Ten Tightwad Types

i had lunch with my brother and sister-in-law, and i found out when they had a buy one dinner get one free coupon, they based their tip on the amount of the one dinner, but when i told them that the waitress still had to serve two dinners and wait on two people that they were under tipping her,it took a minute for it to sink in but they got it.

Good for you for telling them!

We had Girls Nite Out a few weeks ago & went here:

http://www.thechancery.com/index2.htm

We warned the waitress that she would want to seat us away from the other patrons, that we would be loud & staying awhile, talking. She sat us out of the way & we had a good time, except it made me realize I can't stand eating out w/my friend S. Every time we go there she orders a wrap sandwich that hasn't been on the menu in 2 years. (They still make it for her though!!) Then the waitress kinda left us to our own devices as far as refills on drinks & it took a realllllllly long time to get our food, both the appetizer & the actual meal. S waited til the rest of us left the table & & took 2 bucks from the tip, leaving her a $5 tip for a $60+ bill!!!!! Now I don't think she deserved 20%, but $5 was unacceptable.

My friend K went back to leave some more money. I have fantasies where S s forced to wait tables & gets herself as a customer.

StrickenDetective,
The Chancery has changed their menu numerous times during the last 5-10 years. Originally, they were known for great burgers, but then they started expanding their menu. Every time they changed their menu, they increased their prices, and their service declined. The Cheeseburger in Paradise is the only item I'll order, if I ever go back.

Hey CSD

I've been there several times, they have a spinach salad w/steak on it that's good, but even that they had to mess with, putting roasted potato pieces on it at one point. They have a mac & cheese dish that is on the salty side, but to DIE FORRRRR. And on St Patty's day they made something called a Sassy Redhead. Of course I had to order it! Corned beef, red potatoes, scrambled eggs, hot sauce, shredded cheddar, green onion & a dollop of sour cream. It was great, like something you'd get at a greasy spoon. Service in the bar is not that great though & the ever changing menu is a bit disconcerting.

I have to bump this thread, guys. I posted this in the thread about Kenosha, Wisconsin, too.

We ate @ Frank's Diner yesterday. It's a Kenosha institution. My dad used to eat there, because he had a paper route. My uncle, too. All the paperboys ate there, I guess. It's right down the street from the Kenosha News. So I had high hopes.

WORST.

SERVICE.

EVER.

We didn't leave a tip. I ALWAYS leave at least a couple of bucks.

She didn't deserve it.

We ordered our food, she completely disregarded what I asked for (Sausage & Mozzarella Garbage Plate, easy on the potatoes. Next time I will just order it w/o them) then set our food down in front of us and never came back!!!

I've heard before that waitresses don't like waiting on women dining alone, or women in a group, because we allegedly don't tip well. That offends me. It's not because we're women. It's because the service is $h!tty. Your tip is partially dependent on whether or not you keep my drink filled. Ice sitting all alone in my glass for 35 minutes whilst you flap your gums is not acceptable. Yes, yes she was waiting on other people, they even had a big party in the back room that I think she waited on, too. BUT. She passed our table several times while doing other things, w/o so much as a "How ya doin'?" or even a "F*** you" would've been preferable to being ignored.

I don't want to be one of those a$$h*les who tells the waitstaff before I sit down, "Your tip is 50% dependent on not letting my drink get empty." But I'm thinking I ought to start.

So just be warned, if you go there, they are under new management. The Frank family sold it 4 years ago. I might give them another try, I might not.

What I want to know now is, what would YOU have done???

quote:

Originally posted by stricken_detective

What I want to know now is, what would YOU have done???

I would have said something before things got so out of hand that you were leaving no tip. If she walked by, she was in close enough range to be called over to refill a drink. There is no excuse for poor service, but there are ways of handling a situation on the spot, too. My experience has been, if I ask nicely for a drink refill once, I usually don't have to ask a second time.

Steve

I don't think waving at the waitress and asking "could I get some more tea?" is unusual. I do it all the time and it nearly always produces the desired result. And I don't think the problem is single women. I think it's single diners, because I'm not a woman but I often feel like I'm getting paid less attention than larger groups of people. But I don't normally take it personally. The fact is a single diner usually doesn't require much once they have their food. "Not much" however is admittedly not the same as zero and the better servers remember to check "how ya doin'?" periodically. But many don't and then I just wave (or shout if necessary) at them. Having to do that does not reduce the tip from me. It would cut it drastically if they ignore me no matter what I do, but I can't recall that happening.

My brother is a waiter in a large Chicago convention hotel, and tells me that most of the servers no longer assume that ladies do not tip well. I agree that servers are working for tips and we should be tipping them. I also agree that undertipping somewhere you go often is akin to asking for spit in your soup. However, I find it frustrating when I'm out with my brother, we experience lousy service, and he still wants to tip 20%.

quote:

Originally posted by scbuzz

I'm another in the 20% category ! Sometimes I round it off to the nearest highest dollar amount if the service is pretty good (or the waitress is really cute ) or both !!!!

For Amber, the little witch at Cracker Barrel who hit on my husband in front of me and then practically dumped my food in my lap, a dollar. ......... I'm an all or nothing type, poor service gets nothing but I can adapt, if the waitress/waiter is obviously swamped and at least attempts drink refills. I've gotten in trouble over the size of tip more then once because the waitress was more eyecandy than efficent. On a recent trip to a local eatery the extremely friendly waitress really steamed the wife, resting her hand on my shoulder, flashing her not umimpressive decollage, referring to me as babe/sweetheart and the mrs as May'am.. (I can still get her going with a "Yes MAY'AM")