Last week I had the pleasure of dining with my colleagues on Friday afternoon. We received poor service and when questioned the menu was brought to my attention. I think it read something like this:
Parties of six or more will be put on one ticket and an 18% gratuity will be charged
I understand that most large parties don't tip an adequate amount, so I understand the disclaimer put in the menu.
However, I had to ask myself does this in fact allow the wait staff to expect the gratuity rather than earn it?
I've never been a waitress, but that does not mean that I don't understand the difficulty in their job. With that being said I also look at the wait staff has having to have a certain degree of a sales mentality in order to make a decent living in their choice of a career. What does that mean?
- It means being courtesy to the customer.
- It means understanding the needs of the customer.
- It means taking the sales order and completing the order in a timely and efficient matter.
- It means smiling even when you don't want to.
This is not just a rant or complaint regarding restaurant services by any means. I dine frequently whether it be for personal or business. It's an article that I hope creates awareness and understanding to anyone who serves as a waiter or waitress that you have now been introduced to the job of a sales person.
I understand that waiters and waitress can go home with a decent amount of cash when the day is done, but you must remember in order to be successful a tip should never be expected but earned.
You will do this by completing the four steps mentioned above. Let me take this one bit further by explaining to you my dining experience last Friday in hopes to bring clarity to the situation.
There were six of us that entered the restaurant at the noon hour. The restaurant was not extremely busy, but it took about 10 minutes for us to be seated. Approximately 10 minutes later our beverage order was taken. Five of us received our order, but it took 30 minutes for the other individual to receive his and that was only after I walked to the bar to remind them we were missing a drink. It was then 15 minutes before our lunch order was taken and then more time passed to have our lunch served to us. As you can see we had been in the restaurant for nearly an hour and a half. When presented with the bill I understand that we would be billed on a separate check, no problem I took care of it - but when I was told that 18% gratuity would be added I disputed. If we had received service that was up to par or even mediocre I would not have disputed, but based on the service we received an 18% gratuity was not deserved. Did this server in face expect the tip, rather than earn it because she knew the menu stated it would be automatically added? Makes you wonder, I know it did me which is why I questioned it. Although I did add the 18% tip to our tab, I did not do so without informing the young lady that I did not feel as if we received the service that was worth 18%. Ready for her response? "I'm sorry you feel that way, but we were short-handed." Had I not seen her standing around and chatting with co-workers and spending an extreme amount of time at a particular table I would have understood, but based on my observation the problem wasn't being short-handed.
You be the judge was the tip expected or earned?
