Unfortunately, he doesn't. So...what is the waitress supposed to do about it?

That's the biggest dick move ever. It's unfortunate that people like that have no shame, because they deserve to be humilated for going so far to be so cheap. I always tip well because I know that others don't.

Yeah. That's why we didn't mind having to order our own dessert from the kitchens. We felt terrible for him. Some people are absolutely awful. Even if I get terrible service, I still leave at least a 10% tip. I once had a waitress call me a bitch because i sent some food back to the kitchen. Typically I don't send food back if its cooked wrong, but when the bring you a steak after you ordered fish, that's a problem, and I don't think I was a bitch for sending it back. She still got a 10% tip. Nothing more because she was quite rude, and I just dont have the patience for that.

Boatkicker you're too nice. I wouldn't have given her a dime. Insulting your customers to their face is never acceptable in the place of business. I'm also an asshole though so I probably wouldn't have went after her job as well. If you're having a bad day, thats fine, but I shouldn't be blatantly aware of it. I tip based off of service, I start at 15% then work my way down. If its exceptionally good service I'll give 20%. What happened to your friend though was just wrong. He should have gotten his manager involved to force them to pay the gratuity fee since they sucked at hiding the fact that they were indeed a large group. OP: Tips are earned not deserved, if you were struggling that due to your own incompetence then maybe you didn't deserve the tip. However, if you were struggling due to the party being unreasonably difficult then that's just f'd up. Before anybody starts whining and complaining about how its hard being a waiter, and people should always tip because waiters get paid less than minimum wage. Every middle class job is hard, and there's a reason why the gov't calls it minimum wage. If your employer is trying to get you to include your tips in you hourly salary so they can pay you less than minimum wage, stand up for yourselves and file a complaint to the higher ups of your company. Getting payed less than minimum wage is ILLEGAL. Chances are the higher ups arn't aware of whats going on so they assume that you're being payed minimum wage based off of your paperwork. If enough of you threaten a law suit they will take action and force the owner of that particular chain to either resign his position or pay you at least minimum wage so that you can keep your tips and not be taxed for them. Using the excuse of getting paid less than minimum wage just so you can give shitty service and expect a tip is just down right backwards. Especially since its illegal and shows a lack of understanding, or backbone, on your part.

Here's the thing: It's *not* illegal, and that's the problem. Most states have a lower minimum wage for waitstaff codified in law with the expectation that tips can make up the difference. Let me repeat that: the government allows a lower minimum wage for waitstaff, since they are supposed to make up for it in tips. This lower minimum wage depends per state, but it's usually 1/4-1/2 that of the general minimum wage. In New York, we're talking as low as $2/hr. In Arizona, where this FML originates, it's about $4/hr. There is *nothing* waiters can do about this except quit, leaving themselves jobless, and leaving someone else in dire straits to take the job, so the restaurants aren't even affected. You all have to understand, *we* agree that you shouldn't have to pay tips as part of a waitstaff's wage. However, restaurateurs would prefer to have lower advertised prices and, if tips get stiffed, well, they're not the ones getting screwed. In a perfect world, minimum wage would be equal for tipped jobs, but then the tip would become part of the listed price, so you'd be paying it anyway. Let me repeat that for the slower folk: if the world worked the way we all agree it should, you would still be paying that tip as part of the listed price. So, I don't see why it's so hard to just assume it is part of the listed price. A 15% tip is part of your cost of dining out. Anything above and beyond that can be granted for excellent service (or, ease of calculations since 20% is marginally easier to calculate than 15% >.>). If you have a problem with that, stop eating out!

Actually zargon an employer must pay at least $2.13 and if you don't make enough in tips to meet the federal minimum hourly wage, then your 'employer' must compensate for this deficit. If they fail to do so then it is indeed illegal. These are the laws set by the U.S. Gov't for all states, so the bitching and complaining about getting stiffed by others stops here. If you give me shitty service, I will not tip you or at the very least significantly reduce your tip. Tips are 'not' mandatory, they are based soley off of your service. As a waiter all you have to do is smile, make sure my glass doesn't get empty, bring my food to the table, and stop by every so often to ask if somebody needs anything (This you can do while giving everyone a refill). How hard is that? And before you give me any of that "you don't know what its like" bull, I worked in retail pulling 16 hour shifts at Footaction during Christmas holidays for a while. I was the 4th highest seller in my store next to my manager and two assistant managers. Plus I was the stock room attendant, so don't try to preach to me about stress. Maybe you should get some damn work ethic and stop blaming other people for your lack of pay due to your own incompetence. If they genuinely stiff you for no reason, shrug it off and keep it moving.

In addition: The U.S. Gov't allows for the tipped employee to use which wage law most benefits them. The minimum wage for a tipped employee in Arizona is $4.25, in New York the lowest it goes is $4.30. In both cases the wage plus tips still must total up to the federal standard, $7.25 for Arizona and $7.15 for New York. You're pulling info out of your ass; mines is coming from the U.S. Department of Labor. What's your excuse?

organisedchaos you keep on trolling my friend. Judging by your other posts, you're clearly bored and just feel like talking out your ass lol silly rabbit tricks are for kids