Stupid restaurant tip question

[mitsu_3kgt_ads]

This has nothing to do with cars and is pretty long so here's the deal. I had dinner yesterday with my gf and her friend at Applebee's. I was strapped for cash so I payed with my Visa debit card. The total that was printed on my receipt for food was $45.88. I didn't put the tip on the card because I left the waiter a crisp ten dollar bill on the table. I was going over my checking account online today and I see that I was actaully charged $55.05. :x I checked the math and that was a 20% increase than what was shown on my receipt. This was my first time ever paying with my card at a restaurant. Here's my question, is it customary for the tip to be included on the bill when you pay with a card? There was a section on the receipt I signed for a tip but i left it blank becuase i left a cash.

[deth]

no, its definately not customary for the waiters to take their own tip!!!....its likely since u lef tthe tip field blank, that the waiter felt obliged to write in their own tip... in future you should cross it out just to make sure that cant happen

[mitsu_3kgt_ads]

Dammit, I guess I left that fumbling idiot a 20 dollar tip. Maybe if he had done a better job I wouln't have minded so much but he was horrible. Oh well, lesson learned. :cry:

[cho_888]

In Australia, no body really gives tips. No body ever expects you to but on occasions you may. When i went to the US everyone made such a big bloody deal out of it.

[stracing]

chinese restaurants in australia make a bill deal

hell..hong kong just includes it in the bill. on the bottom you'll see a 10% surcharge. after that you expected to leave a bit more

but i always leave a tip even if it for a cup of coffee in a cafe

[geekdiggy]

idunno about the countries you folks live in but here in the states most (not all) restaurants high and low include the tips in the bill. different restaurants charge a certain percentage of the check for the tip, some charge as high as 40% (which is a BIG fuckin deal). next time check the check (hehe) to see if the tip is included in the bill.

[cho_888]

nar its not like that down under, its rare to find places like htat. Some places expect tips and you give them, but if you dont all you get is a cold look when you walk out the door.

When we went to this pizza place in new yourk the wanted 40% tip because we had 5 people sitting on the table, thats just insain

[dropot2]

In Catalonia there's no obligation to give tips...If you want and you think that the waiter has done a good service you can give him/her a tip...
On the other hand, I was surprised when I started my job and some people gave me tips. I work in a cinema helping people to find their seats and obviously they don't have to give me anything...however, I never say no :wink:
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VOLVO V70 PICTURE (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Volvo_V70)

[geekdiggy]

If you want and you think that the waiter has done a good service you can give him/her a tip...

exactly. see i wish it were that way around here. people here give tips out of moral obligation, almost as though they'd feel guilty if they didn't (except for the cold hearted fuckers of course)

[TT]

Dang what a shitty situation! I always put something in the tip field when I pay with the credit card just because I'm used to that... of course I always wondered if one day somebody will add a "1" in front of what I put, or a 0 at the end LOL... but never happened..

IMO you should go back there and let the guy know you found out.. probably they will deny everything, but maybe they would stop doing such thing.. if they do it it's because probably 9/10 customers don't notice on their credit card bill... if you make them aware that you actually noticed, maybe this could help other customers... not that 10 USD is the end of the world, but fuck with such method at the end of the year the smartass would buy a Ferrari!

[dropot2]

If you want and you think that the waiter has done a good service you can give him/her a tip...

exactly. see i wish it were that way around here. people here give tips out of moral obligation, almost as though they'd feel guilty if they didn't (except for the cold hearted fuckers of course)

Well, here it starts to happen that people feel guilty if they didn't give a tip, but it isn't already an obligation...but i still continue to act in the same way as I used: good service=good tip
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Honda Nsr250R Specifications (http://www.honda-wiki.org/wiki/Honda_NSR250R)

[BADMIHAI]

good service=good tip



Fucking aye! Bad service: suck my balls!

[Anonymous]

i have been to resturants were they do take a tip out. but it usually was on a big party or a realy high bill, or a super nice place. but never at applebee's

you should go down there and give the waiter a 10dollar ass beating.
If its a girl then give the manager one and have your GF beat her ass.

[monabonejakon2002]

If it's a girl, and she's hot.....gonna get a great tip....

anyway, find out if gratuity is included...if not, I would go back and kick the dudes ass.

I usually tip 20-40%. Most of the time these people work very hard, and everyone splits the tips...waiters, buses, hosts, cooks etc...

[mit5005]

I heard that if u use a card but give cash for the tip, ur supposed to put 0.00 in the tip section. I always use cash so i wouldnt really know. My grandmother went to Spain a while ago and she said that when she tipped the waiter, he was shocked. I guess its not customary over there. Well at least that guy that gipped you didnt put like 50 in the tip section.

[Garretts_turbo]

id go back and see what happened. applebees always creeps me out everytime i go there, though. too much flair!! :lol: (office space)
where im from (michigan) it depends on the restaurant and what youre paying with. if you charge, some places leave in a space to tip, some dont. guess you just gotta check
:roll: tipping is stupid, though...

[rossc83]

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression tipping in the States was to make up for the lousy pay rates for most restaurant staff.
Here it used to be tip if you thought the service deserved it but now it seems even bad/rude waiters expect a tip.

