[NA] I'll get the check, you get the tip [NA]

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Ravioli

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Scenario: Two couples go to dinner. The check comes.

When I INVITED the other couple to a place of my choosing I consider myself the host and expect to pay for it all.

When we're splitting the check I ask the server to do separate checks at the outset so they don't have to do it later. If they can't do that (sometimes crappy software, sometimes lazy server) then I presume 50/50. Close enough. 1/2 the check and tip as I otherwise would.

Now then... When I'm paying for all of us and the other person say "let me get the tip" I always decline the offer.. "Don't worry about it" or "I got it" or some such thing.

When I'm the "guest" I never offer. On occasion I've had someone say "I'll get the check and you get the tip" When that happens I comply... but... I rarely if ever go anywhere with the person again.

My interpretation? 4 people dine. Host "pays" for the meal and tells me to pay 1/5th of the bill. Didn't that jackass just tell me he'd pay for my date to eat but not for me?

From where did this MORONIC concept evolve?
 
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I think you over thinking it. The other guy just doesn't want you to feel completely obligated. I have offered to pick up the tip on occasion. I guess it depends on the dynamics. If it is someone I eat with often and we switch back and forth, I don't worry about it, as it will be my turn next time. If it is a first occasion, I wouldn't want to come across as a sponge, so I would offer to split it and then, I might offer to cover the tip.
 
20% tip.... wow, I bet the wait staff love you.:)

And I walked away from a restaurant that had a mandatory 18% gratuity added to all checks, no matter how few are dining.
 
@Zeldman - yah, 20% is pretty normal for me to tip good service.

But you make an interesting point. Are they thinking I'm gonna give a crappy tip and they can say "oh, that was him"?

The mandatory tip thing usually hurts the servers that wait on me and my family. We all kind of giggle and say "if that's all you want"
 
Yep. I hate that. I never let them pay for the tip because I'm afraid they will under tip.
If I'm treating, I'M TREATING.
 
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Kritchlow said:
Yep. I hate that. I never let them pay for the tip because I'm afraid they will under tip.
If I'm traeating, I'M TREATING.
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:yeahthat:

I'm the same way.

But...I can understand Ravioli's concern. He doesn't weigh enough to eat anywhere near 1/5th of the total combined meal cost.
 
GRG55 said:
:yeahthat:

I'm the same way.

But...I can understand Ravioli's concern. He doesn't weigh enough to eat anywhere near 1/5th of the total combined meal cost.
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Especially because these restaurants are often my home drome eating establishments, and I know the personel.
I always want to take care of them tip wise.
15% pre tax just doesn't cut it imo.
 
GRG55 said:
But...I can understand Ravioli's concern. He doesn't weigh enough to eat anywhere near 1/5th of the total combined meal cost.
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heehee... Are there restaurants where we can weigh in and pay on that?
And if there were such a thing, would a lady ever go?
 
When I take my wife to lunch she always offers to leave the tip :-)
I am happy because I don't have to spend all my cash...
 
eman1200 said:
I always offer to get the tip if someone offers to pay for dinner. I also expect them to turn it down, which is really the only reason why I offered in the first place!
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No no.... get the after dinner drinks/shots.
 
pigpenracing said:
When I take my wife to lunch she always offers to leave the tip :)
I am happy because I don't have to spend all my cash...
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When I take your wife to lunch she always gets the tab.
 
Ravioli said:
So sayeth the newest member of the Airplane Ownership club.
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I got me a hanger today!! I am like a kid at the candy store right now.
A very very newly poor kid that can't afford candy any more.
But still!!! I own a plane and I have a hangar.

And the hangar is in Texas and the plane is on Connecticut..

And my money is in another guy's bank account

And I got insurance on the plane which is 1300 miles away.

Wait... WTF did I pay for?
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I got me a hanger today!! I am like a kid at the candy store right now.
A very very newly poor kid that can't afford candy any more.
But still!!! I own a plane and I have a hangar.

And the hangar is in Texas and the plane is on Connecticut..

