Yes, another tipping question

[cbleigh]

When you eat at a restaurant, you tip according to the amount of your bill, correct? If I went to say Denny's and they had a special on, say the burger was 1/2 price, when I get my bill, I base my tip on what the total is, not what the total WOULD have been if I had paid full price. Correct?

So, we head to Disney. We pay for our dining plan. Works out to around $40/day adult $12 child. Why wouldn't I figure out what portion of that is applied to my sit down dinners and tip 20% based on what I PAID for the meal, not what I WOULD have paid had I been paying full price?

Honestly wondering. We are headed there in there in three weeks.

 

[tigsmom]

Figure the tip on the price of the meal you are charged, minus the tax; don't forget to add in the bar drinks if you have any.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

When you eat at a restaurant, you tip according to the amount of your bill, correct? If I went to say Denny's and they had a special on, say the burger was 1/2 price, when I get my bill, I base my tip on what the total is, not what the total WOULD have been if I had paid full price. Correct?

So, we head to Disney. We pay for our dining plan. Works out to around $40/day adult $12 child. Why wouldn't I figure out what portion of that is applied to my sit down dinners and tip 20% based on what I PAID for the meal, not what I WOULD have paid had I been paying full price?

Honestly wondering. We are headed there in there in three weeks.

I believe that it is customary to tip based on the pre tax portion of the non-discounted bill. Say I go to a restaurant and have a 5 dollar coupon off my check, I tip based on what the total was before that discount was applied. To me the same logic applies to the DDP as well. Just because you prepayed the meal to a certain price point, doesn't discount the fact of what the check would have cost. When you consider that people's livlihood depends on these tips as well, it seems hard for me to justify tipping based on the 20 dollars or so that the meal might equate to. It is the same reason that the gratuity is added when you use a Tables in Wonderland card. It keeps someone from really shorting a server after they put the same amount of effort and service in to your meal as anyone else's. Now if your service is lacking and you feel less is justified, then I suggest speaking with a manager and discussing that.

 

[epcotWSC]

Take subtotal (pretax), move decimal one spot, multiply by two. There's your tip . Always unless service stinks.

 

[Phonedave]

When you eat at a restaurant, you tip according to the amount of your bill, correct? If I went to say Denny's and they had a special on, say the burger was 1/2 price, when I get my bill, I base my tip on what the total is, not what the total WOULD have been if I had paid full price. Correct?

So, we head to Disney. We pay for our dining plan. Works out to around $40/day adult $12 child. Why wouldn't I figure out what portion of that is applied to my sit down dinners and tip 20% based on what I PAID for the meal, not what I WOULD have paid had I been paying full price?

Honestly wondering. We are headed there in there in three weeks.

Incorrect.

The custom is to tip on the full price of the meal, before tax.

-dave

 

[s8film40]

I have always tipped based on the price of a meal without any discounts. I figure if I was lucky enough to get some kind of discount I shouldn't punish the waiter for that. I also have kind of a scale I use when tipping. The lower the cost of the meal the higher the percentage of tip and the higher the cost the lower the percentage. For example if I go somewhere inexpensive and choose an inexpensive item and lets say my bill came to $20 that would mean 15% would be $3 I never leave this little unless the service is really absolutely terrible, instead I would leave somewhere around $5 - $10 depending on how I feel about the service. In some cases I have left 50% tips. Now at expensive restaurant I may leave right at 15% - 20%.

 

[epcotWSC]

My tipping scale is very simple.

Bar: $1 per drink.
Restaurant: 20% before tax (95% of the time). If the service isn't too good, then 15%. If the service is horrendous (very rare), then no tip, pay for the food and walk out.

 

[tampabrad]

Tip should be 20% of the total bill before any discounts.

 

[Douglas Bray]

I don't understand how people seem to think 20.0% is what should pe paid for a tip. My daughter has worked for a few years as a server at Earls and she averages 12 - 15% in tips at the restaurants she has worked in and she makes more that most of the other people that she works with because of her positive attitude.
When my wife and I go out we tip up to 20% but only whne we receive exceptional service and food, I would say that we tip 10 - 15% most times but we have left no tip before when we received very bad service and undercooked food.
I have always thought that Disney suggested to high of a tip and when it was included with the Dining plan that the amount paid was way to high at 18% no matter how the service and food was on that meal.

 

[Alison1975]

I waited tables for nearly 10 years.. 15% was standard.. I was good and rarely got less than 20%.. I never leave less than 18% unless we have very bad, totally the servers fault,service. I can usually easily tell if the lack of great service is the server or the situation ( too many tables, too many big parties etc). When we go to WDW they will automatically add the 18% tip ( party of 7).. if we get exceptional service then we will add more..

 

[epcotWSC]

I believe in being generous. Waiting is tough work and the bs that they have to deal with on a daily basis stinks. They make almost nothing without tips. I can afford to give them a few extra bucks as long as the service didn't stink.

 

[Phonedave]

I don't understand how people seem to think 20.0% is what should pe paid for a tip. My daughter has worked for a few years as a server at Earls and she averages 12 - 15% in tips at the restaurants she has worked in and she makes more that most of the other people that she works with because of her positive attitude.
When my wife and I go out we tip up to 20% but only whne we receive exceptional service and food, I would say that we tip 10 - 15% most times but we have left no tip before when we received very bad service and undercooked food.
I have always thought that Disney suggested to high of a tip and when it was included with the Dining plan that the amount paid was way to high at 18% no matter how the service and food was on that meal.

Some people tip more, some less. I am normally in the 20% range.

