We flew from Daytona to Seattle via Atlanta so 12 hours spent in airports or on airplanes, leaving us tired and hungry. We stopped at a Red Robin we eat at somewhat regularly in our 'burb so we're moderately familiar with the place and have had no problem until today. The girls ordered grilled cheese and fruit salads, DH ordered at BLTA croissant without avocado (and he was explicit on No Avocado; she even confirmed with him) and I ordered a turkey club (as low carb as you can get on their menu). Server brought drinks and 20 minutes later brought out the little cups of fruit salad for the girls, DH's sandwich *with* avocado, and my sandwich and salad. She said the kitchen burned our grilled cheese and she'd have it out to us shortly. So the girls are sitting there with fruit salads and no silverware, I have a salad and no silverware, DH is using his fingers to take out the avocado from his sandwich. Server says she'll come back with the girls' sandwiches. We ask for silverware. Five minutes later, no sandwiches and no silverware; I go to the hostess kiosk to get silverware. Girls are still sitting there because I told GD2 to stop eating the fruit salad with her fingers; her glass is empty and she needs a refill. No sign of the server. The manager comes up with *one* of the grilled cheese sandwiches and an apology, saying it was burned and sorry for the delay. So we have one sandwich instead of two, which I point out with a rather short "so the grilled cheese was burned *twice* then? We ordered two grilled cheese. And I'm sorry but the girls should have had fries or something brought out to them rather than them sitting there watching us eat. His sandwich came with avocado and he was clear that he didn't want avocado. She (GD2) needs a refill on her drink. This is just not acceptable. We've been here many times and I know this is a one-off but it's just not acceptable that they're sitting here without food, for thirty minutes, and then they only get their fruit salads while we get our food and they're *still* waiting, with nothing to eat now that they've finished off their fruit salads. It shouldn't take this long to make a grilled cheese sandwich." The manager was apologetic and said she'd look into what happened. She came back to our table and said she would comp our meal. The server brought the second sandwich as the manager was speaking with us, and brought fries and a refill on the drink at the manager's instruction. Other than that, we did not see her until we were finished and ready to leave, so she could check to see if we needed boxes, though she walked past our table several times to help the tables on either side of us she did not stop to check to see if everything was okay.
First question: Was I out of line? If so, how much out of line?
Second question: Would you tip the server? How much is a fair tip under the circumstances? (WA state pays min wage - the highest in the nation - rather than server wage, if that makes a difference.)
I don't think you were out of line. You did what I would want to do but don't have the balls to do.
I would have had a hard time leaving her a tip since she was so rude but I probably would have left something. Not 15 percent though especially knowing she is getting minimum wage.
I don't think you were out of line. You did what I would want to do but don't have the balls to do.
I would have had a hard time leaving her a tip since she was so rude but I probably would have left something. Not 15 percent though especially knowing she is getting minimum wage.
I would not have tipped and I am a former server and generous tipper. Either she blamed the kitchen erroneously or she needs to do a better job of sitting on the window demanding the correct food for her customers.
That is why we will never eat at Red Robin again. We were seated for 20+ minutes and our server never came back to take our order despite seating several people around us and taking their orders. At the time we had 1 small child and he could not wait any longer. The funny part was that no less than 5 people wished us a good day on the way out. I wrote to corporate via email and never heard back. I would have had a hard time leaving a tip and I would never go back.
I think you were 100% in the right to complain. Usually if there's one little issue (say just the avocado) I'd chalk it up to human error and not make a big deal. But it seems like a really simple quick order went upside down as far as server and cook error.
I probably would not have tipped. Tips are for acceptable+ service. You did not get that. I say this having waited tables myself
I wouldn't have tipped, or only a VERY small amount so that she KNEW she was getting a crappy tip and not just that we forgot because our meal was comped.
It happens. Even servers/line cooks/restaurants have a bad day. Get over it. Tip or don't tip as long as you weren't a raving bitch to the poor girl you were not out of line to be irritated. They comped your meal, nothing else they can do but that and apologize. Next time let your kids eat their fruit salad w/ their hands?
I wouldn't have tipped, or only a VERY small amount so that she KNEW she was getting a crappy tip and not just that we forgot because our meal was comped.
Just to make sure she knows you hate her? She knows she did a bad job, I'm sure she didn't expect a tip. I don't know why people feel a burning desire to try to make 19 year old Red Robin waitresses feel like shit. It's a pathological control issue in America, I swear to god.
I wouldn't have tipped, or only a VERY small amount so that she KNEW she was getting a crappy tip and not just that we forgot because our meal was comped.
Just to make sure she knows you hate her? She knows she did a bad job, I'm sure she didn't expect a tip. I don't know why people feel a burning desire to try to make 19 year old Red Robin waitresses feel like shit. It's a pathological control issue in America, I swear to god.
Seriously? so she knows I "hate" her? Good grief.
She may "know" she did a bad job and she might actually not care until she realizes "oh - wait - it's actually affecting how much $$ I'm making".
