Ever walk out of a restaurant?

Scougar said:
You are only entitled to pay what you believe the meal to be worth as far as I'm aware. I don't believe there is a legal requirement to pay as such.

Best complaint for me was whilst in an Irish bar in Philly, and my wife didn't have her passport to prove she was over 21 yet clearly being well in excess of 25 (they card under 30)... cue me being mega stroppy, so I ordered a pint of milk to drink, knowing that being a bar they would be short of it. Didn't drink any of the milk. Pretty silly... except the chef for the place came out and gave me the evils lol. (and yes we all paid.)
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Pay what the meal is worth? Is that real or will they just say no the price is £x and kick up a fuss?

As for the states I thought it was extremely common for people to carry their passports for that exact reason?

MOOGLEYS said:
I walked out of KFC a while back after ordering as the the guy making the food was eating from the counter, licking his fingers and then making our food. About 3 or 4 other groups of people also walked out as well.

I wrote a complaint letter to KFC and received a voucher for £100 worth of KFC. I emailed them again stating I would never eat there again and received a £100 Argos voucher...
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LOL scruffs :(

JoeF1 said:
This. I would never even dream of sending a plate back like some people do because i didnt like it, or it was overcooked.
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why?
Yer paying for it?

JaWalks said:
I don't have any problem tipping whatsoever. I do have a problem with being told how much to tip, especially in the UK. When I'm in the US it's obviously different as service staff are paid hardly anything and rely on their tips to make a living. The level of service is better there and 20% is typical for excellent service. So for some place in the UK to add a 20% service charge for average service was a total ****take.
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Is it obligatory in the states?
don't they have a similar thing to our NMW?

Freefaller said:
Agreed. Similar with refusing to tip.
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Rarely will I tip lol, the missus always complains :p
It's their sodding job!

MOOGLEYS said:
I really do not understand tipping waiting staff. They carry your food to your table, why do people tip for that ? Or am I just being a tight old git.
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I can recall only once in our last few outing I've actually tipped, the place hadn't added their own to the bill and the waiting staff were generally very helpfull and polite. i don't tip often tho as I have the same view as you why tip, they're being paid to do a job, I don't get tipped at work, my binmen don't get tipped and when was the last time you tipped your bus driver?
 
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Never walked out, but complained and got a free meal once.

Steak wasn't cooked, even though I had asked for 'well done'.
 
MOOGLEYS said:
Do you tip elsewhere ? It just seems strange to me that we are meant to tip the person who carries our food to our table but not other professions. The chap fitting my tyres took extra care not to damage my wheels but never expected a tip for giving that little extra.

:)
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A good point actually.

The poor bloke in the kitchen has cooked my food (and hopefully made it nice) then someone carries it from kitchen to table and gets paid extra.
It's not exactly fair :p
 
Yes I've walked before. We had finished eating and asked for the bill which they took 20 minutes to bring over. The bill was 20 odd quid and we had no smaller money so left 2 £20 notes on the table to pay. They took a further 30 minutes before we took our money and left.

If they don't want paying for the food then I'm quite happy to have it for free.

We have also refused to pay a service charge in red hot buffet shack. I just laughed and said "correct me if I'm wrong but we fetched our own food".
 
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JoeF1 said:
This. I would never even dream of sending a plate back like some people do because i didnt like it, or it was overcooked.
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That wasn't really what I said, I'd quite happily complain and send my plate back but I wouldn't just get up and walk without paying.

A lot of restaurants are severely understaffed, the last thing I want on my conscience is someone being docked pay which is most likely minimum wage anyway because the managers blamed them for you walking out.
 
On the subject of tips, I very rarely tip unless something exceptional happens.

Bringing my food out when it's done, asking me what I want from the menu constitutes doing the job they are paid for.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Is it obligatory in the states?
don't they have a similar thing to our NMW?
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"Why are you expected to tip in the USA?

In * some* states in the USA, waitstaff and bartenders in restaurants are paid below the minimum wage, because the employees are expected to make up the difference, so to speak, in tips. (However, please note that the employer is required by law to bring the hourly pay of the employee up to the USA Federal Minimum Wage if the server does not earn an adequate amount of tips.) This means that a server could earn far above minimum wage on a good night ($200 a night is not uncommon), or hardly break even on a slow night. Servers are expected to pay income tax on your tips -- they truly are part of their normal wages for the job they do, not just "extra" money for them.

Always leave tips in cash, handing them directly to the person you are tipping, whenever feasible This makes certain that the right person is rewarded, and that the establishment itself cannot skim a portion of your tip by assessing the employee a percentage of what you tipped on the credit card. Many places are legally able to do this now, so, unless you absolutely need to charge the tip for business reasons, a cash tip is almost always better for the tipee. But the reason that servers prefer tips in cash is the fact that they can avoid declaring the income on their Tax Returns and avoid paying the Income tax and other payroll taxes on the amount. (Some do declare it, some don't).

