Complaining in restuarants

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Hate tight bastards.

 

Pathetic. Why am I a tight bastard for not wanting to pay somebody for doing their job, one that they get paid to do already? Im all for tipping. And I often do. But a tip is different to a service charge.

 

I spend hundreds on eating out as I have to with clients and I'm probably one of the more profligate people you'd come across, but I simply can't see the logic in it. Please enlighten me. Are these waiters doing me a favour by doing their job?

[lifetime fan]

Pathetic. Why am I a tight bastard for not wanting to pay somebody for doing their job, one that they get paid to do already? Im all for tipping. And I often do. But a tip is different to a service charge.

 

I spend hundreds on eating out as I have to with clients and I'm probably one of the more profligate people you'd come across, but I simply can't see the logic in it. Please enlighten me. Are these waiters doing me a favour by doing their job?

 

You're directing your anger at the wrong people mate.

 

Tips are for waiting and bar staff, traditionally this is pooled together and split evenly.

 

A service charge is for the owners to take and then choose what amount they then pass on. The 'better establishments' will pass on 100% of the service charge but to be honest they shouldn't be adding it on in the first place.

 

It really does piss me off and especially in London where you have million pound companies using a service charge to keep down salaries of waiting and bar staff.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

You're directing your anger at the wrong people mate.

 

Tips are for waiting and bar staff, traditionally this is pooled together and split evenly.

 

A service charge is for the owners to take and then choose what amount they then pass on. The 'better establishments' will pass on 100% of the service charge but to be honest they shouldn't be adding it on in the first place.

 

It really does piss me off and especially in London where you have million pound companies using a service charge to keep down salaries of waiting and bar staff.

 

Yeah I understand the distinction you're making mate - I never give a service charge and I've even refused to go to a restaurant because of it as its a load of absolute bollocks. You aren't even sure its going to the right person. Also, its a service industry - you might be giving me a plate of pasta but i'll be paying a lot less if you served it up on a paper plate in a dusty piss stained basement.

 

But even with the tips I stand by the same logic. Im by no means angry at the waiters for wanting a tip - hey, work is about trying to get as much as money as you possibly can. But the societal mindset that tipping is an obligation and a duty pisses me off no end. The Dogs scene above expressed my point wholly.

 

I often do tip though and funnily enough its for people who I'd bet people hardly ever tip. I rarely tip in restaurants because I rarely feel like it has been deserved. The last tip I gave was to a stewardess three days ago, the one before that to a hotel receptionist. Tight bastard me.

 

Edit: They pool them together? What a load of shite that is. Next time I tip somebody I'll make sure they put it in their pocket. I don't want my money going to somebody I've never even met.

[Stu Monty]

I've worked behind bars and waited on and I very, very rarely tip. This is because I very rarely get service that I feel is over and above the level expected as a norm.

[TheHowieLama]

Leaving a tip is the norm Stu. Did you get tipped as a tend?

[Anubis]

I was in a Spanish restaurant the other week and ordered gazpacho soup. When it arrived it was stone cold so I complained that they hadn't even heated it and sent it back.

[TheHowieLama]

Agreed, had a Japanese fella bring my salmon the other night. Fuckin not even cooked. Amateurs, any body thinks they can open a restaurant these days - I blame reality TV.

[Faustus]

Just out of curiosity- what people generally regard as service above and beyond? I can understand, for instance, if there's someone in your party who has specific dietary requirements, but the vast majority of the time I go out for something to eat, that's not something which is applicable. As long as you get a smile and the waiting staff are friendly and courteous, then I'm happy, even though that's not something which could be regarded as going above and beyond.

[Innova]

I've worked as a server in various restaurants and from experience, I find that FEG is right in most sense about the service charge.

 

Im being paid to do my job of serving and if I can't do it with a damn smile, then I'm afraid I shouldn't even be doing serving but instead i should just hide behind a desk. Smiling comes with the damn job.

 

None of the restaurants I've worked in actually shared even a small portion of the service charge with the workers. The boss silently takes it all, but I'm alright with it, since I'm already being paid to do a fucking job and I know I shouldn't be whining about not getting bonuses unlike some of my colleagues, who don't understand bonuses are not included in the salary package when they accepted the job.

 

Tips are pooled and shared among the workers, but I've had an experience when the manager took like 20% of it all and shared the 80% among like 12 others.

 

As for myself, I don't like to complain in a restaurant, unless the food is really that shit (eg uncooked, giving me the wrong shit), or that the service is so piss poor that I would have been shown the door immediately if I was the waiter.

