A server at a popular Lakeview eatery Saturday didn't find the humor in the above photo of a customer's receipt.
Apparently, the brunch guest—who happened to be a financial analyst—thought it would be a good idea to leave his "two cents" in lieu of a tip because he felt the establishment "needed faster cooks." Oh, and to add insult to injury, he drew a picture of a smiley face emoticon.
She had some advice for him as well:
"A smiley face will never negate the fact that you're a douchebag. Here's my 'two cents' for you: next time why don't you just complain to management so you get something for free like the rest of the [redacted] trash."
That's a place he might not want to visit again . . .
Why does the server have to suffer due to the cooks fault? I hope this guy chokes on his food next time.
ReplyDeleteI bartend at a really popular bar in the city and 2 weeks ago in the tip part of the cc slip a customer wrote "not pretty". Thank god he did it to me cuz I am married and I could really care less but what if he did that to someone ane they took it to heart. It was just mean plus he didnt tip and was a short ugly guy who I paid no attention to because he didnt tip the first 5 times he came up to the bar.
ReplyDeleteUGH. What a nasty little weasel.
ReplyDeleteI am convinced that people who are that nasty seriously have personal issues and they "attempt" to take it out on those in the service industry because they THINK they can.
They always get it in the end. ;)
I'm convinced that people like this look for any excuse to not leave a tip...I'd be willing to bet this a regular thing for this customer.
ReplyDeleteProbably a Republican.
ReplyDeleteOhhh, wow, really, anon 9:57am?!
ReplyDeleteThere's NO reason to bring race into this. I only allowed your comment to go through just so I could, in fact, tell you that this person was NOT a minority, but that was not the point.
The person above you likely said that because I wrote that the culprit was a "financial analyst."
Seriously, be cool. :/
This customer seems, indeed, a douchebag. What's equally obnoxious, however, is the server's suggestion that people who complain are just "trash" who want to get something for "free." I'd never leave an insult tip like that, but I wonder what kind of attitude this server was putting out there.
ReplyDeleteHey, David:
ReplyDeleteI reached out to her for a comment, and I think she was still pretty upset so that's how she felt at the moment.
I personally do not know her, but she had a few people who vouched for her. Also, the customer's tip was that he had a problem with the kitchen and not her. . .
As a Chef I know that it is not always the kitchens fault, we are just easy to blame because we are not standing in front of the customer trying to explain. We'll take it, we're tough. I wouldn't ever want to deal with fools everyday.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that folks always go after the server? Nothing...NOTHING could excuse this guy leaving cents. I am sure he is part of the ever growing culture of "I am a foodie and review on Yelp, yet don't know shit about what it means to work in a restaurant" cult. Two things: 1. if you are in a hurry...go for fast food and enjoy. 2. Go work in a restaurant...during Restaurant Week..wait on all the dipsticks like you and then come back and pull the tip crap you pulled. Bet you won't!
ReplyDeleteOh and why not invite the server and chef to visit you at work and tell you how to do your job better freakshow.
I hope he goes back...NEVER MESS WITH PEOPLE WHO PREP YOUR FOOD!
ReplyDeleteI have huge admiration and regard for the people who prepare my food and serve it to me. Many times, they make my day. What appalls me is the commonly expressed contempt of restaurant workers for customers, the "fools," the "dipsticks." A book like "Waiter's Rant" left me speechless. I was stunned at the animosity, the hatred that some restaurant workers seem to feel toward diners. Not that some of the anger isn't well-deserverd, but, wow, it seems the perception of many restaurant staff is that anyone who walks through the door, hungry and ready to eat, is, ipso facto, an entitled imbecile. All I can say is, we're not all that way. Some of us, perhaps most of us, have nothing but respect for you. Please don't pee in my soup.
ReplyDeleteAn unsaid part behind these waitperson comments is what went on at the table to bring out these types of names.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of dismissive types who go to restaurants and give a waitperson the sense that they aren't really interested in anything the server has to say.
