There is a new hero in my life and it is a restaurant in North Carolina. I have never set foot in the state before, but I am ready to pack up my humble belongings, throw it into a U-Haul, move my ass to Winston-Salem and get a job at Kanpai Japanese Restaurant. This restaurant did what all servers dream of: they banned a customer named Monica Covington from their restaurant because she was repeatedly a bad tipper. Cue the choir of angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus because this is surely an intervention from the hand of God. I guess after a few times of crap tip, they added an 18% gratuity to her and then she complained about it and the next time she came in they refused to seat her. What I wouldn't have given to be host that day to see the look on her face when they told her to shuffle her ass over to the Burger King for dinner instead. Is she had a hankering for some sushi she was going to have to settle for an Asian Chicken Salad. Of course, she thinks it's an injustice to her so she started a petition demanding fair treatment. Bitch, how about I start a petition demanding that people leave enough money for the servers to tip out the bar and the busser and pay their taxes and still have some left for their pockets? She claims she has always left a good tip, but we know how that goes. She thinks a dollar is a good tip. I'm just guessing, but she might be one of those ladies that leaves Bible verses too. She can't understand why she is singled out. Uh, you were singled out because you suck at tipping and servers were sick of looking at your cheap ass stuffing all you can eat shrimp down your pie hole.
Get over it, Monica Covington. I looked up the stats of Winston-Salem and the population is 185,776. You are a teeny tiny fraction of the population and no one gives a shit about you and your issue. There are three other Japanese restaurants in Winston-Salem. You can drag your cheap ass to one of those places and hope that they haven't put you on the short list of "Bitches To Not Serve." If they also refuse to serve you, may I recommend you get some frozen egg rolls, Uncle Ben's Rice, some chopsticks and start your own damn Japanese restaurants where tips are optional and the food tastes as bad as your wig looks.
Domo Arigato and here's the article.
39 comments:
This is why I don't eat out at restaurants. Rather cook my own food and know it hasn't been spat in or dropped on the floor. Then there are nasty people like you. Have a little courtesy. This woman remained dignified and respectful in her presentation. You did not.
I've read several versions of this on the internet today, but yours is by far the most entertaining.
And true...is it not blatantly obvious that this woman is the queen of 25 cent tips? And she probably nickel-and-dimes the wait staff all.night.long while she camps out at the table, meaning that the poor sap serving her can't even turn it to make a decent tip out of the next party.
Furthermore, several article mentioned that there are at least 3 more Japanese restaurants in Winston-Salem. Ok, Monica, here's the clue by four: Kanpai doesn't want you there. Go.somewhere.else. Does she honestly think by starting a petition they're going to magically want to serve her cheap self again?
As a diner, I have a question: Good service deserves an 18-20% tip; excellent service deserves 18%plus. What are a diner's options for crappy service? ... On occasion, the service has been so poor, I left only 10%. Only once was it so bad that I decided a tip wasn't deserved. When the waitperson came to pick up the signed credit card receipt, I took the opportunity to tell him that there was no tip included for his service. I told him that since he waited until clearing from the appetizer to tell me that they'd run out of Prime Rib, that I never received the hot tea I'd ordered, that I got baked potato as a side when I'd ordered rice pilaf, and that my dining partner's entree arrived 15 minutes before my second choice was served... for all those reasons, I told him I didn't feel he deserved a tip... unless it would be get his head out of his ass and pay attention to the job at hand. ... So, tell me, seasoned waitpersons... was I wrong?
Dee,
I spent about fifteen years serving and I wouldn't fault you (or anyone) for fully stiffing a server in particularly bad circumstances. However, I question whether the situation you describe rises to that level. The tea was clearly the server's mistake but any of the other mistakes could easily have been kitchen errors. Tipping a waiter poorly for bad or late food - neither of which he has a whit of control over - is bad form. Better to tip the server according to the actual service and complain to the management about the quality and timeliness of the food.
