Does the waitress deserve to be stiffed?

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Belmar diners leave waitress taunting note and no tip

On Aug. 17, Jess Jones of Belmar, a 2013 Manasquan High School graduate, was waiting on a party of eight people at the landmark restaurant and night club on Ocean Avenue. After the $112.03 bill was paid for by credit card, Jones discovered that her customers had left her no tip. Instead, the texting acronym "LOL" — for laughing out loud — was written on the tip line of the receipt next to the words, "1 hour for food."

Last night, I was stunned by this receipt that was left for me by a party of eight people," Jones wrote. "I would have preferred a '$0' tip than a 'LOL' tip, but as a waitress, bad tips and harsh notes are all part of the job. Even though they did wait an hour to eat, they remained satisfied with filled drinks and proper notice that the kitchen was a bit busier than normal. I've worked in the service industry for five years and I take pride in providing great service to my customers."

How is a patron supposed to show their dissatisfaction with waiting an hour for food?
Does a waitress deserve $20 for service that was unsatisfactory to the customer? Who should be accountable?




.

Sometimes places get busy, an hour wait happens. At OUR place, if you order and an hour as gone by and your meal isn't ready, we provide a free appetizer of your choice.

Of course our waitstaff is also paid the prevailing wage and don't rely on tips as well.

Absolutely

It should be a common practice to take care of your customers. Do they need to stand up and scream to get satisfaction? A manager should know his kitchen is way behind. HE should be going to the tables to apologize and offer free drinks, appetizers or a discount on your bill

In the town we're in , in the summer wait time for a table can be 2 or 3 hours, I mean we take cell phone numbers and shoot people a text when their table is ready, it gets THAT busy, and yes sometimes , especially for a party of 8, it could take an hour to get someone their meal.

Our wait staff are fully authorized to hand out free appetizers if they need to. They don't even have to ask. They DO have to keep track and if we notice a trend someone's ass is in trouble, but that's it.

Also, some people in this thread are entirely correct, you are not automatically entitled to a tip just because you are a server.

When I go to other places to eat, I don't go in thinking "I'm going to leave $X as a tip" that is entirely dependent on the entire experience.

Oh , and if one of our employees bitched about our place or our customers on social media, they would be terminated , immediately.

And yes, we keep track. It's gotten so bad that our manager has told the employers that if they unfriend her or block her or otherwise attempt to hide things they are saying from her, they are fired.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

She did tell the customers that the kitchen was backed up.
"they remained satisfied with filled drinks and proper notice that the kitchen was a bit busier than normal. "
I may have paid my bar tab and left as well, but I wouldn't blame the waitress for things she can't control.

A bit busier than normal isn't an hour wait. It's a whatever, but no way should it take an hour to get an order out.

It depends... You'd never wait even 3 minutes for a cocktail at Doc's, but there are places down at the beach where you might wait an hour to get a table.
Sometimes you just get swamped. If a wait for seating is normal, you can staff your place to keep up, but an abnormal surge? Hell! I've jumped behind the bar and served beers and washed glasses when I had other things to do, but normally, I'm slightly over-staffed.

We have a few establishments we go to on a regular basis and I don't recall ever waiting an hour to receive our order, I can't imagine listening to and keeping the kids occupied for that long.

When mine were small, I'd never take them to any place that could possibly take an hour to get your food.
These days, we can sit and talk and enjoy a couple cocktails and consider the wait well worth it.
My daughter was down for a visit for my birthday last month. We went to a very popular spot on the beach. We were seated in about 15 minutes and waited just under an hour for our food. We had a great conversation about something we really needed to talk about. We both enjoyed ourselves. I paid the tab and added about 25% to a $120 tab. My daughter left another 20 in cash.

I used to work for a restaurant that would give the kids carrot sticks and a small ramekin of light ranch for dipping. The kiddie appetizer was a big hit with both the parents and children. It was just a brilliant touch.

We give people with kids directions to McDonalds

 

[SassyIrishLass]

A bit busier than normal isn't an hour wait. It's a whatever, but no way should it take an hour to get an order out.

