Leaving tips at a dining table is an important part of American culture. I understand the importance of giving tips to the waiters: on one hand, they have much lower base salary, and thus tips are an important source of income; on the other hand, it’s an appreciation for the services they provide.
Coming from a country where there’s no such thing as leaving tips, it took me a while to get used to take extra money out of my pocket for the services only, but I think it’s a good way to inspire waiters to give better services to customers.
However, I don’t like giving tips before I get the service. I like how many restaurants do it — serve you first, then sign the check. At that time, I can add my tips or leave cash on the table. If I get good service, I give better tips.
Some ask for payment at the time or ordering. I’m a bit hesitant in putting down tips at that moment. I would rather leave tips on the table at the end of the dining. To me, this makes perfect sense.
My tipping strategy works most times, but obviously gave us some trouble at the restaurant we went today. We paid for the meal first, at that time, I didn’t put down any tips and wanted to wait till I finish my meal.
This definitely didn't impress the waiter/cashier. When our meals came, he brought us ONE FORK for two salads, no dressing, no sauce, no knives, no napkin. After we asked, he went back and it took forever to fetch them. At the end, we asked a to-go box, it also took him forever to get. At that time, I started getting angry, but I still gave him tips. Well, he sped up 300% and even brought back sauces for me to go. Man, it's too late to enjoy the service. Even though I gave a 5 star review last time, I don’t plan to come back again.
I almost regretted that I didn’t put tips down beforehand to save us from all the trouble. Should I just not give him the tips at that point? What’s your tipping strategy? I need some suggestions.
