Cheapest Bastards: What's Your Worst Tipping Experience?

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
05/30/2015 at 16:08 • Filed to: None

I’ve got two:

First: I was having a business lunch with a friend of mine a few months back at an Appleby’s in California. Behind me, the waitress got stiffed on the tip. My friend pointed this out to me, and we tipped extra generously, and the waitress said, “Thanks a lot, guys,” and it was plainly obvious that she meant it.

Second: I’m having a work lunch with a bunch of other teachers at a burger joint in California. At the end, we all throw in our share, plus generous tips, because we like the place and the servers, and we’re regulars. Except one guy, who produces a debit card and says, “Put $10 on that card.” To cover three people, including the guy’s wife. Four of us are math teachers and running the numbers and we all sort of stagger out of there trying to grasp what just happened. Anyhow, I went back later and gave the server a Jackson.

Who’s the cheapest bastard you ever saw?

DISCUSSION (48)

sellphones2493 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:14

These thugs I used to go to high school with would go to Outback Steakhouse, take a good table, eat the bread and the water then leave without buying a single thing.

djmt1 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:16

I’m probably one of the bastards. You guys take tipping very (way too) seriously. Going from from a place where tipping is more often than not illegal to place where it is pretty much compulsory is very jarring and annoying especially when you combine it with how prices on shelves and menus are bullshit since tax is added on at the til. Felt like I was paying three times at times but on the plus side your cabs are awesome, $1 to anywhere in the borough is something I can get on board with.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > djmt1
05/30/2015 at 16:20

Good comments. What other place are you comparing your experience to?

Sam > sellphones2493
05/30/2015 at 16:23

Sound like some hard core ganstas.

Birddog > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:23

A former friend would never go above 3%. And he would brow beat me and others that tipped more to cover him up.

“All I had was a Coffee” Why tip?

Because you had SEVEN REFILLS and we sat at the table for an hour and a half..

It was worse at the Pub. One day he met me at my local watering hole for a Hawks game, ordered a $20 meal and had 5 $4 Beers (one of which was “on the House”).

His tip should have been around $6-7 minimum. The dude left $2.50 on the bar! Seriously? You got one of those $4 beers for free.

I know the owner of the Bar and I knew the Bartender pretty well so needless to say I was embarrassed beyond belief.

As I mentioned, former friend.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Birddog
05/30/2015 at 16:25

If I were in your spot, knowing the proprietor and the bartender, I’d have probably felt compelled to pick up the slack, and then shamed the guy later at an opportune time.

Rico > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:26

I never tip less than 15% and usually tip 20%. I’ve been a server but for catering so I always got tipped well but have had friends work in the industry so it’s a respect thing. In many places servers are getting paid $3-$5 an hour and make almost all their income on tips so knowing that I try to tip well.

Birddog > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:27

I still go there. Often. The damage has been more than made up for.

Rico > djmt1
05/30/2015 at 16:28

Eh many places servers are only paid $3-$5 an hour and make almost all income in tips, which are more often than not shared among the waitstaff. Try working this way and I’m sure your view on tipping would change.

djmt1 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:30

UK to US.

We don’t tip and our cabs are expensive.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:32

“Put $10 on that card.” To cover three people, including the guy’s wife”

I’ve encountered the odd asshole like that when going out with a group of people. Basically these jackasses think that they can just add up the cost of their food and drinks and don’t have to add anything for taxes or tip. I’ve stepped in at times and told them that whatever their food and drinks add up to before tax, add 30% and then round down to the nearest dollar. Sales/food tax alone is 13% in my area.

Or sometimes they know but are hoping that in the confusion of figuring out the bill, somebody else will kick in more.

Didn’t work with me...

djmt1 > Rico
05/30/2015 at 16:32

What’s the minimum wage Stateside? As that sounds really low and very illegal from my point of view.

SVTyler > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:33

I delivered pizza to a dude who got offended because I gave him back the 35 cents he gave me as a tip on a $4osome order. So yeah, that guy.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > djmt1
05/30/2015 at 16:36

Tipping is “illegal” from your point of view?

That must be some good crack you’re smoking...

Rico > djmt1
05/30/2015 at 16:46

National Minimum wage is: $7.25/hr

New York Minimum wage is: $8.75/hr

Each state sets is own minimum wage and food service is exempt from it, unless you work in a fast food chain like McDonald’s.

