Ten Tightwad Types

Attempted to post this a bit earlier but wound up with incorrect web link, so will try again. Anyway, found this article, and particularly the definitions of the ten tightwad types of dinner companions, to be both rather interesting and amusing. Wonder if you might recognize some of the types, as I readily did.

http://www.bankrate.com/nsc/news/cheap/tightwad/wimpy.asp

I have one friend who always pulls out his "tip card" when the bill comes to make sure he doesn't leave a nickel more than 15%. But he considers 15% to be the maximum and deducts from there if the serve wasn't truly memorable, or if it's easier to tip 13% because of the combination of bills in his wallet. On more than one occasion, I've either "forgotten something" at the table or walked out behind him so I could slip an extra bill onto the pile.

I tend to use 20% as my base, which is arguably too high. Although, in NYC at least, I believe it's fairly standard at this point.

We live in Northern New Jersey and we use 20% as our base also.

I know someone who tips only on the pre tax amount.

I normally tip 15-20%. If service was exceptional I would go to 25%. If service was extremely poor, I don't tip at all, this has probably happened on one or two occasions.

I generally tend towards 20%, but this is based on the bill before tax, as is customary.

I've heard it remarked that you should always observe how a date treats the waitstaff, as that is how you will come to be treated by this person after marriage.

We usually tip around 20% of the check total. We try to give the server the benefit of the doubt most of the time, but if the service is lousy, we're not averse to leaving 10-15%. Only once in my life have I ever left a $1 tip for bad service, although I know some people who will leave 2 pennies on the table to get their point across. These same folks have printed business cards that read, "The tip would be bigger if the service were better."

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43
[Only once in my life have I ever left a $1 tip for bad service, although I know some people who will leave 2 pennies on the table to get their point across. These same folks have printed business cards that read, "The tip would be bigger if the service were better."

As someone who has spent a great deal of his life in food service industries (although, except bartending in college, not really as a server) I feel like someone who is prepared to drop two cents on a table with a card explaining their reasons for doing it is out looking for trouble and in all liklihood not exactly the most pleasant customer to deal with from the get go. This would be the same kind of customer that shows up five or ten minutes after a clearly posted closing time, walks past the host stand, and seats himself in an empty restaurant and waits for someone to tell him that the place is done for the night and then starts an argument with the server about it.

If you don't want to tip because the service is truly substandard (and that the poor service directly related to the server and not extenuating circumstances out of the servers control) then by all means tip low or maybe not at all if the service is that bad. But generally servers make virtually nothing by the hour and are working their asses off for whatever the tipping whims of the customer happen to be for that day, and in my opinion, generally deserve a little something for their trouble.

Just for the record, I usually shoot for 20% for table service and 15% for counter service (lunch counter type stuff, Waffle House, etc.). More if the service is complicated or outstanding (fine dining only)

quote:

Originally posted by Mayhaw Man

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43
[Only once in my life have I ever left a $1 tip for bad service, although I know some people who will leave 2 pennies on the table to get their point across. These same folks have printed business cards that read, "The tip would be bigger if the service were better."

As someone who has spent a great deal of his life in food service industries (although, except bartending in college, not really as a server) I feel like someone who is prepared to drop two cents on a table with a card explaining their reasons for doing it is out looking for trouble and in all liklihood not exactly the most pleasant customer to deal with from the get go. This would be the same kind of customer that shows up five or ten minutes after a clearly posted closing time, walks past the host stand, and seats himself in an empty restaurant and waits for someone to tell him that the place is done for the night and then starts an argument with the server about it.

If you don't want to tip because the service is truly substandard (and that the poor service directly related to the server and not extenuating circumstances out of the servers control) then by all means tip low or maybe not at all if the service is that bad. But generally servers make virtually nothing by the hour and are working their asses off for whatever the tipping whims of the customer happen to be for that day, and in my opinion, generally deserve a little something for their trouble.

