Wait Staff Disappointment

[maxiesmom]

So sorry that you did not have a better time we have gone on 5 previous trips and the vast majority have been a great experience, The few that have not, well I am a retired Marine. I will cheerfully stand up in front of the waiter/waitress and dress them down as if they are not very bright 18 year old Privates. Haven't had to do it twice in a meal.

I hope you eat all all buffets, or just enjoy an extras that may be in your food.

 

[jodifla]

We went to our favorite, the Yachtsmen, and had such a horrific service experience the manager comped us the whole meal! This was about a dozen years ago though. On our April trip and all the others service has been good to great. Sorry you had a bad experience!

 

[suzannews]

Maybe they just put the, um, less than stellar servers at places like Cape May and Boma because they figure less serving needed (just bring drinks and clear dirty dishes as opposed to menu ordering venues).

I am a server at Cape May Café.

 

[MomOTwins]

I can’t help but notice a recurring theme in OP’s post of “it didn’t seem busy so why wasn’t my waiter more attentive”. I will just point out that empty tables do not always mean your server has less work. As a server in college, I often had more tables on a quiet time than a busy time, because they staff the restaurant based on capacity trends. So I might be the only waitress for the 8 tables split between two areas (eg bar and dining room) at 4pm, which is a lot harder to do than 5 tables all in one place when the restaurant is packed and there are lots of other servers around. I am glad I am now in a salaried job where I don’t have to worry about lower pay when I am having a super busy and maybe don’t keep on top of things as perfectly as I would like (now emails take longer to be answered than ideal, when it used to be checks took linger to be delivered), but I always tip well remembering how hard it was to have a rough day and have your pay cut in half.

 

[bumbershoot]

Did you have a TIW card per chance? I have a theory that if you tell them you have TIW at beginning they will be less attentive since they know they get the automatic 18% tip no matter what. I now wait to tell them at end.

They don’t get it no matter what. all it takes is letting the manager know that there are continued issues, and it can be taken off.

there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to tell a server in advance that you have TIW. It's not a dining plan

Very true.

We always do simply because if they bring the bill and then you mention TiW, they have to take it back and re-run it. We prefer to mention it at the beginning so that they'll come and get that before running it. I've never had bad service because we mentioned TiW, so I don't have any problems in saying so. We just find it's more efficient.

If you’ve had a server remember that you had TIW before running it, I’m impressed. Servers are busy.

I will cheerfully stand up in front of the waiter/waitress and dress them down as if they are not very bright 18 year old Privates.

Yikes. Embarrassing. For everyone.

Talk to a manager instead.

Doing that with an 18 year old private who willingly signed up for the military is already in the realm of verbal abuse; you doing that to someone serving you food, in public, is absolutely verbal abuse.

Say you have a party size that triggers an automatic gratuity (say 18%) and your service is horrible. You can still write down the gratuity.

You’ll get the manager out if you do that. And that’s what you should have done already, if you’re thinking of lowering it. The manager should be aware of the issues by that point.

I highly doubt they ate 3 TS a day for 10 days...let's not over-exaggerate just to make the OP feel their feelings/complaints are unjustified.

She didn’t say “ate 3 TS meals”. She said that they likely ate out 3 times a day. And people at Disney do tend to have a meal they didn’t make three times a day.

At any rate....in regards to another poster who seems to think servers would work harder if automatic tip. That makes no sense. To me they are getting a solid 18% so no need to really bust butt. There is no incentive...for an additional few bucks someone might add on?!?!?! It's very difficult to have automatic tip removed though (I have seen posts here on MO where folks have tried).

It’s not hard at all. If you’re having issues throughout a meal, it’s totally appropriate to find the manager during the meal to let them know of the issue *so it can be fixed*. If it’s not fixed by the end, then the manager has a heads up, and it won’t be a surprise when you talk to them again about having the tip reduced or eliminated.

Not hard at all. It’s been done in my extended party.

While servers might know that guests might not do that, they would certainly know that the managers will take off a tip if there are issues. So by slacking off they know they are at risk of that.

Please stop. Unless a server deliberately holds a plate directly over the diner's head and dumps it, it is NOT the guest's place to publicly humiliate that server (even if the only witnesses to such behavior at members of one's own party.

Restaurants have managers.

YES.

I hope you eat all all buffets, or just enjoy an extras that may be in your food.

I don’t normally feel that servers will do disgusting things, but yes, I bet that I’d they are being yelled at and humiliated by a Marine they would indeed be thinking along those lines...

I can’t help but notice a recurring theme in OP’s post of “it didn’t seem busy so why wasn’t my waiter more attentive”. I will just point out that empty tables do not always mean your server has less work.

