have 12 or more people wanting separate checks that the service is just not there. Here's a story why: One time, I had a table of 22 women. Usually with big groups, I say "Hey what brings us all together for dinner tonight?!" just as a way to get to know the table, and maybe establish a bond with them. So, it turns out they are all mothers of kids in the same Grade 3 class. These ladies wanted separate bills, which was understandable because they didn't really know each other that well, and I don't expect one person to pick it all up for them. But the problem comes just after I clear the dinner plates, and bring out dessert menus. Three ladies want their bills. No problem yet. I get the bills, and come back to the table with my pad, hand them their bills, and then start taking 19 dessert orders. While I'm doing that, 2 more ladies ask for their bills, I get 15 dessert orders, about 8 coffee/tea orders, a couple of cappuccino orders to come from the bar, and the original 3 ladies are handing me visas to run. Now, I am expected to do four different things at once. I needs to: - ring in desserts and coffees for 17 people (at least 7 minutes to put in computer in a way that still keeps bills separate in the computer) - get the bills for those other 2 ladies (1 minute to pull their specific checks from the table in the computer) - run 3 visas (1 minute per visa = 3 minutes) - make 7 coffees and teas in the back (5 minutes) - go get and put out dessert cutlery - make sure I grab those cappuccinos from the bar before they are cold What do I do first? And it snowballs from there. I ring desserts/capps/coffees/teas in, print two bills, grab cutlery for dessert, and head back to the table. OF COURSE the 3 visa ladies are going "where's my visa". Then another two ladies ask for THEIR bill. By the time I've handed out 15 forks and spoons, the two billed ladies hand me THEIR visas, and of course one of them goes, "I need to leave right away!". I still haven't made coffee for the table, or picked up my cappuccinos. I now have FIVE visas to run, and my desserts are now up. The problem with Visas, is that you are TIED to the computer. I run the two cappuccinos because I don't want them to go cold. But now I'm back at the table, and someone's like, "I ordered a tea and didn't get it yet" and someone else is saying "Where is my visa?" You get the picture.....it just gets worse and worse when you have separate bills and people leave at staggered times (which is most of the time). Seriously, I've been a server for 15 years, and I am darn good at my job. When I had that table, I had been serving in the same restaurant for 3 years, so I was a seasoned veteran, and did things a lot faster and more efficiently than a new or young server would have. And I STILL couldn't keep up. Basically, the moment a table asks for separate bills, you almost KNOW you won't have them leaving happy, because it's that billing and visa process multiplied by 15 or 20 that all of a sudden makes it seem like you are slow or ignoring them, when really, you aren't. I think this is a HUGE reason why you see large parties being auto-grat'd nowadays. Because you have this 1500 dollar dinner bill, but the credit cards take sooooo long, that they leave pissed off, and then they don't tip you well. I don't mind separate bills on small tables, or if a table of 8 splits it into 2 families. I also don't mind you handing me 2 credit cards at the end and just saying split it. No big deal at all. I'm very used to it. As for your friend Colord, it's better if she says separate checks at the start, than at the end, that is for sure, and more restaurant computer systems nowadays are actually set up to EASILY divide checks up by "seat number". So as long as people stay in the same seat, it really isn't a big bother to print out separate checks. It's probably 30 seconds per person longer, just to stick things in separate bill folds. Waiting is a hilarious movie. But it's definitely one that is made for people IN the industry. I laugh soooooo many times in that movie, when I think many other people may not get the jokes. But the cliche tables they show are TOTALLY true. Even the internal staff relations are things you always see in almost every decent sized restaurant. Anyways, separate checks are fine, in moderation. Big tables getting separate checks just need to know that I will be gone for 15 minutes a the end of the night, doing their checks, and that I am not just neglecting them.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:35 am
When we went in with a group of 15, we had 2 servers, and they split the tips. That was nice, because one brought our drinks, the other brought our order, one brought us our tag and the other cleared things off the table while the other brought out coffee.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:42 am
What is a tract?
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Denecee
Member
09-05-2002
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:45 am
Eyeore, I wish you were my waitress!
