Question of the Day - 21 September 2023

imho if you can't afford to tip for good service then you should probably just hit an in n out burger or a white castles...it's not like tipping just happened overnight or anything...those folks work awful hard for their "living wage" and do appreciate being appreciated in the obvious cultural way ie tipping...kinda like going to the movies and not buying a bag of popcorn and a drink...it's part of the package and anyone going to a nice sit down dinner/buffet etc should know going in that tipping is part of the experience...personally i've found being generous tip-wise
is a feel good experience and i swear it's good for your karma...
you're most likely in vegas to throw some cash around and have some fun so let it fly...be generous, make somebody's day a little better, and besides, it's easier to figure 20% than 15%... haha   peace    

At buffets I’ve seen customers take cash tips off tables. That’s a real stiff. I hand  my tip to the waitress at buffets rather than leave  it on the table.

It slays me when excuses for not tipping are posted, e.g. owners should pay more; a meal is expensive enough or price has gone up; if 'we' withheld tips, managment would raise salaries (NOT--the WORST excuse).  What jerks, especially in a comped meal situation.

Many in a serving job are working to get through school and feed their kids, maybe two or three jobs.  At fast food places, the deli, hand 'em your change and a dollar or two...watch their face light up with appreciation, because most people don't and they need every penny. JMHO.

Candy

One time I was complaining to my son about bad service in a restaurant. He had worked in the service industry for a while both during and after college, and he made a point I hadn't considered.

In my career, I had bad days. Either because I didn't feel well physically, was stressed about a non-work issue, mad at my boss, etc., etc. For every one of those days, I still got paid. If they had amounted into more than an occasional issue, I'm sure that my boss would have addressed it. But I paid no financial penalty for my occasional sub-optimal performance. 

But a server doesn't have that safety net. If a relative just died or they had a fight with their spouse, they're still expected to put on a happy face and perform. So my son said that he tips 20% for even bad service. If it's bad enough to stiff a server, he still leaves the tip but speaks to the manager. 

First time I ever thought of it that way, and I've followed it ever since.

Haven't been to any buffet since Covid, but before, we always tipped $5 per person.  Most times we either had a 2 for 1 or used dining credits, so it just seemed right to tip more than a couple bucks.  

… as long as there are people like those who have already replied who continue to justify this ridiculous, stupid custom. With a recently signed bill even all fast-food employees in California are making at least $20/hour. I refuse to tip at any fast-food counter service restaurant. And I refuse to eat at buffets.

Now what about fine dining on the Strip. Some of the meals I’ve had on the Strip are the best meals I’ve had in my life. What those meals had in common are fantastic food and servers who make it their mission to facilitate a great dining experience. Those servers deserve a great tip.

Well written (as usual!) article about tipping.  My humble experience in Vegas is that there are tremendous values in dining off strip.  LVA is full of them.  I agree that on strip the prices are horrendous for the reasons listed in the article.  Go off strip and explore the tremendous eateries that LV has to offer!

I'm was a good tipper but have become an even better tipper lately because 1) those are thankless jobs that I couldn't do (due to attitude and memory); 2) because I'm fortunate to make decent money without having to stand on my feet all day and tolerate poor treatment from some; 3) especially in LV where I'm throwing money in VP and slot machines. Some of that money should go to these folks who are working very hard for what they get; 4) my finances weren't negatively affected by Covid like it has affected the finances of so many others. Tips are always handed to the wait staff vs leaving them on the table to be taken by someone else. I also leave a tip for the maid every night because I'm not sure how the tips are divided and I want her to feel appreciated every time she comes in, because she is.

bottle service costs ,  4 adults,2 bottles at $500 each -should the tip be  20% ??? ==$200???????????????????????//   OMG, GLAD I DONT DRINK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Years ago, Jean Scott mentioned tipping the Ladies that clean the restrooms in the casino and I have done that ever since.  To me, that is a much worse job than the wait staff and they usually do a great job.  It's a random tipping, but it's very satisfying.  