Just for the record, I usually shoot for 20% for table service and 15% for counter service (lunch counter type stuff, Waffle House, etc.). More if the service is complicated or outstanding (fine dining only)

MAYHAW MAN: I agree wholeheartedly with your opinion about some people who leave will leave a 2 cent tip along with that nasty card just to cause trouble. These are the same ones who probably are "extra fussy" about their food--so much so, that they do nothing but complain and then try to get the manager to comp part of their check. There are definitely people like that. But the last time I saw the 2 cent thing done was when I went out to lunch with a friend some time ago. The perpetrators were a couple of businessmen at a nearby table. (We did not share the same server.) They were polite to their server, ate their lunch quietly, paid their bill...I was stunned when I saw one of them plink two pennies and one of those cards on the table. I want to give the businessmen the benefit of the doubt on this one...they were obviously displeased about something and felt that a 2 cent tip was necessary to get their point across. But if it were me, I'd never leave 2 cents. Maybe 10%. But if it was a place I frequented often, I'd be scared to do the 2 cent or even 10% thing, because I wouldn't want "biological matter" to end up in my soup, salad, entree, etc. the next time I ate there.

quote:

Originally posted by Mayhaw Man

Just for the record, I usually shoot for 20% for table service and 15% for counter service (lunch counter type stuff, Waffle House, etc.). More if the service is complicated or outstanding (fine dining only)

I'm a 20 percent guy. But I do tip higher for a cup of coffe at a Waffle House, and such. Usually, if I go in and have a cup or two I'll tip the same amount as the check. I figure I'm taking up space, and the waiter or waitress shouldn't be penalized for my tiny check.

I need to amend that post and agree with M Hoffman, if it is just a couple of bucks I usually leave a buck or so. Quarters just don't go so far these days.

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 !!!!

I have very infrequently left low tips to show disatisfaction with service. Ironically, one of those times was last week. After waiting for 30 minutes in a not-so-crowded restaurant and not yet having an appetizer, I finally got my waiter's attention. His response was that there was a party in the back which was taking a lot of their time. Well, I said, you should have explained that to me in advance. His response? "Look, that's the way it is. There's nothing I can do about it." Then, he walked away. And when it was time to clear out table following our appetizers, he took one plate at a time to his station.

He suddenly become very friendly when I was settling the bill. I left a 10-percent tip, and made a call to the manager -- whom we knew because we'd held a 40-person dinner party there in February! I hope we didn't cause other diners to have slow service.

Like others, I'm a 20% guy, having worked in several restaurants & knowing how abysmally servers are paid. However, today I understand that the minimum pay for staff is the difference between their tips & the regular minimum wage. No matter: it's still low. For bad service I may go to 10%; but in the small town where I live I know enough staff that I can just tell them if they weren't up to par. On rare occasion I may call the owner--again, I know most of them around here.

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 !!!!

Ditto, scbuzz.

Funny link, Liketoeat.

quote:

Originally posted by Mayhaw Man
As someone who has spent a great deal of his life in food service industries (although, except bartending in college, not really as a server) I feel like someone who is prepared to drop two cents on a table with a card explaining their reasons for doing it is out looking for trouble and in all liklihood not exactly the most pleasant customer to deal with from the get go. This would be the same kind of customer that shows up five or ten minutes after a clearly posted closing time, walks past the host stand, and seats himself in an empty restaurant and waits for someone to tell him that the place is done for the night and then starts an argument with the server about it.

The card is inexcusable, yes. But as someone else who has worked in food service, you're damn right I'm going to leave a five-cent tip if I have a rude, surly, or just plain incompetent server, and I'm also going to stop at the hostess station and ask for a word with the manager if the situation warrants it. It's generally pretty easy to see if there's been a foul-up in the kitchen -- which servers are always happy to fix, because it gives them a chance to yell at the cook staff, which is a reversal of the usual order of things -- and it's always clear if the place is a madhouse and your server is about thirty seconds away from bursting into tears. But I'm sorry, there are times when the person serving your food is just plain screwing it all up, either out of incompetence or malice. And if that's the case, they don't deserve to be rewarded for doing a suck-ass job.

quote:

Originally posted by Mayhaw Man

Originally posted by KimChee43
If you don't want to tip because the service is truly substandard (and that the poor service directly related to the server and not extenuating circumstances out of the servers control) then by all means tip low or maybe not at all if the service is that bad. But generally servers make virtually nothing by the hour and are working their asses off for whatever the tipping whims of the customer happen to be for that day, and in my opinion, generally deserve a little something for their trouble.