There is no eye contact, no simple courtesy of listening, etc. They, themselves, are not "pretty" either.
In some cases situations like this can become a one-way street. Many times it is done on purpose. And it can cause the server to carry the experience to other tables.
I guess what I am getting at is that it is hard for some people to leave their personal lives outside when they go to work serving other people.
I like to see so many people take an interest in this...mainly because I like Audarshia.
ReplyDeleteHowever, is this server THAT angry over getting stiffed five bucks? It must be the smiley face that pissed her off but I'm guessing anybody who gets this angry about five bucks is probably not the friendliest on a Sunday afternoon.
Well what if someone took $5 dollars or retracted an hour of pay, out of your check every time you got paid,-the point is, it adds up. If she gave good service, then she should be compensated as such. When your salary essentially consists of tips, every tip counts. I have worked in the service industry before and I saw how rude people can get. And like Bob said, it can carry on to your next table. You try to separate your feelings for one table when addressing another, but unfortunately it can carry over if someone was particularly rude a few minutes before. People really can talk down and belittle workers in the service industry-as if all are uneducated and are therefore "beneath" their diners (I have felt this air of pretentiousness before). Not that it justifies rude servers, but it all adds up and weighs on you.
ReplyDeleteProbably a democrat they love doing that stuff.
ReplyDeleteMy 2 cents ...tips are often split between server and other staff. And, tips really shouldn't be an entitlement.
ReplyDeleteSome customers are just jerks and you will never change them. You can only change you.
If a customer chooses not to leave a tip, it sucks. It might not have been the proper thing for the customer to do. However, better to question why and see how you and other staff can be better.
"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." - Anais Nin
My 2 cents ...tips are often split between server and other staff. And, tips really shouldn't be an entitlement.
ReplyDeleteSome customers are just jerks and you will never change them. You can only change you.
If a customer chooses not to leave a tip, it sucks. It might not have been the proper thing for the customer to do. However, better to question why and see how you and other staff can be better.
"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." - Anais Nin
Too bad, so sad - but if I get shit service, then I tip appropriately. It doesn't matter where the weak link in the chain is.
ReplyDeleteIf the cooks are slow, then bitch at them for making the customer leave you a lousy tip.
TIP = To Insure Promptness.
ReplyDelete’nuff said.
Here's a "elephant in the room" questions been so far avoided.
ReplyDeleteWhen did the order go into the kitchen? Did the server check on the status of the order? When did the food arrive at the table? Did the server check on the customer? If it took a long time for the order to arrive, did the server alert the manager? If so, did the manager talk with the customer?
It's possible the server took the attitude, "hey the kitchen is out of my control so screw it."
Hence a 2 cent tip.
I've worked in the restaurant business (from busboy to waiter to bartender to cook to manager) so I know the drill and have experience TONS of poor service...?
We dont know the details of this story...but it was a 29$ tab...this stuff happens...Quit crying...maybe if you had done your job you would have noticed that the food was late or poorly prepared or both and then apologized and shown some concern to your customer...but maybe you were too busy texting in the service well...Im in the industry and I see the lazy, slow and detached service everywhere that still whines when they dont get tipped...embarrassing
ReplyDeleteTips are a show of appreciation for Good service. if the server went the extra mile to make the customer's wait time less of a problem the bad tip might not have happened. you need to know the entire story before you decide who the "douche bag" is. I've tipped much more than the meal itself cost, simply because the server was excellent. a great server can turn around a bad experience and make it ok...so lets hear the entire story before making assumptions.
