Do You Wish There Was An Easier Way To Resolve The Issue Of Non-Tippers In Your Restaurant?
I am a big fan of the TV show Friends. Last night I was watching some of the back episodes when this scene came up. In the scene, Ross was having a fit because Leonard, Rachel’s father, didn’t want to give the waiter anything more than 4%. Or was it 8%? Anyway, one or the other.
This struck a chord in me as I sit there watching comfortably on the sofa. I know this restaurant business by heart, and I’m very much aware that there are people who simply refuse to give the waiter a decent tip, even when the service was superb. In the show, it was a funny thing. But it isn’t so funny in real life especially when you’re the one looking down the barrel.
There are two sides to this story.
I did some research. It turns out, most diners actually agree that tipping is always polite and means a lot to the waiter. Waiters don’t get paid much up front. So they rely on tips to make a decent income. “15% is minimum, 20% is better,” says a forumer on the Yahoo! forums.
But for restaurant operators, it’s become a serious problem. I don’t want to generalize, but there really are certain groups who simply don’t tip. Period. My restaurant operator friends tell me they’ve been seeing some serious dissatisfaction on their waiter’s faces regarding this problem.
A simple solution is to impose in an auto gratuity policy for large groups. For example 15% auto gratuity for six diners, with a 2% increase for every additional person. It looks to me like a sound plan, and it is, with a few minor exceptions.
Some waiters don’t like the idea of a fixed auto gratuity. They say, “That customer could’ve tipped me more if there wasn’t a 15% auto gratuity policy written on the menu.” For customers, the idea of an auto gratuity policy always feels somewhat forced. In short, even both parties have problems with this system.
Here’s my take on the issue.
I believe diners should be satisfied with your restaurant’s service, tip or no tip. If a group of six diners enjoyed the experience at your place, then you just made six repeat customers. That’s very good for your business.
About tipping, I also believe that most diners would be more than happy to provide the waiter a generous tip if they were really happy with the service. If they still refused to tip, so okay, they are still going to be repeat customers in the future. You could always pay the waiter a little extra if the group came back and still refused to tip. I doubt you’ll be getting shorthanded in this exchange.
Auto gratuity isn’t a bad idea. But at least give your waiters the option to choose whether they want it imposed or not on a particular customer. In the end, it’s still the customer’s satisfaction that counts.
You know what else I believe in? I still believe there are more Ross’ than Leonards in this world.
May 29th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I’ve run into tipping conundrums because of the state I’m in. For example, I used to live in Pennsylvania, where servers were paid an appalling $2.30. I always tipped at least 20%, sometimes more, and never on a credit card if I could help it. (too often restaurants took 5% of CC tips off the top to pay for the machine). When I moved to Oregon, I realized that I was a complete overtipper, because servers got paid at least $8.50 an hour. I’ve scaled back some, but not much!
June 1st, 2009 at 7:35 am
Hi Erin.
Tipping at restaurants is indeed throwing some people off. The pay for waiting tables changes of course from one establishment to another, not to mention different states! Since waiters in your new neighborhood are paid much more, I’d scale back some too if I were in your shoes.
Thanks for stopping by.
October 31st, 2009 at 4:59 pm
8.50 for server pay thats a great salary. why would it effect the tip though. we tip as a thanks for a service. where i live the servers count on the tips to supplement their salary. without tips they would have no job.