Wondering if you’re going to get a good tip? You can pretty much eliminate all the guesswork by observing the actions of the guests at your table. Unlike what your managers try to tell you with their little motivational pre-shift meetings, what you’re tipped isn’t always up to you. If someone at the table did one of the following, your chances of getting a good tip aren’t looking good at all.
Do you have free refills?
It never fails me. People who ask if refills are free will start drinking like they’re been lost in the desert then will leave a crappy tip.- Can I order from the kids menu?
Sometimes old people order from the kids menu and it’s honestly because of the portion size. The rest of the people who want to order from the kids menu are either cheap adults or broke teenagers and shouldn’t be in a restaurant in the first place. - Can I order from the lunch menu?
Pretty much the same rules apply here as with people who want to order from the kids menu. - Customer requests manager to complain about something, anything in a blatant attempt to get free food.
This usually happens at the tables where they eat more than half their meal then complain that it’s over/under cooked, rancid, etc. - Pays with a gift card.
This one really blows my mind. Almost every time a table has paid me with a gift card, I’ve received a shitty tip. It seems to me, if I’m basically eating for free, I’m going to give my server some extra bucks. Am I the only one with this logic?
Servers, what are some other telltale signs you’re not going to get a good tip? Share them in the comments below.
5 Tell-Tale Signs You're Going to Get a Bad Tip,
Too True.
People that don’t tip well or hardly at all are:
1. Blacks / Mexicans / Indians / Asians / Euro / Canadian
2. Teenagers
3. Ask about specials / happy hour
4. Old People
5. People that make a mess / kids throwing shit everywhere
6. The people wearing camo, baseball hats, sports jerseys, cowboy hats, military vet hats.
7. Assholes that don’t even acknowledge your fucking existence when you try to talk to them.
8. People that get a discount / gift card / bonus card / coupon
9. Complainers.
When they get their check and bust out the calculator on the phone. not a good sign… Also cause i cocktail in a restaurant too… They ask to make the happy hour drink extra strong or hook up their drink/food order
Anyone asking you to “hook them up” is usually ghetto and not going to tip well. And, why is it when people pull out a tip calculator app, they never punch in 20%????
buffet customers are usually lousy tippers…they figure since you didnt have to bring them anything then you dont deserve a big tip…even if they sit at your table for an hour and a half guzzling down 3 drinks and reading their newspaper…shitty ass people
How much should I tip a salesman who got me a discount of 400 off of furniture? He is also an old classmate from High School.
I’d say do your research on whether or not he really got you $400 off what you would have paid if you bought it from another salesman or at another store. If you don’t know much about furniture prices, he probably just used his allotted “wiggle room” then made it sound like he did something special for you. If, in fact, he did something special to saver you $400, then throw him a 20 spot or buy him a cocktail.
so let me get this straight… if someone spends $20 – $70 at a restaurant you expect some decent nice tip, but if someone DOES actually save you $400… oh just spot him a $20?
When their coupons zero out their tab and when they ask for things that you do not carry and will never carry!
When they pay with a hundred dollar bill…Everytime someone pays with a hundred I never see a decent tip.
Damn, this makes a lot of sense. I’ve noticed this too!
Another thing I’ve noticed recently, (this may only be in Texas though lol) if they come in wearing a cowboy hat, and they DON’T take it off while they’re at the table/while they’re eating, it’s ALWAYS a bad tip. If they take the hat off though, you’ll generally get an okay tip. Seems really weird, but I’ve noticed it the past few days.
Very true!! I live and work in Texas too.
When you see them with their card out they intend to pay with on the phone checking their balance.
* If they ask for “A bowl of lemons.” NEVER fails for me, I’ve always gotten a crappy tip when someone does that.
* If they come in with a handful of coupons, and try to use all of them at once. Before they even order. (Hi, I have coupons for a free appetizer, entree, and 20% off my order?)
* When you start to introduce yourself, they cut you off before you can even get your name out to ask you (usually rudely) to turn down the music/adjust the thermostat.
I’ve also seen the kid’s menu thing SO many times. Most notably the lady who wanted to order off it because she “couldn’t eat very much.” She also apparently “had a doctor’s note if my manager needed to see it.” We offered her something off the Senior’s menu instead (almost the exact same portion sizes as the kid’s) and she threw a fit because it was ridiculous that the senior’s was “half the price of the regular for only a dollar less”. The other lady whined and moaned and when we wouldn’t budge on the rules, ordered a kid’s meal to go, because that way “we couldn’t tell her no because she might be ordering it for her kid.”
the bowl of lemons is pretty spot on. With the coupons, I use them and then tip more because it’s such a good deal. I don’t try to compound multiple coupons. the cutting me off during my introduction makes me want to club baby seals.
Nooo! Not the baby seals! Q_Q
I try to tip well in general, but when I use coupons, I’ll generally tip at LEAST the value of the coupon if not more. I still don’t understand people trying to use more than one coupon at once. Especially since it usually says on the coupon “Not valid with any other offer/discount.”
Same applies for already discounted menu items (i.e. senior, lunch, or kid’s menu). There’s a guy who comes in to eat where I work who is at least 80 or older, he always orders off the senior menu, and then demands a 25% military discount on top of that. I tried to explain that we can’t discount an already discounted item, but he got all cranky, and the manager folded and said we have to do it for him every time now. Pisses me off because he gets all this stuff heavily discounted and only leaves a dollar. You can imagine how pissed he was when we lowered the military discount to 10%! xD
I’m a former US Marine Infantryman…and I’ve never demanded a Military discount–even when I was in the military!
The idea that he’s demanding it long after he finished his service shows just what a blow-job artist he is.
I’d lay five to one that he was just a pogue typist in the National Guard reserves or some shit…
I don’t think I’ve ever used a coupon in a restaurant in my whole life.
And, when I was a Deputy Sheriff, the idea of accepting a “Police Discount” really embarrassed me–I always tried to refuse it, and if it was forced on me I’d always leave the entire amount of my bill as a tip for the server.
6. They’re black.
7. They start off their dining experience by asking:
a. “How much do dis cost?”
b. “Do you have Happy Hour?”
c. “Do you have any specials/two-for-one/price fix items?”
8. They ask/demand bread before they’ve even ordered their food. Or, in many cases, their drinks.
9. They don’t speak English.
10. They’re under the age of 18, or over the age of 80.
you’re lucky this site won’t let me report you, bigot.
Unfortunately he’s right. Black people generally do not tip well if they even tip at all. Same thing goes for non English speakers, Europeans, Asians, and Indians.