Tip a Server even if it was bad service? Are you obligated

Tip a Server even if it was bad service? Are you obligated

Do you "Tip a server" even if you get bad service? Are you obligated; feel pressured to tip a server who gives you bad service for fear of reprisal - like being called cheap. That is what I was faced with, I understand - If you’re at a restaurant that you frequently visit you have that fear of getting repeated bad service or worry about the quality of your food.

What I am talking about is more of something the line of this: read this example and tell me what you think?

I am walking around the mall with my wife and son, my wife decides that she doesn't want to wait until I take my son to my long standing barber, but rather she wanted to take him to cut his hair at one of these fancy hair cutting places at the mall. I lost the argument, I mean debate, and off we went.

I watch as this lady [ avoiding name of company and person just in case – being sued you know...] comes up and ask us what we need. I let my wife take the lead since it was her idea. She tells the woman what kind of cut she wants for my son and she sits him in her chair.

This is where the problem starts. My son quickly asks her why she didn't give him a booster chair and she tells him that he was a big boy. Uhm really, cause to me it look like she was having trouble even looking at the back of his head because he was shorter than the back of the chair.

To make a story short lets break it down:

tips for servers1- She was too lazy to get a booster chair for my son.

2- She cut his hair with an apparent distain??

3- I could see that she was doing a bad job.

4- A new customer walked in and asked if she can get a cut and my sons hair stylist spoke above another girl and said she would be done in a minute [ to me it looked like she still had at least 5 to 10 minutes to go to finish ].

5- She finished and started taking my son off the chair and I had to point out to my wife that there were pieces of his hair that were still undone. So my wife pointed it out and the woman said - Oh, I'll fix it [ not even a " I'm sorry" ]

6- She quickly fixes it and takes my son off the chair. I noticed she left hair on his neck and other undone things. I wanted to avoid making a scene - So, I spoke the best way I could: when she rang me up "I gave her no tip".

tips server bad obligatedAs we walked out of the parlor my wife looked at me with this surprised look and said: you didn't give her a tip? And my response was by pointing out the above for mention points. My wife seemed to agree with me and kept walking.

My wife is always big on giving a tip. She has this funny urge to be the type of person who believes you should always leave a tip because "you don't want to look cheap", even if you didn't like the service. She is somehow afraid that it’s not proper. Me, I have worked in the service industry for a long time and I give all of my customers the best service knowing full well I don’t get a tip and if offered... I have to refuse it. So why I ask, why should I be obligated to give anyone a tip for terrible service? I paid this woman $15 dollars for my son’s bad hair cut – I refuse to thank her for it by giving her a tip.

What do you think?

Comments

I think I'd even go beyond not giving a tip and make a formal complaint to a manager. I'm not a big fan of complaining unless there is a real problem, but she was rude, unprofessional, and she did a terrible job. Neither you nor your son deserved that, and they should have to either give you a refund or have someone who is better at their job fix his hair. A friend of mine works at a salon, and they are always quick to fix an issue. Something like this makes them look bad.

A lot of people say you have to give tips no matter what, but I'm inclined to tip for the service I got. If it was bad service, the tip will reflect that. I'm pretty easy to please, so it has to be terrible service for me to completely not tip. My issue is not with looking cheap, though. I just know that people working in tipping industries make very little in the form of an hourly wage. However, if they aren't going to perform a quality service for that tip, they don't deserve it.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z
Unknown said…
I agree with Shannon. I would have complained to a manager because if she did it to you she could do it to others and someone needs to know that she is not a good worker. I have gone to hair salons since I was 13 (I'm not kidding, my mom would take me!) and let me tell you--I used to be that person who didn't want to make a fuss or complain, and now, I realize that its MY money, MY hair, and if I don't like it I jump out of the chair and say something. One salon did such a bad job with my hair and didn't listen to what I wanted that I put my hair in a bun and got up. The salon owner didn't charge me and apologized for the inconvenience.

At the end of the day, salons are in the service industry and they have to treat their customers as such. They aren't doing us a favor although that's how I feel some salons think.
Arlee Bird said…
I like Shannon's approach--didn't even think to go to manager in the case of a haircut. If a service is obviously bad for no good reason then no tip from me and odds are I won't be returning to the establishment any time soon.
For restaurant chains when I'm not happy I will often report the problem through the website. Usually they'll send me some kind of coupon with an apology.


Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
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