It depends... You'd never wait even 3 minutes for a cocktail at Doc's, but there are places down at the beach where you might wait an hour to get a table.
Sometimes you just get swamped. If a wait for seating is normal, you can staff your place to keep up, but an abnormal surge? Hell! I've jumped behind the bar and served beers and washed glasses when I had other things to do, but normally, I'm slightly over-staffed.

We have a few establishments we go to on a regular basis and I don't recall ever waiting an hour to receive our order, I can't imagine listening to and keeping the kids occupied for that long.

When mine were small, I'd never take them to any place that could possibly take an hour to get your food.
These days, we can sit and talk and enjoy a couple cocktails and consider the wait well worth it.
My daughter was down for a visit for my birthday last month. We went to a very popular spot on the beach. We were seated in about 15 minutes and waited just under an hour for our food. We had a great conversation about something we really needed to talk about. We both enjoyed ourselves. I paid the tab and added about 25% to a $120 tab. My daughter left another 20 in cash.

I used to work for a restaurant that would give the kids carrot sticks and a small ramekin of light ranch for dipping. The kiddie appetizer was a big hit with both the parents and children. It was just a brilliant touch.

We give people with kids directions to McDonalds

We'd never eat in your dump

 

[Ernie S.]

I would expect the waitress to be on top of the order, and to let us know if the kitchen was running behind. The waitress is not a passive observer - her job is to properly set expectations and to provide SERVICE.

From OP:
they remained satisfied with filled drinks and proper notice that the kitchen was a bit busier than normal.

And your point is? That's what I expect from a waitress. We only know the waitress' POV. "A bit busier than usual" is not code for "you're going to be waiting an hour until you get your food".

An hour wait after placing an order is excessive. If it were that long, I would also expect the hostess to let me know that before even being seated.

A bit busier than normal may have been quite true. Some places here on the Gulf are always running 100%. Expansion is nearly impossible due to cost of property and regulations, so they are stuck. A meal takes a finite time to prepare and if your place is at top efficiency, you can bet that if there are people waiting to be seated, a meal will take longer than normal to prepare.

 

[EverCurious]

An hour wait after placing an order is excessive. If it were that long, I would also expect the hostess to let me know that before even being seated.

There's some point there. An hour isn't unusual up here, but both the host and waitress often tell us if it's going to be much longer than that before we even order. That could possibly be a product of us being some-what regulars though. idk for me the hours not a big deal because we just chatter and such, dinners for us are not primarily about the meal, but rather the social aspect of it; catching up with the kids, family, friends, or visitors. A typical dinner out for us is like 3-4 hours heh

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

It depends... You'd never wait even 3 minutes for a cocktail at Doc's, but there are places down at the beach where you might wait an hour to get a table.
Sometimes you just get swamped. If a wait for seating is normal, you can staff your place to keep up, but an abnormal surge? Hell! I've jumped behind the bar and served beers and washed glasses when I had other things to do, but normally, I'm slightly over-staffed.

We have a few establishments we go to on a regular basis and I don't recall ever waiting an hour to receive our order, I can't imagine listening to and keeping the kids occupied for that long.

When mine were small, I'd never take them to any place that could possibly take an hour to get your food.
These days, we can sit and talk and enjoy a couple cocktails and consider the wait well worth it.
My daughter was down for a visit for my birthday last month. We went to a very popular spot on the beach. We were seated in about 15 minutes and waited just under an hour for our food. We had a great conversation about something we really needed to talk about. We both enjoyed ourselves. I paid the tab and added about 25% to a $120 tab. My daughter left another 20 in cash.

I used to work for a restaurant that would give the kids carrot sticks and a small ramekin of light ranch for dipping. The kiddie appetizer was a big hit with both the parents and children. It was just a brilliant touch.

We give people with kids directions to McDonalds

We'd never eat in your dump

My "dump" is a pretty nice steak house with a classically trained head chef that you couldn't afford dear.

 

[Ringel05]

I would have walked out of the restaurant after 15 minutes, done it a few times.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

We have a few establishments we go to on a regular basis and I don't recall ever waiting an hour to receive our order, I can't imagine listening to and keeping the kids occupied for that long.

