We have had threads on tipping but I had this experience this weekend and did not know what to tip. And thought BGP would have an opinion.

 

At a pizza restaurant so the server is either teenager or very young twenties.

 

Only about 15 people in the restaurant with 2 waitresses.

 

Takes our order and gets our drinks routine speed. Took for ever to get our pizza and bowl of soup. We had kids size pizza, so we are not talking huge pizzas. Others who came in after us, received their pizza (larges) before us.

 

Never got a refill or even a check. When I went up to pay, she came in from outside and gave me the check. She smelled of cigarette smoke.

 

So, instead of asking if we would like a refill in drinks or getting our pizza to us, she was outside smoking. Having been in a basketball tournament, refilling our drinks would have been nice.

 

Bill was for something and 34 cents. I left the remaining change of 66 cents. Usually on our bill I would have left $5.00 for a $15.00 bill. Earlier in the day, I had done just that at another restaurant.

 

What should you tip when service is unacceptable?

A penny, upside down..

 

Sometimes a dollar and a penny if she's cute..

I would leave a 10-20% tip and let the manager/corporate/franchise owner know about the bad service and the particular server.

I always do at least 15% but I can surely understand why people do less when you get bad service.

Probably just have left the change to make it an even bill. When it's not busy and our waitor/waitress is slow and rude I don't even want to leave a tip sometimes. It's uncalled for and very unprofessional. I've not tipped before in some situations beacuse it was very bad, they should be taught a lesson. Why should I leave them a tip when they didn't do the requirements of their job?

What you tipped was right on. If you leave no tip, they may think you forgot. If you go out of your way to leave a crappy tip, maybe it will make them think about why you did this.

I just leave nothing... IMO there is no reason make a point by leaving a penny because I think they could care less what you think about their service, if they did care they would have served you better. I believe if you get the bare minimum (sometimes even less) in service then your sever should get the minimum, and that’s their hourly wage and not a penny more...

A penny, upside down..

 

Sometimes a dollar and a penny if she's cute..

 

Thats good.

This is alittle off subject but one day me and one of my buddies went to BWW's and we didn't think we would spend as much money as we did. So we end up only having like some 70 cents left, I felt bad but didn't know what to do.

10% if its bad service

It depends on the situation. In your particular situation, I probably wouldn't have thought much about it and left a 10-15% tip. If someone is downright rude and obviously doesn't care (a big difference from somebody who is having a bad day), then it's probably going to be less (I've never had a waiter that I felt that way about though).

 

Sometimes people really are just having a bad day at work, and I can't blame them for that. I'd hate to make it worse for them by leaving a crappy tip. I've been in situations where Murphy's Law is taking place and everything that can go wrong DOES go wrong, and when somebody deliberately does something to make it worse, I go off the deep end. But if somebody does something nice, then things seem so much better.

I would leave a 10-20% tip and let the manager/corporate/franchise owner know about the bad service and the particular server.

 

I would've left her the 20% then complained to management....especially this time of year.

Here's a good one: We were just about done with our meal at a local establishment. A couple a friends walk in and sit down at our table. We stayed and had a couple of adult beverages. When we asked for our bills, there was a little confusion as they had put one of our meals on the wrong bill. After settling the confusion I just left a fifty (bill was around 44.00) on the table and went to get our coats. As we are walking out the door the waitress grabs me and says you forgot your change. I told her the change was hers. She then asks if there was a problem with the food or service. I said no. Then she asks me why I left such acrappy tip then. She sort of caught me off guard with that and I reached in my pocket and gave her another 5. After I got home and had time to think about it, I became upset about the whole thing. I didn't think she should have grabbed me in the doorway and put me on the spot for a couple of more dollars. I called the establishment and told the owner of the situation and told them they had lost a customer. Was I wrong?

If the service is bad, no more than 10%. If there were problems beyond the control of the server, I don't penalize the server and If I get a discount for bad food or service, I usually tip the server based on the original bill.

If the service is really bad, I ask to speak to the manager. If I don't already have my food, I leave after expressing my displeasure. I don't think that it's smart to slam the service before you eat food that was prepared out of your sight.