Who knows. But having had bad service myself - I don't "hate" the person, nor am I out to make them feel like shit. If I tip poorly, it's to let them know I don't appreciate the bad service.
That said, I don't agree with the philosophy of teaching a server a lesson. When I waited tables, I generally wanted to provide good service and sometimes I just wasn't able to for some reason - even if that reason was just an off day where I couldn't get my brain together to do a good job for a table for whatever reason. I felt bad if I didn't do a good job and didn't get a good tip, but I never once got a bad tip and thought "omg! Maybe I should have been better! This changes everything!" If I got a bad tip and didn't already know why, I just assumed the table was cheap and didn't attribute it to my bad service if I thought I had done a good job.
In this situation, I would not have left a tip. Your meal was comped because your server didn't do her job-and in some cases YOU did her job (get silverware) plus she didn't even step it up after the manager gave her direction. I'm normally a generous tipper even if the service is eh, nut this is not even remotely "service"
Slightly off topic, but a tip sort of IS a control thing. I get to determine how much to leave based on the quality if the service. If she gave shitty service (for whatever reason to which I can be sympathetic, we all have bad days) then I leave a small or no tip.
I don't see how it's an asshole move on my part to do that, especially in light of her getting minimum wage.
If a tip is expected and required regardless of the quality of service then just raise the price of the food and include it so I don't have to.
I don't think it's an asshole move to leave a smaller tip - I sometimes tip less for bad service because frankly, we all have limited resources and it's not our obligation to pay someone well if they aren't doing their job.
I just don't like the idea of thinking "I'm going to teach her a lesson here and leave an insultingly low tip just to stick it to her!". Even though nobody may ever know that's the reason you left a bad tip, I think it's a shitty attitude. If you don't like the service, don't leave a good tip, but there's no need to be vindictive about it KWIM?
Slightly off topic, but a tip sort of IS a control thing. I get to determine how much to leave based on the quality if the service. If she gave shitty service (for whatever reason to which I can be sympathetic, we all have bad days) then I leave a small or no tip.
I don't see how it's an asshole move on my part to do that, especially in light of her getting minimum wage.
If a tip is expected and required regardless of the quality of service then just raise the price of the food and include it so I don't have to.
I don't think it's an asshole move to leave a smaller tip - I sometimes tip less for bad service because frankly, we all have limited resources and it's not our obligation to pay someone well if they aren't doing their job.
I just don't like the idea of thinking "I'm going to teach her a lesson here and leave an insultingly low tip just to stick it to her!". Even though nobody may ever know that's the reason you left a bad tip, I think it's a shitty attitude. If you don't like the service, don't leave a good tip, but there's no need to be vindictive about it KWIM?
(using the general "you", not swizz specifically)
I don't think anyone in this thread is being vindictive. I think it is reasonable to leave a small tip so the server doesn't just assume the tip was forgotten. It's not like anyone is leaving a note to say "Your service sucked, so I'm leaving you a bad tip! Have a shitty day!"
If a tip is expected and required regardless of the quality of service then just raise the price of the food and include it so I don't have to.
Sort of off topic, and I get not wanting to tip in this situation, but paying servers a better wage is absolutely the right move in this country. People do not tip enough, nor do they understand what is required of a server most of the time.
Commonwealth countries don't expect tipping because the servers make a livable wage.
Maybe I'm just the cheap one - lol. I usually only leave a lower tip on bad service because eating out is expensive and if they didn't earn a good tip, I don't feel obligated to spend more of my money. It has honestly never been about reinforcing anything or teaching anyone anything. I leave a good tip as a thank you for taking care of me, and I leave a lesser tip because I'd rather spend my money on something more worthwhile than bad service.
No, I don't think you were out of line at all for all that you told the manager. It was the restaurant as a whole that messed up your entire meal and they needed to be told.
As far as tipping, I'd have to be there. Sometimes when one thing goes wrong, it seems like everything else will go wrong. It sounded like she was so flustered with the orders getting screwed up that she forgot your silverware. As far as bringing out french fries first, did you ask her? Or was she just supposed to know? Not being critical, just pointing out that (as a former server) she can't read your mind. Then again, she could have asked you so....
If she was blatantly ignoring you then a $1 tip to let her know that's what you thought she deserved. If she was scared to approach your table and was apologetic when she was there...maybe 10%. I don't agree with not tipping because the kitchen screwed up your orders though. It happens sometimes when there's a lot of orders with a ton of special requests.
I don't think it's an asshole move to leave a smaller tip - I sometimes tip less for bad service because frankly, we all have limited resources and it's not our obligation to pay someone well if they aren't doing their job.
I just don't like the idea of thinking "I'm going to teach her a lesson here and leave an insultingly low tip just to stick it to her!". Even though nobody may ever know that's the reason you left a bad tip, I think it's a shitty attitude. If you don't like the service, don't leave a good tip, but there's no need to be vindictive about it KWIM?
