It's apparent that some people just really don't understand how to tip any waitstaff at a dining establishment.
Pettiness All Over Bacon Cheese Fries?
“I was serving a table with a husband, a wife, and their kid.
Orders come out and the husband says he ordered bacon cheese fries instead of cheese fries (though I heard cheese fries). So I offer to fix it, but he’s getting angry with me and says, ‘Nope. No. it’s fine.’ My manager offers to comp everything once again guy acts like a brat.
Long story short, he comes up to pay he signs our receipt that we keep and on the tip line he puts ‘00000000000000000.1,’ and hands it to me.
Then he waits for me to read looks up and then grins at me.
Right as he walks out I shout: ‘Very mature!'”
Dealing With A Puking Child
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“This one family decided to not leave me a tip when their kid puked all over the table. They just sat there and continued talking while I comforted the kid and cleaned up the puke off the table. In the middle of cleaning puke, the mom asked for a refill on her drink by lifting it and shaking it at my direction, making vomit go all over me and informing they needed a new pizza for free because the last slice on the tray got puke on it.
They did not leave or take the kid home and did not tip. She flung puke in my face, and their 8-year-old was shirtless because he puked on his shirt and was devastated. I tried to cheer him up by letting him help me blow up balloons in the party room so he could hide from the kids he knew that came in. The worst customers were the tour buses full of the cranky old people. About 40 extremely ornery demanding racist jerks and you would be lucky to make $4 in quarters from them in the two hours they clog up the place.
I never really cared too much about people not tipping because it usually always worked out for me before the end of the day.”
What Happened After He Tipped A Nickel
“I used to work as a waitress in high school. We had a lone man come in in the afternoon who was particularly difficult. He complained that there was nothing on the menu that he wanted to eat and our prices were too expensive.
After patiently trying to give him suggestions of popular dishes or specials, he tried to negotiate the prices on things; offering to pay half of the price listed on the menu. I told him that I wasn’t authorized to make changes to the prices on the menu, but that I would get my manager to come over and speak with him. After him trying to bicker with my manager, she told him that the prices listed were the prices that they charge for the food and if he wasn’t happy with the selection or pricing there were plenty of other restaurants in town he could eat.
He ended up ordering something off the menu, I served him and brought him his bill. When I came back to get payment from him he left the exact change for his bill on the table. He then took a nickel, spit on it, told me that was my tip and threw it on the ground under the table. I told my manager and she escorted him out of the restaurant and told him he wasn’t welcome at her restaurant anymore.”
Serving A Huge Party Of People
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“I had a small family come to the restaurant where I work. They had two kids: a 10-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy. They were nice to me when I greeted them, and even though the restaurant was busy, I made sure to keep checking in on them, get drink refills, and bring the many appetizers they ordered.
Finally, they order their meals and want to order a steak for their little boy, which isn’t part of our kid’s menu, but that is no problem. They tell me how they want it cooked, the sides they want, and to add a side of au jus, like what goes with our roast beef dip sandwich. Their food comes out, I ask them if there’s anything they need, and they say they’re good. As I’m walking away, I watch the mom smother her son’s steak with the au jus. About a minute later, she waves me over and says her kid doesn’t like the steak anymore, our au jus is apparently too spicy. She wants a to order a completely new meal, so I say ‘that’s fine, I’ll give you some time to look the menu over.’ I take the barely eaten steak to throw out in the back and inform the cooks about the refire, and I ask the kitchen manager about the recipe for the au jus. He tells me they don’t make it spicy at all, then gives me a small sample to try. It’s the farthest thing from spicy. I think the kid just didn’t like the steak and mommy just give him whatever he wants. They weren’t happy because the refire took a little long, but the restaurant was packed. I tried to get it out as fast as possible. Had the manager talk to them and got stuff comped off. Their bill was $95. I went to the table after they left, and all that was written in the tip line was a check mark with a little scribble, so $0. I worked hard to make this table happy, so I was mad. I’m a quiet and calm person, so my coworkers were surprised to hear me cursing up a storm.
