Thanks ya'll. I don't think they'll let me put up a sign though. They
do tell them when they are booking the trip that the tip is not included
in the price.
I guess I just need to look for another job that pays more and has
benefits. Wish me luck.

Good luck !!

I always tip in restaurants and usually pretty well (around 20-25%) and
more if the service is good. I used to be a waitress, so I understand
how important tips are in the service industries, especially when most
employers don't want to pay their employees a living wage.

Well, I do, but begrudgingly. I think it's absurd that the public has to
be responsible for making up for the employer's lack in paying a decent
wage, for one thing.

For another, I think it's absurd that someone who is a
waitress/bartender, whatever, can potentially make more money in a year
than, say, a physician or a lawyer does, in many cases.

When I was very young I worked as a waitress, and it's a hard, thankless
job. But, then, so are a lot of other jobs for which there are NO tips.

I knew bartenders who made $1,500 in tips in ONE night. Friday and
Saturday, $1,500 each night. Even if they only worked two nights a week,
that's a weekly take home of $3,000, and that was AFTER they split tips
and took out for taxes.

Now, on the other hand, here you have professions that people have to
study their asses off for, or even ones that don't, yet work every bit
as hard, if not harder, and make nowhere NEAR that kind of dough.

I dunno...hardly seems fair, to me, and especially nowadays when
"customer service" seems to be a thing of the past.

20-25% and if horrible service <which is very, very rare> no tip

a typical restaurant makes a profit of around 5%, with a labor
percentage of around 16-25%, depending upon the type of service
provided...if it's even just 16%, and they double their servers' wages
to bring them to regular hourly minimum wage, then their is NO profit
made. none.

even a higher netting restaurant that takes home, say, eight or ten
percent in profit...couldn't afford to pay much more in wages. sorry,
too many years in restaurant management.



i tip extremely well...i find that i have servers clamoring over
me...and i get reeeeally good service wherever i go, for this reason.
and since that's what i'm after...a good meal without having to cook it
or take care of myself, i'm happy to pay.

Well, still not my responsibility to make up for lack of a decent wage
in the industry, IMO.

A tip is EXTRA compensation for 'proper' or 'prompt' service, for going
the "exra mile," so to speak, for the customer.

It is not (or should not) be part of the "salary package."

Like I said, there's something very wrong with making $3,000 a week to
set a drink down in front of someone and wipe their ashtray, versus
litigating a major case in a courtroom, etc.

JMO.

i think it's very rare for anyone to make that kind of money...a good
average in a decent restaurant is roughly 18 bucks an hour, and that's
busting ass.

however, i admit...when i was bartending, there were nights where i took
home crazy money...it was not, however, reliable and was more because
the guys were extremely rich and loose with their cash.

im a very big tipper if the service is good, ive seen waitress bust
there hump, i think they deserve good tips as long as the service is
good.

i was a waitress.. adn a bartender.... i used to live off my tips... i
leve at leats a five every time.. more if the service was worth it...

I tip, usually the going rate 15% or a little more depending on the
service. I usually don't break out the calculator to figure it out, but
when I was in highschool I worked in restaurant so I can sympathize with
the job...

Most people bust their ass for a hell of a lot less than 18 bucks an
hour.

Jean, you are partially correct when you describe customer service
today. One of my crews just finished a basment and the customer wanted
to upgrade to six panel oak doors after they had ordered flush. They
were really nice people and the job had gone very well so we upgraded
them. It cost me $1200.00 and as it turned out, they and a neighbor have
hired us to build a two car garage for each of them and a three season
porch as well. All of us, including me, have our titles as "customer
Service" on our business cards. Wasn't even expecting a thank you. In
fact I was thanking them. Some of us old timers still put the custoer
first.

Bless you. Yes, the "old school" definition of customer service is a
thing of the past nowadays, it seems.

These days, they expect you to thank them for waiting on YOU, and give
them extra compensation, to boot!

Hmmm... but I don't get tipped at my job... maybe I should?

and then there are those that barely pull minimum wage, lol...