I agree (I thought I made that clear, but maybe I missed). The point I was trying to make is that I see a few people (like those people mentioned by Kim Chee) who go into a restaurant looking for a fight. The same people carrying the card are likely to be finger snapping, food sending back, can I see the manager to voice my incredibly inane complaint?, types. Most of us know that when something is really bad, you don't pay to encourage more of the same. Maybe it's my home training, but I generally just quietly leave and never come back, preferring to let my wallet do the talking. Life is too short to spend a great deal of it making public displays of "holier than thou ness" just because the soup is cold and the server decided to drive to 7-11 and back during your meal service, leaving you stranded at your table.

Although there do seem to be a group of people (centered mainly around the Northeastern Seaboard apparently) who actually not only go to restaurants where the servers are rude and haughty.....they go out of their way to get to be first in line and revel in rudeneess and ill manners. I must admit, I don't get it.

While visiting my grandmother in a small Oklahoma town, my sisters an assorted cousins would be dropped off down on main street to go to the show and then to the drug store for cherry cokes etc.. and just hanging around town like you used to could do. ANYWAY, when it came time to pony-up, my cousin could never get her purse open. It was always a tricky clasp or something. She would make such a scene we would just pay to get her to shut up.

We paid her back as adults though when a huge group of us ate at a catfish house, one of my cousins privately asked the waitress to present her with the bill and we all told her how nice of it was to have offered to pay.

I'm a 20%er--partly because I was a waitress once and know how hard a job it is, partly because that's the easiest math I can do. For rude service, 10% of the pre-tax amount. 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've been known to tip more than 100% for coffee and a pastry when they've been especially kind to me or let me sit in a booth and write for a long time.

quote:

Originally posted by CoreyEl

I'm a 20%er--partly because I was a waitress once and know how hard a job it is, partly because that's the easiest math I can do. For rude service, 10% of the pre-tax amount. 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've been known to tip more than 100% for coffee and a pastry when they've been especially kind to me or let me sit in a booth and write for a long time.

Um...this Amber...what she look like?

Just trying to get the full picture....and to see if it's worth a roadtrip to Arkansas ("Uh, honey, I've got to fly to Arkansas for work...no, not Wal-Mart...Cracker Barrel....")

I normally tip 20 percent at moderately or higher priced restaurants. When I encounter wait service that comes across as angry or hostile I lower the tip accordingly. One exception is when I eat in diners. I almost always tip 25 or more percent since the check is usually reasonably priced and the wait staff, usually women, work hard and most times are pleasant trying to please people.

Wife and I ate at a Big Boy in Charlotte, Michigan last Sun nite. The young lady who was our server confessed early on that it was only her second day on the job. She could have fooled me though. She did a far better job that some who have been on the job far, far longer. Things were a little shaky at times to be sure, but we left her a nice tip anyway. She made up for any lack of experience with a very sincere attitude

On the other hand, we have been shunned by servers several times because we declined to order desert and/or coffee after a meal. In many of these instances the tip shrinks in direct porportion to the degree of indifference shown by the server. Even such simple requests as catsup for my fries or a refill of my waterglass tend to show the competence or lack thereof of the server. Trust me I will tip for decent service, but if it ain't there, sucks for that person. Sound harsh? Probably, but I feel that I am entitled to a basic minumum of service to say the least.

Wally
Plattsburgh, NY

I am usually a 20%er but will go a bit higher when given really great service, never leave less than a dollar. I have been know to leave 5 -10% of the bill for bad service. Since I frequently dine alone, I have in more than one instance run into the situation where the server practically falls over another table because of a larger party while pretty much ignoring me. This is not bad service due to the kitchen but just plan bad service. I have even left restaurants that deal with me differently because I am a lone diner, thankfully this is not as common as it used to be. I actually had one restaurant refuse to seat me until the rest of my party arrived!!

quote:

Originally posted by ocdreamr

I am usually a 20%er but will go a bit higher when given really great service, never leave less than a dollar. I have been know to leave 5 -10% of the bill for bad service. Since I frequently dine alone, I have in more than one instance run into the situation where the server practically falls over another table because of a larger party while pretty much ignoring me. This is not bad service due to the kitchen but just plan bad service. I have even left restaurants that deal with me differently because I am a lone diner, thankfully this is not as common as it used to be. I actually had one restaurant refuse to seat me until the rest of my party arrived!!

