Restaurant paid for the meal, do we still tip?

[Spoooon]

We just ate at this italian restaurant. Our food had mistakenly been sent to another table and someone took a bite, so they offered to pay for everything. We ended up leaving a tip. We left 7 dollars because that was all the cash we had. Our meal, with dessert, would have been about 85-90 dollars.

Also, if they say that they'll be for everything, what would be appropriate if you wanted to order dessert? Do you just order and assume it's on them? We asked them to start a new tab to put our dessert on. The server said that the manager told him that everything would be taken care of. But it got us wondering what the appropriate behavior.

 

[Viper GTS]

Some friends & I were recently in the same dilemma.

Due to a misunderstanding between two servers, we were there for an hour before they actually got our orders to the cook.

Only problem was we WOULD have ordered dessert, and still wanted it, but felt like we'd be taking advantage of the situation if we ordered it.

We left a tip, and didn't order dessert.

I felt bad for our waitress, though, she looked like she expected to get her head bit off when she returned from her 1/2 hour break (during which someone else was supposed to take our orders).

Viper GTS

 

[Red Dawn]

Hahaha... a Free Dinner then you stiffed them with a $7.00 tip

The Grand Nagus would be proud!

 

[Spoooon]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Hahaha... a Free Dinner then you stiffed them with a $7.00 tip

The Grand Nagus would be proud!

Well, we didn't have any cash. We would have left 15% or so had we been able to pay with credit card. I wonder what they would have said if I asked them to ring up $0 so that I could leave a tip?

 

[RaWrulez]

Something like that happened to me at Olive Garden. My bill would have been 30 some dollars... but because my afredo had a spoon in it that was covered in dish soap. ( I didn't move it, and ate most of it.) They brought me new food and paid for the whole meal. So i left like all the cash i had as a tip... like $15-18. It would have cost me double that anyways and the server gets something more than $3.

 

[Tallgeese]

You should have tipped as though you paid for the entire meal yourself.
You could have asked them to run a charge of .01 for the meal, then put your tip on that (if it was a matter of not enough cash on hand).

You did, however, do the right thing by asking for a new tab for your dessert. And they did the right thing by covering it too.

 

[cpals]

I would say, if the waiter/waitress did their job and was there for you the whole time besides the first mix up then you would be obliged to pay for the normal tipping percentage (15%-20%). This is because although the restaurant is paying for your meal, the waiter is still doing his job and is servicing you so I would pay him for his effort. Remember that a lot of waiters are paid a minimal wage and then earn most of their pay through tips.... depending on the class of the restaurant.

 

[Tallgeese]

Originally posted by: RaWrulez
Something like that happened to me....bill would have been 30 some dollars...So i left like all the cash i had as a tip... like $15-18.

My wife and I do the same thing if there's a mixup which isn't our server's fault and the restaurant is footing. We tip around 35-40% of what the bill would be.

We do this mainly because my wife used to be a waitress in college, and had to put up with all kinds of crappy customers and an absolute bastard of a manager.
I still look for him around town so I can kick his a$$. :|

 

[dolph]

just reaffirming the last two posts.

 

[Renob]

Yes if the service was good.

 

[Spoooon]

Well, again, if I had the cash on hand, I would have left a normal size tip. Normally I leave my tip with the credit card though. I didn't think of the "running up a 0 dollar amount" thing until I posted here. Oh well, maybe next time.

 

[ElFenix]

you could have told them to run the amount you would have tipped on the card.

 

[brisco]

You gotta tip if in the server is not to blame for the error and especially if they comp the meal. On another note, if you use a discount card like a passport card where you buy one meal and get the other free, always tip 15% of what the bill would have been not what your final price was.

 

[Red Dawn]

Oh well, maybe next time.

Next time you go there you probably will have a few extra goodies included with your meal courtesy of your Waiter/Waitress.

 

[guyver01]

That happened to a friend of mine and I... we went to Red Lobster.... and due to a mixup... our meal took almost an hour to come, because of a kitchen error (lost our order, or something to that effect) ... the waiter kept bringing us rolls and drinks and everything, and was very courteous.... the manager comped the meal... so the $40 we woulda paid went to the waiter as a tip. He did deserve it anyways... he woulda gotten $10 if we paid for the full meal.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

i want some free food!

yeah you should of left a better tip since it wasn't your waiters fault...


Just go back and request that server, then pad his/her tip a bit.

 

[Jfur]

We won a dinner at a fairly expensive place (total cost ~$200) and ended up tipping $50

 

[Chaotic42]

This happened to me yesterday with pizza.

I ordered one from Pizza Hut. The guy who took my order messed up, so did the driver.

I called an hour and a half later and asked where it was (nicely of course, everyone makes mistakes). They said they knocked on my door an no one was home, and they tried to call. I asked them what number they had down and he said (I'm not joking here):

27795923120

That would be the reason that I never recieved the call
Anyway, they said they'd make me a new one and there would be no charge. I told him I didn't mind paying, but he was insistant that I get it for free. Anyway, they upgraded it to extra-large (it's a big freakin' pizza) and it arrived in like 15 minutes. I tipped the guy what I would have anyway. He said he had the wrong house the first time.

Stuff happens. You did the right thing with the dessert. I would have just tipped them a bit more. I gave the pizza dude all the cash I had on me, which just happened to come out to like 15.02%.

 

[spaceman]

imo yes definitley tip.
i mean, you got the meal for free so its still a real good deal.

 

[Omegachi]

of course you tip them, even tho they say no you should insist. especially you are not paying anything when the meal totaled up to 85-90 dollars. make the waiters happy, they don't work for free. (talkin about the tips)

 

[AaronP]

I get free casino buffets all the time and usually tip pretty good.

 

[Stark]

if it's the cook's fault, tip
if it's the waiters fault, don't

 

[guyver01]

Originally posted by: AaronP
I get free casino buffets all the time and usually tip pretty good.

casino comps dont count.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: AaronP
I get free casino buffets all the time and usually tip pretty good.

Free casino buffets are great!

I didn't know they had casinos in Wisconsin.

 

[AaronP]

there's like 15 indian casinos in Wisconsin.