I always leave a tip, ALWAYS! I waited tables in college and it paid my way through. I leave 30-35% if they were good servers and and never less then 20% no matter how bad the service was. Most errors are kitchen errors and the servers should not be punished because of this. Love your blog, it brings back many memories from my serving days.
We used to call those people " 'Spodas", because they're 'spo-da leave a tip but they don't.
Servers know. We KNOW who is going to tip well and who is not just by looking at them. I wouldn't have had to meet her to know it would have been a shitty tip.
Anon 7:22pm: We don't touch your food [I don't]. I don't want to touch your food anymore than you want me touching your food. You are sorely mistaken if you believe you are important enough to actually waste time doing something to your entree.
Dee, if truly horrific service, no tip is needed. However, this would also include speaking to the manager about the situation. Your server may not have known until clearing away your app that there was no prime rib; it's happened to me before as a server. The tea would be the server's fault, but if expo sent the entree out with the wrong side (bearing everything was put into the system correctly) that is not your server's fault, either, nor is the difference of time - again, providing that everything was rang into the system accordingly and at the same time. There have been times where I've rang in a full ticket only to have the grill line not receive it at all and them have to make things on the fly ASAP. This stuff happens, but IMO, the tip should reflect how well the server did in spite of it and how well they recovered and rectified the situation. That's just me, though.
I always leave a tip, ALWAYS! I
I always leave a tip, ALWAYS!
2010 7:22 enjoy your Ramen noodles at home. I'll bet your mom spits in your food.
JumpIt has it right. Any server worth his/her salt can gauge very accurately what sort of tipper he has at his table almost immediately. I used to be able to guess within a dime what my tip would be with 90% accuracy.
The irony that most diners without a serving background don't realize is that the people who take up the lion's share of a servers time, running him ragged, are also the poor tippers. It stands to reason: considerate people respect a servers workload and tip well. Ignornant pigs do neither.
this is so funny. I wish the owners of the restaurant where I work would ban a customer or two. We actually have one customer who gets seated and checks to see if her server is a male or female, then goes to the trunk of her car to pick a "gift" to leave as a tip. We've been known to get everything from a Jane Fonda workout book, used DVDs, a tie, Christmas ornaments, dollar store framed art, and most recently a Suzanne Somers diet book! What cracks me up is that on her credit card slip she'll actually write in "gift" on the tip line!!! I've been tempted to just say "no thanks" the next time she attempts to hand me my "tip"~
apparently some people don't get the fact tipping is optional.
If she's not going to leave a tip, then she should at least have a decent reason, but to keep going back to the same restaurant and stiffing them??
Way to perpetuate the stereotype, cheapskate.
2010 7:22 PM..tipping is not optional. You should be smart and savy enough to know that you add 20% for service. Period. Only when service is rotten do you figure lower than that. Eating out is optional.
@dirtydisher
lol, sorry dude its optional cry moar to employer if you don't like what you're getting paid
One of our servers got stressed and quit Sat night and so half his tables got transfered to me. I was already running around like crazy and was sick too. One of my tables asked me what happened (if the server got fired or quit). I said he quit and this dumbass had the nerve to say- why? It's not that stressful! I just gave him a look like exccuussee me and said are you serious. Some people, including the other anonymous, are just completely ignorant to customer service and in my opinion hungry people are the worst.
banning customers is my dream. we've banned people before but only for disorderly conduct like touching a server or something of that nature.
at the restaurant i work at we serve happy hour specials not only at the bar but at the booths by the bar. the appetizers on happy hour are between two and tree dollars.
there are these two raggety people that come in (who were banned from the applebees across the street by the way) who sit at these tables order four three dollar appetizers, two waters and peanuts. They eat their appetizers and their peanuts for about four hours and hog a good booth in one of the best stations in the restaurant. They keep pretending that theyre gna order more... that they "can't decide on dessert" and they leave change. CHANGE! they make a mess with peanut shells, and their checks are never more than sixteen dollars. In the time that theyre there off of that table alone I could possibly make an extra hundered dollars.
