If I am unhappy with my service or quality of food, I don't tip.
If the server is unhappy with the lack of a tip, and accosts me verbally (which has happened), I will explain my reasoning.
Vote with your wallet, and all that jazz.
If enough people stop tipping for crappy or non-existence services... perhaps eventually it will become more and more difficult for businesses to hire people to work for less than minimum wage... and the world will change.
One short tip at a time.
I am fine with other people thinking I am an asshole, they're free to do so. Most do not.
I have worked in restaurants for years, and I worked my ass off for every tip I received.
If you're serving me a microwaved burger, I don't care if that's the way they do it at this restaurant, I'm not tipping.
To the downvoters... what solution do you propose?
Legislation to be enacted to force restaurant employers the continent-over to start paying their employees more than twice what they're currently getting paid by the company, and increase food prices?
That's never going to happen imho, we tip in North America, and the restaurants pay their employees less than minimum wage, that's just the way it is now.
If you are unhappy with the quality of your food, you don't tip your server?
Here's how that results in a lose-lose for both you and the server.
Normally, if your food does not meet expectations, the best recourse is to let the server know what the problem is. The server can then either have the kitchen resolve the problem or talk to a manager, who can intervene to make things right. The end result is that you end up with food that meets expectations, or perhaps get a portion of the meal comped, and you walk out satisfied.
By being passive aggressive and expressing your displeasure with a zero tip, you don't give the restaurant an opportunity to make things right, so you walk out unsatisfied.
You also punish the wrong person, because it's not the server who is preparing the food. And keep in mind that the server is working a low-paying, often high-stress job, and your withholding of a tip might hit hard.
And perhaps the reason why you've been accosted by servers is that nobody knows the reason why you're refusing to tip unless you tell them. If someone works hard but you stiff them because you didn't like the texture of your burger and didn't bother to raise the issue during your meal, it's not unreasonable for them to assume you thought there was something wrong with their service.
>Normally, if your food does not meet expectations, the best recourse is to let the server know what the problem is. The server can then either have the kitchen resolve the problem or talk to a manager, who can intervene to make things right.
Have you eaten in many low-quality restaurants lately? And complained about the food to the server?
The last time I had a problem with my food (the vegetarian pasta that my partner ordered... who has been vegetarian for decades because of strong personal beliefs against harming animals... had chicken in it which she ended up eating and feeling terrible about)...
I brought that to the attention of our server, who just said "oh sorry, I'll bring out another one".
There's one example of a server who didn't get a tip.
Another time we were eating pizza with olives on it and the olive had a pit in it that almost broke my tooth... am I supposed to ask that the server please inspect every olive on my pizza and make me a new one?
Or ask the server to take back my stir fry that has almost as many ants in it as there is rice, and ask them for another one?
No, I wouldn't think so...
A restaurant is a team (who typically share tips amongst everybody in the restaurant in my experience), and if the team screws up, the team doesn't get tipped.
When I worked at a restaurant and served food, it was on me to make sure that everything that was served to the customers was perfect. If it wasn't, I would send it back to the kitchen.
I don't care what people think of me and my levels of compassion for restaurant staff.
If I am not enjoying my time in your restaurant, I am not going to submit to the gauntlet and tip on the way out the door.
The problem with the pit in the olive or the chicken in the vegetarian dish really don't have anything to do with the waiter. You should have tipped the waiter and simply have refused to pay for the meal. And tipping the waiter is not because the service was good but because without your tip they can't pay their rent. They're really at your mercy.
On the other hand I do think the whole tipping culture in the US is broken and something should be done about it.
You say you "worked in restaurants for years". If a customer stiffed you on a tip would that encourage YOU to give them better service next time they come in?
>If a customer stiffed you on a tip would that encourage YOU to give them better service next time they come in?
You shouldn't need any encouragement to do your job properly and professionally the first time imho.
And I wouldn't consider it being stiffed.
The couple who I poured an entire pitcher of water onto just as they sat down to dinner one night didn't tip me, and I am not confused or upset as to why.
The tip can be variable to reflect your perception of the service, so leaving no tip just makes you the jerk. Also, you chose the restaurant that microwaves burgers, so you knew what you were getting into.
If the server is unhappy with the lack of a tip, and accosts me verbally (which has happened), I will explain my reasoning.
Vote with your wallet, and all that jazz.
If enough people stop tipping for crappy or non-existence services... perhaps eventually it will become more and more difficult for businesses to hire people to work for less than minimum wage... and the world will change.
One short tip at a time.
I am fine with other people thinking I am an asshole, they're free to do so. Most do not.
I have worked in restaurants for years, and I worked my ass off for every tip I received.
If you're serving me a microwaved burger, I don't care if that's the way they do it at this restaurant, I'm not tipping.
To the downvoters... what solution do you propose?
Legislation to be enacted to force restaurant employers the continent-over to start paying their employees more than twice what they're currently getting paid by the company, and increase food prices?
That's never going to happen imho, we tip in North America, and the restaurants pay their employees less than minimum wage, that's just the way it is now.