Dear wait-staff person who probably is still pissed at the 10% tip,
Hi, it’s us, that couple with the two kids who were in booth number five. You might remember us as the ones whose orders were wrong…twice. Or maybe we stand out as the couple at table twelve who, when the owner came around asking how things were, asked him to check on the drink refills that we’d asked for when our entrees arrived…fifteen minutes ago. No? Well then you must remember that look of horror your fellow waitperson had when we accosted her to find you, because we’d asked for our check ten minutes ago and you’d disappeared, apparently never to be seen again. Ringing any bells? Maybe we’re the ones who just said everything was fine, all while emanating an air of menace. One of us looked like we wanted to kill, and the other one looked like they just wanted to get the check and get the hell out. I wanted to write to you so that you would know just why you got what you must consider a lousy tip, and further, so that you would realise just how lousy it really was compared to what it could have been. If you were left a note with this strange little URL, one of us was there last night, and you screwed the pooch. This post is to help you avoid the same mistake again.
You see, speaking on behalf of many of your customers, we’ve worked in the restaurant business, in the service industry, for tips before. We know what it’s like to be on your side of the table. How a bad day personally just gives you the ‘screw it’ attitude. How you can be feeling under the weather, but you can’t call out. How you’re missing some epic social event because no one would cover for you, or even just how you’ve been on your feet and busting your arse all day long and are just too tired to put out much effort. We’ve ALL been there before. Frankly, that is why you got the 10% you did.
You see, in this economy, for most of us, going out is a special treat, not a regular occurrence. We want to have a good time, be served good food, and experience good service. In return, you want to be treated with respect, and to be shown appreciation in the form of a good tip. Seems fair to me. But last night, you missed the mark. Here’s a list of the top eleven things most likely to cost you a good tip. They might even lose your boss a good customer. Take them to heart.
11. Not knowing what’s on special, what’s on tap, or what’s on the 86 board.
Unless you work at a specialty restaurant with 20+ beers on tap, you should know what’s on draught. If you don’t, you should have it written down in your orders book. Sure, it might be on the menu, but remember your job is to provide service to the customer. Maybe the lights are too dim or the font is too small for them to read it. Maybe they are just trying to establish a little interaction with you. Maybe they are stalling while they try to make up their mind. Who cares? Know what’s available. Know what’s on special. If it’s on special, tell us in a tone of voice that conveys that it’s special. A mumbling drone is a waste of everyone’s time. Oh, and nothing starts us off on the wrong foot more than finally making a decision, placing the order, and then five minutes later having to do it again because the kitchen ran out of something. If you’re out of something, know it up front and let us know before we’ve made up our minds what we want. By the way, we’d rather you read it off your cheat sheet than fumble through it, no matter what your boss thinks. See #7 for more on that.
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10. Mistaking your current customer for the last jackass.
People suck. Not all of them, but a significant enough a portion that you will likely encounter at least one per shift. If you can’t shake off the last guy before you talk to the next guy, you’re doing it wrong. You’re going to have assholes for customers. I’m sorry, I know it sucks, but there it is. You are working in the service industry. If you can’t deal with this, put it behind you, and look at each customer as a distinct event, you’re in the wrong line of work. Have you considered a lucrative career in sales? Just so you know, same rule applies there.
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9. Bringing a lady a beer in a can or a bottle, but no mug.
Okay, this may be more of a pet peeve of mine than a universal truth, but there are just certain things that you do without asking. One of those is that if a lady orders a beverage that is not ‘on tap,’ you bring her a mug unless she specifically tells you not to. Bottle or can; doesn’t matter. Don’t ask…just do it. For a guy, you ask. Some may find it more manly to forgo a mug, or maybe you want to cut down on how much work the dishwasher has to do, but for a lady, you bring the mug. This rule does not apply to establishments striving for that pre-Dalton Double Deuce atmosphere.
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8. Ignoring the customer/disappearing.
You see how the guy at table three looks like a cross between a giraffe and a meerkat? How he’s stretching as high as he can without actually jumping up on a chair and screaming like a crazed spider monkey? That’s a pretty clear sign that he has given up the whole passively waiting for you shtick, and is now actively trying to get your attention. Maybe he wants something. Maybe you ought to, you know, go check on him.
There are certain key times during a meal that you want to be available to your tables. They are…
-within three minutes of them being seated, even if only to apologise for needing another few moments before you can get to them.
-within sixty seconds of them being served their appetizer/entre/desert
-within two minutes of making eye contact with them.
-if your restaurant makes with the free bread/chips/fries/whatever, get them to the table within two minutes of their drinks, which should be to the table within five minutes of taking the order. Yes, I know, that depends on the bar…I’ve worked the bar. Tell them to STFU and GBTW, you’re waiting because they are flirting.
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7. Not writing the order down.
Look, I really don’t care how smart you are, or how good your recall is, or how trendy it may seem. Unless you are Rainman, or a card-carrying member of Mensa, write my damn order down. Because it doesn’t matter what you say, if what I am served is not what I ordered, I’m blaming you, not the kitchen. No tomatoes, extra mayo, un-sweetened tea, hold the onions, ketchup only, fizbot on the side…the likelihood of you remembering, and getting the order entered correctly, AND the kitchen getting it put together correctly, is going to directly influence the likelihood of you getting a good tip. Seriously, tell your manager. We are not impressed that you have a good memory, but we are very pleased to receive our food, as we ordered it, the first time.