Reno Faoro

If you can afford a $500 bottle of wine, you can afford the 20% tip.

Used to be that/s the only place I ate and I have NEVER seen anyone grab the tip off the table. If I had seen it I would have called the person out. 

The response points out a salient reality--almost all casino restaurants are overpriced, because they want to inflate the supposed value of the comps they give out, and they want to recoup those comps by gouging the regular non-comped customers. I make my own tipping decisions, based on my own formula, due to this simple reality:

(drum roll) The waiter who brings me a $20 bowl of soup is NOT working twice as hard as the waiter who brings me a $10 bowl of soup, so I shouldn't tip according to the size of the check.

10%, It is not the 50's  all the food is overpriced. Don't take it out on the Server. 20% at least unless the Server spilled the wine on you or insulted you. Can't afford to go out and eat, Don't.  

I always put the tip on my credit card.at 20% because the credit card companies deduct 3+% from the charges..  No one can steal the tip off the table and I make sure the the recipient knows the tip is on the charge slip.

Fully agree with the comments about not stiffing the staff. Yes, it would be great if we eliminated the tipping system and everyone got paid a living wage, but we're also not going to resolve that issue in these comments. Also, please remember that the person serving your food, dealing your cards, or manning the Players Club, does not set the policies, so please don't take your unhappiness out on them. I'm back in LV for the first time since 1989. Staying at the Suncoast and seeing first-hand how bad the Boyd brand has become. (Yes, it sucks) So far have seen someone chewing out the person at the Boyd Rewards desk about the new point-earning system. Was at a BJ table where a player was blaming the dealer for his bad cards (yes, she somehow stacked the deck to specifically screw you over - if you didn't sit in that seat at that table at that time, her whole plan would have been ruined). If you're taking it out on them, maybe you shouldn't be going to the casino.

I've never seen anyone steal tips that someone else left at another table, but I always hand the tip directly to the server. Maybe it's all an urban legend that's been repeated so often that it's become it's own reality. Sort of like when someone in power tells over 30000 documented lies over a four year period, many low intellect rubes that only get information from Faux News are bound to believe that every one of those 30000+ lies are the god-honest truth 

The issue is tipping servers in extremely high priced restaurants.

 A server who is tipped 20% for serving a meal for 4 people with a $1,000 tab (not unusual at all with wine) would make $200. If they waited just 5 tables an evening, they'd make $250,000 a year. If they waited 10 tables, they'd make $500,000 a year. Huh? It's hard work, sure, but it's only semi-skilled work.

How much does an untipped worker (busboy, kitchen helper) at a high end restaurant make? $50k, if they're lucky?

Our half-a-mil-a-year server will make more than many/most of their diners who are at the top of the income heap after years of education, training, and experience.

Sorry, that's nuts.

Many years ago (at home), my husband's boss took us to dinner at Red Lobster.  The four of us (boss, wife, husband, myself) had a big time, many rounds of drinks and their yummy biscuites; had a super friendly server which made it that much more enjoyable.  

At the end my husband said he would pay the tip.  As we left husband put cash on the table.  I turned around just in time to see Boss pick up the cash and stick it in his pocket.  Thence became a shouting match between Boss and me in the middle of the restaurant: "Hey, put that back."  Boss said "They don't need it."  Some back and forth, then I said "That's our money and we can tip if we want to."  Boss never took the money from his pocket, didn't give it back to us or put it on the table.  I found the server and handed her cash.  

I couldn't believe this guy, who made much more money than husband did, would pull that stunt.  Never any respect for him again.  Wife had just kept walking, embarrassed I think.

