A waitress confronted my son because he forgot to tip: Is that normal?

Nope, I would have been pissed and she wouldn’t have gotten a tip after that. Someone forgetting to tip is one thing, confronting them and demanding a tip is another

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Honest mistake rude of her to chase him down

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Very unprofessional and I would report the server!!
I have been deliberately left two penny tip when I was a server. They did it as the kitchen was slammed but it was my fault food was running late… I was also 8 months pregnant too and they gave me .02

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The waitress was totally out of line. However, I’d stay out of it. My guess is that he won’t forget to tip again.

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She wouldn’t have gotten :poop: from me if she would had done that. :woman_shrugging:t4:

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Id be taking that tip back and complaining to corporate. That’s not cool! He could have thought she gave shit service and didn’t need a tip :woman_facepalming:t3: can’t go demanding for money.

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Ya know in other countries they don’t tip.

We had that happen to us once. The waitress was so rude though that we didn’t want to go back to give a tip.

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I waitressed for 25 years and would NEVER have done that. I have never known anyone to do that either. Yes, I have been “stiffed”, was I upset, of course, especially when I knew I had done a great job. I still would not have confronted anyone. However, if I ever had to serve them again the service would be lousy! I think that server needed to be let go.

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No the server shouldn’t go around expecting tip. While its curtious 2 tip the server who waited on u, it’s not up 2 her 2 decide whether or not she should have gotten a tip. It isn’t a must. I tip based on things within the servers control though also based solely on how busy a restaurant is. Because I also have twins that make a mess of the table I make sure 2 leave some tip despite how bad the server was. I’m pretty good about making the servers job easier by stacking plates when finished and constantly wiping down tables 4 that reason.

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Unacceptable, I know 2 people who were fired for doing this…

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I definitely wouldn’t have tipped her for acting like a bully

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I always tip even if service was bad and the amount depends on the service provided. But it is not mandatory so her going out of her way to ask him about it was uncalled for.

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You are working that job relying on people to do the right thing for your tip. I’m sorry but welcome to today’s society. If you want a higher steady paycheck then get a different job.

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She shouldn’t have chased him down, tipping is optional and part of the risk of the job. I wouldn’t have tipped her based on that behavior. And that’s coming from a fellow service industry member

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That was very rude and uncalled for of the waitress

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Server’s actually only make $2.15 an hour and have to tip a percentage of their sales to the bartenders and cooks at the end of the night. So they are counting heavily on tips. If a table doesn’t tip at least 10% of their bill the waitress ends up having to pay out of pocket for that sale even though she didn’t even get a tip for it. That’s just the tip of the iceberg on why not leaving a tip is rude.

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She may have been having a bad day. Who knows. Did your son say the service was poor? All you mention is that he forgot to tip & she confronted him. Is it a fairly nice restaurant? I can’t say I blame her if she was at least decent at her job.

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That is unacceptable for the waitress to throw a tantrum and demand a tip!

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People wonder why they have to wait forever to eat in a restaurant because nobody wants to work because they don’t pay well and a lot of people don’t tip and they rely on those tips to pay their bills. But the way she approached her son was totally unacceptable.

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If you have to “demand” a tip, you probably don’t deserve one

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If he knows the name of the waitress go back to the restaurant and tell their manager, they do not have the right to demand a tip.

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I am a waitress and would never do that!! It’s uncalled for!! The manager needs to be notified of their employee’s behavior.

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Depends on the state. In California, some get paid more then minimum wage. I’ll only tip if they provide good service :woman_shrugging:t4:

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Do the owners of the restaurant know about her behavior? You better believe that I would be telling them that she chased him down and demanded a tip! Oh no she would not have gotten a tip period if she chased me down except maybe me “tipping” her off with a certain finger🤷🏼‍♀️
Tips are based on service and maybe she was a great waitress, but that behavior would have lost the entire tip for me.

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I don’t agree with the waitress approaching him but to be completely honest, I don’t really see how he could forget to tip her. Anytime you go out to eat somewhere, you tip. It’s a known thing which makes me think he just didn’t want to tip her🤷🏼‍♀️

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She was out of line. Totally unethical. I would have NEVER left her a tip after that.

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I (well, my ex was paying so he didn’t. But.) didnt tip once because the service was horrendous and my waitress came outside to yell and lost her goddamn mind. Curses galore.