Another time, at the same restaurant, a woman at this table decided she wanted to put some pepper on her salmon. But unlike a normal person, she unscrewed the cap of the pepper shaker to sprinkle it on. Long story short, she spilled almost the entirety of the pepper on her meal. But it was somehow my fault for how full the shaker was. She demanded that her salmon be remade and expected it to be comped. I talked to my manager and he said that it was her own fault for spilling the pepper and they weren’t going to comp it. I made him explain that to the guests to avoid any conflict. The tip wasn’t $0, but the woman was part of a party of 12, almost a $200 check, and the tips from their separate checks added up to a whopping $11, and I had to split that with another server who also took care of the table.
Sometimes I really hate people.”
The Last Double Date They Ever Went On
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“I am not a waiter, but I have the most cringe-worthy tipping story of all time.
My girlfriend and I go to school in a small town in Oregon and we have found it difficult to make ‘couple friends’ that we can do double date type things together. Consequently, we lowered our standards for who we would potentially spend time with. Not that we are snobby people, we basically just lowered our friendship standards to nonexistent.
Anyways, we hang out with this couple from school a few times and they are nice. Very weird, but nice. We noticed that the woman wears the pants in the relationship to the point where I actually feel bad for the man. She treats him like a little servant, but he seems to like it, so whatever. Different strokes.
Here comes the cringe.
We go out to dinner one at one of the nicest restaurants in town. The other couple asks for a specific bottle. They’re out of it. They ask for a different kind. Out of that too. They are really mean to the waiter. Whatever let’s just get through this.
The service was excellent, and the bill came out to about $200. We were there for probably an hour and a half. This waiter has brought us probably 10 different plates, eight drinks, cleaned up throughout the dinner, and checked on us a good amount. I had just watched the episode of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ where Larry David wants to tip the same as Michael J. Fox, but Fox won’t tell him how much he tipped. Inspired by that episode, I half-jokingly asked the other couple how much they were tipping, so I could tip the same. The man looks at me and winces and makes a 0 shape with his hand. The woman looks at him sternly. He continues to tip 0, seemingly at the will of his girlfriend. I have a shocked expression on my face. I look to the side of the table. The waiter is standing there. He heard. He continued clearing our plates.
I tipped $40, myself. We stopped going out with them.”
The Party He Served Had A $600 Tab!
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“I work as a server at a somewhat higher end restaurant, and frequently there are horse shows down the street. During these shows, we will get customers coming in smelling like horse poo and covered in mud. They’re some of the nicest people we wait on and they always buy a lot and tip very well. Mennonites sometimes come in with them, and generally, they don’t tip. Not like ‘Hey, they only tipped 10 percent’, but nothing.
One time there was a party of 10 of the horse people that came in (our lovely name for people from horse shows), and I was the only closing server left. They came in 15 minutes to close and told our manager that a few more would be in soon. About 10 minutes after we closed, eight more people for the party come in.
Now there are some Mennonites with them, but since there were so many people, I figured a few bad tips wouldn’t hurt anything. This party had everything they could get their hands on. Desserts, apps, expensive add-ons, so I thought it was going to be great.
Here’s the bad news.
My restaurant had recently stopped doing gratuities on parties since the change in the tax code. I come out with a $634 tab after one of the guys whom I had been talking to all night said that just one person was picking up the tab. I think you can all see where this is going.
One of the three Mennonites picked up the tab and left a zero with a line through it as their tip. My manager ended up buying me a meal and taking me out for several drinks afterward as some sort of recompense, but it was still awful.”
She Never Saw An Actual Cash Tip!
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“I was a waitress in a city that had a church on every street.
