Why don't black people tip?
I typed this phrase into my Google search box and got LOTS of answers. Some said they don't "understand" how to dine out in a restaurant and some said it's because there is some preconceived notions about service. Whatever. All I know is that I had a table of five black people today and they were they ONLY ones to stiff me. They ordered a #4 chicken finger meal with honey mustard and salad w/ranch and apples/grapes and Sprite - no ice, a double with everything and cheese platter with cheese fries and onion rings and Pibb, a "junior steakburger with cheese and everything and onion rings instead of fries" and a Sprite - no ice, a "junior grilled cheese with cheese fries" and a water - no ice, and a Chicken melt with no tomato, no bacon, a regular fry and an Iced Tea.
Well.
These guests were clearly over 12 years old, so I charged them for a single cheeseburger deluxe and small onion ring (instead of junior meal) and a regular grilled cheese and small cheese fry (instead of junior meal.) Now please tell me WHY this girl who was consistently nice to me, calling me by name and/or sweety/honey/etc suddenly turned into the most evil person when I handed her the bill?
Her: "Don't you think it's shady of you to charge us for adult meals when we ordered juniors?"
Me, in my head: HA!
Me: "The junior meals are only for our guests 12 and under."
Her: "You should have told me; It's shady that you charged us for the adult meals."
Me: "Don't YOU think it's just as shady to order junior meals when you are clearly not 12 or under?"I typed this phrase into my Google search box and got LOTS of answers. Some said they don't "understand" how to dine out in a restaurant and some said it's because there is some preconceived notions about service. Whatever. All I know is that I had a table of five black people today and they were they ONLY ones to stiff me. They ordered a #4 chicken finger meal with honey mustard and salad w/ranch and apples/grapes and Sprite - no ice, a double with everything and cheese platter with cheese fries and onion rings and Pibb, a "junior steakburger with cheese and everything and onion rings instead of fries" and a Sprite - no ice, a "junior grilled cheese with cheese fries" and a water - no ice, and a Chicken melt with no tomato, no bacon, a regular fry and an Iced Tea.
Well.
These guests were clearly over 12 years old, so I charged them for a single cheeseburger deluxe and small onion ring (instead of junior meal) and a regular grilled cheese and small cheese fry (instead of junior meal.) Now please tell me WHY this girl who was consistently nice to me, calling me by name and/or sweety/honey/etc suddenly turned into the most evil person when I handed her the bill?
Her: "Don't you think it's shady of you to charge us for adult meals when we ordered juniors?"
Me, in my head: HA!
Me: "The junior meals are only for our guests 12 and under."
Her: "You should have told me; It's shady that you charged us for the adult meals."
Her: "Well you should have TOLD us when we were ordering that junior means 12 or under."
Me: "It's on the menu; would you like me to show you where?"
Her: "No, I know it's on the menu, but I didn't want to pay that amount. You were being sneaky for charging us adult prices."
Me: "I'm sorry you feel I was being sneaky, but I don't want to get fired or get in trouble for undercharging. As it is, you got exactly what you ordered and nothing was wrong with your food, right?"
Her: "That has nothing to do with it, you were deceitful."
Of course, as always, they left no tip.
**Note** 08/13/08**
I suppose I should have told you the story of my other experiences to clarify why I focused on the black people not tipping. I had a table of 2, a woman in her 40's or so who was with a mentally challenged woman of unknown age, both black. They ranted and raved about my service, even went so far as to tell my manager that I should be a manager! Oh this was by far the best service they'd recieved at Steak'n'Shake and thank you so much and good luck to me. Well I guess that was my tip because the table was empty and she paid with cash. Granted, I did once have a table of white hillbilly new yorkers come in and not tip, but I didn't expect them to because they looked poor and ordered scantily with purpose. I also once had a table of white yuppies from Kentucky show up with the entire soccer team (yes, this was a table of 22) who left me $1.00 and then tried to leave without paying for all their meals. I'm not saying that every single black person stiffs me and every single white person tips me, but it does seem that in general the black people don't tip as often. 95% for whites, 65% for blacks I'd say. And as far as Muslim people go, well, I know that I'm always guaranteed $3 no matter how large or small their tab is. I haven't dealt much with Asian folk, but I would think they would tip correctly because so many of them work in restaurants and nail salons and stuff like that where they live off tips (yeah that sounds racist but I think it's mostly true at least for the Asian people who live in my area.)