 

 

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[Stu Monty]

Leaving a tip is the norm Stu. Did you get tipped as a tend?

 

Not necessarily all the time. I did more when I was behind the bar as you can actually have a chat with people/suggest stuff they might like and is also helped being a local boozer.

 

Being pleasant isn't over an above. Being competent isn't over and above. Sorting me a free drink for a wait, genuinely giving a shit if there's a problem etc, that'll get you a tip.

 

Tipping irks me. Don't get me started on cabs.

[General Dryness]

Reminds me of the time I was dining out with Michael Caine and Bruce Forsyth. Legendary tightwads the pair of them. At the end of the meal dear old Brucie, he says "General, would you be kind enough to give the waitress the tip?". Of course, ever the bon viveur, I replied quick as a flash, "The tip, Brucie darling? She's been good enough to have earned the whole six inches!".

 

Good times.

[Remmie]

Tipping in America? Marone.

[Unrighteous]

Tipping in America? Marone.

 

It's out of freaking control in North America in general.  Fucking coffee shops have tip jars for Barristas now.  I got a sneer cus I asked for a coffee to go, and then didn't drop my change in...

 

... Sorry hipster-dickhead, but you're pouring hot liquid, from a carafe, into a fucking cup... and then handing it to me to put a heat-sleeve and lid on!

[Remmie]

What's the deal in bars? Someone removes a bottle cap from a beer and expects a dollar tip/maybe more if that rounds it up to $10.

 

Your rude if you don't do it and might not get served later.

 

Mind you Aussies think we're mental tipping waiting staff at restaurants. They are right too, the tipping game is fucked.

[Unrighteous]

What's the deal in bars? Someone removes a bottle cap from a beer and expects a dollar tip/maybe more if that rounds it up to $10.

 

Your rude if you don't do it and might not get served later.

 

Mind you Aussies think we're mental tipping waiting staff at restaurants. They are right too, the tipping game is fucked.

 

I fully agree with you, mate.  It drives me fucking bonkers.  I, literally, only go to bars where I know the bartenders... cus I know im getting free drinks and I don't mind kicking out a decent tip for that.

[razor]

Back to the complaints...

 

I went out for a family meal last night and the pasta I was served was tepid at best.  I said nothing as I thought it would bring the atmosphere down and spoil the night.  My wife said, "Is it nice?" and I replied that it was lovely.

 

I didn't think the day would come when I wouldn't complain about something like that.

 

I am obviously getting old.  I used to actually relish that type of thing...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light!"

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

To be honest, I don't take any shit in restaurants. If it's late, I want a free round of drinks. If it's shit food, I want a new dish or a different one. 

[razor]

You whippersnappers....

[Josef Svejk]

To be honest, I don't take any shit in restaurants. If it's late, I want a free round of drinks. If it's shit food, I want a new dish or a different one. 

 

Complaining before the end of a meal? Not recommended...

 

Demand your money back and leave.

[Oh Buoy]

I've recently had two issues that I've complained about: Nandos and GBK. 

 

GBK - Undercooked chips and the wait was around an hour. Emailed the restaurant and the manager invited me back in for a meal, two sides and two drinks. Said I don't want to have to travel to Manchester for that and she posted me £30 in vouchers. Job done. 

 

Nandos - New one in Aintree, wait was insane and despite ordering, we noticed people who had ordered afterwards were getting their meals. Spoke to the cashier and the manager gave us free garlic bread. Not cutting it, I went online and used their online chat to which the customer representative at the time must have been having a bad day and was really blunt. So, I posted the transcript on Reddit and tweeted them on twitter with the link. Got a call the following day with a £50 gift card. 

 

Also, if you want free drinks at Starbucks (not the best place but free, is free) then just email saying you had a bad coffee and you get two free vouchers sent to you instantly. 

 

Bam. 

[Josef Svejk]

Free garlic bread! Fuck off!

[Oh Buoy]

Free garlic bread! Fuck off!

 

 

I said that. 

 

 

 

 

After I ate it. 

[cloggypop]

To be honest, I don't take any shit in restaurants. If it's late, I want a free round of drinks. If it's shit food, I want a new dish or a different one.

Jimmy Eat Spunk.

[Josef Svejk]

Jimmy Eat Spunk.

 

[Paulie Dangerously]

Tipping in America? Marone.

I was writing the tip on the bill. Paying by card then leaving the tip in cash as well as I didn't know.

 

There's a Cuban restaurant in Florida who's band still plays a song about the gringo who left the $40 tip