When mine were small, I'd never take them to any place that could possibly take an hour to get your food.
These days, we can sit and talk and enjoy a couple cocktails and consider the wait well worth it.
My daughter was down for a visit for my birthday last month. We went to a very popular spot on the beach. We were seated in about 15 minutes and waited just under an hour for our food. We had a great conversation about something we really needed to talk about. We both enjoyed ourselves. I paid the tab and added about 25% to a $120 tab. My daughter left another 20 in cash.

I used to work for a restaurant that would give the kids carrot sticks and a small ramekin of light ranch for dipping. The kiddie appetizer was a big hit with both the parents and children. It was just a brilliant touch.

We give people with kids directions to McDonalds

We'd never eat in your dump

My "dump" is a pretty nice steak house with a classically trained head chef that you couldn't afford dear.

Oh I could afford it "dear" and we don't patronize any place that doesn't welcome our children. Now sit down and shut up and cease pretending you know me or my situation

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

I would expect the waitress to be on top of the order, and to let us know if the kitchen was running behind. The waitress is not a passive observer - her job is to properly set expectations and to provide SERVICE.

From OP:
they remained satisfied with filled drinks and proper notice that the kitchen was a bit busier than normal.

And your point is? That's what I expect from a waitress. We only know the waitress' POV. "A bit busier than usual" is not code for "you're going to be waiting an hour until you get your food".

An hour wait after placing an order is excessive. If it were that long, I would also expect the hostess to let me know that before even being seated.

A bit busier than normal may have been quite true. Some places here on the Gulf are always running 100%. Expansion is nearly impossible due to cost of property and regulations, so they are stuck. A meal takes a finite time to prepare and if your place is at top efficiency, you can bet that if there are people waiting to be seated, a meal will take longer than normal to prepare.

It's like people don't understand. I mean in our particular town , in the summer, Olive Garden can have a 2 hour wait for a table. Fucking Olive Garden......

An hour wait isn't something that like "OMG I had to wait an hour to get my food"

75% of our customers order an appetizer KNOWING their meal won't be out in any big hurry. Appetizers however in < 20 minutes from the time you sit down.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

When mine were small, I'd never take them to any place that could possibly take an hour to get your food.
These days, we can sit and talk and enjoy a couple cocktails and consider the wait well worth it.
My daughter was down for a visit for my birthday last month. We went to a very popular spot on the beach. We were seated in about 15 minutes and waited just under an hour for our food. We had a great conversation about something we really needed to talk about. We both enjoyed ourselves. I paid the tab and added about 25% to a $120 tab. My daughter left another 20 in cash.

I used to work for a restaurant that would give the kids carrot sticks and a small ramekin of light ranch for dipping. The kiddie appetizer was a big hit with both the parents and children. It was just a brilliant touch.

We give people with kids directions to McDonalds

We'd never eat in your dump

My "dump" is a pretty nice steak house with a classically trained head chef that you couldn't afford dear.

Oh I could afford it "dear" and we don't patronize any place that doesn't welcome our children. Now sit down and shut up and cease pretending you know me or my situation

You doof, I have 5 children, I was joking about the McDonalds thing. Of course we serve children, well behaved children.

 

[mdk]

A bit busier than normal isn't an hour wait. It's a whatever, but no way should it take an hour to get an order out.

It depends... You'd never wait even 3 minutes for a cocktail at Doc's, but there are places down at the beach where you might wait an hour to get a table.
Sometimes you just get swamped. If a wait for seating is normal, you can staff your place to keep up, but an abnormal surge? Hell! I've jumped behind the bar and served beers and washed glasses when I had other things to do, but normally, I'm slightly over-staffed.

We have a few establishments we go to on a regular basis and I don't recall ever waiting an hour to receive our order, I can't imagine listening to and keeping the kids occupied for that long.

When mine were small, I'd never take them to any place that could possibly take an hour to get your food.
These days, we can sit and talk and enjoy a couple cocktails and consider the wait well worth it.
My daughter was down for a visit for my birthday last month. We went to a very popular spot on the beach. We were seated in about 15 minutes and waited just under an hour for our food. We had a great conversation about something we really needed to talk about. We both enjoyed ourselves. I paid the tab and added about 25% to a $120 tab. My daughter left another 20 in cash.

