“This Is Just Evil”: Servers Share The Most Infuriating ‘Tips’ They’ve Ever Received

More than 2.2 million Americans work as servers in restaurants and other establishments across the country. For around 67% of them, it's a part-time job and they often do it alongside other jobs or their studies. Many of these servers rely on the tips they make to put food on the table. Some receive a basic salary too, while others only take home their hard-earned tips.

So when customers leave them with some of the examples featured on this list, it's safe to say that it's more than mildly infuriating. I mean really, who can pay their bills with a fake $50 note?

Customer service expert and best-selling author Shep Hyken is taken aback when we tell him about some of the ways servers have been tipped. "This is a new one for me. I’m not familiar with it," he says. "However, not leaving the traditional tip – even the minimum - might be a customer’s way of telling the server and restaurant, 'You don’t deserve the tip'.”

"Tipping is not legally mandatory," says Hyken during our interview. "However, there are expectations as servers rely on part of their income through tips. That said, the expectation shouldn’t become mandatory. The server and experience should be deserving of a tip. When a restaurant adds an automatic 20% gratuity, the incentive to deliver an experience worth tipping 20% could be diminished, although one would hope most work to create the experience that not only is worthy of the tip, but also worthy of a return visit."

The topic of tipping comes up often nowadays. But it's not only those on the receiving (or lack thereof) side complaining. Some customers and experts have raised concerns about the changing culture of tipping, with words like "tipflation" and "tip-creeping" doing the rounds.

"Tipflation refers to the rising expectations around tipping – when businesses prompt for larger tips, such as on the screen when you check out at a fast-food (quick casual) restaurant," explains Hyken. He says it used to be customary to tip 15% for good service and 20% for amazing service. But nowadays we are seeing options at checkout for tips as high as 30%.

"Tip-creeping is when a tip is requested or expected in places that you wouldn’t normally expect to tip," says Hyken. "For example, tipping for self-service experiences, tipping at an auto repair center, and other places or experiences where you have never tipped before.

In a post on his website, Hyken relays the story of how he bought a candy bar and paid through the store’s self-service checkout system. "I was surprised there was an option to leave a tip for the candy bar that I picked out and paid for on a self-service machine," he wrote.

We ask Hyken what someone should do if they feel the service wasn't worthy of a tip. "If a customer feels they didn’t get the experience deserving of a tip, they shouldn’t tip," he replied.

"However, realize the server makes part of their living with tips. If it was so bad as to not leave a tip, share the experience with a manager and explain why the service is not worthy of a tip. That said, leaving a 10% tip when 15-20% is the standard, just to give the employee a little something, sends a message that is clear: 'You didn’t give me a great experience. You could have done better.”

There are two sides of service: the technical side and the soft-skill side, Hyken tells us. "For example, technical is if I work at a restaurant, I may be trained on the proper side to serve and pick up plates. The soft skill is the personality, which includes the right attitude, the effort, and even the personality of the server."

The expert says hiring for the soft skills should be a priority when you recognize the person is sharp enough to be trained on the technical side. "If, after training and coaching, the server is still not getting good tips – while others are – then you have more than just a server issue. You have to worry about your reputation," he warns.

"Your establishment is only as good as the perception the customer/guest has of the experience, and if the person in charge of that experience (the server) is missing the mark, that’s how that customer – along with the friends that they tell about the experience – are going to perceive the restaurant."

Tipping is a hot topic in the U.S. right now, with President Donald Trump recently announcing a plan to do away with taxes on tips. Under the proposal, workers' tips would be fully theirs, regardless of their occupation.

"​​Eliminating taxes on tips would particularly benefit service industry workers, such as restaurant staff, delivery drivers, and gig workers who rely on gratuities as a significant part of their income," reports NDTV.

The Economic Policy Institute reports that in December, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rule that would allow restaurants to take the tips that servers earn and share them with untipped employees such as cooks and dishwashers.

"But, crucially, the rule doesn’t actually require that employers distribute 'pooled' tips to workers," reads the EPI site. "Under the administration’s proposed rule, as long as tipped workers earn minimum wage, employers could legally pocket those tips."

The Institute estimates that under this rule, employers would pocket $5.8 billion in tips earned by tipped workers each year. "This is 16.1 percent of the estimated $36.4 billion in tips earned by tipped workers annually," it explains.

The Institute warns the restaurant staff are already being robbed. And have been for a while. It cites research on workers in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, which finds that 12 percent of tipped workers had tips stolen by their employer or supervisor.

"Further, recent research shows that workers in restaurants and bars are much more likely to suffer minimum wage violations—meaning that they receive less than the applicable minimum wage—than workers in other industries," notes the EPI report. "For tipped workers, some of these minimum wage violations occur when an employer confiscates tips."

It's food for thought, and something to bear in mind the next time you sit down at a restaurant to enjoy a meal...