As for what I put in bold above, unless you mentioned it to your server and they did nothing, that is not a reason not to tip. The server has very little to do with the quality of the food that comes out of the kitchen. If they are VERY good they may notice something is off when running the dishes out, but they are not going to taste your food to see if it is cooked correctly. That is the job of the chef / line cook / expediter.

You can make a point of lowering the tip if the table is not clean, or your cocktail is not right, because very often the wait staff tips out to the bartenders and bussers. But back of the house staff is a different story.


-dave

 

[Lynne M]

I don't understand how people seem to think 20.0% is what should pe paid for a tip. My daughter has worked for a few years as a server at Earls and she averages 12 - 15% in tips at the restaurants she has worked in and she makes more that most of the other people that she works with because of her positive attitude.
When my wife and I go out we tip up to 20% but only whne we receive exceptional service and food, I would say that we tip 10 - 15% most times but we have left no tip before when we received very bad service and undercooked food.
I have always thought that Disney suggested to high of a tip and when it was included with the Dining plan that the amount paid was way to high at 18% no matter how the service and food was on that meal.

The custom may be different in Canada; here in the northeastern US, you'd give a 10-15% tip only if the service was really substandard. 15%-20% is the norm for good service, at the better places, it's more like 18%-20%.

I suspect the wage laws are different for wait staff in the US than they are in Canada. Here, the minimum wage for servers is less than $3 an hour, and that's what a lot of the servers in the chain restaurants get. I know a server who's been working in a well-known chain for a couple of years, and she gets $2.43 an hour. I think that's why tips tend to be higher in the US, it's expected that the tip will make up the difference in wages. Absurd, I know, but the restaurant industry lobbies hard to keep it that way.

BTW, I have to agree with Phonedave, I'd never, ever cut a server's tip because the food wasn't cooked properly, unless you told them about it and they didn't resolve the issue. Many restaurants use runners to bring the food out, your server may not have even seen the food that was brought to your table. No reason to penalize the server because the kitchen screwed up.

 

[ptaylor]

There is always the perception that servers at WDW make very little money. I've had some fascinating discussions with some wait staff at WDW, and at WDW's good restaurants, the take home is astonishing. There is a reason that getting a job in a WDW table service restaurant is close to impossible. It pays VERY VERY well with tips.

I tip based on the service. At WDW, it is typically very good, so I go with 18%. If it is above and beyond, I go 20%. If its average, 15% (which is unusual at WDW).

 

[CleveRocks]

I have always tipped based on the price of a meal without any discounts. I figure if I was lucky enough to get some kind of discount I shouldn't punish the waiter for that.

Well said.

 

[Lucky]

You should also factor in how much work the servers go to and how long you occupy the table. If you go to a diner with a friend and just order coffee and talk for an hour, I'd tip 100% or more.

 

[ddbowdoin]

some things really push my buttons though... I walk up to a bar, I order a BOTTLE, not even a draught and ITS A TWIST OFF. I hand her/him a 20 on a 3 dollar beer and they hand me back a 5 and the rest in ones... and look at me like, yeah... fork some of that over. NO... I can't stand it.

if you made me a complex cocktail, or even pulled a fine draught of guiness I'd clearly tip but you want a dollar on a 3 dollar drink for you twisting off a top?

 

[LizC]

As a fomer restaurant worker (not in Disney) I can safely say that it is expected and appretiated for you to tip on the NON DISCOUNTED amount of the bill.
The restaurant gave you that discount, the waiter should not make less money because of that.
Enjoy your trip!

 

[Douglas Bray]

TIP's are just that a TIP not part of a server wage.

If one received good service and food then a TIP should be left for the server (who then splits that with the back of the house staff and the bar staff).

It isn't the responsibilty of the patrons going out to eat to pay the wages of the person serving them that is the responsibilty of the place that I am eating in.

If people who work as servers don't think that this is fair they should demand a higher salary from their employer or get a job from a different restaurant that pays its staff better.

 

[erstwo]

Incorrect.

The custom is to tip on the full price of the meal, before tax.

-dave

I have always tipped based on the price of a meal without any discounts. I figure if I was lucky enough to get some kind of discount I shouldn't punish the waiter for that. I also have kind of a scale I use when tipping. The lower the cost of the meal the higher the percentage of tip and the higher the cost the lower the percentage. For example if I go somewhere inexpensive and choose an inexpensive item and lets say my bill came to $20 that would mean 15% would be $3 I never leave this little unless the service is really absolutely terrible, instead I would leave somewhere around $5 - $10 depending on how I feel about the service. In some cases I have left 50% tips. Now at expensive restaurant I may leave right at 15% - 20%.

I waited tables for nearly 10 years.. 15% was standard.. I was good and rarely got less than 20%.. I never leave less than 18% unless we have very bad, totally the servers fault,service. I can usually easily tell if the lack of great service is the server or the situation ( too many tables, too many big parties etc). When we go to WDW they will automatically add the 18% tip ( party of 7).. if we get exceptional service then we will add more..

I believe in being generous. Waiting is tough work and the bs that they have to deal with on a daily basis stinks. They make almost nothing without tips. I can afford to give them a few extra bucks as long as the service didn't stink.

You should also factor in how much work the servers go to and how long you occupy the table. If you go to a diner with a friend and just order coffee and talk for an hour, I'd tip 100% or more.

I agree with all of these!

Wait staff at WDW might make a killing, but out in the real "world" things are much different.

I can't say anything more because I'm invoking the "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all"...... sheesh.....some people! :brick::brick::brick: