Kindred spirits are a wily sort of spirit — you never know when you’re going to run into someone who has a lot in common with your life. And while it’s reward enough to share interests with a stranger, when that sharing leads to a whopper of a tip, well then, that’s extra nice. [More]
the tipping point
Olive Garden Suggested A Deceptively High Tip On My Receipt…Or Did It?
By 4.2.14
Raphael recently went out to eat at Olive Garden, the food and service were, he says, “fine.” He was less delighted when he looked at the receipt, though. It provided useful suggested tips for 15%, 18%, and 20%. Only these suggestions weren’t actually 15-20% of his before-tax dinner tab, which is what you’re supposed to base tips on. Or are things different on Planet Darden? [More]
Waitress Nets $1,000 Tip, Tickets To Hawaii, A New Car & Her Dream Job In Best Prank Ever
By 4.1.14
We know, we know — you’re feeling weary of all things April Fool’s Day/prankish. But bear with this one, because it’ll probably make your insides feel warm and glowy, whether through jealousy or because a deserving waitress just got a crapload of awesome tips during her shift as part of a delightful prank. [More]
People In Alaska Are The Best Tippers, People In Delaware The Worst
By 3.27.14
Sure, Internet comment threads seem to be evenly split between generous tippers and people who resent the practice, but what about the population at large? Credit card payment service Square analyzed their transaction data and found some interesting patterns in tipping by state. We don’t want to draw any wider conclusions, but we’re also giving Delaware a sidelong glance. [More]
Restaurant Industry Says Servers Don’t Need A Pay Raise
By 3.26.14
Earlier today, a White House report called on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage for tipped employees for the first time since 1991. A trade group representing the restaurant industry fired back at the report, claiming that servers are already paid well enough. [More]
White House Calls For Raising Minimum Wage For Tipped Workers
By 3.26.14
While the federal minimum wage for hourly workers has increased from $4.25/hour in 1991 to the present level of $7.25, the minimum wage for workers earning tips has remained at $2.13, meaning tipped workers have had to increasingly rely on tips because their base wage has not kept up with the rest of the workforce. This morning, the White House made the case that it’s time for tipped workers to get a pay raise. [More]
Starbucks Mobile Payment App Will Allow 2-Hour Tipping Window
By 3.12.14
Starbucks says that 1-in-10 customers now uses the company’s mobile payment app when buying their lattes and whatnot at the coffee colossus, but these customers must currently dig into their pockets if they want to show their appreciation with a tip for the barista. But starting next week, iPhone users will have the option of leaving digital tops at the ‘bucks. [More]
Pastor’s Website Lets Waiters Vent About Skimpy Tips On After-Church Meals
By 3.11.14
Following last year’s firing of an Applebee’s waitress who dared to post a receipt from a cheapskate customer claiming to be a pastor who gives “10% to God” and thus shouldn’t be required to pay the 18% tip mandated for large parties, a real pastor at a church in Tennessee decided to create a website to remind churchgoers that they shouldn’t stiff their restaurant servers. [More]
How Technology & The Power Of Suggestion Are Getting People To Leave Higher Tips
By 2.28.14
Most American restaurant-goers are used to writing a tip on the receipt after they enjoy a sit-down meal, but with a growing number of eateries — like food trucks and pop-up restaurants — that straddle the line between traditional dining and fast food, it’s unclear whether customers are expected to leave a tip or just be on their merry way. That’s why some new payment systems include an extra step to put the idea of tipping in the consumer’s mind. [More]
Famous Philly Eatery To Pay $8.5 Million For Short-Changing Servers’ Tips
By 2.21.14
More than 1,200 current and former employees of a well-known bar/restaurant chain in Philadelphia are going to share in an $8.5 million settlement over allegations that the eatery’s owner illegally demanded servers’ tips and also failed to pay minimum wage and overtime to tipped employees. [More]
9 Things We Learned From The Interview With Supposed “Tips For Jesus” Ringleader
By 2.20.14
Where there’s smoke, there just has to be fire. Which is why we’ve all been stymied by the mysterious rash of overly generous tips that have been popping up in restaurants, coffee shops and bars across the nation. On a lot of those receipts, there’s a unifying addition scrawled after tips of $1,000 or $3,000: “Tips for Jesus.” So who is this big tipper — or tippers — making the fires?
[More]
Restaurant Customer Tips Three Waitresses $5,000 Each
By 2.4.14
There’s one trend we have the distinct pleasure in seeing spread, and that is when customers settle big, fat tips on their servers just because. Because it’s fun to surprise people with an unexpected hefty tip, because some people have money to spread around — whatever the case, it’s fun. And it’s even more fun for three waitresses who received $5,000 tips over the weekend. [More]
Bar Staff Allowed To Keep $10,000 Tip After It Proves To Be Genuine
By 1.13.14
The staff of a campus bar at Notre Dame is now $10,000 richer, after American Express approved a mystery tipper’s generous tip from back in November. Everyone nearby should probably hurry over there soon in case they’re handing out free rounds to celebrate. [via WNDU.com] [More]
It’s Customary To Leave The Meth In Your Pocket & The Cash On The Table When Tipping
By 1.8.14
Listen, people, if you can’t binge watch TV shows responsibly, someone should probably revoke your Netflix privileges. That’s the kind of joke we have to make when we hear that a couple in Oregon left their waitress methamphetamine as a tip. Even Jesse wouldn’t do that. Or he would. But whatever, real life is not Breaking Bad life. [More]
Customer Leaves Cracker Barrel Waitress $6,000 Tip After Asking Why She Was So Happy
By 1.7.14
You know you’ve got a special set of customers on your hands when they walk in and ask for the restaurant’s grumpiest server. But when that happened at a Cracker Barrel in Lincoln, Neb., the hostess said there weren’t any cranky servers. The customers wanted to make someone laugh, so instead the hostess sat them with the place’s happiest server. And she’d soon be even happier. [More]
Where Does The Negotiation Start When You Tip?
By 12.16.13
When you dine out and have to calculate a tip, where do you start your calculations? Everyone has a different method, but in this country most people start their mental calculations at 15% and then increase or decrease from there. Yet we’ve spotted another restaurant encouraging customers to start their calculations at 18%. [More]
Domino’s Hires Back 25 Workers Fired During Wage Dispute
By 12.12.13
Last week, a Domino’s Pizza franchisee in New York City terminated the employment of 25 workers who had filed complaints about being underpaid. That’s kind of against the law in New York, and so after receiving a little talking-to from the state Attorney General, the franchisee has agreed to re-hire the previously dismissed employees. [More]
Waitress Who Claimed She Got Anti-Gay Receipt No Longer Employed At Restaurant
By 12.9.13
Yet another development in the tale of the New Jersey waitress who recently claimed that she was stiffed out of a tip by diners’ who disapproved of her being a lesbian. Over the weekend, the restaurant at the center of this story announced that the waitress is no longer an employee there. [More]