Very true. I noticed and thought the same thing, reading the OP.

 

[brockash]

They don’t get it no matter what. all it takes is letting the manager know that there are continued issues, and it can be taken off.



Very true.



If you’ve had a server remember that you had TIW before running it, I’m impressed. Servers are busy.



Yikes. Embarrassing. For everyone.

Talk to a manager instead.

Doing that with an 18 year old private who willingly signed up for the military is already in the realm of verbal abuse; you doing that to someone serving you food, in public, is absolutely verbal abuse.



You’ll get the manager out if you do that. And that’s what you should have done already, if you’re thinking of lowering it. The manager should be aware of the issues by that point.



She didn’t say “ate 3 TS meals”. She said that they likely ate out 3 times a day. And people at Disney do tend to have a meal they didn’t make three times a day.



It’s not hard at all. If you’re having issues throughout a meal, it’s totally appropriate to find the manager during the meal to let them know of the issue *so it can be fixed*. If it’s not fixed by the end, then the manager has a heads up, and it won’t be a surprise when you talk to them again about having the tip reduced or eliminated.

Not hard at all. It’s been done in my extended party.

While servers might know that guests might not do that, they would certainly know that the managers will take off a tip if there are issues. So by slacking off they know they are at risk of that.



YES.



I don’t normally feel that servers will do disgusting things, but yes, I bet that I’d they are being yelled at and humiliated by a Marine they would indeed be thinking along those lines...



Very true. I noticed and thought the same thing, reading the OP.

I think you're confused. This thread is about waitstaff (being waited on, ordering with a waiter etc.) there is no waitstaff at CS restaurants. The poster I quoted stated that the OP should look at their situation; that out of 30 experiences with waitstaff only a couple were not good. I explained that the likelihood of the OP eating 3 TS meals a day for 10 days straight was unlikely.

 

[lovin'fl]

I am a server at Cape May Café.

Well out of about 6 dinners there, we were pretty ignored about 3-4 off them. Dirty plates piled up. No drink refills. Long time to bring check. We like bar drinks too and could barely get 1 for the hour we dined, forget getting a 2nd. What's this issue then? Not enough staff? I can see that.

 

[castleblue]

I’ve only been to Boma once for breakfast and it was just okay. I don’t remember anything horrible that stood out. I would probably return again.

Cape May is one of my favorite buffet restaurants, especially for breakfast. They’re always so nice and they always get it right. The character interactions there are the best.

I disagree with Disney servers receiving poor tips. I know four servers there and they all bring in close to $90,000 per year. They make serious money for the job. But these are people who have been there for 20 plus years so that may be a factor.

The worst restaurants I’ve ever been to were Sci-Fi, ‘Ohana, Hollywood Brown Derby and 50’s Prime. Those are in the never again pile. The character interactions were also bad at Akershus. Ariel in particular was really bad.

I just tip accordingly or not at all. I’ll also call over the manager and let them know about the poor service. Stop going to the restaurants that treat you poorly and stop feeling as if you have to tip someone who doesn’t deserve it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The character interactions were also bad at Akershus. Ariel in particular was really bad.

I just tip accordingly or not at all.

Since Akershus isn't in your "never again" pile, so it's reasonable to extrapolate that the service was fine, did bad character interaction affect your tip?

 

[adfoster84]

Maybe they just put the, um, less than stellar servers at places like Cape May and Boma because they figure less serving needed (just bring drinks and clear dirty dishes as opposed to menu ordering venues).

I had not thought of that but it definitely might be true.

 

[adfoster84]

I’ve only been to Boma once for breakfast and it was just okay. I don’t remember anything horrible that stood out. I would probably return again.




The worst restaurants I’ve ever been to were Sci-Fi, ‘Ohana, Hollywood Brown Derby and 50’s Prime. Those are in the never again pile. The character interactions were also bad at Akershus. Ariel in particular was really bad.

I just tip accordingly or not at all. I’ll also call over the manager and let them know about the poor service. Stop going to the restaurants that treat you poorly and stop feeling as if you have to tip someone who doesn’t deserve it.

We would return to Boma even though we had a bad experience. The food was amazing. And we did tip accordingly becuase of the poor service. I always feel bad when I tip a lower than usual amount but in our cases I would be doing a disservice to them and me if I tipped how I usually do.

I would encourage you to go back to 50's Prime Time. We ate there while on our trip and had a great experience and i really paid attention to those around us and what kind of service they were getting since it is an experience kind of restaurant. Everyone around us interacted well and had good service too. We enjoyed the experience. The food was not stellar but it was good and overall just a bit of fun. We don't typically do character meals except for Crystal Palace and that is because Winnie the Pooh and friends were a favorite of my grandmother and since she passed a few years ago it is nice to go and enjoy the characters she loved and makes me feel a bit closer to her.