ReplyDeleteI went into a club in Miami recently. sat at the bar so no one even had to walk to my table. ordered a bottle of beer so all that was necessary was for them to open it. the waitress paid very little attention to me but when my beer was finished she did ask if I'd like another one so the experience was ok. when i got the bill it included a mandatory built in tip. this actually infuriated me. a tip is my way of saying thank you for great service...or thanks for nothing. I'm a great tipper and this bar maid would have probably gotten a $5 tip on my $3 tab until I saw that they had added a mandatory tip of $1 to my bill. she got that $1 and missed out on the other $4 because it's MY money and MY decision what to leave NO one elses.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to write a comment cause I'm the kind of person who WOULD write something snarky on a receipt and not leave a tip if I wasn't happy with my service.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go to a restaurant, I expect a minimum level of service:
1. Friendly service
2. Timely service
3. Good (or at least well prepared) food
4. To be checked on after food comes
5. Get the things I ask for in a timely fashion (extra napkins, a soda refill, etc)
I don't think that's too much to ask. If I get seated and I'm waiting for 10 minutes for a wait person, I'm going to be pissed.
If I ask for something, say a beer, and my wait person comes back after 10 minutes to ask how things are without my beer (because they forgot it), I'm going to be pissed.
And why are patrons passive aggressive? That's easy, because I'm not going to take the chance that some disgruntled wait person is going to get mid-evil and spit in my soup because they don't like my attitude. I will simply wait, write a snarky comment on the receipt and never eat there again. You don't like it? Step up your game.
That said, I don't think the guy was right to not give a tip because the kitchen was slow. That's out of the wait person's control.
I spend over half of my work-life eating out, by virtue of traveling for work. Whether waiters like it or not, they are the extension of the restaurant/food-place to the customer. Customers don't interact with the cooks, chefs, dish-washers...they usually only deal with one person, the waiter/waitress.
ReplyDeleteSo, if something is not up to par for whatever reason, most people will take it out on the waiter, because he/she is the face of the eatery. It's not fair, but it is reality.
As a customer, I understand it's frustrating when parts of the machinery is broken, but unfortunately, that's not really my problem.
Yes, it does suck that a waiter works for tips, that you don't get paid more, that you are on your feet all the time etc etc. I get it, and when service is good I tip 20-25% because it's usually deserved.
However, I sometimes tip less and write notes as the one described here because it is the only way for customers to show our dis-satisfaction with the service.
As a customer I have expectations that are pretty easy to meet: A nice greeting, a drink order, an appetizer order, main order, refills, desert, check/pay up, out the door.
I'll even adjust my expectations based on time of day, whether the eatery is 'upscale' and other factors. A good waiter knows and understands when to inform the customer of the next steps, INCLUDING that the food will be late. If the expectations are managed, I will very like tip rewardingly and we are all good.
At the end of the day, calling someone a douche-bag for explaining why they didn't tip, is un-necessary. My advise for the waiter/waitress would be to try and fix the actual problem to ensure it doesn't happen again.
A tip is not required... The servers get paid a set amount. I only give one for excellent service.
ReplyDeleteMost financial analysts are democrats. Thieves and liars naturally gravitate toward and support other thieves and liars.
ReplyDeletemy first thought when i saw this picture was disgust. after reading the comments i think i am even more disgusted. i am in the industry and have been for a very long time. i have served and am now boh. i have had lousy tips i have had good tips, i have interacted with horrible customers and i have interacted with amazing customers. thats what we do that is what we deal with, welcome to the hospitality industry. the reason i am disgusted is because not one person has commented on the fact that an employee of an establishment that is not owned or run by them felt the need to post a bad tip online. it is one of the most immature things i have seen in a longtime and if that person worked for me they would no longer have a job. in any restaurant tips and pissing and moaning about them should not be tolerated, it is unprofessional and creates a negative work environment. if this person has the audacity to post this over a five dollar tip they shouldnt be in this industry.
ReplyDeleteI was with her at the restaurant... she was all smiles and is an amazing server. She had no idea they were unhappy with the wait for their food - never once even mentioned to her that they were annoyed. Here's a tip - if something's not right, then complain. Don't take it out of their tip. This server is the best thing this restaurant has going!! I understand the differing opinions, but since I was there - I feel like I can account on her behalf. This was SUCH BS.