I want them banned so badly that I barely talk to them. I drop their waters, refuse to give them peanuts and tell the bartenders and managers to please not do so either and after they eat I drop their check immediately. The first time I served them I had heard horror stories from other servers but tried to be as nice as possible thinking that I was the anomolie, I was not. Nobody is. Beware of the smelly man and his big haired girlfriend.
also tipping is mandatory. even if we're bad we still have to talk to you, bring your food, refill your drinks and clean your table.
banning customers is my dream. we've banned people before but only for disorderly conduct like touching a server or something of that nature.
at the restaurant i work at we serve happy hour specials not only at the bar but at the booths by the bar. the appetizers on happy hour are between two and tree dollars.
there are these two raggety people that come in (who were banned from the applebees across the street by the way) who sit at these tables order four three dollar appetizers, two waters and peanuts. They eat their appetizers and their peanuts for about four hours and hog a good booth in one of the best stations in the restaurant. They keep pretending that theyre gna order more... that they "can't decide on dessert" and they leave change. CHANGE! they make a mess with peanut shells, and their checks are never more than sixteen dollars. In the time that theyre there off of that table alone I could possibly make an extra hundered dollars.
I want them banned so badly that I barely talk to them. I drop their waters, refuse to give them peanuts and tell the bartenders and managers to please not do so either and after they eat I drop their check immediately. The first time I served them I had heard horror stories from other servers but tried to be as nice as possible thinking that I was the anomolie, I was not. Nobody is. Beware of the smelly man and his big haired girlfriend.
also tipping is mandatory. even if we're bad we still have to talk to you, bring your food, refill your drinks and clean your table.
5:37 PM, I'm not a dude, but, you are a cheapskate. Your 20% IS a servers pay, deal with it. Pull it out of your tightwad asscrack. Some people should be banned from dining out.
And another thing..not tipping when there's nothing wrong with the service is like not paying your bill. It's stealing.
In the long ago olden days, it was customary to tip based on your service. Now in this century, the uber modern world, you tip because you were served by another person while you sat in your chair and (hopefully not) ran your server ragged!
So regardless of your service - you tip! And you tip the correct amount! AND you tip your TO GO SERVER! We do the same thing as servers except it's all condensed into a little bag in 15-20 minutes thankyouverymuch!
If you do end up with "bad" service, which does happen, you speak to a manager!
But like I said previous, you do not in any way shape or form not tip that server! Because, except for teachers & their lousy pay, nobody else in the world gets paid that little amount less than 5 bucks!
And if you can't afford your tip, then don't go out!! I cannot stress this enough.
Oh and about the this post - woo hoo for that restaurant for making that woman pay the tip - there are too many bad customers that DESERVE to have a gratuity added - especially if we have to serve them like the bratty little babies they are!
<3 <3 <3
@ Anon,
I sincerely hope that you are either simply angry and spouting out this hatred or that you are just a shut-in who has to rely on trips to the big Wal-Mart in town to satisfy your appetite, because you are sorely, sorely mistaken. Nobody- NOBODY who waits tables ever gets a moment of this "entitlement" you speak of.
Also- wait-staff are far from moronic. Just because a person is stuck in a hard situation- waiting tables for people that range from crazy to downright megalomaniacal- does not mean that they are in any way "moronic". You an get away with saying THAT shit about strippers, but even then I doubt that you have the basic knowledge of how to spin on a pole, so I do not recommend that you make a habit of doing so.
Here's some of the "fringe" benefits of this "easy job":
- Having disgusting, moley, goiter-infested men/women try to be sneaky with staring at you the exact way they stare down a rack of cheap ribs. Like it's about to slather itself all over them.
- Having the offspring of a generation of know-nothing parents screech and make senseless messes for you to continually clean up; now, imagine this with the added fun of having kids of your own at home that you have to return to at night. Isn't it fun to be doing the same thing over and over again, like it's goddamn groundhog day? And your kids may eventually grow up to have manners and an inside voice, while the ones at work never, ever (did she say NEVER? yes, she means NEVER) change. Don't lie to yourself, they never do.
- Having aforementioned megalomaniacs take their hatred out on you for being the puny underling that you are to them.
- Having megalomaniacal managers take their hatred out on you for being the puny underling that you are to them.
- Having to wear: a theme costume, or shitty, goofy work clothes that you hope nobody you know will see you in, ever. Take your pick, you have no choice besides this.
- Having to continually cater to people who act like they're somehow rich (yeah, you're the big shot of small town Indiana, you shop at Target instead of that gosh Wal-Mart), stay forever, and leave little tip, no tip, a weird tip (like a Buffalo nickle or some shit), or a scary tip (imagine. Just IMAGINE it).
Lets just add this all along with the fact that you will be working forever, ever, ever on your feet, so say hell-o to swollen ankles, you may HATE the people you work with (gasp!) and the fact that you will be type cast by morons as inefficient fools who get a bucket of gold handed to them after they finish work by either a well-hung man in a banana hammock or a young lady in a teeny bikini.
My, what a simple job! And so well-paying! Now, why do I EVER bother to tip at all?
Maybe because I have had family who work/have worked in this continually depressing field of work, and I know that, for some reason, along with the "normal" people who come, it also seems to attract crazies and asshats with remarkable success. Must have something to do with the big sign that hangs over the door or something. And I know that it would be a less-foolish and soul-crushing endeavor if only the asshats and the crazies would tip better and shut up more often.
P.S- In case you were wondering, you're not even fitting enough to be an asshat. Steve Buschemi was an asshat, and you, sir, do not seem, to me, to be as good or better that Mr. Buschemi. Thank you and get the fuck out.
Instead of expecting a customer to pay you for your "hardwork" you should complain to your boss or the owner of the establishment!! I was a waitress once apona time while I was in college. I worked very hard single and double shifts, while studying and taking care of my sick grandmom. I never once complained about the customer no matter what type of tip I received. What urks me is that you feel entitled to receive a tip instead of a pay check. You know there are all types of Jobs out there that should be entitled to tips but they never get one.
For instance a teacher will teach a child all day for over 250 days a year. They receive pay for just the amount of days they teach and then that pay is divided by 12 and then taxes, insurance, and a few other fees are taken out. When the teacher receives their pay it equals about half of their gross pay. And then if they are a high school teacher they have to take that pay and buy things for their classroom and supply a lot of different things to make it easier and more enjoyable for the child to learn. They also have to have nice clothing and so forth. And if they are a coach they get paid around 125.00 a month to work 35 to 40 extra hours a week which.comes out to less than a dollar an hour. Do they receive tips? No and they serve the public way more than a waiter or waitress. Do they complain? No!!!
There are so many jobs out there that deserve tips but it is in thought of to give this person a tip. I am not a teacher. I actually have a job where I " serve" the public every day and I.do not get tips.
If you are so worried about your pay then get a different job or go to your employer and ask for more pay or get the laws changed so they have to pay you min. Wage.
I have been reading your blog out of complete boredom while I get over a surgery. You are the whinest, spoiled, over payer, jerk I have ever seen. I know I have never been a customer in any of the places you have worked. But if I was I would leave, ask for another waiter, or turn you into the board of health. In fact I do believe that every place you have worked or do work at should be deeply looked into by the board of health.
I do hope that you get fired, and that you are black listed at all future job openings and that you have to work at a "real" job and you get paid only what you deserve.
I also hope someone takes ajax and washes your moth out and that God punishes you for the way you talk about children!!!!!!
