waitress actually asked me for a tip at a buffet

[97guns]

im a chinese buffet aficionado and was at one yesterday, we had a party of 6 and were just finishing up, the waitress brings the check by and i throw my credit card on the tray. she takes the bill and comes back with my receipt, i sign it without leaving the tip. a bit later she takes the tray back with the signed receipt, were just sitting talking for a while and she comes back and says "you know, we didn't add the tip to your bill" at that point everyone in the party starts grabbing for their wallet.

what's your guys view on tipping at a buffet? im not totally against it but they didn't do much except take some plates away, i know they don't make much but that ain't my problem.

i've actually had a chinese lady tell me "leave tip, leave tip" while poking at the table as if she was jamming her finger into my chest.

[disneysteve]

We always tip at buffets. I typically leave $1/person unless it is a particularly costly buffet in which case I may leave a little more. They do clear the dishes and at some buffets they also bring the drinks.

[Petunia 100]

I also tip at buffets, though certainly not 15 - 20%. $1 per person is reasonable, IMO. If I have small children with me and they have made a big mess, I will tip more.

[Mjenn]

Your server makes the same under minimum wage hourly rate for working a buffet as working a dinner service. Yes, they could 'get another job', but instead they are choosing to serve you. It is rude to leave nothing.

When I waited tables our weekend buffets were often the busiest and worst shifts because you worked just as hard for less money. If you do the job right you have to make sure that no one reuses a plate (goes against hygiene codes) which means you need to sniff out when people are finished and get that plate away without offending anyone. If certain drinks are unlimited you are running around doing a ton of refills. I always tip 15-20% even at a buffet.

Your friends should be embarrassed for not tipping on a party of 6 unless the service was a nightmare and you felt the need to complain to management.

[YLTL_Dan]

I usually stick wtih 10% as long as the service is ok.

[scfr]

It's a bit out of a line for a server to demand a tip.
However, I do always tip at a buffet because they clear plates, refill water glasses, serve drinks if you order any, etc. Also, when they don't have to serve the food, they can serve a greater number of customers so the amount tipped per customer doesn't have to be as high as full-service. It's in-between fast food and full-service, so think about tipping something but less than what you would at a full-service restaurant. I think it's the right thing to do.

[~bs]

Your server makes the same under minimum wage hourly rate for working a buffet as working a dinner service. Yes, they could 'get another job', but instead they are choosing to serve you. It is rude to leave nothing.

When I waited tables our weekend buffets were often the busiest and worst shifts because you worked just as hard for less money. If you do the job right you have to make sure that no one reuses a plate (goes against hygiene codes) which means you need to sniff out when people are finished and get that plate away without offending anyone. If certain drinks are unlimited you are running around doing a ton of refills. I always tip 15-20% even at a buffet.

Your friends should be embarrassed for not tipping on a party of 6 unless the service was a nightmare and you felt the need to complain to management.

This is my opinion as well.

You're tipping then BECAUSE they greet you, take away your plates, fill your drinks, etc. This is how they get paid. If you don't want to tip, then eat at home. If you don't tip then essentially you're asking them to be your servant and clean up your mess after you for free. Also, since the tips are most of a waitresses' compensation, they WILL remember a good or a bad tipper.

Not saying it's really a good thing to frequent certain restaurants or bars, but if you do, are a good customer, and tip decently, a lot of times they will show they appreciate the business. For example, there's this medium level bar (in other words, not a dive bar) in town that we go to have a couple beers after work sometimes. We started going to this place when they first opened, and we would be pretty much the only customers in there. So the owner and waitstaff do remember us for that. The last time we went to have some drinks after work a week or so ago, he swings by, drops off a plate of oysters & sushi, and tells us "on the house, customer canceled these orders". Not saying you should expect freebies in exchange for tipping, but just to show you that they do remember you.

I think tipping 10% is a bit on the cheap side, especially if they did provide good service. Say it's a meal for two, cost $50 and dinner took an hour. That means that you had someone available to serve you for an hour, and pay them $2.50 for their services, which is also split with the busboys. Yes, they do service more than 1 table at a time, but just imagine in your line of work, if you was available to assist customers and got paid $2.50 an hour.