I used to work for a restaurant that would give the kids carrot sticks and a small ramekin of light ranch for dipping. The kiddie appetizer was a big hit with both the parents and children. It was just a brilliant touch.

We give people with kids directions to McDonalds

When I was in the service industry my philosophy was quite easy when it comes to kids. The children of today will be the adult guests of tomorrow. I treated all my guest nicely and it was why I always had a full station with regulars. I would make a $100 on a slow lunch from all requests. It was a pretty gig back in the day.

 

[rightwinger]

Belmar diners leave waitress taunting note and no tip

On Aug. 17, Jess Jones of Belmar, a 2013 Manasquan High School graduate, was waiting on a party of eight people at the landmark restaurant and night club on Ocean Avenue. After the $112.03 bill was paid for by credit card, Jones discovered that her customers had left her no tip. Instead, the texting acronym "LOL" — for laughing out loud — was written on the tip line of the receipt next to the words, "1 hour for food."

Last night, I was stunned by this receipt that was left for me by a party of eight people," Jones wrote. "I would have preferred a '$0' tip than a 'LOL' tip, but as a waitress, bad tips and harsh notes are all part of the job. Even though they did wait an hour to eat, they remained satisfied with filled drinks and proper notice that the kitchen was a bit busier than normal. I've worked in the service industry for five years and I take pride in providing great service to my customers."

How is a patron supposed to show their dissatisfaction with waiting an hour for food?
Does a waitress deserve $20 for service that was unsatisfactory to the customer? Who should be accountable?




.

Sometimes places get busy, an hour wait happens. At OUR place, if you order and an hour as gone by and your meal isn't ready, we provide a free appetizer of your choice.

Of course our waitstaff is also paid the prevailing wage and don't rely on tips as well.

Absolutely

It should be a common practice to take care of your customers. Do they need to stand up and scream to get satisfaction? A manager should know his kitchen is way behind. HE should be going to the tables to apologize and offer free drinks, appetizers or a discount on your bill

In the town we're in , in the summer wait time for a table can be 2 or 3 hours, I mean we take cell phone numbers and shoot people a text when their table is ready, it gets THAT busy, and yes sometimes , especially for a party of 8, it could take an hour to get someone their meal.

Our wait staff are fully authorized to hand out free appetizers if they need to. They don't even have to ask. They DO have to keep track and if we notice a trend someone's ass is in trouble, but that's it.

Also, some people in this thread are entirely correct, you are not automatically entitled to a tip just because you are a server.

When I go to other places to eat, I don't go in thinking "I'm going to leave $X as a tip" that is entirely dependent on the entire experience.

Oh , and if one of our employees bitched about our place or our customers on social media, they would be terminated , immediately.

And yes, we keep track. It's gotten so bad that our manager has told the employers that if they unfriend her or block her or otherwise attempt to hide things they are saying from her, they are fired.

I agree, no employee should ever post a receipt on the internet and gripe about customers. Even if they block out their name. Like it or not, these customers had a legitimate gripe about the service. It is not up to the customer do determine fault.
Posting on the internet and complaining shows future customers what you think of them and how they will be treated

 

[SassyIrishLass]

I used to work for a restaurant that would give the kids carrot sticks and a small ramekin of light ranch for dipping. The kiddie appetizer was a big hit with both the parents and children. It was just a brilliant touch.

We give people with kids directions to McDonalds

We'd never eat in your dump

My "dump" is a pretty nice steak house with a classically trained head chef that you couldn't afford dear.

Oh I could afford it "dear" and we don't patronize any place that doesn't welcome our children. Now sit down and shut up and cease pretending you know me or my situation

You doof, I have 5 children, I was joking about the McDonalds thing. Of course we serve children, well behaved children.

Nice save attempt, now stfu. You're a boring cad

 

[mdk]

I would have walked out of the restaurant after 15 minutes, done it a few times.