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I always tip well. But if the waiter demanded it like that… I wouldn’t

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The server needs a few tips in acceptable behavior :wink:

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I can’t lie… I’d have been a whole Karen & gone there & demanded my sons money be returned & complained like no other about her because that’s rude. I know it’s minimum wage but no one is REQUIRED to tip. Is it a d*ck move not to? Yes… but no one is forced to tip & if you’re gonna demand a tip you’re absolutely not getting one nor deserve one. I’m sorry but her manager also should be explaining to her that harassing customers for more money isn’t aloud or okay either. I know plenty of waitresses who have served ALL DAY & didn’t get tipped & as angry & frustrating as it is, they don’t hunt down their customers to demand they return & tip… they suck it up because no one has to tip anyone & they know that.

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I dont think so I was a waitress for 11 yrs just because a person doesn’t leave a tip I dont think is a big thing especially for a waitress to demand one I’ve had people not leave me a tip not because of bad waitressing tje next time they came in I treated them the same as I did before no different and they left a 20.00 tip when they left I feel alot of people do it to see a waitresses reaction and some like u said absolutely just forget not meaning too so what someone doesn’t leave a tip that doesn’t mean the next person wont leave u one tips all add up if I was your son I definitely would not have went back in if shes that irate over a dollar or 5.00 she needs to look for another job

Love yo no were that was

This happened to my husband but he did it on purpose. My husband and cousin asked the waitress for more drinks and it took her three hours before she remembered to bring it to them. They both decided to leave and she chased after them telling them they didn’t tip her, my husband then explained that they shouldn’t have had to wait repeatedly for drinks

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Totally wrong to approach a customer for a tip before during or after service. If she did this to him she is doing this to others and that is ruining the business.
You need to call the manager now.
Chances are because if your sons disability he will never feel comfortable going there again. So in the long run a $10 tip just lost a long time customer. Sad.

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I left a tip in the money i left to pay the bill (told her keep the change. It was 40 something left 60 on the table and still got chased down for the change when it was all there but she wanted a bigger tip. I literally walked back in took the 20 and put the change down on the table and left. Havent been back cause of the waitress. Like followed me almost to my car because of it

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You and your son are human beings that forget things from time to time. This was one of those times. NO it isn’t acceptable for a waitress to behave that way. Spread your story or better yet tell everyone your story and BOYCOTT this restaurant

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Server here! This happened to me last night. A young couple looking like they’re in their highschool or college ate at our restaurant and didn’t leave a tip.

It sucks, yes. But I get it. They’re still in school and probably didn’t even have that much money to begin with so I understood. They probably even saved up for their date. No need for me to put on a tantrum tho. Lol. That waitress was rude and unprofessional.

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My 19 year old daughter took me out to supper for my birthday a couple years ago. After she paid and we left i asked her how much she tipped. She was very embarrassed but said she could only afford the meal. I am friends with the waiters wife so i knew who he was. (Which doesn’t make a difference) i messaged her and told her what happened and asked when he was working again. I went in the next day and paid him a tip. I fault my child for not saying something out of pride. I would have been completely fine paying the tip she just wanted to treat me for my birthday. I’ve been a waitress off and on for over 20 years. I’m sure she was extremely frustrated and he was probably not the only one that didn’t tip her that day. She probably only makes minimum waitress wage which is about $2-3 per hour. If the waiter called out my daughter it would have saved me a trip going back and she would learn to never skip again. My daughter also has severe anxiety and she has extreme PTSD.

For those that are saying that he’s not obligated to tip, he’s also not obligated to dine in. Did he forget to tip or did he just not want to tip. If I get poor service I tip $1,$2, so they know to step their game up but it is rude to go out to an establishment and not tip.

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Screw that, tipping is optional. Not a guarantee regardless of how much they make. Get a second job if you don’t make enough from tips

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Lots of people make minimum wage… what she done was uncalled for…. He has no reason to be embarrassed she should be embarrassed though…

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I’ve been in the food industry for many years and my daughter is a sever. If the young man forgot he forgot. The waitress had no business going out and saying anything to a customer. You move on to the next patron(s). What would she have done if he said he didn’t think she deserved one? Just saying…:person_shrugging:
So it’s best to just clean your table and move on.

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Report that waitress

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Although servers make less per hour, what she did was wrong and needs to be reported to her management. I’ve served for over 10 years and non tips happen no matter what and are not something to harass anyone over, let alone a child/young adult. I guarantee you she wouldn’t have opened her mouth if it was an older adult, she is being a bully and taking her overall no tipped frustration out on him.

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I would mention to him that when he makes a mistake and someone calls him out on it, to simply say he is sorry. If you can make amends, make it up to someone even better.

I was 100% called the restaurant and complain that is so unprofessional

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No it is not okay for a waitress or anyone else to do that to a customer and he should tell the manager about this and when he went back to leave a tip he should have left one penny!!!