[Anonymous]

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression tipping in the States was to make up for the lousy pay rates for most restaurant staff.
Here it used to be tip if you thought the service deserved it but now it seems even bad/rude waiters expect a tip.

yea ur wrong

tipping in the States is to make up for the lousy pay rates for most restaurant staff.

not what you said :lol:

things are also very very expensive over here. new york cigs are 8 dollars a pack.

[Anonymous]

WOW Realy. is food expensive to food at fast food places is from 4-7 dollars for a meal hamburger fires and a drink

[robruf]

I would go back and ask to speak with the owner because that is fraud and the waiter stole from you, it is not his property to touch and to give himeself a tip from your account, that is stealing outright. He/she will probably get fired but they stole from you, it doesn't matter that it was only $10 USD. I hope that you kept a copy of that reciept from Appleby's, that way bring it in with you and show that you didn't leave a tip, and for future reference always cross out the tip line if you leave a tip on the table. Just last night I went out for dinner with a buddy for steak, total came to $285 and we tipped 15%.

I have eaten at all the best restaurants in the USA (The French Landry, Valentino's, Peter Luger, Nobu, Smith&Wollensky's, Le Bernadin, etc...) and none of them charged a 40% tip, as 15% - 20% is good anyway. If restaurants are going to charge you a gratuity or include in the total price it has to be written on the menu or told to you in advance, otherwise you don't have to pay it, tell them to go and suck themselves off or something. They are just ripping you off and this has to stop in the USA. Never happened to me in Paris, London, or anywhere else either.

[Anonymous]

tell them to go and suck themselves off or something



yea

i'll give them a tip
"dont bet on slow horses"

[mitsu_3kgt_ads]

I did keep a copy of the receipt. It did state in the menu that the tip would be included in the bill if the party was over nine people, not three. What pissed me off was that I thought I was being more than generous by leaving him a ten dollar tip when he did such a lousy job. Then he feels the need to steal ten bucks from me. :x I know its just $10 dollars but it's the principal that counts. I am going to go over tomorrow and see what bullshit story they can come up with.

[Junk2006]

Motherfucker you should kill his family and than kill him that way he before he is dead he will have learned his lesson

[robruf]

Let us know what happens when you go back tomorrow, threaten them with a lawsuit as they are responsible for all of their employee's actions, so that means that you can sue the Appleby corporation and be driving a nice new Murceilago by next week, good luck to you.

[geekdiggy]

Here it used to be tip if you thought the service deserved it but now it seems even bad/rude waiters expect a tip.

that's pretty much how it is. people are self conscious about it too; they think "if i don't give a tip, my friends/date will think i'm cheap" but they also think "if i tip this lousy service they'll continue to be lousy." on the otherhand the waiter/waitress is thinking "if he doesn't give me a tip he's a cheap shit" but they also think "if he DOES give me a tip i'm one happy shit, even if i was lousy". in hawaii it's very very very rare to see someone not leave a tip, usually it's because the consumer can sympathize with the difficulties of waiting tables, but generally it's because most of us are very very hospitable people :)

[BADMIHAI]

because most of us are very very hospitable people



I'm glad you included "MOST". :wink:

[tanelvali]

hell yeah... i tip sexy waitresses even when I'm not ardering anything.. not often, but sometimes i have done that... :)

[mitsu_3kgt_ads]

Well, I dropped in at Applebee's today with a copy of the receipt and a printout of my bank statement. I spoke to the manager and showed him the discrepancy between the receipt and my bank statement. He apologized and said he would take care of it. The waiter who attended me wasn't there. I would have loved to hear his excuse. :) I checked my statement online recently and there was a credit for $9.17 pending. Problem solved. :D

[deth]

well done :mrgreen: any word as to what happened to the waiter?

[geekdiggy]

because most of us are very very hospitable people



I'm glad you included "MOST". :wink:

and i also included "US". :wink:

[robruf]

Way to go Mitsu, glad you are getting your money back. This is a good lesson for everyone, don't be afraid ever to go after what you deserve as you will get it.

[TT]

Indeed, perfect :)

[possessed_beaver]

thats very wrong and un-ethical, most people would probley not give a shit enough to chase it up, but you did, and it worked out alright.

im rely rely lucky here in australia we don't tip, personaly im totaly against it, but then again i haven't been brought up tipping people.

[Junk2006]

I think my idea about torturing the waiters family was more civilized but your way was good too

[Anonymous]

well its tuesday did you get your money back

[ae86_16v]

I remember that happened to me once. I was at a BBQ place, Everette and Jones, and I ordered take out. Next thing I know I had a 10.00 charged on my AMEX for tip. I called them up, asked for the managered and asked if it was customery for them for charge 10.00 bucks tip on take out charge. Of course they admited their mistake and refunded our money.

Another time, I had the waiter follow me out the door asking for more tip. That is just ridiculous. "Sir, you only gave me 8%." I responsed "In reality, you weren't even worth 8%." And just kept on walking.

We also got some restuarants that doesn't even give tips to their waiters/waitress. If you leave a tip, the owner gets it.

But here, in the United States it is pretty much customery to tip 15%. Nice restaurants you are really looking at 18% to 20%. Even when the service is terrible, I usually tip less than 8% just to let them know they didn't do a really good job. But see, I don't know if they think I am just cheap or that they didn't think they did a good job.

No, but you guys are right in everywhere else out side the US. Tipping should be extra on top of the regular bill. And it should be given only when service deserves it.