Those are some pretty high standards. Good food takes time to prepare unless you're into the whole 'slop and drop' type restaurants.

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Belmar diners leave waitress taunting note and no tip

On Aug. 17, Jess Jones of Belmar, a 2013 Manasquan High School graduate, was waiting on a party of eight people at the landmark restaurant and night club on Ocean Avenue. After the $112.03 bill was paid for by credit card, Jones discovered that her customers had left her no tip. Instead, the texting acronym "LOL" — for laughing out loud — was written on the tip line of the receipt next to the words, "1 hour for food."

Last night, I was stunned by this receipt that was left for me by a party of eight people," Jones wrote. "I would have preferred a '$0' tip than a 'LOL' tip, but as a waitress, bad tips and harsh notes are all part of the job. Even though they did wait an hour to eat, they remained satisfied with filled drinks and proper notice that the kitchen was a bit busier than normal. I've worked in the service industry for five years and I take pride in providing great service to my customers."

How is a patron supposed to show their dissatisfaction with waiting an hour for food?
Does a waitress deserve $20 for service that was unsatisfactory to the customer? Who should be accountable?




.

Sometimes places get busy, an hour wait happens. At OUR place, if you order and an hour as gone by and your meal isn't ready, we provide a free appetizer of your choice.

Of course our waitstaff is also paid the prevailing wage and don't rely on tips as well.

Absolutely

It should be a common practice to take care of your customers. Do they need to stand up and scream to get satisfaction? A manager should know his kitchen is way behind. HE should be going to the tables to apologize and offer free drinks, appetizers or a discount on your bill

In the town we're in , in the summer wait time for a table can be 2 or 3 hours, I mean we take cell phone numbers and shoot people a text when their table is ready, it gets THAT busy, and yes sometimes , especially for a party of 8, it could take an hour to get someone their meal.

Our wait staff are fully authorized to hand out free appetizers if they need to. They don't even have to ask. They DO have to keep track and if we notice a trend someone's ass is in trouble, but that's it.

Also, some people in this thread are entirely correct, you are not automatically entitled to a tip just because you are a server.

When I go to other places to eat, I don't go in thinking "I'm going to leave $X as a tip" that is entirely dependent on the entire experience.

Oh , and if one of our employees bitched about our place or our customers on social media, they would be terminated , immediately.

And yes, we keep track. It's gotten so bad that our manager has told the employers that if they unfriend her or block her or otherwise attempt to hide things they are saying from her, they are fired.

I agree, no employee should ever post a receipt on the internet and gripe about customers. Even if they block out their name. Like it or not, these customers had a legitimate gripe about the service. It is not up to the customer do determine fault.
Posting on the internet and complaining shows future customers what you think of them and how they will be treated

We have a really good General Manager, she likes to rotate people around. All our wait staff have worked at least some time in the kitchen, and all our kitchen help have spent at least some time in the front of the house .

Seeing things from the other side can often times change a person's perspective.

 

[guno]

Why Are Christians Such Bad Tippers?

Why Are Christians Such Bad Tippers?

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

I would have walked out of the restaurant after 15 minutes, done it a few times.

Those are some pretty high standards. Good food takes time to prepare unless you're into the whole 'slop and drop' type restaurants.

I think he's being facetious. I stopped by Long John Silver the other day and it took 15 minutes to get a meal.

 

[rightwinger]

We give people with kids directions to McDonalds

We'd never eat in your dump

My "dump" is a pretty nice steak house with a classically trained head chef that you couldn't afford dear.

Oh I could afford it "dear" and we don't patronize any place that doesn't welcome our children. Now sit down and shut up and cease pretending you know me or my situation

You doof, I have 5 children, I was joking about the McDonalds thing. Of course we serve children, well behaved children.

Nice save attempt, now stfu. You're a boring cad

Joke went right over your head didn't it?

 

[SmarterThanTheAverageBear]

Why Are Christians Such Bad Tippers?

Why Are Christians Such Bad Tippers?

Do you ever give it a rest?

 

[mdk]

Why Are Christians Such Bad Tippers?

Why Are Christians Such Bad Tippers?

Oh for the love of fuck!