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Letters: Tipping etiquette
Leaving a tip
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Tess Vigeland: Last week we ran a story from reporter Jeff Tyler about tipping and you responded with all kinds of tips yourselves.
Jesse Miller of Ypsilanti, Mich. shared a cautionary tale about the receipt.
Jesse Miller: Like Mr. Tyler, I don't tip for to-go orders. However, I had an experience where I left the tip space blank, but found out on my bank statement that I've been charged an extra 15 percent. I've since started writing in "zero" in the tip space and the final total down at the bottom.
Theresa Henneberry hears us in Phoenix. You have no doubt heard of the dine-and-dash? Well, Hennaberry experienced something more along the lines of dine-and-bash.
Theresa Henneberry: One time, in California, I was on a dinner date. My date was not pleased with the service, so he left a 10-cent tip. The waiter was not pleased. The dime hit me as I went out the door.
See? You risk bodily harm if you fail to tip for terrible service. But Andy Finley of North Attleborough, Mass. was most disappointed that our story didn't deal with the sometimes puny pay for wait and other restaurant staff.
Andy Finley: Granted, there are some states that have their own laws regarding the wages of tipped employees, but you could've at least mentioned the fact that most servers are almost entirely dependent upon the moods and whims of the people they serve for their livelihood.
All right, go and post your stories on Facebook page.
On writing in “zero†on the tip line of meal charge slips, I agree with the other gentleman. Even on the rare occasions when I do charge a meal I generally leave a cash tip. Like the caller I write in the total for the meal as the total on the slip. Related is an event of a number of years ago: a waitress acquaintance wrote in a tip on a “regular’s†charge slip. Never heard a reason why the customer hadn’t put in a tip amount that day, but when he noticed the discrepancy between the charge slip and the statement he brought it to management's attention and she was fired.
As for the waiter who banked the dime off of the lady’s back, she should have brought that action to the manager’s attention.