 

[Turksmom]

I am a server at Cape May Café.

Cape May is one of our favorites for both breakfast and dinner and we've always had great service. So, thank you, if you had our table, or even if you were just one of those smiling people who made our meal more pleasant!

 

[Lashed34]

I am coming over in December from the UK and the tipping is very straight forward, but can I ask - for poor/bad service do people still leave a tip?

I appreciate Housekeeping etc etc but restaurants have always bothered me - and isit only at buffet/sit down restaurants that people leave a tip?

Sorry if this is a basic question, but when reading about bad experiences It does make me wonder if any tip should be given.

Basically if I don't leave a tip am I going to be sent to Disney hell?

 

[Meglen]

I am coming over in December from the UK and the tipping is very straight forward, but can I ask - for poor/bad service do people still leave a tip?

I appreciate Housekeeping etc etc but restaurants have always bothered me - and isit only at buffet/sit down restaurants that people leave a tip?

Sorry if this is a basic question, but when reading about bad experiences It does make me wonder if any tip should be given.

Basically if I don't leave a tip am I going to be sent to Disney hell?

20%+ is for good > awsome service 10%-15% poor and 0% if there is a HUGE issue and talked with the manager

 

[Lashed34]

20%+ is for good > awsome service 10%-15% poor and 0% if there is a HUGE issue and talked with the manager

Thank you, it's a little confusing for us Brits.

 

[DuskKodesh]

I am coming over in December from the UK and the tipping is very straight forward, but can I ask - for poor/bad service do people still leave a tip?

I appreciate Housekeeping etc etc but restaurants have always bothered me - and isit only at buffet/sit down restaurants that people leave a tip?

Sorry if this is a basic question, but when reading about bad experiences It does make me wonder if any tip should be given.

Basically if I don't leave a tip am I going to be sent to Disney hell?

Even with bad service I leave a full tip. Only once in my life have I left less and that was the worst service I'd ever had (And there was no manager on duty, they were apparently sick at home with no one to cover). I've worked foodservice, girlfriends of mine have worked foodservice. I'll never forget the night I had to talk down my sweetheart because a party of eight came in at close, insisted on being seated, made fat jokes about her, trashed the bathroom, and left no tip.

I tip. Period. I use the service, I pay for it. If service is bad try genuinely talking to the person kindly. You'd be shocked at what some of them are going through and no one deserves to get zero pay because their dog died and they can't concentrate. But that's just me, YMMV. I'm not gonna make any rash judgement about anyone else.

 

[cobright]

Also, ppl. are on vacation mode and are more inclined to tip better than your run of the mill local establishment.

Woah ho... not even close. People on vacation are horrible tippers. For one thing, they've already spent so much just getting there and anything extra they spend comes out of things that they would enjoy on vacation. But mostly it's a sense of accountability. If I tip low around town it will eventually get back to me next time I eat there. Most people don't expect to be recognized when they return to a WDW restaurant. To his credit, our waiter at Cali Grill did remember us on our second and third trips (a year apart) which was cool. He remembered my son was an adventurous eater

You’ll get the manager out if you do that. And that’s what you should have done already, if you’re thinking of lowering it. The manager should be aware of the issues by that point.

Yes, of course. As I mentioned a few times maybe in subsequent or previous posts, always talk to the manager early. But this notion of an automatic tip resulting in substandard service is just silly. If you did not get 18% service then you say so and have them lower it.

I am coming over in December from the UK and the tipping is very straight forward, but can I ask - for poor/bad service do people still leave a tip?

Here's my general system...

• My baseline tip is 20%. The server gets this if all they do is take your order, bring your food, bring your bill and collect your payment; without unreasonable delays.
• More than a few mistakes taking our order and I start pulling a percentage point or two off this.
• Excessive delays, especially without communication; food that arrives cold; drinks remaining empty; sloppy uniform, all tend to pull that baseline down a point or two.
• Rudeness or a persistent bad attitude will pull a few points off my percentage.
• Anticipating our needs, making a great menu or wine suggestion, having a cheerful and engaging personality will always increase my tip percentage. In fact it will remedy most of the service errors mentioned above.

I generally expect to tip 25% at a WDW signature restaurant and often tip closer to 30%. If I'm getting service that has me ticking off points in my head, about the time they hit 15% I start looking for the manager.

At a traditional buffet, where you serve yourself food and drinks, I would cut my base percentage in half. Where the server brings your drinks out maybe start with 15%.

 

[KenHutch]

They don’t get it no matter what. all it takes is letting the manager know that there are continued issues, and it can be taken off.



Very true.



