Re: Stiffing
 

I worked in a restaurant for about 15 years so I can shed light on a lot of things.

Autograts are there to limit the variance. You can compare it to P*ker. You can probably make more $$ by not autograting but you won't have the wicked swings in income. Sort of like how you can't remember the 20 P*ker hands you win but vividly remember the 2 outer on the river that burned you. It is a sense tilt prevention. It is much better to get 15% on 4 large tables than 20%, 20%, 20% stiff.

The restaurant I worked in didn't automatically grat but you could request it. Depends if you want to roll the dice on that table. Unfortunately racial profiling is a big factor in that decision since we have a large Hispanic community which is not accustomed to this tradition.

Waiters don't usually work 40 hours a week. Not that they don't want to but often because of the many people needed to cover Fri/Sat you need to split up the rest of the slower days to keep people. 30 hours is what I would say is near the norm.

I think that tipping also keeps menu prices down. You probably would pay 15% more per entree if the restaurant was required to pay a higher base wage. The tipping element also keeps the waitstaff from being indifferent to the service you receive.

Re: Stiffing
 

[ QUOTE ]
The tipping element also keeps the waitstaff from being indifferent to the service you receive.

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Doesn't this run counter to the entitlement complex we are seeing from most of the waiters who have posted in this thread that they consider 15% to be a bad tip?

Re: Stiffing
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The tipping element also keeps the waitstaff from being indifferent to the service you receive.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doesn't this run counter to the entitlement complex we are seeing from most of the waiters who have posted in this thread that they consider 15% to be a bad tip?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes it does. I know that over my years I have given bad service a few times and got stiffed and I didn't mind it as I knew it was justified. Sometimes you get busy and there are only so many people on and that happens. Definitely the exception not the rule.

Non US people have different cultures so I don't blame them for being ignorant when they come to the US. For US born people not to tip when they receive good service is ridiculous. Maybe they grew up in a poor family or older family that was raised during the depression and never evolved once times got better.

If your policy is not to tip do everyone a favor and get takeout. Sure someone still has to put it together for you but it is less work with no refills, small talk etc.

Re: Stiffing
 

[ QUOTE ]
It is much better to get 15% on 4 large tables than 20%, 20%, 20% stiff.


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I was a waiter for a while- seems as if the money spends the same in either case... I'll take the occasional stiff and the 20%'ers, thanks

Re: Stiffing
 

My question is...Does anyone know or understand why an overwhelming percentage of african amaericans don't tip?

Re: Stiffing
 

[ QUOTE ]
My question is...Does anyone know or understand why an overwhelming percentage of african americans don't tip?

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This is highly dependent but I don't think many are used to eating out in nicer restaurants, they don't know how to figure out 15% or feel they get inferior service (see Crash). I worked with blacks and they seemed to feel that blacks were bad tippers too.