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Holly
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:49 am
OMG, Eeyore, that sounds like a nightmare. And reminds me why I hated being a waitress for the short time I was.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:50 am
I don't understand how it works when you have the waiter/waitress take your order and bring drinks but then someone else brings out the food. Do they split the tip?
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:54 am
Come to Vancouver Deneecee!!! I'd gladly serve you!! I have an American friend who I met because I was his server and he travels a lot, and liked me (not in a pervy way). We've stayed friends ever since, and that was 7 years ago. Right now, if I wanted, I could fly out to Detroit and go to a Stanley Cup playoff game with him, as he has season tickets! I can't afford to take time off work, but it would be cool to see Crosby against the Wings!! I always smile, and try to only be sincere. I think fakeness seems obvious or robotic, and I find you don't remember things if you aren't TRULY listening. But that sincerity is a double-edged sword sometimes.....hahahaha. One time, I was taking orders from a table of 26. At the very first seat, a lady asked for water. I go around this long table, and stop at seat 26 (sitting directly across from seat 1), and the lady at seat 1 goes, "Um, I asked you for a water," to which I returned her snark and said, "Um, I haven't left the table yet." LOL
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Darrellh
Member
07-21-2004
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 9:57 am
Mocha, at a lot of restaurants the wait person has to "tip out". They have to share their tips with those that helped them during the night. Depending on your restaurant, that includes your busser, your bartender, your expeditor, your cook(s), and your host(ess).
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:02 am
Mocha, it all depends on the restaurant. There is a chain here called Milestones. They have this WEIRD system that makes their staff walk an actual "pattern". You start at the table, take an order, then you must walk through someone ELSE'S section and clear something, take that to the dish area, then you come out to the computer/expo(food) area, where the food expediter can ask you to run ANY food that it ready (whether it is yours or not). Then you have to follow that same patter BACK to the kitchen, at which point you tell the expo that you just ran. Only then are you allowed to ring your order in. Once the order is in, and there is no food to run, you MUST go to the bar, pick up and run ANY drinks that are up, THEN you are allowed to go back to your section. The logic there is that the moment something is up, the very next person walking by will run it, so it gets out fastest. But I dislike this method, because it makes people think you can't do your own job, or that their food must have been sitting up for a long time, because someone ELSE had to run it for you. When really, it JUST came up, and the first person around ran it. Other places I've worked have employed food-runners. We have to tip them out. The last place I worked at, we pooled the room, meaning we all just worked off of one card, and while we had specific tables to take orders from, we all worked as a team to get everything done at all times. So if one person was busy with a large party, the others would take up the slack on your smaller tables, and then when THEY were busy, you'd be helping them out too. Some people like the pooling system, some don't. I liked it, and we really worked together well. At my current job, we wear buzzers, so when our food is up, we are paged to come get it.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:06 am
Darrel is right, almost EVERY restaurant makes us tip out. This is why it is disheartening to serve tables where someone only tips a dollar a head, or .50 cents per child, no matter what the bill is. If your bill is 100 dollars, I HAVE TO tip out 6 dollars. So if only 4 adults dined, and you tip me 4 dollars, I have actually LOST MONEY on your table. I actually came to work to SPEND MONEY to serve you. That's what people don't get. Tipout is what hurts, because low tips put me in the hole on tables, and many times people's tips are NOT related to my specific service. If you hated me, AT LEAST tip the 6%, and then complain to my manager. But don't make me pay to serve you, that's what I wish. ETA - What REALLY irks me, is that no matter if the kitchen screws up or makes bad food and thus makes the customer think the experience was bad, those kitchen people are still guaranteed their tips, whereas I am not. THAT is what hurts.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:07 am
Dipo, tracts were talked about on the previous page. Interesting reading. Eeyores, yeah, being fake. As I said in a thread some place else on these boards, I HATE getting a sales / charity / survey call and it pretty much starts out with, "How are you today?" Talk about fake / phony!! Identify yourself and get to the point. That will get a lot further with me.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:12 am
I don't think I've ever left NOTHING. I don't think I've ever left less than 10% See, I don't agree with tipping out. I think that maybe the people that aren't serving should maybe make a bit more hourly than the waitresses so they don't have to be tipped out.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:13 am
I know I go on about tipout and going in the hole and stuff, but honestly, I do OK. I am a darn good server though. It's mostly Australians, Brits, and clueless people that cause me grief. Most normal people tip me very well. Yesterday alone, I had a business group who were auto-grat'd a 125 dollars, and he tipped me 50 dollars more above that. I do a good job, if I do say so myself. LOL But I'm still gonna get this information out there, if I can save some person who is lesser off than me, working in a restaurant that gets a lower class of clientele, and where they really live for their tips. I do to, but I live large as well because I make so much in tips.