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No one is required to tip anyone. It’s just a nice gesture.

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I’m a server and I never expect tips. I’m surprised when I get one even if it is almost everytime. That server was overstepping.

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I would’ve gave her a tip alright. :unamused:

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As a pastry chef, if this happened in a restaurant of mine, she would get the rest of the day off. She chose that job, not the customers. Yes servers make a living off of tips however there are laws that states if a server cannot take home enough pay with tips the employer is to make up for the difference so the employee is able to live functionally. Tipping is not required but yes appreciated when it falls in the right hands for the right reason. If I forgot to tip, which never happens and I find myself tipping at least 40% cause I’m ridiculous, that behavior would lose a tip. My grandma my kids and I went for breakfast the other morning and when the server came to clear our plate as my gma sneakily ran to get in the line to pay, I asked the waitress if she would like to grab her tip before another person does. Restaurant etiquette is you shouldn’t collect the tip until the customer leaves, I however know there’s some shitty people and I like to know the tip I leave for service goes to the person(s) who provides that service.

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She’s very unprofessional. Very presumptuous of her to think she’s getting anything.

Nice of your son to go back in, sorry he was so embarrassed

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She was just being a bully! I wouldnt have left her a penny, or maybe just one! Report her!

As a waitress, this is uncalled for. If she makes minimum wage plus tips, she probably makes pretty good money. In fact more than most waitresses for the simple fact she also has a paycheck while other servers usually don’t. I would never demand a tip from anyone, but especially someone who appeared to be on a date. Sometimes it is just an honest mistake and I believe in tip karma. If you don’t react to no/small tips there will be another one to make up for it. That behavior is unaccepted in all service industry and had your son brought it to attention, she probably would’ve been fired on the spot. Which is what should’ve happened.

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I wouldn’t have given her anything after that rudeness.

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I would be right down there telling her where to go. My daughter is a server and if she ever did that to someone I would beat her a**

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Nope, not acceptable for her to literally hunt your son down and demand a tip! I would have went back in there and chewed her out, and told the manager! That’s so rude to do!

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That’s rude and unprofessional. Doesnt sound like she deserved that tip anyhow.

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I had a table of two parents there 4 (kids 3 older teens and 6 year old) they ordered everything under the sun including 2 32oz $10 margaritas to go, leave a mess including all the rolled up straw paper the kids were tearing off and throwing at each other… & left no tip! Of course this is unacceptable most us servers make less the $3 an hour (I make $2.13)! Did I chase them out and demand a tip hell no! Not your sons case, but if you go sit in a restaurant with your husband and 4 dirty ass kids please be considerate.

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I left a $20 tip once and the waiter came outside and asked if everything was OK cause my bill was $100 and I ONLY tipped $20. No, it wasn’t ok. First of all $20 is good enough, we live in MT, you don’t get your wages cut here you make at least minimum wage. And the other 3 people with me ate half my food while waiting for theirs because it apparently took an extra 20 minutes to make their 3 pastas compared to my small pizza. You never checked on us, the service sucked and the food was blah. Your lucky you got a tip you ungrateful jackass

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Umm no super unprofessional and rude. Your son should call the manager about her behavior towards him.

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Most places fire a server for that

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She was in the wrong. But i wouldn’t make a scene about it on my adult child’s behalf, I’d leave that decision up to him.

Nope! Tipping is not required, I would have told the manager how rude she was acting and caned the tip off his card.

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I work at sonic as it a customer doesnt tip they dont tip. I dont know there at homr situation. Maybe they only had enough for their food and the change wasf or something else. I would of spoken to a manager that was crossing the line

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Totally unacceptable of that waitress. I worked as a waitress, I would wait on these people hand and foot and be lucky to leave after an 8 hour shift with $20. It was the norm in that restaurant. But I have never treated a customer differently over a tip.

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Tipping is up to customers. Her confronting him is bs. She’s already paid an hourly wage just like your son. She shouldn’t expect or demand tips. I’d call the manager.

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The server should have known that there was a good chance that a young kid like that wasn’t going to leave a decent tip and just moved on with her life and not said anything.

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Tacky of her but all you people bitching about tips and get a real job are the same that are bitching that they’re favorite restaurant is closed due to lack of staff. :woman_facepalming:

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Tip or not as you please. That’s all.

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Tell her to get another job

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I mean, who doesn’t tip tho when they go out to eat? I don’t believe he just"forgot" because he had to sign and total for the card and the tip line is right smack dab in the center of those two things.
Now yes, that server is rude, however idc how old you are…don’t go out to eat and use someone’s service if you’re not going to tip.

