Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Tipping at the buffet

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message: happy waiter Don't count on that masters degree too much...college...not collage

Beep, Beep ... hey Happy Waiter, where are you? I have been trying to place my drive thru order for five minutes now.

Tippy, m is right, tip is an option of the customers, your the one ignorant of the service industry, Have you travelled to Asia or Canada? Waiters are not that hungry for tips, sorry if you are in the service industry, you must understand that CUSTOMERS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT, no customers no business , no business no wages, no wages find another job OR BE UNION LEADER. Get what I mean, just think of this, if the customer is not satisfied, do you think he will come back, ask your children he will gladly explain to you plain and SIMPLE. No one returns if he or she is dissatisfied, right?

Tippy, I read all your articles ,I want to know are you a waiter/server or a customer, all your comments seems to be your talking in behalf of servers, like tipping so much, well if your extravagant , that's a different story, I dont think you spend your money wisely. How much savings do you have?

Tippy, are you still there, what's your response then, Mr. Overtip or shall I say Mr. TipHungry

Oh- come on Hertz- I think the operative word you referenced for the happy waiter was "gay". I work with a bunch of queens and "happy waiter" would fit right in. Pull in those claws- MMEEEOOOWWW!

Happy Waiter must be sitting on his hands to keep from responding. What's the matter H.W. we know that you are lurking - I guess we finally shut you up and put you in your proper place. HA HA HA HA HA la la la la la

Tippy, I guess the past comments have shut you up, next time think first before responding put yourself in other's shoes first, ok?

Wow, you people need to get a life.

You too working girl.

Hoping you all tipped your waitstaff well this past weekend - tipped them well, that is. tHe hApPy wAiTeR

To Unhappy Waiter: You are a danger and a menace who knows what you are capable of. Toying with people's health. I hope you get caught and prosecuted, it's only a matter of time.

XXX has toys? Can I play too? ...and how are your eyes, a little bloodshot? I have just the thing next to the corkscrew in my waiter's jacket. brb... {I KNOW what you NEED.} tHe hApPy wAiTeR la-laa-laaa-laa-la

Mr. Happy- you remind of Bob, the "mad gay guy" on the old Saturday Night Live skits. Keep up the good posts, except lose the Visine routine please.

Happy ;-( Waiter ... don't stay up too late tonight, you have to go to collage tomorrow morning. Yes I did tip our server well this evening. He was polite, knowledgeable, and not the least bit intimidating. He didn't tap dance, or make a nuisance of himself, but made sure that we were well taken care of. We actually left a little over 20%. The main thing, he wasn't obnoxious or in our face, as I'm sure you are with your customers.

Whew! I thought I was done with this posting. Forgive me Sid & Danny (aren't you one in the same?) for not replying to your "jabs" at 4am on Saturday...some of us actually sleep at that time. Sid, yes, I have been to Canada and Asia. If you had bothered to read the entire string here you would understand WHY they are not as tip hungry in those areas as they are in the USA. As for the customer always being right, no, I don't believe that is true and anyone (in the business) who says it is, is telling you just what you want to hear. Tell me something, Sid. Is the customer right if he/she misreads the menu and then refuses to pay the whole amount because they "thought it was less"? Is the customer always right if they show up an hour late for a reservation (without calling) and then demand to be seated in a full dining room? Is the customer right when he is asked to put out his cigar in a non-smoking area and then extinguishes it in the waiter's arm (yes, this really happened)? Shall I go on? The simple fact is that no one (not even a customer) is ALWAYS right; unfortunately, this phrase is overused and, generally, it is overused by customers who are often wrong. Danny (or should I say Sid) and Joe, although I was once in "the business", I no longer am. I understand the business and how difficult it can be for all involved. This does not mean that I turn a blind eye to it when things aren't right. Yes, I tip well for good service but I also take action if the service is bad, slow or there are other problems with the overall dining experience. Whatever occurs, however, I am always courteous and polite (you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar) and I NEVER assume that I am always right. May I go now? TTT

To whom it may concern: Just thought many of you might be interested to know that there is a new agency which investigates restaurants and their employees. The way it works is that "field investigators" visit various restaurants with instructions to be "difficult" to the wait staff. This "difficult" behavior manifests itself in many ways (including being rude, sending food back, etc.) but is aimed specifically at the waitstaff. Once the ordered and returned item makes its way back to the table, the investigator takes samples of the food and sneaks them into plastic pouches. The food is then sent off to independent labs for testing. If the test comes back "positive" for foreign substances, the restaurant is notified and the server (or cook) responsible is prosecuted. While it is impossible to assign responsibility 100% of the time, so far we have successfully prosecuted 68% of the cases we have uncovered. This has been especially easy when the server or cook in question has left some of "him or herself" in the food item, as we have merely taken mouth swabs for DNA testing. Make no mistake, adding foreign substances of any kind to a person's food is a felony. Servers may have gotten away with it so far but, if they keep it up, eventually we will catch them. Gordon A.F.E.A

For those who think that 12% or 15% is the average tip, American Way maagzine printed this in its April 15, 2002 issue: IT FIGURES TRAVEL TIPPING 18.6% That’s what the average diner tips at restaurants in New Jersey and Boston, according to a recent Zagat survey. That makes them the best tippers in the country. In New York and San Francisco, the average is 18 percent. And in Los Angeles, it’s a lowly 17.4. No wonder all those waiters are itching to get into the movie biz.

Guess those of you who think 20% is average realize how wrong you are now. I would be willing to bet in smaller cities the average is even less. Move down to a city of say 250,000 and I bet it is 15% or less unless it is a very ritzy area.