Our reader Amelia recently sent us a letter detailing her recent restaurant experience that raises important questions about tipping etiquette, customer service, and handling conflicts.
Here’s her full story:
I (30F) went out to a nice restaurant with my husband (30M) last night to celebrate his big promotion. Everything was going well until the very end when the waitress completely ruined it with her entitled attitude.
When the check came, I left a $10 tip on top of the $85 bill. As the waitress picked up the money, she sneered and said loudly, “Ten bucks? This isn’t the 1950s anymore, you know.”
I was stunned. Her tone was so condescending and rude. My husband’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Excuse me?” I said, instantly annoyed. “I think 10 bucks on an $85 bill is more than fair.”
The waitress rolled her eyes dramatically. “It’s a standard 20% tip these days, cheapskate. Do you not know how to calculate that?”
I couldn’t believe her snotty attitude. That $10 was over 11%, which is a decent tip by any measure. Her entitlement really rubbed me the wrong way.
“You know what,” I snapped, losing my cool. “With that kind of nasty attitude, you don’t deserve a tip at all!”
I swiftly reached over and snatched the $10 bill back off the table. The waitress’s mouth fell open, and she started loudly berating me with insults, calling me names and causing a whole scene. Other diners turned to gawk at the commotion. My husband was embarrassed.
Finally, the manager had to come over and forcibly remove the unhinged waitress, who was still yelling at me. We ended up just having to leave without leaving a tip.
I’ll admit I probably overreacted, but her smug, condescending behavior absolutely infuriated me. After treating a customer so disrespectfully, she didn’t deserve anything extra. But I’m getting heated debates from others on whether I should have just brushed it off instead of making a scene. What do you think?
Amelia’s story opens up a discussion about what constitutes fair tipping and how to deal with bad customer service. If you have any thoughts or advice for Amelia, feel free to share!
5 thoughts on “I Snatched My Tip Back Because of the Waiter’s Nasty Attitude”
If you can’t at least leave 15% then don’t go out to eat. These people are on their feet for hours with so many requests, they deserve to be tipped well.
Not all servers deserve a tip and I was a server years ago. You don’t know the situation of her service
If the food and service are good a 15% tip is good, 20% if exceptional. Bad service, bad attitudes = bad tip!
My friends and I leave 15 percent for average food and service. 20 to 25 for good. 30 plus for exceptional.
Partly because we want to make up for the idiots that selfishly leave too little
She’s a cheapskate with a crappy attitude. If my friends ever leave a crappy tip, I will put more down, even if they see me do it. I have very little respect for people that short their servers. And less than ZERO for this person after she pulled her small tip back