ReplyDeleteFYI a server is taxed on his/her total food sale no matter what the tip is if it's paid via credit card, so essentially this A-hole made his server lose money. i was a server in college and i normally tip 20-25% for good service and/or personality and nothing lower than 15% even for rotten service. i believe in good tip karma. this guy shows a complete lack of class and just seems cruel. the smiley face after his "two cents" is the real jerk move in this situation. cheap/insulting tippers are despicable and shouldn't go out to eat if they can't understand how normal people should behave in public... :)
ReplyDeleteWhile the guy acted like a passive-aggressive douche-bag, I am sick and tired of the entitlement tipping culture we have in the United States.
ReplyDeleteIn Miami, Florida, all restaurants impose a mandatory 18% tip. Starbucks has tips jars?! Dunkin Donunts has tip jars?! You can't tip at McDonalds or the grocery take-out folks at Publix and other grocers.
Restaurants do not help the issue because they are cheap, greedy bastards. Pay someone a good wage for the work performed.
Waiters/waitresses should make at least minimum wage. Period.
Funny scene from Reservoir Dogs about tipping:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-qV9wVGb38
Why is everyone attacking the customer here?
ReplyDeleteOne time a friend and I went to a popular sushi restaurant. The service is always very slow, but the prices are good so I went often, this day was particularly bad. It's a fairly small restaurant with maybe 20 tables and a sushi bar. It seems to have a fairly normal sized staff, but there was usually a 30-40 minute wait until they would take our order, and another 30 minutes until it was brought out to us. On this occasion we sat at our table for an hour and a half. The entire time we occasionally told passing servers we were ready to order, they either ignored us or said "one minute" or something like that. After the hour and a half wait it took another hour and a half to bring the food to us. Several times we asked if that had forgotten about our orders. After it took three hours to get the food, my friend was so angry that when it came time to tip he wrote $0.00 with several underlines. I don't think they even cared.
Don't tell me those servers deserved a tip.
Hello all, I am the tipper and wanted to leave my 2 cents on this blog as well. I am usually a very appropriate tipper (20% for a normal meal, more or less if the service demands it). Criticize me all you want, but I ordered 1 burger, 1 salad, and 1 popcorn chicken. this took 1 hour to come out of the kitchen, not to mention the 20 minute wait to even be given a menu. Judge away!
ReplyDeleteI am close friends with this person. He told me a few hours after his dinner how upset he was with the service. He stated that the place was NOT packed yet it still took 20 minutes to get waited on. He stated that from the time he walked in the door it took an HOUR to get his food. This is unacceptable. If you want to be tipped, improve your service. Writing that on the check is a pretty dick move to do and I told him that if he had a problem, then he should talk to a manager instead of writing on the receipt but putting up his name on a popular web site with only half of the story is a pretty dick move too. The way I see it, you two would make good friends.
ReplyDeleteFriend of the Dick:
ReplyDeleteHoney, reading IS fundamental. Where in hell did I post this guy's name on 312DD?! I do have the name, but I personally deleted it. The story is about the receipt, NOT who did it and where it happened.
So, before you write angry comments again, you might want to actually read what is actually written first.
Tipping shouldn't be allowed. I live in Canada and am completely tired of false friendliness from servers who are just trying to get higher tips. Just do your goddamn job. Think about it. Tipping is strictly a North American & Euro trash idea. Servers should be paid more by their employers to compensate for this.
ReplyDelete"The Dick" needs to provide more details about what his experience was, because, honestly, he made the choice to stay there. After waiting there 20 minutes for a menu, I would have left the establishment. Losing my business would have been sufficient.
ReplyDeleteInstead, he elected to stay the entire course up until the very end, then reverted to pubescence by leaving that note. Petty vengeances are pretty ugly, and, DICK, you didn't contribute anything but bad feelings.
As for "Dick's Friend"...frankly, if people thought more about where something they wrote might end up, maybe they'd be less prone to dick moves like writing petty notes.