(using the general "you", not swizz specifically)
I don't think anyone in this thread is being vindictive. I think it is reasonable to leave a small tip so the server doesn't just assume the tip was forgotten. It's not like anyone is leaving a note to say "Your service sucked, so I'm leaving you a bad tip! Have a shitty day!"
I guess I just don't understand why it's important that she knows she did a bad job vs the tip being forgotten. I think a purposely bad tip is pretty much the same thing as leaving that note - it's implied. Though as a server, I would have preferred a low tip to no tip anyway
Maybe I'm just the cheap one - lol. I usually only leave a lower tip on bad service because eating out is expensive and if they didn't earn a good tip, I don't feel obligated to spend more of my money. It has honestly never been about reinforcing anything or teaching anyone anything. I leave a good tip as a thank you for taking care of me, and I leave a lesser tip because I'd rather spend my money on something more worthwhile than bad service.
I'm a former server and I think the same way except I'm generally more accepting of mistakes and pretty generous haha. I will always leave a 1% tip minimum because lots of restaurants stupidly take out 1-2% of the servers sales to pay out bussers. I think that's wrong but that's the way it is so I don't think they should lose money to work but I don't think they should be "paid" for bad service.
I've only left a shitty tip once ever and it was because the waitress was blatantly ignoring me and flirting with my H thinking she could get a better tip out of him. So we used my CC with my name on it . I've also left a 25% tip to a guy who was obviously having a bad day...maybe from horrible previous tippers?...but he still gave us great service and wasn't rude. It lightened his mood and he was more chatty afterwards.
Maybe I'm just the cheap one - lol. I usually only leave a lower tip on bad service because eating out is expensive and if they didn't earn a good tip, I don't feel obligated to spend more of my money. It has honestly never been about reinforcing anything or teaching anyone anything. I leave a good tip as a thank you for taking care of me, and I leave a lesser tip because I'd rather spend my money on something more worthwhile than bad service.
You're really just arguing semantics. If the reason you leave a good tip is to thank them for good service, how is the reason you don't leave a good tip not to tell them you had bad service?
I'm sure the server is all, "oh! I'm sure she'd just rather take that money to the mall!"
Like I said earlier, I just think it's a shitty attitude. You are right that either way the server is going to get the same message, regardless of "why" you leave the tip you leave. I have never left less than a 10% tip so I doubt I am sending any message at all, honestly. I think leaving a super low tip just to really enforce what a crappy server the person was is unnecessary.
You were completely in the right. It sounds like she realized she did a bad job and purposely chose to write you off and go focus on the other tables. She should have checked on you several times to make sure you had drinks, silverware, and something else for your girls to eat while they were waiting on their food. If she did that I still would have tipped 20% because sometimes the kitchen makes mistakes and it is out if her control. Given her reaction, I would have tipped 5-10%. Still something to show that you weren't planning to write her off but not a "good" tip to teach her that if she would have actually focused on you she may have gotten a better tip. Maybe I'm too nice, She really screwed up.
Post by morningmania on Apr 7, 2013 10:11:21 GMT -5
I do not think that you were out of line what so ever. I would have done the same thing. I would have tipped a dollar and left a note. (I left a note and a quarter once)
I am always generous when it comes to tipping for service. I hate having bad service. I do not quite understand never going to a restaurant for one wait person's bad service. If you have had bad service there mutliple times, then I do understand never going back.
There is one waitress at a restaurant we go to in our town. She has always been beyond awesome. Recently the last time we were there we had somewhat bad service from her because she was so busy taking care of a huge table of 15. She acknowledged her mistake immediately, comped our appetizers right away and then brought us free desserts. To me, even though we knew she was busy with a large table, I was happy she apologized immediately and made us happy immediately however she could. She went beyond trying to make up for her mistake. There was never a manager involved.
We receive apologies all the time for bad service but they DO nothing about it. This is what irks me I guess.
Unless there's something you left out, no, you were not even remotely out of line! I don't even know what you think you did that *might* be out of line. You had extraordinarily bad service, and your kids were kept waiting for 30 minutes with no food. If that's not manager-complaint territory, I don't know what is. You were more patient than I would have been.
And no, I would not have left a tip. It wasn't just the kitchen error, it was no silverware, no drink refills, no server for large chunks at a time.
We had service like this at a place here in Cleveland - it had always been good, until one day it was terrible. Our server didn't bring DH's food, and mine was undercooked, so I sent it back. We didn't see a server or a bite of food for at least 20 minutes. We hailed a manager, got our food properly cooked and free, and $40 in GCs for next time. (And no, we didn't leave a tip.) We used the GCs but the service was still fairly bad, and we never went back after that.
That's the thing: I think you can usually tell the difference between someone having a bad day/being new/things going wrong and shitty service. We've probably all had the brand new server who is super nervous and forgets something or have had a kitchen screw up our order at some point. These things happen. When the server is apologetic for mistakes and is genuinely trying, you can tell. I will still tip well if the service wasn't great but effort was clearly being made. The only times I've left a truly shitty tip were when we had obviously lazy or hostile service; fortunately, this has been a pretty rare occurrence.