Dave Smith wrote:
> Nancy Young wrote:
>>
>> Over the years I've also seen printed menus where the prices haven't
>> gone up in *forever* ... I'm pretty sure the bartender's bills have,
>> though.
>
> I sure haven't seen that. Since we are both retired, we don't go out
> for meals as often as we used to. We had already noticed before
> retiring that restaurant prices were increasing a lot. On the rare
> occasions that we go out now I am shocked to see how much higher they
> have gone.
>
>
>> Let's just say I believe in tipping appropriately. I wouldn't stand on
>> principle one way or another. If you get good service, don't stick to
>> a rule just because.
>
>
> FWIW, we were out at a nice restaurant for lunch last weekend. It was
> my brother's 40th anniversary. There were about 20 of us. Service was
> slow. When the waitress came around to take drink orders, my wife
> asked a question about the menu, which seemed to throw the waitress
> off and she left without taking my order. I had a hell of time getting
> her attention and finally someone else tagged her and told her that
> she taken my drink order. She came over and I ordered a beer for me
> and a glass of wine for my wife. It was a good 15 minutes before she
> returned with the drinks.
>
> That left me in a bit of a dilemma for me. The prices were pretty
> steep and the bill came to almost $90, and I am expected to spend $15
> on a tip for someone who neglected me and spent all of 5 minutes
> dealing with me? With 10 couples there, all paying roughly 15%, that
> would work out to something int he range of $150 for the two hours she
> spent waiting on us.
>

Was it her fault? If it was, I'd pay 10%. If she couldn't avoid it due
to under-staffing, I would pay the 15% and talk with the manager.