You know, that is something not yet brought up in this thread. Back in the 90's (I'm sure some of you remember back in the good old days when business travel was still o.k. with the boss, the only time you wanted to take off your shoes was on the plane to relax, and your Dell stock had just split for the third time at $90) I traveled just short of 1/2 million miles in 5 years. I spent most of it doing consulting work on small breweries and spent alot of time eating alone in all kinds of restaurants (from expense account places to chip shops in small Irish villages to Pulpaterias in Baja under awnings (mmmm, cocketelas))

I came to the conclusion that no matter how you looked or behaved, service is never going to be proper with one person. he server is going to be mad because you are taking up space and not spending as much as two or 4. So one of two things generally happen 1) Everything hits your table instantly and you eat the worlds fastest meal because the server just wants to turn the table 2)You get completely ignored because the server is busy with big tables. I am pretty sure you can't win either way.

My solution was to try to eat at the bar wherever possible. Bartenders are generally glad to serve you (especially if you order a beverage or two and leave a genorous tip right off the bat)because a meal at a barstool in a decent rest. is going to be worth more in a tip (to the barman) than a guy having a pint.Besides, you can usually find a local or two to chat up while you wait on your meal, and if you are stranded by yourself in the middle of the dining room all you can do is sit a fiddle with your table ware or read (always my choice, I like to read while I eat anyway). THe only place this is a sure fire bad plan is in Ireland. It is impossible to eat your meal because the lads are usually so friendly (and interested in you and your reason for being in their little one pub village) that you can't eat. But generally, after a few pints of soup (as Beamish is known) or a couple of Guiness's, you don't care anyway.

If you are ever lonely in Ireland and need a chat, here is a surefire solution to your problem: Go into a pub and order a pint. WHile you are waiting on your pint (it takes a few minutes in the land of the proper pint) ask the guy next to you if he has any relatives in America (he does, trust me). You will have started a conversation that will lead you to a conversation guaranteed to include keep you and the rest of the place involved and entertained until last call.

I'm a heavy drinker, either iced tea or diet coke. I usually let the server know right up front that the TIP is porportional to the level of my glass. If they can keep up with me, 20% or more. If not, things start to go downhill. I too have worked in the foodservice industry and I use a sliding scale. They start at 20% and can go up or down from there.

I'm also an itemizer and have known it for a long time. I almost always insist on a seperate check for me and mine.

For servers we like, we try to leave the TIP in cash, even when paying by plastic. No paper trail that way. They can claim what their concise tells them to.

quote:

Originally posted by Mayhaw Man

quote:

Originally posted by ocdreamr

I am usually a 20%er but will go a bit higher when given really great service, never leave less than a dollar. I have been know to leave 5 -10% of the bill for bad service. Since I frequently dine alone, I have in more than one instance run into the situation where the server practically falls over another table because of a larger party while pretty much ignoring me. This is not bad service due to the kitchen but just plan bad service. I have even left restaurants that deal with me differently because I am a lone diner, thankfully this is not as common as it used to be. I actually had one restaurant refuse to seat me until the rest of my party arrived!!

You know, that is something not yet brought up in this thread. Back in the 90's (I'm sure some of you remember back in the good old days when business travel was still o.k. with the boss, the only time you wanted to take off your shoes was on the plane to relax, and your Dell stock had just split for the third time at $90) I traveled just short of 1/2 million miles in 5 years. I spent most of it doing consulting work on small breweries and spent alot of time eating alone in all kinds of restaurants (from expense account places to chip shops in small Irish villages to Pulpaterias in Baja under awnings (mmmm, cocketelas))

I came to the conclusion that no matter how you looked or behaved, service is never going to be proper with one person. he server is going to be mad because you are taking up space and not spending as much as two or 4. So one of two things generally happen 1) Everything hits your table instantly and you eat the worlds fastest meal because the server just wants to turn the table 2)You get completely ignored because the server is busy with big tables. I am pretty sure you can't win either way.

My solution was to try to eat at the bar wherever possible. Bartenders are generally glad to serve you (especially if you order a beverage or two and leave a genorous tip right off the bat)because a meal at a barstool in a decent rest. is going to be worth more in a tip (to the barman) than a guy having a pint.Besides, you can usually find a local or two to chat up while you wait on your meal, and if you are stranded by yourself in the middle of the dining room all you can do is sit a fiddle with your table ware or read (always my choice, I like to read while I eat anyway). THe only place this is a sure fire bad plan is in Ireland. It is impossible to eat your meal because the lads are usually so friendly (and interested in you and your reason for being in their little one pub village) that you can't eat. But generally, after a few pints of soup (as Beamish is known) or a couple of Guiness's, you don't care anyway.

