A Yuppie Dilemma
I emailed this question to the waiter over at waiterrant.com, but I'm curious to hear your opinions, oh Gooey readers. What would you have done in this situation? And "eat meat" is not an appropriate answer. Although it is a funny one, cuz vegetarians are great at being smarmy douchebags.
Dear Waiter,
Last Sunday, my boyfriend and I dropped into an upscale(ish), non-chain bar and grill for some post-hangover brunch. The appetizers were tasty, and the service was mediocre (I waited five minutes at the bar to ask the non-busy server for utensils before getting them myself) but friendly.
When our entrees came, my boyfriend's pizza was so greasy it was inedible. This guy is not a terribly picky eater; I've seen him eat moldy sandwich bread because he didn't want it to go to waste, but for the first time ever and with a green look on his face, he sent the food back (and apologized profusely). Of course, we're the asshole vegetarians in the bar and grill in Baltimore, so there wasn't anything else on the menu that would have worked for us- and my boyfriend had completely lost his appetite.
The waiter was a nice guy about it, but when he brought back our check, he apologized and said that he didn't know how to comp the meal on his computer, and that he couldn't get a hold of the manager, so we were out of luck on the $9.
So here's the question. Should we have made that $9 his tip (which would have been more that 25%), or paid the full price and tipped on top of that? We were both waiters once upon a time and feel strongly about tipping generously, but should this guy have taken more responsibility for not knowing how to do his job?
Nine bucks is a lot of chump change.
Thanks!
posted by The Goo at 3:35 PM
6 Comments:
I think it's definitely his resposibility to find out how to comp your meal, especially if he mentions it to you that he didn't know how.
I would've had the $9 be the tip because it seems like this guy put in no effort at all. And I definitely consider myself a generous tipper, my sister has been a waitress for years and I hate to leave less than 20% for any reason.
I know some people who would've taken as much silverware as they could get their hands on in order to make up the difference, but I certainly don't recommend it.
I personally would've asked to have had the $9 made up in complementary drinks.
He couldn't work the register? He should eat that. Work it out with the manager.
I think this is one of the rare times that you do, indeed, need to speak with a manager. Otherwise, yeah, it's his tip.
Why did he have to charge you the money? Couldn't he just erase it from the bill?
Game over. Waiter loses.
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