re: Many Americans are fed up with gratuity??

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I have 3 simple rules:

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i have one that almost guarantees 25%+.

i usually drink a couple beers or whiskeys pre-meal and through appetizers.

but i always tell my server “i’d like a coke with my meal” when i order the main course.

in over 25 years of doing that, i can count on one hand the number of times my server brought me my coke without my having to ask them again after i’ve had my food for a while.

so when they do remember that simple request, i make sure to hook them up.

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i always tell my server “i’d like a coke with my meal” when i order the main course.

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I do this with milk at a breakfast order

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in over 25 years of doing that, i can count on one hand the number of times my server brought me my coke without my having to ask them again after i’ve had my food for a while.

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pretty common that I have to remind them of the milk but I suspect that it's the computer method of putting the order in and they're trying to be nice and wait, sometimes it's because they weren't listening, dick move on you if you're doing that just to see if they'll bring you the coke and you really don't want it

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dick move on you if you're doing that just to see if they'll bring you the coke and you really don't want it

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i want the coke with my meal.
i prefer a soft drink instead of beer while im eating. even at home.

just over the years i’ve noticed that the coke almost never shows up without a reminder.
i don’t mind reminding them because i know that’s just part of it and consider that to be “normal”.

but if the server remembers it then that server’s tip automatically gets a boost.

best tip i ever gave was in Muscle Shoals, AL at a mom and pop fried chicken joint.
server brought us a few sample beers to try.
picked the one we wanted and she went to the back.
a few minutes later she came to our table and informed us that because it was before noon (it was like 11:30) on a Sunday, she couldn’t sell us any alcohol yet.
no problem ordered a soft drink.

without being prompted or reminded, our beers were delivered to our table at EXACTLY 12:00.

hell i had even forgotten we ordered them and wasn’t worried about them at all.

but she had them.

so she got a big tip that day.

There's a tip jar in damn near every place you walk in now.

I can’t tell you the last time I ordered a steak at a nice restaurant. It’s just too expensive for something I can do as good or better at home on my grill v

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If the service isn’t satisfactory, I might tip 10%

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Complain to management before you do this. Unless the server was a total frickup, you're costing them money to work, as they have to tip out the bussers and the cooks even if you left them 0.00.

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I'm fed up with CC fees being tacked on

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Except the financially astute among us pay cash.

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What about the cooks that put in the effort to prepare you a good meal. That's more work than the server does isn't it?

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Cooks are making more than $2/hr

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I just spent 10 days in Europe and ate out at every meal. At no place we went was a tip customarily expected and at every place we ate at the service was SPECTACULAR.

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I've spent much more than 10 days in europe and have had some truly awful service there. The average service level here is better at comporable restaurants, though we are trying our hardest to make that not the case as it is going downhill fast. I'd definitely say at the lower level of establishments, they probably have us beat.