Just. SAYIN'.
If the cooks are slow, the manager and/or server owes it to a guest to communicate the issue with apologies. REGARDLESS - this guy is a jerk if he thinks that is the server's fault in some way. When I saw the headline, I thought maybe his service was poor - but it seems like that is not the case. I don't think it matters what the guy does for a living - he is just a jerk.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, the wait staff is an extention of the restaurant. If the restaurant performs badly, in any respect, it is the RIGHT of the customer to not pay EXTRA for the services rendered. Regardless of who's fault it is. And that's the problem, nobody understands that tipping, by definition, is extra. Extra that in my case, and the case of many other people, the wait staff will recieve given that the EXPERIENCE is not a bad one.
ReplyDeleteWhat she should have done with this receipt, was shown it to her waitstaff and/or management, because it was their fault she didn't receive a tip. It is not in any way shape or form, the customer's responsibility to speak with anyone in the restaurant to improve the service. The customer doesn't work there, they dont need to tell anyone to do anything differently. The sad fact is that the tip is given for their experience... the experience was poor so she receieved a poor tip.
Like anything else, and as the saying goes, you are only as strong as your weakest link. Don't blame the customer for the weak links. It is outrageous that people think, that even though it wasn't the waitresses fault, that the customer should pay EXTRA for a shitty experience.
I likely would have tipped this girl more than two cents, but she certianly was not entitled to 20%, even when it was not her fault. She is entitled to what she AND the establishment she represents was able to provide. And since it likely shitty, she got a shitty tip.
Suck it up or find a new job.
I have a very wide range of tip %, from 0% to way over 100% depending on the overall service. On average, I tip well over 15%. I don't know the waiter's relationship to the restaurant - owner's cousin or unfairly underpaid, nor should I know. I don't care if it's the waiter's fault or cook or marketing person in the main office, to me, as the customer, the waiter is the representative of the restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI don't want you to try to get a good tip with obvious manipulative tricks, (the best waiter I ever had never smiled once) I want you to try to make my experience pleasurable.
This '2 cent tipper' was nice enough to let you know why he left a bad tip, so you could correct it and avoid bad tips in the future. You should thank him, rather than breaking the sacred trust that the restaurant will keep the credit card receipts confidential. If I knew which restaurant this was, I would avoid it because of this.
There are a couple of things:
ReplyDelete- Communication with customers is key. Part of a server's responsibility, I think, is to keep diners informed of delays. If your customers are clearly getting antsy, or if there's a delay and the kitchen, and the servers DON'T at least keep their customers in the loop, there's a service problem, which the kitchen can't control it.
- In this case, the customer could also have been a bit proactive and voiced their displeasure, trying to seek a solution before being a snide dips**t.
- Tips are NOT required (as much as I hate to admit it, being a former server myself)
re: what February 22, 2011 5:29 PM
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said..
"FYI a server is taxed on his/her total food sale no matter what the tip is if it's paid via credit card"
FYI This is incorrect.
I have several restaurant/bar clients and I am not sure where you got this information.
Tips are declared as entered regardless if they are made via a credit card transaction or cash transaction when processed.
Now regarding the subject at hand, there are so many sides and possibilities to this.
I for one speak up when I am not happy with the service that I am receiving, during and a lot of times after via review sites, so it would be interesting to know if this guy did.
Also, what was the climate in the restaurant while he was there.
Did they have had a spike in business and were understaffed.
This is happening quite frequently because sales are down and staff cuts have been necessary at a lot of restaurants, especially during slow periods.
If by chance that was the case, in an ideal situation he would have been offered some kind of apology, either in the form of a free item, discount, etc.
If he never said that he was unhappy with the service, then it was really sucky to just leave his two cents and "advice".
He should have at least given them the chance to rectify/address the situation.
On the other hand, working with bars/restaurants I see every day how servers are sometimes too busy chatting each other up and bemoaning their own ish to really connect with the customers or clue in to potential issues.