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I wouldn’t have given her a tip at all after her confronting him. A tip is earned and completely optional.

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I live in Nunavut where we don’t tip anyone at all but we have only 1 store and no restaurants but whenever I go down south I never tip because I don’t find it necessary because of where I am from but I always get confronted and asked to tip the waiter or even bartender and I always get offended. Lol

Super unprofessional and bad form. Your son did nothing wrong. We all forget sometimes

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While tipping is a big deal, the server should not have confronted him like that. He could have had a reason for not tipping (although I have never had service that bad and it was solely the servers fault) but we always tip what we can.

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Oh nah I’d be going down their making a verbal complaint

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This may be an unpopular opinion, but…
While there is no doubt that this was an uncomfortable (and embarrassing :flushed:) moment for your son- it was a teachable moment. We live in a face paced world where showing appreciation for others is often overlooked. Here, we have tried to teach our kids that if we don’t have enough to tip a service person 20% then you don’t have enough to go out. Sometimes that means that you choose to go to a quick service restaurant as opposed to a sit down, and that’s ok. Accidents happen, and if he apologized and made things right then he should be fine.
On the flip side- I bet it took a lot for that waitress to work up the courage to call him out on it. Idk about anywhere else, but around here all of our establishments are pretty overworked and understaffed. If she came after him, I’m assuming she was probably at the end of her rope.

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Nobody HAS to tip. Its not required by law, it’s just really appreciated. America needs to ditch tips and pay them an actual wage instead of $0 to $3.15 an hour. In other countries tipping is considered rude and offensive.

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RUDE & UNPROFESSIONAL!!! I’m sorry this happened to your son

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She shouldn’t have let it affect her to that point. Everyone knows that when you get a teenager or young adult, there’s a high chance that their tip will be under 20% and you’re lucky to get over 10%. Unless of course you get lucky and your guests are servers themselves

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no a days, with few workers, maybe, but it still and always will remain how good of service was received!!

I only tip if it was good service and food… if it’s shitty then I don’t tip

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My husband didn’t tip use to tip so I left a $20 on a $19 order. Now he tips 20% Its our job to teach them how to tip. I would be so mad at my son for not tipping and would have been embarrassed by him.

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Don’t ear out if you can’t afford to tip.

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As a former server I would never.

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Noo so rude and unprofessional. That’s not how you get tips, for all she knew he didn’t have one penny extra to tip her.

That’s way outta line,she should be fired

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We don’t tip at all in NZ, we sometimes offer the business to keep the change but not the individual. :person_shrugging:

He said he just forgot,not that he didn’t want to

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The tipping system sucks. It allows for restaurant to horribly underpay their serving employees. A tip is something that someone earns through providing a superior or thoughtful service. But because of these shitty system, whereby employers can pay servers far less than minimum wage, we often feel as though we have to tip. Even for piss poor service. Needs to change. Pay them fairly, enough to live off of. Let them earn the tips instead of rely on getting them.

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In the UK there is no expectation for tipping. You choose to or not do it. There is no set amount you can tip pennies or pounds up to you. Or pay nothing and no one can say anything! Some fancy restaurants add a tip into the final bill. They call it a service charge. I tip if I have enjoyed the experience. When I visit the USA to see family I tip as it seems like you are expected to do it. I have refused once while in the USA because I was so under impressed with the food and service.

As much as tips are appreciated they ARE NOT required so that was just out of line in my opine and I definitely would NOT have gone back in to give a tip even if I had honestly just forgot after that inappropriate action.

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the waitress was wrong to do that that is why a lot of restaurants automatically add a 15% tip to the bill with a notification on the menu … people forget sometimes if her manager heard about this she would likely have been fired on the spot as there are people who just don’t tip and their rational is, well nobody tips me in my manufacturing line

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I applaud her for having the balls to do it

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If you aren’t able to tip 15-20%, you don’t go out to eat. Period.

While tipping is technically optional, it’s pretty shitty to not leave one (unless the service is really, really terrible).

Should this server have confronted your son? No. However, perhaps she is struggling to make ends meet or is a single mom or maybe she got stiffed a few times this week and now won’t make rent. Maybe she suffers from anxiety just like your son.

Your son will be ok. Don’t call her manager and get her in trouble or terminated. That’s not ok.

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Not ok. I was a waitress and you get what you get. Some people are cheap and accidents happen. I bet he won’t forget again tho. Life lessons and be done with it

Go to the restaurant and tell the manager. This is unacceptable. The waitress should be called out for her unprofessional behavior.

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Please let me know where this was at and who it was so when I go to this location I will ask for a different waiter!!!

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