Candy

  Here is my view about tipping. (1)- It is not my responsibility to pay part of the wages of a server - they accepted the pay for the job they do from their employer. (2).- I will go to any establishment I care to whenever I desire, whether it be an overpriced restaurant or In-N-Out burger. (3)- My tipping is solely based upon the service I receive and is NOT determined by any other criteria. (4)- I earn my money and I alone decide how I will spend it - others will not "shame me" into thinking that I am obligated to tip.(5)- Whether my meal is "comped" or not does not determine the amount of my tip. My comped meal had been already "paid for" by my current and/or past play - and the size of the "comp" is generally determined by my losses.(6) Tipping someone for doing the job they were hired for - at whatever pay they agreed to accept- is just plain dumb. (7)-If a server is depending upon "tips" to pay their bills, then they should find another job that pays more. 

Next time,  the service improves. 

If you can't afford the waitress, you can't afford the meal.

"My Take - I am sure others will not agree"

If you are the same "David Miller" who posts compulsively, wildly excessively and with mind-boggling ignorance in LVA's Kitchen Sink, this may be the first time in your life that you've been correct about something.

While you are correct that empathy, altruism, benevolence, and kindness are not legal requirements for citizenship they are the values upon which we have built this thing we call "civilization," a concept that for whatever reason has eluded you.

I'm in the casino industry, and my youngest son is a in the restaurant industry.

Always tip cash.

Amd make sure that the server receives the cash, and emphasize that you're tipping cash.

The server gets that money in hand, instead of some nebulous number on their paycheck.

And they know how much it is, vs that aforementioned nebulous number on their paycheck.

 Thanks for your comment. Charity begins at home for me and mine.I am not required to augment anyone's pay just because they accept a job that does not pay as it should. The duties that are required to be a server are what they are being paid for - as I said before, their employer needs to pay them a fair wage, and if they accept the job for the pay they are offered, I am under no obligation to supplement that pay. As far as my other postings in the Sink, maybe you should look into and view the content of my postings. Everything I post there is our current reality in America. Have a good day.

24 comments 

 When I do tip, I always pay with cash and hand the money to the server. The server then can declare whatever amount they wish to.

So, you guys were kidding about people in the Netherlands wearing wooden shoes?  Well, I think that little ploy was SHOD-dy.

I feel that the #1 thing we must do is to look at the situation from the server's perspective. If we were to leave them only 10% or less, they won't know that the reason we're doing it is because we think the meal's prices were too high. Their #1 inclination would be to feel that they didn't receive what they deserve, and this bad feeling will lean toward either sadness or anger. Both you and them will hope you don't see each other again. Why create that construct? If you're going to tip less than 15% because the prices were too high, I recommend that you tell this to the server, so they don't wonder, and don't have bad feelings about you. Let's say that we feel that $5 is the most we should ever tip per person, or maybe even it's the most that we can afford to tip. I believe that most servers are happy with a $5 tip per person, so you and they can be on common ground. You can get there without any hard feelings by just talking with them.

I strongly recommend that you do NOT try to leave your tip via the credit card charge, because there's too great a chance that the tip won't make it through. This has happened more than once to me. I didn't know it right away, of course. I learned it when I reconciled my charge slips with my monthly statement, and noticed that the amount that the restaurant charged was only the tab, not including the tip I had inked on the slip. So my nice server lady didn't get any tip, but she probably didn't know that I tried to leave one, so she probably was a bit sad that she didn't get one from me. Well, once I learned this, I called the restaurant and asked for that server lady, told her who I was and what happened, and I drove over and handed her a tip, in cash, in person, plus $1 more. I simply was not going to leave her "stiffed". But because I didn't want to be doing that multiple times, I began to always leave my tip in cash. I'll hand it to the server if I'm worried it might get stolen.

Glad to see that only a couple of folks here are stiffs. I think "stiff" is WAY WAY too nice. If you are not tipping at least 15% in FREAKING LAS VEGAS, you are not a stiff.

You are an asshole. You are a terrible person. And karma will find you, and you will die as the same angry, miserable parasite that you are. Full stop.

I like to get room service when I go to Vegas. I like that people are taking good care of me, so I try to tip appropriately. I always tip in cash and will do 30 to 40 percent for room service.