Pffffft. I'm a dink when it comes to tips. Bad Restaurant > Good Waitstaff, therefore: No Tips. If they want good tips, find a good restaurant to work at. Not my bloody problem.

You see... I don't give a shit about the welfare of my waiter/ress. Nor do I care if he/she likes me. If you want a tip, you better well be bloody extraordinary. Mediocre service doesn't cut it in my world... cuz I'm not going to a restaurant to put that person or their kids through college, I'm going for a fucking meal.

Also: Kitchen staff in most restaurants share tips with the waitstaff, so in a way you stiff them as well. And if you really feel bad that about it, tell the waitress it's because of the shitty food. Maybe you'll start to get a message through.

"I'm a dink when it comes to tips."

-- Mike, May 16, 2006

I was going to say something along those lines, but you've evidently done so for me. :P

I would agree totally with you were it not for the fact that this stupid social custom of always tipping has worked its way into legislation, and waitors/waitresses actually often make less than minimum wage as a result. The wages restaurants are allowed to pay these people are geared with the understanding in mind that tips provide a supplementary income, so basically what the government is saying is that these people don't have the same rights as everyone else, unless you choose to fill in the gaps by doing what is now supposedly your civic duty.

If you underpay on your tips, the restaurant still, of course, collects the whole bill. Now, maybe if you started a tip boycott and nobody tipped, hypothetically the waitresses at a particular restaurant might get fed up and quit, and then the place would have to close down. Other than that, though, you're not likely to have any useful effect, other than making the waitresses at an already bad restaurant more miserable. Somehow I find it unlikely that this will make your eating experience there any better. :P

What I would do, probably, is hand the waitress her full tip directly in a discrete fashion, and then underpay on the bill, leaving a note to explain that the food was shit and I was refusing to pay full price. Might work...

My point is... if the service is not "good", I'm not going back anyway.

I remember there was an event that took place back in November. Bunch of us were drinking in a place called "House on Parliment" in TO. So it comes around to pay the bill, and I end up stuck paying more than my share. So I pay it with Visa, since I definately don't have the cash. So, on a $300 bill, I left about $20 tip. I'm not an extremely generous man... and I don't give a fuck what those guys think about me.

Well, one of the guys in our party was a regular and the server had the nerve to complain to him. And then this guy has the audacity to bring it up to me. I almost strangled this man (whom I had just met that evening) on the spot. Shit like that really gets on my nerves (especially since I ended up paying more than my share in the first place). And if I ever do go back to said establishment either tips will not be forthcoming, or I will leave a pidly amount to piss them off.

So... what was wrong with the service, which caused you to leave a small tip? :P

Hulk... SMASH!!!!