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6. Seating a customer near the ‘town dump.’
Did they fire the bus boys? No? Then consider this the eleventh commandment, and beat it into the host/hostess’s skull. If the table next to where you plan on seating guests hasn’t been bussed within two minutes of seating, then the table should not have been seated. That’s a really awkward sentence. Let me try to put it another way…we won’t accept a table if it is next to the dump. If the bus-boys are too busy to clean the tables, get the manager off his lazy ass and out there to help. I haven’t been willing to eat next to a pile of dirty dishes since my freshman year. It is not acceptable to clear a table by dumping the refuse on another table. Take it to the kitchen, or close that section of the dining room.
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5. Not fixing an incorrect order BEFORE starting on something else.
The customer asked for a side of mayo when they ordered (see #7!). They didn’t bring it out with the meal. You came up to see if everything was okay, and were told it wasn’t. GO FIX IT. Do NOT stop to take another order, do NOT chat with a colleague, or do anything else, until the table that was just served is set. Failure to do this very simple and courteous thing guarantees you a bad tip, period. Hey managers, it also increases the likelihood of losing a customer permanently! If you don’t care that the customer’s order is correct, they won’t care that you depend on your tips to make a decent wage. On a personal note, I tend to calculate the tip by rounding up to the next $5.00 value, and then adjusting the tip up or down around 20% depending on service. Failure to comply with rule number 5 automatically drops you to the 10% starting point. It’s that important. People make mistakes. Good service fixes them quickly.
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4. Letting a drink run dry.
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3. Sitting down next to the customer uninvited.
This is probably more a pet-peeve of the spouse of the same gender as you, as opposed to the opposite gendered, so you may want to disregard this depending on whether or not you can figure out which one is paying. Jealousy is trite, but it is never the less a very real emotion, and it very well will influence your gratuity, even if the tipper doesn’t consciously recognise it. An unofficial and completely non-scientific poll finds that this bugs the ladies more than the men. YMMV.
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2. Not bringing the check when it’s time.
Meal finished? Check. Drinks almost empty? Check. Customer declined another round, a refill, or the desert menu? Check. They asked for a box? Check. Offer to bring the check? CHECK! And let me share a little secret with you…if I start to reach for my wallet as you set the check down…WAIT FOR IT!!! I swear by sweet little infant baby jeebus that the next time you walk away while I am trying to put the damn credit care into the little plastic pocket, I’m going to throw it at you. I have a wicked fast-ball. You’ve been warned.
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1. Blaming the kitchen.
Your fault, my fault, nobody’s fault. It doesn’t matter…you are who is directly interacting with the customer. Get it fixed. If you can’t, get a manager involved before the customer asks for them. If you want to put the blame on the kitchen, have them come out and mea culpa in person, or you can blame them for the bad tip you’ll be receiving. See how far that gets you. Hey managers! If the something is wrong, comp it! Nothing turns pissed off customers into raving fans faster, and you know the margins aren’t worth losing a customer.
There are, of course, two sides to every story. In the interest of fairness, the following video is an attempt to show the other side.
direct link for email and rss readers…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgi7QCu1qAo
If you wish to point a server to this open letter, you can use this link…http://tinyurl.com/heresatip
What are your pet peeves, either as a customer, or as a server?
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Good take on the troubles of finding good wait-staff help. And add to this, I have had some of the best wait-Staff experiances. They account for most of the profession. So this is not to bash the food industry. So I digress
How about the bone head that tells you ” Sorry Mama, we are out of Coke”. At 6 Pm on a Sat night ????? so I ask him in a very polite but gutteral voice, ” well can some one please find some, maybe at the very large Lowes Food store that shares the common firewall with you ??”
So he looks at me and Says ” Well if you realy think I need too”
o_0 WTF !!!!!!!!!
With a gaping mouth wide open and twitching left eye o_0, I can’t beieve what I’m hearing. So I pull him closer to me and say ” What do think, should I go get it my self then tell the manager to write off my wife’s dinner over a can of Coke. Hmmmmm ”
Then he looks back at me and says ” I did’nt think of it that way ” and walks off.
Needless to say Margaret got her can of coke and when he brought it to the table he did have a cold glass for Her.
Just Kill Me !!!!!
Great story! Thanks for sharing.
For a couple of months when I was in Charlotte it felt like I had been cursed by the food gods. EVERY place I went to screwed up my order so much that I didn’t pay for eating out the entire time. Granted, I was upset, unsatisfied and tired of having “chats” with managers, but at least it didn’t hit the pocketbook.
What amazed me (and like Dave C wrote) was the lack of common sense. 50 cent can of Coke or a comped meal? Hmm.. let me think. Specifically with point 8, I’ve had meals that were barely untouched because they were so shitty and the waiter looked at me with a blank stare. Didn’t ask if the meal was ok, just picked it up and went on his way. How thick do you have to be to completely ignore a visual cue like that? Sad thing is that it happens quite often. Makes me wonder what kind of training these folks are getting.