Grow up get a real job and quit complaining about your current or past jobs you big spoiled jack a**.....
Thank you, Anonymous. You can read my response to your post here: http://thebitchywaiter.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-comment-on-comments.html
Anonymous, You went to college? Really? That must be the worst university. Ever.
I would love to see how many people could go out to eat if tipping was optional. Wonder how much that bowl of pasta would cost if my employer had to pay me what I make an hour. And nobody in their right effing mind would do this job for the typical 7.25 an hour.
Dumbass ho annon,
There is no way you were ever a server.
What kind of school goes for over 250 days a year? I believe the number you're looking for is 180. Also, every job that you get a pay check for has taxes taken out of it diptard (and it is in no way half of their gross pay) even for a server, they get taxed even though you stiffed them on a 100 dollar check. Also, teachers are not REQUIRED to buy things for their classrooms, you end up doing it, but you get money to put up some posters and such.
You don't get tips because you get paid AT LEAST the federal minimum wage of 7.25 servers get paid as low as 2.13. I'm happy with getting tips because I can usually make pretty good money unless an asshole such as yourself decides to wobble your ass in.
Sometimes I wish we could go back to the root of "tips". Originally there was a box on every table that said "To Ensure Prompt Service". The more money you put in the box the faster your service. This did not mean you were ignored if you decided you didn't like to tip, but you didn't get the same attention that other recieved...maybe you had to wait an extra few mins for your drink.
What is all this about asking our employers for a paycheck? I want all of you brainless fools to go in to work tomorrow and ask for a 15$ raise, then come back here and tell us all how that goes; because I would need about that much an hour to continue to come into work everyday and put a smile on my face while waiting on your ignorant selves. And to that one extra-special anonymous who claimed to have been a server-bullshit. No one who has ever waited tables would dare to tell other servers that it is being "entitled" to expect a good tip for good service.
"...she might be one of those ladies that leaves Bible verses" How right you are!
http://www.unionbaptistwsnc.org/staff.html
I can't get over this stunned bitch, preaching how servers are "entitled" and all that absolute shit!! FYI, "lady", serving is one of the top most stressful jobs that exist! Check it out! AND we have to grin and make you feel welcome, even if we are using every ounce of willpower to be polite and courteous in the face of asshole-ism. NO SMALL FEAT!! OF COURSE servers vary insofar as their skills go - but here's some real food for thought - you can be served the very finest meal, and if the service is crappy, it is ruined, period! OR...a good server can make you feel welcome, important, and can make a clubhouse and piece of pie feel like a veritable feast! "SERVICE" is what you are tipping for. People like you should only "dine" at McDonalds, where you will get yer grub and not feel obligated to tip. If servers got paid y their real worth, we would far surpass teachers! And no friggin two months off in summer, full benefits, job security, etc! And no plunking what I feel certain must be a fat ass down down behind your desk - most servers do not get breaks, nor even get to sit down AT ALL during a shift!!I am in Alberta Canada, and we get paid minimum wage, almost invariably - $9.45 for non-liquor-serving servers, and $9.05 if you serve liquor...because you will get TIPS! So you see, it is figured as your wage. If there was no tipping, you would be paying FAR, FAR more for your meal...and we would also be getting full benefits and such. I applaud the fellow who pointed out HOW the service was SO shitty because it may force this waiter to examine their vocational choice and hone up on their skills. People who tip 20% no matter what; well, it is their money and their option. I give EXCELLENT service, and get rewarded thus, and would love to have even just a day where we could only serve the people we want to, LOL!! And yes, almost inevitably, the most demanding ones are the cheapest.
They actually banned someone for NOT tipping?? DamN! Can we get that here please??
When I was a waitress it was really crap. We didnt get a pay check at all! All you're earnings was your tips! So now imagine this huge ass table of 15 comes in and eats for about 5000 and leave you nothing! You worked your ass off all night and they leave you nothing...and NOT because you were a bad server but because it's their way or they see you as beneath them.