Oh and if no one comes in to eat you take your measly $24 ($3 x 8 hrs) and you take your ass home.

djmt1 > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/30/2015 at 16:50

Nah $3-$5 an hour sounds illegal.

Birddog > djmt1
05/30/2015 at 16:50

It’s $2.13/hr for servers by Federal Law. Individual States can require more.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipp…

Birddog > SVTyler
05/30/2015 at 16:52

If it were me? His next Pizza might have had a slight urine flavor..

LongbowMkII > djmt1
05/30/2015 at 16:52

the other option is paying employees. that doesn’t fly here.

LongbowMkII > SVTyler
05/30/2015 at 16:56

that person is the worst. A couple times I was demanded to give back the change as coins. at least with credit cards you can get stiffed without embarrassment.

LongbowMkII > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 16:58

I usually tip at least $4-5 minimum to make sure they at least get something out of their hour or so. usually around %20. Depends on service/my mood really.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > djmt1
05/30/2015 at 17:00

It varies by state or province. But I can tell you that the minimum wage is lower when the job involves serving alcohol in Ontario.

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pub…

Some states do have minimum wages in the $5 range and some have no minimum wage at all!

http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor…

You didn’t know this??? Seriously???

Well those very low hourly wages are most definitely legal in many places in the US.

djmt1 > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/30/2015 at 17:03

I barely pay attention to it on this side of the Atlantic ( I think it is £6.50 an hour) why would I know about it on the other side.

LongbowMkII > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 17:04

the absolute worst thing regarding tipping: yes it’s gawker, it’s worth it.

http://defamer.gawker.com/it-s-even-wors…

Klaus Schmoll > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 17:07

Kinja'd!!!

First of all, let me say that it’s nice to see another teacher around here.

Now, the tipping. In Germany tipping is customary but we don’t tip that much (5% is O.K.ish) but our waiters get paid a somewhat decent wage so they live with 5-10 % just fine. The American system where they don’t get paid sh§t and have to make it up on tips takes the pressure away from the business owners and puts it on their employees. The owner can live with a slow day, for the staff it’s a catastrophy, which is the wrong way round IMHO.

But let me tell you a story. Between age 18 and 20 I was delivering pizzas as a side job. We had a fleet of these Cinquecento Sportings in PMY with huge decals. Everybody in the county knew them and they made us business leaders.

Anyways, I once had a delivery to a farm in the middle of nowhere, rural Bavaria. In the days before cheap sat-nav for everybody these were a bitch to find. In these little hamlets houses are numbered by the order in which they were built, not where they were. Impossible to find without knocking somewhere else first and having them tell you the way. So I arrived there in a pretty good time with still piping hot meals in my trunk and this guy starts like:

“So it’s 40. Lemme give you a fiver, two tenners, and a twenty, you give me ten back and we’re even.” And he started pushing paper in my hand, and it went back and forth. My head was almost overclocking to not get screwed over. So not only did he not tip me, he actively tried to screw me over by handing different notes back and forth. Money I would have had to pay out of my own pocket.

In general, I observed that the bigger the mansion, the smaller the tip. I always got good tips in the ghetto-like tower blocks, though.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > djmt1
05/30/2015 at 17:12

I presume that if you have traveled, you would have found out one way or another.

Even though I’ve lived in Canada my whole life, I still know how tipping is handled in Europe vs North America. And the main difference is that a service charge is usually included on the bill in Europe... not to mention minimum wages being generally higher.

Thus serving staff are not dependent on tips and any tips are more of a token expression of thanks/recognition.

That’s not the case the vast majority of the time in North America.

duurtlang > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 17:54

Who’s the cheapest bastard you ever saw?