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:17 am
Ah but Escapee, if you were an owner, why would you up wages out of YOUR pocket, when you can up kitchen wages out of a SERVER'S pocket? That is the crux of the tipout thing. Owners still only ever pay cheap labor, and just force the servers to supplement the kitchen wages. Now, what people DON'T realize when they come up with this whole "I shouldn't have to tip" argument, is that it COULD be like Australia, or Europe, where prices are hugely inflated to include for what is lost in no tips. So....let's say I make 25 bucks an hour in tips, and 8 bucks an hour in wage. If it were in Europe, a person wouldn't have to tip, but my wage of 33 bucks an hour would FOR SURE be embedded in the price of their meal, so they'd be paying it anyways. LOL
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:25 am
I understand exactly what you mean, Eeyore. At one restaurant a friend of mine worked at all cash tips went into a jar, and were distributed evenly at the end of the night to everyone.
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Darrellh
Member
07-21-2004
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:35 am
My sister worked at a place like that, Escapee. Worked out great, until they found that some were keeping a part of the tips they made themselves, and taking a full share of the split tips.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:45 am
The prices aren't that much more expensive in the UK, and people do still tip at proper restaurants, although most would never tip at places like Pizza Hut - sit down restaurants where the food is kind of conveyor-belt style, however tasty - unless someone did something special for them. I don't eat out at pricey restuarants, but I usually tip at 15%, despite my accent, unless the service warrants more or less.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 11:05 am
Ahh gotcha. Oh and I also noticed a few weeks ago when McV and I were at some diner the tip was added into the bill.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 11:06 am
Darrellh's comments struck a chord there with me in that I'm always concerned that the person who served us is actually the one getting the tip rather than someone else picking it up and keeping it or shorting them on it. So much so that I often wait around until he or she picks it up to ensure they get it. Is that even a concern?
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 11:24 am
Well, I think it all depends on the trust level of the team. I work in more expensive restaurants, where there is very little cash ever used. So teaming up in those settings is easy, because it's hard to screw each other. But even so, when I worked at the place where we pooled, we still kept a hold of all of our visa receipts and cash until the end of the night where we sat down and threw it all into one pile. So there's always going to be the possibility of skimming. My boyfriend is a bouncer, and he works the door while others work upstairs. The door is where people "grease" you to get in and not wait in line. He doesn't share ALL of his grease, that's for sure. But, back in the day where he was the guy working upstairs, he regularly scans the floor for dropped money (at least 100bucks a night) and he wasn't sharing any of that with the downstairs door guy. No matter who picks up the bill, the tip is going to go to where the restaurant has deemed it to go. A busser isn't likely to steal, and it will be pretty quick that the servers would be hip to it. The only time I'd wait around to hand the billfold to the actual server, is if you're on a patio near the street, or if it's a busy busy restaurant, and someone from another table could take it. But it's so rare. Nothing I'd worry too much about. Mocha, it was just you and McV and it was added?!?!?! I'd freak out, and talk to management and ask why. I can see an auto-grat being added on a party of 6 or more (8 is the average), but a tip should never be added to a small table.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 11:29 am
If it's mandatory, then it's not a gratuity or a tip, it's a charge.
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Denecee
Member
09-05-2002
| Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 11:31 am
Dang! $33/hr? how much of that would be tip out? I think I need to get back into waitressing. Like I said my sister works at a sonic and after tips added she makes an average of $15/hr which I think is pretty good money.
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