I'll tell you one thing...people should be less worried about the waiters and more about the grill!
That grill gets so busy that when you bring an order back and tell them it's wrong (especially if its a small thing) they get angry and impatient and you end up waiting twice as long as everyone else! And then the waiters get the blame for the grill taking its time or screwing up!
Na being a waiter/waitress isn't an easy job and its certainly stressful! How about you have hungry grouchy people yelling at you all day, bossing you around and then not leave you ANY money.
And don't say go complain to your boss...its bull****. That boss doesn't give a damn! As long as you're bringing in business for him he doesn't care how much you get tipped. AND THEN they still take off for breakages that never even happened!
Nah...waitering and teaching...two of the most ungrateful jobs in the world. They are some of the most mistreated people I know.
FIrst off if you have never served then you have no business saying how stressful or rather, how not stressful itis. Imagine that your daughter or sister or mother was a server and people treated them with the same level of respect that some of you seem to treat waitstaff with (None at all). Wouldn't you be annoyed or angry about such treatment? Do me a favor, if you are one of those people who feel that the 4.75 that servers make an hour is enough to live off of, just stay at home to eat.. give us alla break.
Directed towards the person above who said to tip your to-go server. I'm not so sure on this one. You are not performing nearly the service you would if they were eating in. They don't take up a table, you don't have to mess with menus, or fill drinks, or clean up after. And as a bartender often times my server packaged up the food for me so all I did was ring it in and cash you out for it. I'm nice so in that case I would give the tip to my server, but I really don't expect much of a tip on to-go food.
screw tipping.
if you want 20% tip, but 50% dontpay, then this is the same to everyone paying 10%.
So your better off to ENFORCE a 10% tip as being mandatory. -> tell all clients that there is a 10% service charge before they sit down, if they have a problem with that, then they dont sit down.
OR increase the prices of everything by on the menu by 10% and tell all clients that you dont accept tipping at all, Having the tip built into the menu, is fair for everyone.
so many servers put up shitty arguments that if it was in the food, the food would be ridiculously over-priced, but here, use your brains, putting the price up by the cost of the tip, is the same as the current price + tip, the difference is that then all servers get paid fairly, and all clients can easily see what they will pay for whatever they order or they can get the fuck out.
If servers are so undeserving of your respect (calling them self-entitled morons and saying serving isn't a "real job" are good examples) then STAY THE FUCK HOME. Or go to McDonald's where they get paid 7.50 an hour to ring in your order and then not give a fuck about you or your food.
Servers get paid their hourly wage (here and in most states that's 2.13) to take your order, bring it to you, and do side work. Anything extra they do (pre-bussing your table, keeping your drink full, conversating with you, being nice to you, etc) is what your TIP is paying for. The tip is payment for the SERVICE they are providing YOU. Why should the restaurant be expected to pay that? They're not being provided with the service, YOU ARE.
@Anon
Aside from all of the other great comments people have made at your dumbass remarks about servers, here is another diddy I bet you didn't know:
We get taxed on the amount of your dinner check by the IRS. They don't care whether you tipped or not, they are going to get their money no matter what. What that means is if you don't leave a tip AND the government taxes me on your check anyway, I essentially not only waited on your dumb ass, but also paid money out of my pocket for you to BE THERE!
And if I have PAY to have a dumbass at my table in addition to treating him like a Roman emperor, then I should at least reserve the right to stick my foot up his ass on the way out the door!
I swear, the waiters bitching about this are absolutely stupid and just as bad as the people they're bitching about.
This whole custom of tipping is archaic, insulting, and inconvenient for both parties. Waiters and other tipped jobs should be paid minimum wage, and tips should not be expected, period.
Only in America, the land of the people that are too stupid to realize they're not any more free than people in other countries.
If everyone stopped tipping, the idiotic laws would change, and this retarded custom would die already.
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