Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Rude Service in Restaurants

While I was gone on vacation I came to eat with my family at a restaurant with a waiter who was obviously gay and irritated. (There was a time when it was impossible to be gay and irritated at the same time- but that is a different rant!) So this guy actually says to us " hurry up " when we are ordering! My son orders a shake- gay guy lets out big sigh!- as if we are pain in the butt. When giving us the check he tries to play it all down as part of his "routine". I can't tell you how preturbed I was. I wanted to rip his face off! But I refused to tip him- which caused a problem with my wife who is under the delusion that all wait staff is to be tipped regardless. I have always believed TIP meant "To Improve Service".

People who are in the service industry have forgotten something these days- SERVICE!

I'll give you my criteria- you can tell me if it is too strict.

Excellent Service - 20% tip - makes me feel like I am the most important customer in the place.
Good Service - 15% tip- made me feel like I was one of many important customers.
Fair Service - 10% tip - made me think that you forgot that customers are pretty important to your business- perhaps having a bad day!
Poor Service- 0 % - (often I leave a quarter to let them know I didn't forget!) Made me uncomfortable to have to ask for everything myself (Ketchup, Mustard, etc).

Am I being unreasonable? Is it unchristian not to tip?

1 comment:

Drew Thornley said...

Well said, Roger. Tipping is just that: It's a tip. It's extra. Most waiters/waitresses feel entitled and just expect a good tip, so they do not work for it. If part of your livelihood depends on how well you treat people, then you shouldn't be surprised when you aren't rewarded for bad service.