Church people were regular customers and Sunday was always a busy day. There was one particular church group of about 10 or 11 people that came in every Sunday. They’d come in in their fancy church clothes and we’d have to move several of our tables to put them together so they could all sit beside each other, and they’d usually order something about mid-price from our menu and stay for about an hour or so. I’d keep their drinks refilled and I’d make sure they had everything they needed. Usually, they’d wish me a good day/week and I never had any complaint.
And every single week without fail, instead of money, they would leave me bible verses printed out on little slips of paper like the ones you get out of fortune cookies only they were always in all these different bright colors instead of white. I worked there for probably three years, and I never saw a dime from those people.”
Paid In Monopoly Money?
“I’m a cook, but one of our coworkers was hyped about getting a $20 tip.
She made such a thing about it the manager came over to see what the commotion was all about.
That’s when he informed her that it was a counterfeit bill.
And after checking the register, also found out the rest of the cash they used was fake as well.
The money didn’t even look real at all. And it’s all now taped to the wall to remind everyone of that fateful day we got paid in monopoly money.”
They Did What With Their Money?
“I worked for a company in the U.K. where you had to pay three percent of your takings back to the company for the privilege.
An example would be if I took £2,000 on a Saturday, I had to give them £60 out of my tips. If I only made £50 in tips, the money would come out of my pocket. They justify it by saying that it goes towards training managers, and bonuses that managers get. Because you know people on minimum wage should have to pay for that.
This made me resent most people. If a table spent £100 and didn’t tip, I’d be mad because I’d be paying for them to have a good time.
I had a table of eight or so people. No manners, nobody said please or thank you. I was there to be their servant because that was my job, and that’s how they acted. When they finally paid, they were short a significant amount. They had taken a prawn head off their plate and wrapped it up in the cash. I had to find this treat, count the money, and go back and confront them so that I didn’t have to pay any more for their delicious meal.
Needless to say, I lost my cool, and that was my last shift at this wonderful company. Looking back on it, in the long run, I feel like they did me a big favor. Most nights, my three percent would equate to more than my wage for the evening.”
Splitting The Ticket 26 Ways?
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“My worst story comes from the Rotary club of my county. It was during our slowest time of the day, so I was the only waiter on duty. It was the bartender, the head chef, and me; that was it.
A group of 26 people came in at one time and were upset that we didn’t have a large table ready for them. They hadn’t called and asked for a reservation, or let us know that they’d need a large setting, nothing.
They ordered a bunch of drinks and appetizers, and the treasurer told me to make sure I put everything on one ticket to make things easier.
After the three of us struggled to get all the drinks and appetizers out in a timely fashion, it came time to collect the main course orders.
Of course, every one of those jerks wanted things customized.
Got it taken care of, got everyone their food. Got refills for drinks.
Dessert comes around, and we get that out.
By this point, everyone is mingling around and talking. I bring the check to the treasurer, and he tells me that they decided everyone was paying for their own meal.
I ended up having to split that ticket 26 different ways; even though ticket software makes things simple, that’s still a pain in the butt to do.
I start collecting money, running cards, etc. For the 26 people, it ended up being almost $500.
As I’m cashing everything out I realize two of them (one of which was the treasurer) ditched on their bills.
The total for my tips after they all left came out to about $10. The bartender didn’t get a single tip.
After that, we implemented a policy that a group larger than eight had to call at least 30 minutes ahead, implemented an automatic 18% gratuity for any party larger than eight, and implemented a policy where a single group couldn’t split their ticket more than six ways.”
Bartending Is Not An Easy Job!
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“As a bartender, I had some rude jerks who just sat at the bar and drank all day. I took pretty good care of them.
One time, when it came to paying, a guy pulled out his wallet and put his credit card down and a £20 note and put it on the bar. As I went to grab it he said: ‘Actually, you’ll just spend it on drinks. I’d rather buy you a drink,’ and put the £20 in his pocket. I replied: ‘Thank you, that’s kind of you (hiding my anger), but I cant drink whilst I work.’ He replied: ‘Okay, well I’ll drink it for you.’ Laughing, he drank and waved a £20 note in my face.