I think it's one thing to be frugal, but quite another to be miserly. If you really want to be cheap, then just stay home and eat beans in the dark.

[hamchan]

A large part of my income is in tips. If I notice that a client has signed their receipt without filling in either the tip line or the total I will ask them to complete it. It's for their own protection really since anyone could just write in anything after they leave. Most of the time they will write a tip in at this point, but I would never say anything if they didn't. I think it's pretty rude not to leave a tip if you are happy with the service you got, but I also think it's rude to ask for one or say anything if you don't get one. I make a good income that I am happy with, even with the occasional stiff, but I just don't get why some people think it's totally ok to do this.

[~bs]

A large part of my income is in tips. If I notice that a client has signed their receipt without filling in either the tip line or the total I will ask them to complete it. It's for their own protection really since anyone could just write in anything after they leave. Most of the time they will write a tip in at this point, but I would never say anything if they didn't. I think it's pretty rude not to leave a tip if you are happy with the service you got, but I also think it's rude to ask for one or say anything if you don't get one. I make a good income that I am happy with, even with the occasional stiff, but I just don't get why some people think it's totally ok to do this.

Yeah, I agree with this. The only time it's not expected to tip, and I do not tip in a restaurant is if I do a take out order. You walk into a restaurant, order some things in the restaurant, and have it made to go, NO ONE will have a problem with no tip. But if you sit down, and the restaurant staff is taking orders, bringing out plates, filling drinks, cleaning up after you, etc etc, then you should really tip because it is payment for those services.

[bUU]

I think it's one thing to be frugal, but quite another to be miserly. If you really want to be cheap, then just stay home and eat beans in the dark.

Yes. It is a personal decision to be a saver, and the cost of our personal decisions shouldn't come at the expense of others, but rather be our own sacrifices.

In that same vein, for folks who disagree with the gratuity system, avoiding restaurants is a perfectly reasonable reaction.

[alternativegirl]

they deserve it

theses people work their butts off. they are probably working non stop, preparing food,cleaning up, washing dishes?, returning dishes and silverware to kitchen, refilling drinks and if my group is sitting there chatting after eating no one else can sit there. I leave 15% or more if the food, service was great and I stayed a long time.

[Mjenn]

I would also add that it does say on the menu of many establishments 'We add a 15% gratuity to parties of 6 or more' but to do this is at the discretion of the waiter, and sometimes on parties of 6 servers will not add a gratuity because some people find it offensive.

Your server may have been pointing out that she had not included a gratuity since she may have thought the complete lack of a tip was due to you assuming it was included in the bill. I know I would have first thought a tip of 0 on a 6-top table would be an error rather than just a cheap person and might have said something. But I probably would not have said anything because there are also people who pay with cards and then leave cash tips.

If you did not tip me at all for helping you and a party of 6 I would never serve you again (and my manager accepted this from her staff).

[moneymaker23]

Well, i do give a tip. Depending on how they way they serve. well, waitresses here in our place are not just getting plate, they will be the one to serve the foods and clean the table after every customers are done eating. So, i guess it would be worth giving them just a small tip.

[phantom]

I tend to tip a little at buffets. I usually don't tip as much as I would at a restaurant where the waitstaff has to take my order and bring it to me. But, if someone is making sure my water glass stays full and that the plates I empty are getting cleared away while I'm filling my next plate, I figure that's worth a tip. Of course, if I find myself with an empty glass, and the plates aren't getting cleared away, I'll tip very little. I figure that at any restaurant where I get some service and the quality of that service has an impact on my experience, it makes sense to tip. I also tend to tip the guy who makes sushi at buffets if I special order repeatedly and the sushi is tasty.

The only buffet I don't tip at all at is CiCi's Pizza. You pay when you go in, so it's not like you can tip when you pay. Also, you have to take care of your own drinks, so there's really not much to tip for. I should probably consider tipping the guys who actually make the pizza, especially when they're friendly and offer to specially make a pizza. But, I've never noticed a tip jar or gone out of my way to look for one.

[UnknownXV]

I hate the tiping system in the US. Pay your employees proper wages, even if you have to increase prices on goods and services a bit to compensate. It's just annoying. I don't even know who I am supposed to tip, what's acceptable, etc.. just a headache. Dispense of this.