Myself. I usually don’t tip (much), but I don’t live in the US anyway. I do generously tip pizza guys and other food delivery people when they don’t deliver cold food. At a bar/restaurant service is included in the bill (here), a tip is a little bonus for great service and not an essential part of wages. When leaving cash in a restaurant I tend to round up to the nearest €5 or so, unless that would amount to a few cents of tip, then I leave more. When I pay by card it’s usually just the bill, as is expected here. I don’t think I’ve ever tipped at a bar, and I don’t recall seeing anyone else tipping there either.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Klaus Schmoll
05/30/2015 at 17:57

Yup; the guy in the tower block knows what it might be like to deliver pizza. I installed satellite dishes for a while and I once had this rich guy shouting at me over $14. I was ready to walk out and tell him to shove that and the other $100 he owed me up is a$$. But I’d have only made him richer. Something like a $3 million house.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > duurtlang
05/30/2015 at 17:59

I appreciate your comment. My original post definitely failed to consider that many folks who post on Oppo do so from outside the United States. So no, I would not consider you to be a bastard, cheap or otherwise.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/30/2015 at 18:06

Separate bills with that louse next time. I’m the new guy, but folks tell me it’s typical for him. I won’t stand by again and let that happen, no matter the group. This time it took me by surprise.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > LongbowMkII
05/30/2015 at 18:07

I don’t eat out much, but I’d sure hate being a waitron, so I try to be reasonably generous.

LongbowMkII > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 18:12

I’m more generous than average because I have 3 kids, so they’ll need to spend time cleaning the booth, even when we help clean.

Klaus Schmoll > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 18:22

Yep, they didn’t get rich by handing out freebies. It’s weird, but the real bargain basement hunters are rich people who can afford to pay full retail all day long.

SVTyler > Birddog
05/30/2015 at 20:50

Dude was presumably from out of town (staying in a hotel near the highway) but yeah I would’ve spent a few minutes practicing lift-off oversteer in an adjacent parking lot before I took his food up the next time, see just how easy it would be to turn a pizza into a calzone.

AM > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 21:22

I’m probably one of those bastards as well. I usually just tip like $10-$15 regardless of what it adds up to. Am I an asshole? More than likely but 13% sales tax is enough to make your wallet cry.

Besides, this is Canada sooo fuck they gonna do?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > AM
05/30/2015 at 21:26

I grew up on the east coast and one summer we drove all the way up the eastern seaboard to New Foundland. I mention this because at the time, when I was 17 or 18, the concept of an exchange rate was utterly lost on me. I just couldn’t make sense of it.

The other thing about Canada is that if I want to travel there I have to buy a $500 passport. It wasn’t that way 35 years ago. Damn you, Osama!

AM > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 21:29

$500? Jesus Christ that is just insane! If I want to travel to the States it’s free thanks to my father’s background (native american).

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > AM
05/30/2015 at 21:44

Yup. Per person and there are five of us. To go to Canada. So it ain’t happened.

shop-teacher > SVTyler
05/30/2015 at 23:25

I did that a couple times back in my pizza delivering days. My line was, “Here, you must need it more than me.”

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/30/2015 at 23:32

I delivered pizza on high school, and we had a very large delivery area. We had a regular customer who lived at the very edge of the area. He would always order during rush hour, and write a check for the exact amount. Delivering to him would blow an hour of your four hour shift, for no money. We used to hold his pizza on the roof, so it would be ice cold when he got it. I once pissed on his garage door too.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
05/30/2015 at 23:58

What do you teach? In California shop teachers are almost extinct.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2015 at 00:47

I’m in Illinois. I teach middle school Industrial Tech, which is REALLY almost extinct. We cover basic CAD drafting and 3D printing, some very basic structural and engineering principles, as well as wood working and sheet metal fabrication. It’s a required class in our district, I get every kid in the school.

What do you teach?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
05/31/2015 at 01:44

Secondary math and administration in California. 10 years at the high school, a year as an AP, this year teaching 7th grade math. Just interviewed Friday for a high school AP position.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2015 at 04:37

i don’t tip at all.

not expected here in Oz.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2015 at 07:40

Didn’t care for middle school?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
05/31/2015 at 10:31

Loved it. There just weren’t any middle school AP slots. I particularly enjoy 7th graders. Every secondary grade seems to occupy its own niche. My favorite grades are 7 and 10.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/31/2015 at 12:56

Gotcha. I used to teach high school, and I’d have to agree that grades 7 and 10 are the most fun. They aren’t scared like 6th and 9th graders, and they aren’t too cool like the 8, 11, & 12th graders can be.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
05/31/2015 at 13:07

No experience with 6th. Seniors simply need to be gone, particularly if I don’t like them. If I do like them, then I want them to get their lives started. 9th graders are a breed apart and it’s a special niche of teacher who can enjoy them. 8th graders are neither fish nor fowl.

In every case, at high school, the worst kids to deal with are usually also athletes.

#imho