If you are ever lonely in Ireland and need a chat, here is a surefire solution to your problem: Go into a pub and order a pint. WHile you are waiting on your pint (it takes a few minutes in the land of the proper pint) ask the guy next to you if he has any relatives in America (he does, trust me). You will have started a conversation that will lead you to a conversation guaranteed to include keep you and the rest of the place involved and entertained until last call.

Too sociable for a New Orleanian? Is that possible? New Orleans is the only place I've ever been where the bartender asks my name and proceeds to introduce me to everyone in the bar!

I deliver pizza part-time, which is a nice, low-stress job. My tips range from nothing to super generous. Ironically, it seems that the biggest tips are for deliveries that are 3 or 4 blocks away. Drive across town, and the tip shrinks.

I would like to share with y'all the most appalling tip behavior I have ever witnessed.

During the summer my daughter plays A level tournament softball which requires us to travel to various tournaments in Texas, usually staying in hotels.

We generally go to meals as a group, with the parents sitting together and all the girls on the team at a seperate table (think IHOP). We order by having the waitress take the adult order first and giving her the number on our daughters jersey to place on our ticket which works very well for the server and the parent.

The the very first time I was at one of these meals, I could not believe how some of these teenaged girls behaved, loud voices, throwing food, disturbing other diners, and even rude behavior to the staff. My daughter caught my eye from her place with a look of stunned shock at the incredible behavior. Meanwhile, the other moms just continued on with their gossip and meals, occasionally making little "girls will be girls"remards. ( if it had been my daughter behaving like that, you better believe she wouldn't have done it again!)

Anyway, after the meal the women I had been sitting with got up and left and NO TIP! I asked my daughter if a tip had been left on her table (about 10 girls) and NO! I left $15 on each table as it was all the cash that I had on me.

I was really surprised at this behavior as they are generally nice ladies and even went so far as to think perhaps it was just an oversight due to fatigue.

Next meal, same behavior, so at the end of the meal I mentioned out loud that everyone should chip in on the tip. You would have thought I had two heads, but everyone grudgingly left a dollar or so. Once again, no tip on team table except for the two dollars my daughter had left.

I have never been so embarrased to be associated with a group before.

St. Louis, I'm also a delivery guy for a local pizzeria. People are so hard to figure out, I've found that I can't really predict who are going to be big tippers. I've had people in trailer parks load me up and people in mansions stiff me.

In restaurants, I'm a high tipper. I take several things in account when I calculate my tip for the server. 1) Service. 2) How long have we been holding up the table after the meal 3) How busy is the restaurant 4) The behavior of other guests my server is dealing with 5) The behavior of my friends that I am dining with. Some of my friends have been known to accidentally frazzle waitstaff.

LONE STAR: What a classy lady you are! Too bad you and your daughter were forced to dine with a bunch of boors. Hopefully, everybody learned from your good example, and it won't happen again.

My complaint has to do with couples who dine out with their little kids in tow and don't bother to keep them in line. I don't know how many times we've had a meal nearly ruined, because these kids are making a royal mess at their own table (and on their chairs and the floor, too), running all over the restaurant, talking/bothering other diners, getting under the servers' feet, etc. while their parents ignore it all. My husband and I refuse to be seated near a table with young children when we're on one of our "dates" without our own child. We make the host/hostess seat us as far away as possible. These "clueless couples" are usually poor tippers. How many times have we seen their vacated table look like a garbage dump.

When our son was little, we dined during "off hours" (i.e. before the lunch or dinner rush), made sure he stayed seated, and tried our best to keep his area clean. We ALWAYS left a extra hefty tip for our server whenever our little guy dined with us.

Another dining annoyance...people at nearby tables who talk on their cell phones while I'm trying to enjoy my meal and the company of my spouse.

thank you Kim! I had the twins when my oldest was 2, so I had a lot of little children. When we would go out when they were small, we usually limited ourselves to cafeterias like Luby's.

One reason was that I could corral them in the rolling high chairs and I could get toddler approved selection as well as grown up food. It also did away with the wait after placing an order. I also left a generous tip due to the mess they invariably made.

They are all teenagers now and still love to go to Lubys, though they eat quite a bit more now!