I must be a really bad person after what I did today. (In favor of waiters, and against the movement in this thread. I mean).
I go to TGI Fridays in my neighborhood on a regular basis, and I'm a member of their points/rewards program.
All of the waiters, waitresses, managers, etc, in TGIF know me. I'm a very good tipper.
Today, because of the points I had built up, I had a coupon for a free steak. I got a very nice big 10 ounce sirloin that a waiter who knows me recommended. It was very good.
Had I been charged the regular price for the steak, if would have been $19. With the soup, drinks, etc that I ordered, my check would have come to $27.
Due to the free steak entrée.. the entire check total was.. $9. I felt it unfair that the waiter should receive a lesser tip, because I had a free entrée.. so.. I gave him a $5 tip on a $9 check.. or,.. the regular fair tip of what it would have been.. had I been charged the actual value of the steak, according to the menu price.
I know, I'm a bad person when it comes to this "Movement". (Hangs head in shame). I just thought it not fair to do the waiter out of his fair tip, just because I had a coupon for a free entrée.
I'm going to overlook a lot of things here (like the wisdom and/or taste of ordering a "Steak" from TGIFridays, for one) and focus on the numbers.
Since many of you seem to lack basic MATH skills, I will calculate the correct % for you:
$19 steak + soup, drink, + etc = $27 total (before tax)
SubTotal with "Free Steak Discount" = $9
Tip given by Loyal Customer = $5
Wow! That's 55.5555555555% on $9
Are you kidding me?!? Customer of the YEAR!
That servant should be crawling under the table and showing her gratitude the only way she knows how!!!
Yeah... until you step back, and consider you are to properly tip on the TOTAL amount BEFORE DISCOUNT, just like Groupon recommends (greedy servants rules; NOT mine).
Mathematical Fact: A $5 tip on $27 (not including tax) comes out to 18.5% .
BELOW the 20% threshold servants deem acceptable!
I hope you can live with yourself knowing you did NOT meet your servant's expectations. ;-)
Perhaps a trip back to the establishment and a formal apology is in order?
Since you seem interested in asking out servers, this will give you an excellent conversation topic.
Best of Luck! Servants are always "looking for a strong provider" so they can chase their *real dreams*.