Here are some links to back me up:
And here's a video blog with a plethora of responses. Amusing. At first, I'm like hmmm... he really shouldn't have confronted her... But then she says "you're lucky we even left you money" so fuck that. Then she mentions that her SISTER is a server! So ridiculous.
Me: "It's on the menu; would you like me to show you where?"
Her: "No, I know it's on the menu, but I didn't want to pay that amount. You were being sneaky for charging us adult prices."
Me: "I'm sorry you feel I was being sneaky, but I don't want to get fired or get in trouble for undercharging. As it is, you got exactly what you ordered and nothing was wrong with your food, right?"
Her: "That has nothing to do with it, you were deceitful."
Of course, as always, they left no tip.
**Note** 08/13/08**
I suppose I should have told you the story of my other experiences to clarify why I focused on the black people not tipping. I had a table of 2, a woman in her 40's or so who was with a mentally challenged woman of unknown age, both black. They ranted and raved about my service, even went so far as to tell my manager that I should be a manager! Oh this was by far the best service they'd recieved at Steak'n'Shake and thank you so much and good luck to me. Well I guess that was my tip because the table was empty and she paid with cash. Granted, I did once have a table of white hillbilly new yorkers come in and not tip, but I didn't expect them to because they looked poor and ordered scantily with purpose. I also once had a table of white yuppies from Kentucky show up with the entire soccer team (yes, this was a table of 22) who left me $1.00 and then tried to leave without paying for all their meals. I'm not saying that every single black person stiffs me and every single white person tips me, but it does seem that in general the black people don't tip as often. 95% for whites, 65% for blacks I'd say. And as far as Muslim people go, well, I know that I'm always guaranteed $3 no matter how large or small their tab is. I haven't dealt much with Asian folk, but I would think they would tip correctly because so many of them work in restaurants and nail salons and stuff like that where they live off tips (yeah that sounds racist but I think it's mostly true at least for the Asian people who live in my area.)
Here are some links to back me up:
- http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31992
- http://www.tigeru.com/ftopict-4717.html
- http://www.livejournal.com/community/blackfolk/1338757.html
- http://wiki.answers.com/Q/IS_it_true_most_black_people_don't_tip_waiters
- http://intellegentignorance.blogspot.com/2007/05/my-vegas-restaurant-story.html
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1329241
And here's a video blog with a plethora of responses. Amusing. At first, I'm like hmmm... he really shouldn't have confronted her... But then she says "you're lucky we even left you money" so fuck that. Then she mentions that her SISTER is a server! So ridiculous.
2 comments:
I've found in customer service that if you are blunt with customers about what does and does not fly up front, they get over it much more quickly than if they think they are getting away with something for awhile. What I mean is, if you tell them when they order that they don't qualify for the kiddie meals, it will probably be a shorter conversation. I have the same type of thing happen to me all the time at my job, and it took me awhile to learn how to circumvent it.
For me, it comes from all different types of people. There's always someone who wants to try to beat the system. I find that the rich white guys can be the worst at it.
Holy F'n Fiction!
People are just plain cheap. Anyone that knows at least one person that is in the food industry understands. The rest are like 50/50. Just wanted to say "Hi", and that I'm sorry for the falling out that we did way back when. Stupid shit should always be gotten over quickly, and I'm sorry for not being the one to appologize first. Sounds like you're doing well, and good luck with school.
Oh, and... Buck Fush!
-Tim-
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