While it’s tough to go to work on holidays like Thanksgiving, it can also be a bummer if you don’t have family to celebrate with on the day. One Florida woman was facing a solo turkey day and didn’t feel like cooking just for herself so she decided to go out to eat at a restaurant alone. She left hours later with more than just a full stomach. [More]
the tipping point
Bar Staff Still Waiting For Money A Month After Mystery Tippers Leave $10,000
By 11.27.13
Staff at a Notre Dame campus bar in South Bend, Ind. got a pretty spectacular surprise last month when a group of three generous men left two tips totaling $10,000, despite the fact that they seemed to be rooting for the opposing team. But because it’s not every day that such a sum lands in your lap, the staff is still waiting to get that cash due to fraud concerns. [More]
Family Claims They’re Fine With Server’s “Lifestyle,” Left $18 Tip
By 11.26.13
A few weeks ago, a New Jersey waitress set the Internets on fire with by posting a receipt, allegedly from her job, with a hateful message instead of a tip. “Sorry I cannot tip because I do not agree with your lifestyle & the way you live your life,” read the message on the receipt. The customer has now come forward to say that they left a 20% tip and would say no such thing. [More]
Federal Appeals Court Says Yes, Starbucks Baristas Have To Share Tips With Supervisors
By 11.22.13
Starbucks baristas had kept fighting to keep customer tips out of the hands of shift supervisors after a court ruled in June that they’d have to share. Assistant managers are still out of the loop, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says that because shift supervisors do a lot of the same work as baristas, they deserve the extra cash. [More]
Restaurant Has No Choice: It’ll Allow Customer Who Didn’t Agree With Waitress’ Lifestyle Back
By 11.21.13
While it might seem unlikely that the customer who stiffed a waitress and wrote on the receipt that he or she didn’t agree with the lesbian waitress’ lifestyle would think, “Hmm, now’s a good time to go back there to eat,” if the patron decides to do so, it’s not like the restaurant could, or would, stop them from doing so. [More]
Waitress Says Customer Denied Her A Tip Because She Disagreed With Her Lifestyle
By 11.15.13
We don’t like how it’s apparently becoming a trend for customers to choose to not only stiff their servers on tips, but to then explain that it’s because of how they “live their lifestyle” which translates to, “because you’re gay and I disagree with that, you don’t get a tip.” A waitress in New Jersey says that’s what just happened to her on a $93.55 bill. [More]
Here’s What Servers Look Like When You Tip Them $200
By 9.16.13
Do you know what would be really nice? If this duo of merry pranksters handing out $200 tips to servers and recording their reactions would swing by St. Louis and visit the waitress who was duped into thinking she’d gotten a $200,000 gratuity. [More]
Waitress Has A Few Questions For Customer Who Left Her A Bogus $200,000 Tip
By 9.16.13
It’s a beautiful day when someone gives you a lump of money — the sun is suddenly shining brightly and little birds come swooping out of the heavens to trill a melodious tune in your ears! But while one waitress in St. Louis thought she had received her happy financial ending in the form of a $200,000 tip, the reality is she was only left with questions. Number one on that list: Why would you give someone a tip that amounts to nothing? [More]
Red Lobster Server Briefly Suspended After Posting Photo Of Receipt With Racial Slur
By 9.13.13
Upon hearing the news that Red Lobster suspended the server who posted a photo of a receipt with a racial slur written on it, your first reaction might be “Whoa, hold up — that is supremely unfair and I am very angry and shaking my fist at Red Lobster!” But while it’s true that she was temporarily suspended, she’s now back at work with Red Lobster’s blessing. [More]
Restaurant Staff Make Facebook Meme Calling Native Americans Bad Tippers, Get Fired
By 9.11.13 — Updated: 9.12.13
Posting a Facebook meme mocking your customers: bad. Stepping into the global war regarding the subject of tipping when you work in a restaurant: worse. What elevated the actions of some employees of barbecue chain Famous Dave’s to social media infamy was the overt racism in their Facebook post, which joked about terrible tips during the United Tribes International Pow Wow. [More]
People Have Been Ranting About Tipping In The NY Times Since 1899
By 9.9.13
While NY Times restaurant critic Pete Wells made headlines last week with his scathing takedown of restaurant tipping, he’s hardly the first person to speak negatively about tipping in the pages of the Gray Lady. In fact, the Times has been down on tips since at least the late 19th Century. [More]
Red Lobster “Extremely Disturbed” By Reports Of Racist Comment On Server’s Receipt
By 9.9.13
Another day, another receipt controversy pushing buttons all over the place. After a Red Lobster waitress posted a photo of a customer’s receipt where instead of a tip was a racial slur, the restaurant says it’s “extremely disturbed” by the situation. Meanwhile the server is facing critics who claim she added the comment herself after getting stiffed on the tip. [More]
Are These The Final Days Of Automatic 18% Tips At Restaurants?
By 9.5.13
Many restaurants have a policy of automatically adding a 15-20% tip for large groups of diners, but that practice may be going the way of the dinosaur as a new revision to IRS income tax rules will make such auto-gratuities less attractive to servers and management. [More]
NY Times Restaurant Critic Rips Tipping A New One
By 9.4.13
New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells usually saves his vitriol for eateries that don’t meet his standards, like his infamous 2012 review of Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen and Bar. But Wells’ latest target is the even more controversial institution of tipping restaurant servers. [More]
Food Truck Worker: I Was Fired For Calling Out Customers Who Didn’t Tip On $170 Order
By 7.30.13
While sit-down restaurant diners customarily leave tips, gratuities are much more rare in the to-go food business. But when an eatery goes out of its way to accommodate a customer, it’s not unheard of for that customer to toss a few extra dollars in. So when a food truck worker in Manhattan saw his crew had been left without a tip on a $170 order placed by a multinational shareholder advisory service, he took his frustration to Twitter — and got fired for it. [More]
The Argument For Abolishing Restaurant Tips
By 7.10.13
As any Consumerist reader knows, tipping is a hot-button topic, with some people arguing that they will only leave a tip when they receive excellent service, while others point out that most tipped employees — especially in restaurants — make well below minimum wage and rely on tips for survival. Then there are those who attempt to make the case that tipping should just be done away with, as it has been in most of the world. [More]
Court: Starbucks Baristas Only Have To Share Tips With Shift Supervisors, Not Asst. Managers
By 6.27.13
In the fight over who gets to dig their hands into the Starbucks tip jar at the end of the day, everyone is coming out kind of a winner. Well, except for assistant managers, but they already earn salaries and have benefits, so that’s pretty winner-y. A court says baristas must share their tips, but only with shift supervisors. [More]
NYC Restaurant Tells Customers That Tipping Is Not Allowed
By 6.7.13
As we’ve discussed here many, many times, restaurant wait staff often rely on tips because their base pay is generally far below the minimum wage level. Since tipping is an anomaly overseas, waiters in most other countries are paid a living wage. Thus, one sushi restaurant in Manhattan, which claims it has always paid its employees well, has recently started telling customers that tips will not be accepted. [More]