And my money is in another guy's bank account

And I got insurance on the plane which is 1300 miles away.

Wait... WTF did I pay for?
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Just a guess, but I'm betting they looked at your rippling rump as you walked to the hangar office and they said.... hmmmm...
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I got me a hanger today!! I am like a kid at the candy store right now.
A very very newly poor kid that can't afford candy any more.
But still!!! I own a plane and I have a hangar.

And the hangar is in Texas and the plane is on Connecticut..

And my money is in another guy's bank account

And I got insurance on the plane which is 1300 miles away.

Wait... WTF did I pay for?
Click to expand...
I can make that aircraft move 1300 miles...
 
Zeldman said:
20% tip.... wow, I bet the wait staff love you.:)

And I walked away from a restaurant that had a mandatory 18% gratuity added to all checks, no matter how few are dining.
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Ever looked to see what wait staff make? 20% makes coming to work in those jobs worth showing up, is about all that is.

I worked a number of restaurant jobs in my youth. I don't tip poorly. I budget nice meals out to make sure the wait staff gets something reasonable for their time.

And of course there's always the wisdom of Fight Club... "Bring us the clean soup, please..."

You get a reputation for being a skinflint tipper at some place you go often... guaranteed they're messing with your food. Guaranteed. Seen it done. Never did it myself.

That wasn't avocado on your burger. It was green but that's where the similarities end.

I agree with you on mandatory tipping everywhere except in one place, and that's our awesome annual cruise trip on a chartered theme boat.

We know a number of the wait staff on the boat, especially our favorite bartender. ;-) That man busts his butt. We always tip him extra. I've never seen a dude so fast with our beers when he sees it's us. He knows. I haven't seen the guy in a year and he knows. I suspect a little help from tech, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's just that good.
 
@denverpilot let me down this time. I was looking for the opening from Reservoir Dogs.
"And as for that non-college ******** I've got three words, learn to ****ing type" -- Mr Pink
 
When I went to Australia I discovered that in that country they don't tip at restaurants except for maybe certain higher end ones. It was nice, of course the food was more expensive but only marginally so once you factored in our customary tips. Service wasn't much different. I really wish we did things that way, I hate the entire practice of tipping. It doesn't make sense. Why is it a percentage of your food bill not a flat rate? Is carrying a BLT to my table inherently more difficult than steak? Why am I obligated to make up for the restaurant not paying their staff well enough on their own anyway?

Come to think of it if we're all tipping at 20% and this server is serving an average 4 tables/hr and each table is ordering on average $30 worth of food that's $24/hr which seems like pretty darn good money to me. Who decided on 20% anyway? Didn't it used to be like 10% and maybe 15% if they went above and beyond? If I'm paying for a table of 4 to eat that can easily add up to $60.... 20% is $12. I'm paying $12.... and I'm not the only table there. How can this possibly work out to not being a good paycheck?

I know these things, I feel in my bones it's a total scam but I pay it anyway cause I don't want to be that jerk.... but it just seems utterly ridiculous. Come on man, just put the real price I'm expected to pay on the menu and pay your people decently. I'm just trying to enjoy a nice meal out not feel trapped between feeling like a jerk and feeling like I'm being shaken down every time.
 
cowman said:
When I went to Australia I discovered that in that country they don't tip at restaurants except for maybe certain higher end ones. It was nice, of course the food was more expensive but only marginally so once you factored in our customary tips. Service wasn't much different. I really wish we did things that way, I hate the entire practice of tipping. It doesn't make sense. Why is it a percentage of your food bill not a flat rate? Is carrying a BLT to my table inherently more difficult than steak? Why am I obligated to make up for the restaurant not paying their staff well enough on their own anyway?

Come to think of it if we're all tipping at 20% and this server is serving an average 4 tables/hr and each table is ordering on average $30 worth of food that's $24/hr which seems like pretty darn good money to me. Who decided on 20% anyway? Didn't it used to be like 10% and maybe 15% if they went above and beyond? If I'm paying for a table of 4 to eat that can easily add up to $60.... 20% is $12. I'm paying $12.... and I'm not the only table there. How can this possibly work out to not being a good paycheck?

