Tipping etiquette...what would you do?

[mark02tj]

My wife and daughter love a certain chain restaurant that serves italian fare. My wife always orders a particular sauce on her pasta, plain tomato - not the marinara sauce that comes with it. They screw it up 99% of the time. My wife complains, gets a free meal the next time they go. This has been going on for 12 YEARS. I can't stand it - it's like being trapped in the groundhog day movie. It's a never ending cycle. When I go with them, I know ahead of time what is going to happen. I even warn the server "don't let the kitchen screw up the sauce". Of course, they always do. Then they get a coupon for free meal. What is the definition of insanity?

Does she eat the spaghetti with the wrong sauce? That could be a pretty good gig - "Oh, waitress - I'll eat this if you give it to me free (so it doesn't have to be thrown away) and if you give me a coupon for a free meal next time I'm in." So, she gets a free meal and you use the coupon from the last time it was screwed up to pay for your meal - so you both eat free every time you go to that restaurant!! Brilliant!!

 

[Rustyferrious]

Does she eat the spaghetti with the wrong sauce? That could be a pretty good gig - "Oh, waitress - I'll eat this if you give it to me free (so it doesn't have to be thrown away) and if you give me a coupon for a free meal next time I'm in." So, she gets a free meal and you use the coupon from the last time it was screwed up to pay for your meal - so you both eat free every time you go to that restaurant!! Brilliant!!

Nah, she doesn't even let the plate hit the table - she can spot marinara a mile away. "all those big chunky things in it". She scopes it out when the server comes over and sends it back right away and asks for the manager. If I'm there I can't help an "I warned you" to the server. So then I'm faced with eating my dinner hot while my wife sits there hungry or letting my dinner get cold while we wait for her replacement meal and the all too familiar "free meal" coupon. It's a no win situation. I cringe when she says that's where she wants to go for dinner.

 

[Soundguy]

pretty sad that it happens OFTEN...

 

[Looking4new]

When I order my breakfast, I ALWAYS order 2 soft poached eggs and a double order of white toast and coffee. (That should be 4 slices of toast and I tell the server that.) NO potatoes/home fries/whatever else you want to call fried potatoes. After 2 or 3 times correcting, I just sweep the potatoes onto the table (If I am in a good mood or if in a rotten mood then onto the floor.) They get the message, eventually. IF I get the meal the way I order it, then there is always a $2.oo tip even if the eggs come hard rather than soft.

 

[Rustyferrious]

When I order my breakfast, I ALWAYS order 2 soft poached eggs and a double order of white toast and coffee. (That should be 4 slices of toast and I tell the server that.) NO potatoes/home fries/whatever else you want to call fried potatoes. After 2 or 3 times correcting, I just sweep the potatoes onto the table (If I am in a good mood or if in a rotten mood then onto the floor.) They get the message, eventually. IF I get the meal the way I order it, then there is always a $2.oo tip even if the eggs come hard rather than soft.

I love potatoes! I've been known to fork stab family members trying to swipe them off my plate........

 

[MossRoad]

When I order my breakfast, I ALWAYS order 2 soft poached eggs and a double order of white toast and coffee. (That should be 4 slices of toast and I tell the server that.) NO potatoes/home fries/whatever else you want to call fried potatoes. After 2 or 3 times correcting, I just sweep the potatoes onto the table (If I am in a good mood or if in a rotten mood then onto the floor.) They get the message, eventually. IF I get the meal the way I order it, then there is always a $2.oo tip even if the eggs come hard rather than soft.

I know a few places that if you tried that they'd sweep you onto the floor, drag you out to the parking lot, kick you in the seat of the pants a couple times, then put the eggs in your pocket and call it a "to go" order. And that's just the waitress...

 

[KiotiKowboy]

I know a few places that if you tried that they'd sweep you onto the floor, drag you out to the parking lot, kick you in the seat of the pants a couple times, then put the eggs in your pocket and call it a "to go" order. And that's just the waitress...

The proper response is to hand it back to the waiter and explain it is not what you ordered.

 

[Looking4new]

The proper response is to hand it back to the waiter and explain it is not what you ordered.

I have done the polite/proper thing as well. Sometimes I just have to make a statement.

 

[Looking4new]

I love potatoes! I've been known to fork stab family members trying to swipe them off my plate........

I just don't like 'em for breakfast.

 

[polo1665]

I know a few places that if you tried that they'd sweep you onto the floor, drag you out to the parking lot, kick you in the seat of the pants a couple times, then put the eggs in your pocket and call it a "to go" order. And that's just the waitress...

That's funny!

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I have learned over the years that in the long run, I'm better off by ordering from the menu as written; usually there are sufficient sides so that I can "roll my own" so to speak... and I rarely, if ever send anything back, for fear of retribution by the kitchen staff. The one thing that I simply can't abide, though is a hard egg. "Over easy", or if you were at the Coffee Pot in Monett in the 1950's, "lightly basted". That's why I do not like Cracker Barrel. Last time I ate breakfast there, the eggs were like hockey pucks. I sent them back and cancelled my order.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I can eat eggs any way they bring them if not still in the shell. and love home fries. im not very picky about a messed up order.

 

[MossRoad]

Breakfast scramble! :licking:

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Last 2 days i got breakfast at a little deli. scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, hashbrowns, except today did home fries . so much better than fastfood breakfast.

 

[MossRoad]

We do breakfast for dinner quite often. Scrambled eggs, ground sausage or patties, hash browns, sausage gravy, cheeses, salsa, tortillas and/or toast. :licking:

Personally, if we go out for breakfast, I usually get a very large omelet and take 1/2 home for a snack.

 

[HillStreet]

I am getting into this thread late but would still like to comment. I have never worked in the food service industry, other than KP way back when, but hear all the time about food tampering. I no longer send anything back to the kitchen. I just request that it be deducted from the bill.

 

[Looking4new]

I prefer my eggs soft, but I will eat them whatever way they come. Even raw in a glass of milk. Duck and Goose eggs MUST be cooked if you expect me to eat them.

 

[TomSeller]

Anymore I like my eggs at home hard boiled. I cook them in advance and eat them during the week. Can't say I see hard boiled eggs on any menus.

 

[LD1]

Only way I like potatoes for breakfast is mixed with something else. Cannot stand to just chow on them plain. Either gotta have eggs mixed in (fried or scrambled) with a little syrup, or sausage gravy. Sometimes crumble up the bacon and mix in too.

Not a ketchup person. Wife puts that on eggs and potatoes. Cant stand that. Ruins a good meal IMO

 

[Egon]

We do breakfast for dinner quite often. Scrambled eggs, ground sausage or patties, hash browns, sausage gravy, cheeses, salsa, tortillas and/or toast. :licking:

Personally, if we go out for breakfast, I usually get a very large omelet and take 1/2 home for a snack.

Back a good many years: scrambled eggs mixed with fresh Morels and diced Home Cured/Smoked Bacon was very enjoyable.

Eatin out=three egg mushroom&cheese omelet with hash browns & toast used to be a favorite morning fuel.