Do You Compliment Good Service?

[Richard in Smithville]

Eds post got me thinking. If you go into a restaraunt and get great sevice, what do you do?

I always tip according to the sevice that I receive. So if I get exceptional service I will leave a 15% tip. Then before I leave, I will seek out the manager and inform him/her that I was made to feel like I was the most important patron.

People like to complain, but rarely do they compliment.

[dbhost]

Depending on the service. LOML and I are known to tip around 25% for excellent service... Our favorite Mexican Restaurant's staff nearly knocks themselves out trying to help us out, keep our drinks full etc...

Our favorite BBQ place is run by a manager that LOML and I have actually made pretty good friends with...

[Pappy]

like DB, I have been known to tip high for exceptional service. In those cases, I try to tip the waiter/waitress personally, in cash. What they report is up to them. We also try to pass our compliments for the service to the manager.

Several years ago we had 16 people at a birthday dinner for my Mother. The waiter wrote nothing down and got every order right, including special requests and substitutions. It took 3 people to bring the food out and he stepped in to serve each person without having to question any individual about their order. After the check came, my sisters and aunt broke out the calculators to figure their parts of the bill and a 15% tip. I guestimated mine and the wife's part at around $45 and dropped $60 in the pot. After everyone else had added their portion my brother picked up the pile, covered the bill, and stuck the 'tip' in his pocket without counting it. When the waiter came back with his change, Stan laid a $100 bill on it hand handed the tray back with "Thanks for the outstanding service".

[jonmulzer]

Always. I have never seeked out the manager but I make it a point to tell the server before I leave, "Thanks for the wonderful service". I try my best to tip in cash, even if I pay with my card. What they report is entirely up to them and if they do not report it then they just made 30% more. I may tell the manager also for really good service from now on.

On the other hand, if I get really poor service, I will not tip at all. Under these circumstances, it has to be the server's fault entirely. If I get slow service because they are understaffed (a management problem usually) and our server is running their butt off to attempt to keep up, then they still get a good tip. If they are BSing with their boyfriend/girlfriend/other server/bartender and I get slow, poor service that is when they do not get tipped. The way I see it, if you put in $2.13 worth of effort, you get $2.13 in pay.

When we went to St. Louis this summer on vacation with my to-be brother-in-law and his kids we had one of the best servers ever. He was extremely courteous, never let my beer run out, was very speedy and was actually honest about the menu. One of our party asked about a dish and he actually told us that though most everything else on the menu was exceptional that he did not care for that one. We had a two year old with us who was carrying a stuffed cat and he talked to her and when Carly said that it was the stuffed cat's birthday he surprised us at the end of the meal with a birthday cake and even noticed that she was a fan of Dora the Explorer and had another server sing "Happy Birthday" in Spanish. He made us feel like we were the only ones in the restaurant on a busy Saturday night.

I paid the bill with my debit card and gave him $50 (in cash) for a tip on a $100 check. The rest of them tipped about 25%. Servers like him are very rare.

[herb fellows]

Yeah, 15% is if the service was lousy! More like 25% for good service. Is this (15% being a good tip) a Canadian thing? I know tips to be left in numerous foreign countries are much less than here, sometimes none at all. This might have something to do with being in NY though. If it really is exceptional, I will try to get the managers attention and let them know.
Only twice in 45 years have I not left a tip, and that was in lieu of b**ch slapping the waiter, because they were just plain nasty.

[Tom Hintz]

I try to make a po9int of tipping well and complimenting the person who did the good service face-to-face. It is so easy for peopel to wine about bad service but they should be consistent and speak up about better than average service as well. Unfortunately, that is not likely to happen as much as it should. Watch any woodworking forum and you see way more people complaining about a product than simply making a post about how good something worked. We need to isolate the whining gene and turn it off!

[Uncle Cracker]

I try to compliment good service, even though it's what I expect to receive. I also try to tip with the idea in mind that making a living is tough these days, and people that try to make my experience a good one deserve a little extra.

[Richard in Smithville]

Is this (15% being a good tip) a Canadian thing? .

That is the acepted tip in Canada. It's up to you if you give a little more or less. In most p-laces that LOML and I "treat" ourselves at, the tip usually amounts to one hour pay+ for the server( most places the server get minimum wage because they get tips).

If the server give really bad service for no particular reason except that they don't give a hoot, I have been known to just leave a quarter on the table. Sometimes that will send a better message.

[Ed62]

I will tip 25% - 30% for good service at a restaurant. We have a daughter who has been a waitress for quite a few years, and I know how hard she works.

On the other end of the scale, we made a trip to Disney World several years ago, and we ate at a local (not Disney) restaurant. The waitress actually tossed the silverware toward our plates, and was anything but a good waitress. I left her nothing. That's the only time in my life I did that.

Ed

[Uncle Cracker]

I left her nothing. That's the only time in my life I did that.

Leave a dime... That way they know you didn't forget them.

[smorris]

I try to reward good service, be it tips or just a thank you. I few years ago my wife had her neck fused. The nurses were awesome as she was in for about a week due to some complications. I sent the nurses station a dozen roses with a thank you note.
The doc who gave her a painkiller she was allergic to as noted on her chart did not get flowers. But I made the hospital aware of that blunder.

[kbkreisler]

good service is rewarded by a healthy tip, recomendation to friends and family and a return visit. We have our favorite haunts where good service is the norm as well as places that have not been given a second chance. Often it takes more than a poor waitperson to make an experience awful. weak drinks, cold food and dirty restrooms are not the servers fault.
Poor management is reflected in all aspects of servitude and is usually repeatable.

[just started]

Leave a dime... That way they know you didn't forget them.

Absolutly correct!!! If you leave nothing they just think you forgot and if you leave more they think you must be cheap, a couple of pennies or nickel or dime tells them what you think.

There is one thing you have to check out before you leave a large tip though, many places now are making the staff pool all tips and then dividing the pool equally and adding it in to payroll and withholding tax on it.

[thestinker]

We were eating several years ago when our waiter had been raked over the coals pretty good by a table a few feet away. They were demanding free food, the manager and what not...making a rather large fuss, and the guy was working hard, with several tables going at once, and I was having good service out of the guy. I asked to see the manager also, and with the waiter there, preceded to give him a glowing review and tell him how pleased I was with my service that night, and how hard he was trying to make the one loud table happy, while still tending to all the other tables.

Riley

[herb fellows]

That is the acepted tip in Canada. It's up to you if you give a little more or less. In most p-laces that LOML and I "treat" ourselves at, the tip usually amounts to one hour pay+ for the server( most places the server get minimum wage because they get tips).

If the server give really bad service for no particular reason except that they don't give a hoot, I have been known to just leave a quarter on the table. Sometimes that will send a better message.

I'm movin'! I figure I can save $1,000 a year on tips alone, not to mention the medical care system! Sounds like a winner to me!