All 50 states have different minimum wage laws. Some allow employers to pay less than the state's minimum wage to tipped staff, others do not. Federal employment compensation law requires that if employers pay less than minimum wage, tips must bring compensation up to the minimum wage or the employer must make up the difference. Therefore, no server legally makes below the federal minimum wage in the U.S. regardless of the amount of tips received. "
 
MOOGLEYS said:
I really do not understand tipping waiting staff. They carry your food to your table, why do people tip for that ? Or am I just being a tight old git.
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No I don't think you are. I wouldn't tip for Nandos for example but I know a few very good restaurants where the tables mine for evening, there's no rush, the food and atmosphere are ideal for a lovely meal out of the wife.

If we've had a great evening, then the waitress/waiter has been part of that so I don't care who's being paid what or just their job ***. It's just a little token of appreciation where it's due.

Not enough people appreciating other peoples hard work and efforts imo.. Everyone's happy just to take take take.
 
Yeah you get some fantastic service in good restaurants so it would feel shameful to not leave them anything after a good night. Plus if you have ever had the experience of going to a michelin starred restaurant, you have numerous staff literally waiting on just your table to ensure everything is perfect which really makes the experience. Many are also more than just somebody bringing food to the table.... you have Sommelier's who know everything about the wine, Cheese Waiters who can tell you where exactly each piece of cheese comes from and its taste.

I do know somebody who is a Chef and it can be a sticking point with them that they do so much work and don't get tips. At the end of the day though, if its something you feel strongly about, there is nothing to stop you giving a tip to the kitchen.
 
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steveo said:
me and the missus went for a meal at SO bar in Ripon always had a nice time in the Harrogate So bar and after the order had been taken we were still there after 40min with no meal, told the poor lass servicing us we were leaving as it was taking to long she apologised and told us the drinks were on the house no explanation as to why but its getting a bad rep over time from other people as well. just felt sorry to waitress as it wasnt her fault the kitchen was useless
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Prima's is the best restaurant in Ripon, well used to be anyway. Fantastic service and never had a bad meal.
 
Dunks said:
Likewise, although if the service is excellent I don't mind paying an included service charge, such as Hawksmoor the other month.
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That's worse though, as the whole point of a tip is being able to decide how you want to reward somebody for their service.
 
Windle said:
"Why are you expected to tip in the USA?

In * some* states in the USA, waitstaff and bartenders in restaurants are paid below the minimum wage, because the employees are expected to make up the difference, so to speak, in tips. (However, please note that the employer is required by law to bring the hourly pay of the employee up to the USA Federal Minimum Wage if the server does not earn an adequate amount of tips.) This means that a server could earn far above minimum wage on a good night ($200 a night is not uncommon), or hardly break even on a slow night. Servers are expected to pay income tax on your tips -- they truly are part of their normal wages for the job they do, not just "extra" money for them.

Always leave tips in cash, handing them directly to the person you are tipping, whenever feasible This makes certain that the right person is rewarded, and that the establishment itself cannot skim a portion of your tip by assessing the employee a percentage of what you tipped on the credit card. Many places are legally able to do this now, so, unless you absolutely need to charge the tip for business reasons, a cash tip is almost always better for the tipee. But the reason that servers prefer tips in cash is the fact that they can avoid declaring the income on their Tax Returns and avoid paying the Income tax and other payroll taxes on the amount. (Some do declare it, some don't).

All 50 states have different minimum wage laws. Some allow employers to pay less than the state's minimum wage to tipped staff, others do not. Federal employment compensation law requires that if employers pay less than minimum wage, tips must bring compensation up to the minimum wage or the employer must make up the difference. Therefore, no server legally makes below the federal minimum wage in the U.S. regardless of the amount of tips received. "
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So if a tip isn't left the workplace will top it up anyway if they don't make minimum wage?

So back to only tippi9ng where it's due not just because its expected surely?
 
Saytan said:
I once recalculated my bill minus the "inclusive service charge", put that much money on the table and walked.
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I pretty much do this anywhere that automatically add it on. It is a choice to pay and I will choose to pay if I want, not because it is automatically added on.

On topic though, I have walked out a few times. A big party of us were together and asked for the bill (must have been about ~£800) but after asking multiple times over the course of an hour just left. It was a shame really as it was nice food but put me off ever going back.

The last I did the food was absolutley shocking, some food was cold others were burnt some people got the wrong order so complained to the manager and explained we were refusing to pay for the food. Had a lol moment when the manager brought the bill over and said he would call the police if we didn't pay. We worked out the price of the drinks and paid for them and then left.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
So if a tip isn't left the workplace will top it up anyway if they don't make minimum wage?

So back to only tippi9ng where it's due not just because its expected surely?
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Not really, it's so embedded in the culture over there now that a tip of 10% is considered sign of poor service... Normal is 20% for a sit down meal with table service.
 
Quick question to the people who just left without paying even though the meal was ok.
Why didn't you just get up and approach the waiters? as annoying as it is, at least you can make your point by throwing the cash / card at them and letting them know. I've never known a busy restaurant that doesn't have a waiter / Manager constantly next to the till.
 
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