Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Tipping

Huey's On the River
Our daughter is here and asked that we do lunch at Huey's on the River down in Savannah while she was here.  It's one of our favorite places so of course we said yes.  It poured here on Sunday, Savannah was absolutely heaving with tourists, but we'd called ahead, they don't do reservations, but if you call 30 minutes before your arrival they'll put you on their list for seating.  This is an absolute must for a weekend during tourist season, which is pretty much all year long down here.
So Mac dropped us off and April and I checked in at the door and within 5 minutes we were led to a table though there were throngs of people waiting and I heard one lady being told it would be an hour wait.
Waiting for Mac we ordered coffees around and a double order of beignets, an absolutely heavenly concoction of fried dough and powdered sugar.  It took nearly 10 minutes to get to us,  arriving just before Mac showed up.  Didn't mind the wait, they were busy, it was understandable.
What I don't understand is why we had to ask 3 different people for coffee refills, our waitress---when she finally reappeared out of the blue--for plates to put the beignets on, why Mac had to go and track down his own silverware, and why we weren't asked it we needed anything else, just had out bill handed to us.
Mac says a tip is like a taxi meter in reverse, the longer you wait the lower it gets.  We're usually good tippers having both worked in the restaurant business as teenagers, but I was not a happy camper.  I don't hold a waiter/waitress responsible for how long it takes for the food to get to us or how it tastes, those are kitchen matters.  But if you don't refill my coffee and my water (my glass was completely empty half way through our meal) I hold you accountable.  If you're busy with other customers I understand, if you disappear from the dining room for lengthy periods of time I don't understand.
We still tipped her, but not nearly as much as we would have had the service been better.
Am I wrong?
Beignets

3 comments:

  1. I agree completely. I have at rare times left no tip at all when the service was abominable. Wait staff know this is part of their pay and should act accordingly. Tips are not required although I know they are necessary to make up for the poor pay most restaurant workers receive. It sounds to me that in your case, a very small tip or no tip at all was in order. And a complaint to the management as well. Often I'm asked as I leave, "How was everything?" and I give an honest answer. How will they know it was bad if we don't tell them?

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  2. Yes, I totally agree tipping should be for service rendered.

    We always tip, but when we are really treated with care and respect and we give them a "little sky"....a really good tip.

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  3. You were right in my opinion, I tip according to the service I receive and sometimes don't tip at all if I don't think it's deserved. I also get very angry when a service charge is automatically added to my bill!

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