An attentive server should keep track of the timeliness of their orders and on how busy the restaurant is so that they can explain any potential delays to their customers.
But we only have a receipt to tell this story without having been there and been impartial it's really hard to say really what went down.
But I too speak with my dollars and that goes for tipping.
Yes the tip rate in Illinois, (thanks to Rob Blagojevich) is currently $4.95 an hour, which is of course not a living wage and is supplemented by tips but servers should also remember that their job is a sales job and like any other requires attention and intuition.
The only time in my 55 years that I never left a tip, was at a very pricey eatery, (about 30 years ago), when my baked Potato came along side with my dessert....That was after I asked for the potato about 20 times...if they would have said they were having a problem in the kitchen with the potatoes, I would have selected something else....however the serve just didn't care...
ReplyDeletePS the place closed a few months later...I wonder why?
To those that don't understand why people should tip in the first place. Compare IL to other states that have mandatory gratuity put on every check(ie Miami). First of all, the service itself will suffer. Someone who is getting a guarantee of being paid most likely will not work as hard and provide the service that is expected as those who work just for tips. In Il, servers just work for tips, you can't take into account the measly wage that they get paid because that is for covering income tax. In IL, servers must claim between 8-12 percent of their daily sales to the IRS, regardless of how much of their tip money gets paid to others in the restaurant (bartenders, busboy's etc) So there are plenty of times when a server can lose money by getting tipped poorly. Yes, it would be great if restaurants paid their workers better but with higher wages come higher food prices. Im sure many years ago, tipping was done as an extra courtesy but now it is a major factor in the running of restaurants and other establishments that hire primarily tip based workers. So, keep that in mind when you are out eating. Who knows if this server deserved the bad tip or not? In my experience, when situations like this happens, it usually is a combo of a sub par server with a customer with an attitude.
ReplyDeleteMost servers suck , so i can't really feel bad for him/her
ReplyDelete.
Hey, Friend of The Dick... maybe the Dick needs to get his story straight,
ReplyDelete"He told me a few hours after his dinner how upset he was with the service. He stated that the place was NOT packed yet it still took 20 minutes to get waited on. He stated that from the time he walked in the door it took an HOUR to get his food."
The check was presented at 2:41pm. Was it dinner? Was it lunch? Did he order his burger well done? Do you think it takes less than 20 minutes to cook a large burger all the way through? Did he order right away?
Usually a server has to tip out, so your friend actually made the server PAY out of pocket to wait on your friend. Who, as it sounds, clearly did not ask to talk to management about his "poor service."
If he wanted something quick there are PLENTY of fast food restaurants in Chicago.
So, congratulations to your friend who cost someone money. I'm sure he's a great guy.
Um. So I saw this, and as a server, I thought, that sucks. Then I saw the smiley-face, and I thought DOUCHE-bag! But then, I read the comments. I am completely astounded with how many people are actually on this guy's side! I know, I know, I wasn't there, and I don't know either party. The service could have been exceptionally horrible, blah blah blah. Let's assume that there wasn't anything ridiculously out of the ordinary. My comment is more to those who are combining your stupid powers to defend this guy. You do realize that nearly all servers in the United States make less than minimum wage as paid to them by their employer? That means, that in order for them to make the legally required salary, they have to claim a tip, generally around 10% or higher. So yes, DOUCHE-bag, your cute, quirky smiley face probably cost that girl about $3. From her less than minimum wage pay.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as a server, let me jut document here, that any tip below 10% is insulting. I pride myself on being a genuine, friendly and excellent server. I have a number of regulars who will agree.
And if you don't like your drink, TELL me you don't like your drink. Don't tell me it's good, and then take it out on my tip, or make me play super secret spy ninja to actually get you what you want.
You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat service staff. If you have ever snapped your fingers at a server, or completely ignored a question posed to you while refusing eye contact, YOU are the reason that we dislike you.
PS, most customers are great! Just don't be like these guys.