Q: If I receive lousy service in a restaurant, is it acceptable to withhold a tip?
A: It’s better not to eliminate the tip all together. However, cutting back on the amount certainly is an acceptable way to show your disapproval. If you experience problems during the meal, convey them to the waitstaff or the restaurant manager immediately. If the problem isn’t addressed to your satisfaction, adjust the tip accordingly. If the problem was resolved successfully, tip the full amount, customarily 15% to 20%. If the problem wasn’t taken care of or your server was more than generally unsatisfactory, tipping 8% is the “fairest” monetary expression of great dissatisfaction. According to the IRS, most restaurants report 8% of their income as servers’ tips, so reducing the tip any further costs the server.
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I think of a tip as “how much good(value) did this person do for me?”. If I had a small bill, maybe just a drink or a small cheap lunch, if I think that person helped me out just as much as someone who served me during a $100 meal, I think exceeding the 20% is fine and good. If someone actually tarnished my experience of a restaurant, and their food service was really bad, I have no problem not leaving a tip at all
! My wife is a part-time waitress, and I still think you have to do me some benefit to get my hard-earned money. If the take-away from the experience was “wow that waiter/waitress was awful!” Instead of remembering the food or atmosphere, sorry!
Just my opinion.