Such a jerk move!”
Her Husband Was Extremely Disrespectful!
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“This was when I was 16 working my first gig. It was during one of the busiest days of the year when our town threw this huge concert festival and people came from all over the province. I showed up to discover I was the only one who came because the two other people who were supposed to be on shift with me bailed to go to the concert.
In the middle of this busy supper hour, a table of 15 comes in. Throughout the whole ordeal, I’m flying around the restaurant like a cat with its butt on fire and the whole while the guys at this table kept making snarky comments and laughing, saying things like: ‘Jeez, are you the only one here or something? Service is some slow.’ Do you see anybody else here?’ Seriously.
So the meals miraculously get out on time, I am run ragged taking care of all the other tables while keeping their drinks flowing, and the whole time I am just getting this barrage of passive-aggressive insults.
Finally, the place starts clearing out a little aside from them. Once they finish their meal I start gathering up their plates and empty glasses as the majority of them are putting on their coats. I’ll never forget this one jerk with a salt and pepper mustache calling me over and grinning at me over his glasses as he pats his hand down on the table and says: ‘Here. This is for you.’
It was $0.12. Not one word of a lie. I saw red and tried not to cry. I mean, a volcano after everything that had gone to crap this day let loose inside of me. I looked him dead in the eye, shook my cleaning-rag out, and swept the dime and pennies so hard that they went flying across the restaurant. I spat: ‘You can take that stuff with you.’
His face just crumpled and a woman who had come back to the table for something said: ‘What did you do?’ He laughingly explained to her as if what he had done was actually funny and she was appalled. She went over to me, opened her purse, and pushed a twenty into my hand. She said: ‘Take it. I’m sorry.’
I had to go out back to the dish pit to hide my tears of embarrassment, but apparently, she spread the word on what he’d done because there was a nice tip left at the table when I mustered the gumption to go back out when they’d all left.”
The Kids At Prom
“Prom season is always the worst.
I wait tables at a nice restaurant so we’re always busy during prom season with reservations from all the local high schools. It’s in a wealthier area, so we get all the entitled kids who think we’re a 5-star place that will treat them like they were celebrities or something.
This one little idiot, who had on a pink and white tux, was acting like the total jerk that he looked like he would be. I was busting my butt, trying to check on all my other tables and this kid is angry because his food wasn’t out within like 15 minutes. Like the whole time, he’s glaring at me like I’m supposed to be in the back making his food.
At the end of the night, the whole table’s bill only came out to like $60 because they got pizzas and chicken tenders. All of them left like a handful of change that equaled up to $3.”
Undertipped For Amazing Service?
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“This table came in at around 1 p.m. on a Wednesday. It doesn’t get busy in the morning and picks up around 3 p.m. It’s an all you can eat buffet, so we don’t do much in terms of ordering food unless they want something and we request it for them, but I swear I gave them THE BEST customer service I have ever given anyone in my years of practice. But in the end, I got a complaint saying, ‘He wasn’t nice, the food was cold,’ and I also got a small tip.
My boss is a star and was like he’s probably the most hardworking person you’ll meet. He’s going out on staff nights and comes to our house parties all the time, she’s the best.
Seriously though, like I’ve whitened my teeth, my teeth are NICE, my smile is legit loved by old people and there were about five tables in. Saying it’s nice to everyone is an understatement like I’m all for the peace. The food wasn’t cold and there was plenty of it too.
This was the best service I’ve given. I wasn’t overbearing, did all the customer checks, and more. I asked if the temperature of the restaurant was ok for their baby, if the kids wanted straws, if they wanted me to surprise them with a birthday song if it was their birthday. The baby did look cold, but who knows. I went above and beyond for this table. I gave recommendations for their drinks, they ‘tested my drink and food knowledge’ and I was sound.
I’d honestly rather get no tip, at least that way I’d know she was stingy, what she did was just rude and undermining.”
