Is more than 18% gratuity expected? Im confused...

[lady longs]

Tonight, my DH and I went to a country club and had dinner. The food was good, the service was totally average. We were planning on tipping 15%. When we got the bill, it had an added "service charge" of 18%. We confirmed with the manager that this was the gratuity - it was. So, on the gratuity line, we put in "0".

When we were leaving, my husband overheard the server telling another server that she couldn't believe we didn't give her any additional money. He laughed and said, "oh well, sometimes that happens"

I am confused. I would have assumed that, even if it was good service, 18% would have been a sufficient gratuity. Certainly nothing so out of the oridinary that servers would have been discussing it.

Is 18% a sufficient gratuity? (even if the service had been good?)

[KelseyH]

We tip like this:

Poor - 10% or less if it was really horrible.
Acceptable - 15%
Good - 18%
Excellent - 20-25% or more depending on the amount of the bill.

The gratuity of 18% included for just "okay" service was more than fine. I wouldn't have tipped more. But then again... DH and I do not belong to a country club.

[Rdesonia]

I would expect that 10 to 15 % would be a good tip. I rarely give over 15%...(but I live in a state where waitresses make min. wage($8.80) plus tips... When I lived in a state that waitresses made less than minimum wage I gave more. Like in some states they make less than $3 an hour.)

**I would also give more if I just had coffee and not a real meal. Sometimes when I was younger, I would just go have coffee & maybe a dessert. Hang out with friends for 2 hours and take up a table. I always gave more especially if they kept my coffee full!

[qsefthuko]

Originally Posted by KelseyH We tip like this: Poor - 10% or less if it was really horrible. Acceptable - 15% Good - 18% Excellent - 20-25% or more depending on the amount of the bill. The gratuity of 18% included for just "okay" service was more than fine. I wouldn't have tipped more. But then again... DH and I do not belong to a country club.

This is pretty well how we tip. The exception is when we used coupons and deals to get a really low price. Then I do the percentage on what the meal would have cost prior to discounts. The waitresses make their living from the tips so I feel like I would be gyping them to base my tip from the lower amount.

[NiNi]

It's probably just what they're used to working at a country club

[iceeholic]

I absolutely hate when there is a required gratuity. We are a big family and most times the service is not worth the gratuity because they know they will get it no matter how they wait on us. If the service is really bad I will even argue with management to have it taken off and if they refuse then I let them know we will not return. We at out on our daughters birthday and they counted our infant as a person just so they could get the gratuity .. Yeah that didn't fly with us and we refused it. She would have gotten a better tip if she had just waited on us properly instead of counting on it. She was not a good waitress to us.

I do not think you should have tipped more than 18%. I feel that is more than sufficient if there was nothing exceptional about the service. If the server goes above and beyond we might tip 20% but no more than that. I would let the manager know she was complaining about it. That could really turn off future business and he would not want that either.

[Psychomom]

Originally Posted by KelseyH We tip like this: Poor - 10% or less if it was really horrible. Acceptable - 15% Good - 18% Excellent - 20-25% or more depending on the amount of the bill. The gratuity of 18% included for just "okay" service was more than fine. I wouldn't have tipped more. But then again... DH and I do not belong to a country club.

I am super harsh! Poor service gets $0. Acceptable gets 10%, Good 15%, Excellent 20% or more, depending on how far above & beyond they went.

When 18% gratuity is included, I usually don't tip anymore.

[essential1892]

I find it very annoying that a gratuity was automatically added on. I know they do it at some restaurants when you have a large group of people but I didn't know they did it for normal diners.

I wouldn't have added anything either because I would have thought it was tacky for the restaurant to assume that the service was worth 18% gratuity. And I don't know what that does for a waiter's moral if they know that are getting an 18% tip no matter what.

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

Originally Posted by KelseyH We tip like this: Poor - 10% or less if it was really horrible. Acceptable - 15% Good - 18% Excellent - 20-25% or more depending on the amount of the bill. The gratuity of 18% included for just "okay" service was more than fine. I wouldn't have tipped more. But then again... DH and I do not belong to a country club.

We tip like this, but it has to be reaaaallly bad to only get 10% or less. We have been known to tip up to 50% if the service was outstanding and the bill was not that high to begin with. But usually stick with 20-25% for excellent service.
It does tick me off a bit when they include gratuity ( when less than 6 people) though, if I had been your dh, I would have been inclined to say" we'll I normally tip more, but 1, the service was not up to par, and 2, I futures since you added an 18% gratuity with out asking, that is all you figured you were worth.
Eta: in reality I probably would not have, but I sure would have wanted too, lol

[qsefthuko]

Originally Posted by Psychomom I am super harsh! Poor service gets $0. Acceptable gets 10%, Good 15%, Excellent 20% or more, depending on how far above & beyond they went. When 18% gratuity is included, I usually don't tip anymore.

We have only rarely given $0 tip. Once was when we were trying to be discreet about a moldy salad (measurabley 1/2")and the waitress was loud and rude about it. We not only didn't leave a tip we left without eating and refused to pay.

The other time was when the waitress stood next to me and watched me clean the highchair with her wash cloth when I complained it was dirty. We were there when the restaurant opened it should have been cleaned the night before so not her fault. However instead of cleaning it she let me do it as she watched. She didn't receive a penny from us.