I know these things, I feel in my bones it's a total scam but I pay it anyway cause I don't want to be that jerk.... but it just seems utterly ridiculous. Come on man, just put the real price I'm expected to pay on the menu and pay your people decently. I'm just trying to enjoy a nice meal out not feel trapped between feeling like a jerk and feeling like I'm being shaken down every time.
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Not just Australia, but pretty much every other country in the world work without "mandatory" tips.
I think USA is in the same category as places like Nigeria and Ivory Coast.
 
cowman said:
Come to think of it if we're all tipping at 20% and this server is serving an average 4 tables/hr and each table is ordering on average $30 worth of food that's $24/hr which seems like pretty darn good money to me. Who decided on 20% anyway? Didn't it used to be like 10% and maybe 15% if they went above and beyond? If I'm paying for a table of 4 to eat that can easily add up to $60.... 20% is $12. I'm paying $12.... and I'm not the only table there. How can this possibly work out to not being a good paycheck?
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For one hour with 20-30 in tips you have entire evenings with only one or two checks total. Also, many restaurants require the waiter to tip the bar-staff and the kitchen. They are not taking it in.

I know these things, I feel in my bones it's a total scam but I pay it anyway cause I don't want to be that jerk.... but it just seems utterly ridiculous. Come on man, just put the real price I'm expected to pay on the menu and pay your people decently. I'm just trying to enjoy a nice meal out not feel trapped between feeling like a jerk and feeling like I'm being shaken down every time.
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In germany, 10% is included in the posted price for 'service'. It is entirely ok to pay the bottom line price or maybe round up to the next full Euro. For exceptional service you tip 5 or 10% in cash. I just spent some days in Poland and it seems to work the same.
 
Y'all ever go out to lunch with that guy that insists on paying with his credit card when everyone else is paying cash? You know, he gathers all the cash that you put out, including the tips, then puts it in his pocket. You find out later that what he does is give a cheap tip. This results in him getting 1.) Free meal paid by everyone else, 2.) Free cash advance, and 3.) Points on his card that he will use for his next vacation.
 
denverpilot said:
Ever looked to see what wait staff make? 20% makes coming to work in those jobs worth showing up, is about all that is.
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I'm with Nate, I tip 20% on the all up after tax bill. Most of those folks can sure use that extra buck or two more than I can.
 
Relax it's only money you can make more.
 
The "I'll pay the tip" is a courtesy offer. You can accept it or not. Frankly, once the offer is made and politely refused, that should be the end of it. There's nothing more annoying than getting the "No, let me pay" argument going.

The other fun one with splitting the bill is what happens with things like bottles of wine. Often (since I'm more likely to get a better bottle of wine), I'll tell the waiter to put the wine on my check even if I had shared it with others.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I'm with Nate, I tip 20% on the all up after tax bill. Most of those folks can sure use that extra buck or two more than I can.
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You tip the tax? One of my brothers was militant about not tipping the tax. We've had many fun exchanges on that. He's backed off the stance (he's 58 now) but when we all get together it's fun to bring up and continue the 5-on-1. ;)
 
Ravioli said:
You tip the tax? One of my brothers was militant about not tipping the tax. We've had many fun exchanges on that. He's backed off the stance (he's 58 now) but when we all get together it's fun to bring up and continue the 5-on-1. ;)
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My parents were strict tip on food only, pretax, and not on the drinks. And even then, they tipped 15%. I don't eat out often, but when I do, I have no problem with tipping 20% on the all up bill.
 
Anymouse said:
Y'all ever go out to lunch with that guy that insists on paying with his credit card when everyone else is paying cash? You know, he gathers all the cash that you put out, including the tips, then puts it in his pocket. You find out later that what he does is give a cheap tip. This results in him getting 1.) Free meal paid by everyone else, 2.) Free cash advance, and 3.) Points on his card that he will use for his next vacation.
Click to expand...
Dammit, you're on to me...!

Aloha,
PAFlyer
 
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