If you’ve had a server remember that you had TIW before running it, I’m impressed. Servers are busy.



Yikes. Embarrassing. For everyone.

Talk to a manager instead.

Doing that with an 18 year old private who willingly signed up for the military is already in the realm of verbal abuse; you doing that to someone serving you food, in public, is absolutely verbal abuse.



You’ll get the manager out if you do that. And that’s what you should have done already, if you’re thinking of lowering it. The manager should be aware of the issues by that point.



She didn’t say “ate 3 TS meals”. She said that they likely ate out 3 times a day. And people at Disney do tend to have a meal they didn’t make three times a day.



It’s not hard at all. If you’re having issues throughout a meal, it’s totally appropriate to find the manager during the meal to let them know of the issue *so it can be fixed*. If it’s not fixed by the end, then the manager has a heads up, and it won’t be a surprise when you talk to them again about having the tip reduced or eliminated.

Not hard at all. It’s been done in my extended party.

While servers might know that guests might not do that, they would certainly know that the managers will take off a tip if there are issues. So by slacking off they know they are at risk of that.



YES.



I don’t normally feel that servers will do disgusting things, but yes, I bet that I’d they are being yelled at and humiliated by a Marine they would indeed be thinking along those lines...



Very true. I noticed and thought the same thing, reading the OP.

Verbal Abuse? Better grow a thicker skin. I do not do this as a 1st resort I ask but if someone ignores me and still expects that large tip and if I am forced to dress down someone it ends with a manager and no I am not embarrassed in the least. Only had to do it twice in all of the many meals I have had there once at Ohana when the waitress was trying to get us in and out it looked seemed in 15 minutes and the other time at Hollywood & Vine when they parked a cart of dirty dishes beside our table for a good 45 minutes and the waitress filled our drink order and even though I asked 4 separate times for refills she didn't seem inclined to fill the order and got miffed when I asked for the manager because I was not paying that tip.

I hope you eat all all buffets, or just enjoy an extras that may be in your food.

We do eat at Signature or buffets. The only questionable service I have ever had an a signature was a waitress who told me daughter she did not want a rare steak and then brought her out one just this side of well done but the manager fixed that and apologized.

 

[lovin'fl]

Since we use TIW card we always do the 18% tip that is automatic. Would never ask for manager to have tip lowered or removed. If super duper awesome service we will add to the tip but my feelings are that WDW makes it automatic 18% so that is what they'll get. (unless we have been drinking and forget and add in another 20% tip on top...which we have done once or twice ). And it is irksome that buffets get that same 18% but we just figure that in to using TIW at Disney....just part of the deal (actually, myself, I prefer not to do the buffets...while some in our extended family do so we have to sometimes but I try to avoid. And with all 20-something aged kids, we don't care to do character meals).

Shula's, last visit, we were party of 4 with TIW card. They bring us itemized bill but not totaled up nor do we see line for 18% tip. We gave CC and they bring receipt with total and a line to put a tip. The total was off from what we totaled on the itemized original bill. It basically looked like we got around 3% off for TIW, not 20%. We asked and they said an 18% tip was included. It did not have that noted anywhere on either receipt. And they had line for us to put a tip in and a line to add up total. Very sneaky, IMO. This was after they high pressure sold dessert to us through the ENTIRE meal...no lie. From the moment they handed us menus, took our drink orders they were used car salesman pressing us on dessert. Hadn't even looked at what appetizers we wanted, or main course and they were pushing dessert. Also said they were out of a side dish we chose so we picked something else and then they come with food and low and behold our first choice side dish was brought instead. But then we caved and ordered 1 souffle for dessert (maybe that has something to do with why they push so early in the meal....maybe that souffle takes a while) and it was burnt. And, by the way, the filet did not cut like butter and melt in your mouth. Disappointing, one and done, meal for us.

But at home, I will tip 15 to over 20% tip depending on service. Crappy gets 15% (buffets or order at counter places tend to get $1 per person tip, with an extra $1 or $2 thrown in). Mediocre gets about 18% and good gets 20% while GREAT gets over 20% (but GREAT is rare...as is crappy). I also am not fond of tipping the carry-out/take away. If it's one of our regular places I may throw a $1 in there. And delivery (like pizza) gets about 15% since they make like $10-12/hour whereas servers in restaurants make like $3/hour and rely on tips. Nails and hair get about 15-18% too as they also make more than servers do.

 

[kaytieeldr]

People on vacation are horrible tippers.

Supporting data, please. This appears to be an assumption of opinion - especially if a PP is correct that at least some Disney servers earn in the very high five figures.

and if I am forced to dress down someone

No. You are not ever forced to. You choose to. Again, please just stop treating human beings so disgustingly.