Madonna’s Miffed About Her Tips At Friday’s
” Hi guy’s ! Are you good tippers ? “
That’s how my lunch partner and I were greeted by a host at the Friday’s we ate lunch in last Wednesday.
Apparently, the waitress, who was actually named Madonna, got stiffed by her last customers.
So the guy who seated us actually asked me that. I said, ” Heck yeah. He’s rich and I’m well off. “ What the heck do you say at a time like that ?
Madonna came by to take our drink orders, so I tried to stir up a little conversation by say, ” I’ve got all of your CD’s ! “
She said, in a flat, dry monotone, ” I don’t have any of my CD’s.”
My half-a-club and French onion soup was fine, the service was fine and Madonna seemed competent enough, but the words the host greeted us with seemed to leave a pall over the entire lunch.
My partner paid for lunch and left the tip. He didn’t do her any big favors.
My question for you guys is this;
What the heck do you say to a host like that and would you have left a big-o-wad ?
EDIT - Jeffrey Eisenberg pointed out this great article about tips, which I think you should read, so I’m giving you the chance to read it and prosper.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Mike,
I get the equivalent on a regular basis via email and my usual response is something like “Would like another chance at first impression?”
In the case you outline, I would wish I said, “So does that mean she’s a lousy server?” or “Gee, I don’t know could we ask your manager to help me figure out whether I qualify as a good tipper?” or even “No. I’m not.”
Those are all GREAT responses, Liz.
I’ll be ready next time and I will use at least one if not all of these !
Thanks for stopping by. Next time bring 3,279 friends !
That’s hilarious. Never had anything like that happen to me. I would have probably just said “No, I’m not” and walked back out and went somewhere else. I don’t care much for TGIF’s anyway.
As a former waitress and knowing a number of other waitresses, sometimes the total frustration of providing great service and getting nothing (or next to nothing) sets in. Waitresses make a little over $2/hr and the rest of their wage is supposed to be made up in tips. They pay taxes on their food/beverage sales and have to tip the hostess, bartender and busboy (tipout depends on the restaurant).
You may be surprised at the number of people who don’t believe in tipping, or that a really good tip is $1. Instead of smarting off to a waitress who’s having a bad day, leave her an extra dollar or two on top the regular tip you would’ve left. It’s really no big deal to you and the next time you go in, you get favored status (trust me, nearly all customers are rememberd — along with their tips). Spread good karma to someone in a thankless job where they get treated like a low-level slave by the majority of the public (or get hit on like they’re supposed to be available to everyone).
Perhaps you can write a post on being a good customer.
My friend Roy William’s wrote a great piece on tipping http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/?ShowMe=ThisMemo&MemoID=1567 . Where he explains why he always tips big even when he gets lousy service.
@ Deron - That’s an idea I hadn’t thought of. Thanks for stopping by.
@ Amanda - Thanks for the reminder about the things food service people have to put up with.
Maybe you could help me write that article. I’d take anything you could send me.
@ Jeffrey - Thanks for that enormous addition to the conversation.
When I get time tonite, I’ll add that in the post.
I appreciate you stopping by !
Mike,
I’m also a former server who worked for 5 years at an Olive Garden.
While I agree that many customers are obnoxious–one women yelled at me because our iceberg lettuce salad wasn’t “green enough”–a lot of other customers are fabulous. There were a couple days where I wanted to just cry in dry storage, but so many more days when serving was a great experience.
But it’s NEVER ok for a server to take out their frustration with one customer on their other customers. Not only is it unfair–it’s also likely to make the decent customers mad too!
It is completely inappropriate for a server, or a host to ask a customer if they are a big tipper. A tip isn’t guaranteed or given, it’s earned. Yes, some people don’t tip well, but most people determine their tip fairly.
If I was in that situation, I would have told the host that I thought it was an inappropriate question, and asked to be seated in a different section. If they insisted, I would have asked to speak to the manager or left.
Then, if the service was good with the different server, I probably would have left a very nice tip–just to be perverse.
No customer should be told something like that. It upset you enough that it put a pall over the meal, and then resulted in this post. It’s NOT your problem if her last customers tipped badly.
Hi Katie !
Good to see you over here and good to see another Konrath out speaking the truth about customer service, sales and marketing.
I agree with you completely. It was one of the few times I’ve ever been almost speechless.
Thanks for adding to the conversation and please come back soon.
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