OT--Chuck E. Cheese party

[Ericandjenng]

Hi, This is probably way OT but I am curious what others have done. Our DS had his birthday at Chuck E. Cheese and it ran into some $$. But my question is do you tip your party hostess? And how much? It seems excessive to tip them the 15-20% that you would if you were in a regular (sorry for the lack of a better word) restaurant.

I don't mean to sound cheap, I just really don't know what the standard in something like this is. In most restaurants you tip based on the bill total before tax and you order as little or as much as you want. Chuck E. Cheese's parties are a set price per kid (locally there's the regular package and a premium type package to choose from) and then you can add additional food for adults. The hostesses even ask if you've brought coupons for the adult food.

This was our 2nd party and both times the hostesses were GREAT! I don't imagine they are paid all that great (probably min. wage). They greet you and take you to your table set-up. It's been ready both times when we arrived--balloon with name, reserved signs, plates/cups set out. They explain how things work, start getting the tokens in individual cups for the kids to play, start the first pizza. Check back on you and start taking the orders all the pizzas, the adult food, bring cups for the adults (if ordered), bring more tokens, bring the food, stay there while the kids eat, serve the cake/etc., lead the group in the song/dance activity with Chuck E. Cheese. Clean up everything.

TIA!

 

[RMulieri]

We had our daughters bday at BounceU which costed $$$ and I still tipped the party hosts( there were 2) 15%.It is very pricey, but these hosts did EVERYTHING and played with the kids.I didn't have to lift a finger to do a thing.

 

[mjkacmom]

OMG - I had dd9's birthday party at CEC 2 years ago, and I didn't tip! We always have parties out, I always tip about $25 for each host/hostest, but I guess with the madness of CEC, it slipped my mind (I kept losing a 5 year old). Anyway, I tip $25 per host (except this time).

 

[kirstenb1]

I do the same as mjkac mom, $25. The hostesses have always been great.

 

[Mrsdennison]

The McDonalds I use to work at had parties. I was the hostess. I usually got tipped 10-20 dollars.

I set up the plates and stuff. Took orders. Got the orders. Sometimes I would even put candles on the cake and start the song. Then of course clean up.

So I would assume that nicer places probably 25 dollars is good.

Mrsdennison

 

[PrncessA]

We had our kids' birthday party at Monkey Joe's last year and our hostess was brand new and training. She was very unsure about everything and they ended up bringing in an experienced hostess to help her. If I remember correctly we tipped around $35 or so I am not sure who receive the tip though.

 

[Ericandjenng]

Thanks for your answers. We are in the same general ballpark. I really wasn't sure what to do because there is nowhere on the receipt to add a tip like in other restaurants which is what kind of threw me.

 

[momofrrr]

I always tipped. Now, our DD18, has worked as a party hostess and it is a TON of work for them. They really a waitress that also has to entertain the kids. As a student it was her income as well. However, I was willing to pay them to do the party so I did not have too set up or CLEAN up.....

 

[pooh4evr]

I worked at CEC during high school and college(every job up to manager- have to say being the mouse is THE WORST!) - the hostesses make min wage, most often they are high school kids and tipping is really up to you, they don't put it on the receipts anymore like a typical restaurant bill because the girls don't make waitress pay they make more. Most people do tip, maybe $20, I did find the dads were better tippers than the moms many times? (Which is a whole other weird thread!) For me anyway it is a great job for hs kis to have, they really worked around schedules (sports, dances..) they don't open too early and dont stay open too late and really the work there is easy - don't feel bad I am sure the hostess isn't upset about it!

 

[Ericandjenng]

I worked at CEC during high school and college(every job up to manager- have to say being the mouse is THE WORST!) - the hostesses make min wage, most often they are high school kids and tipping is really up to you, they don't put it on the receipts anymore like a typical restaurant bill because the girls don't make waitress pay they make more. Most people do tip, maybe $20, I did find the dads were better tippers than the moms many times? (Which is a whole other weird thread!) For me anyway it is a great job for hs kis to have, they really worked around schedules (sports, dances..) they don't open too early and dont stay open too late and really the work there is easy - don't feel bad I am sure the hostess isn't upset about it!

Thanks for your reply. I was hoping someone who actually worked there would respond. I even asked around at work and no one knew and several said they never thought to tip at CEC.

 

[mel86]

I, also, am a CEC employee. I occasionally have to host birthday parties. Tipping is optional, however, if you are an exceptionally demanding party I feel you should tip. I once had a party order a pizza, follow me into the kitchen while i made the pizza and ask me if it was ready yet. They displayed this sort of behavior all night, keeping me busy with just them, and then did not tip. I found that rather annoying because i have a great deal of other work to do that i had to neglect while they were there. I think if your party host serves your food and cake, interacts well with the kids, keeps your table clean, and has an energetic live show they are going above and beyond and earning a tip.

 

[snow_white's_mom]

I did kids parties at a bowling alley for a few years. A average tip was about $20-30. If you have a large party, I've done parties with 40+ kids, I would tip $1/kid, especially at a bowling alley where to host/hostess get the shoes, we all know that bowling shoes don't fit right so I would get most kids at least 2 pairs of shoes and then we have to match up, spray, and put away all the shoes, on top of the regular party job like setting up, going over saftey rules, playing/dancing with the kids, doing a piniata, and making/serving the food. The highest tips came from the dads, once I was given $100 for keeping the wife away from the husband

 

[KibbyCat]

I, also, am a CEC employee. I occasionally have to host birthday parties. Tipping is optional, however, if you are an exceptionally demanding party I feel you should tip. I once had a party order a pizza, follow me into the kitchen while i made the pizza and ask me if it was ready yet. They displayed this sort of behavior all night, keeping me busy with just them, and then did not tip. I found that rather annoying because i have a great deal of other work to do that i had to neglect while they were there. I think if your party host serves your food and cake, interacts well with the kids, keeps your table clean, and has an energetic live show they are going above and beyond and earning a tip.

What is the proper tip, then, for the opposite scenario:

Our CEC will not allow outside cakes unless you have a party booked with them. So, to follow their rules, if you want to celebrate your kid's birthday there, you either book the package or have no cake.

A few yrs ago, my daughter wanted an Enchanted party, complete with a castle-shaped cake. She also wanted to have it at CEC. The only way to have both is to buy the package and bring our own cake. But the party hostesses at our CEC are SO PUSHY! I know it is their job, and they're trained to take care of everything on a set schedule, but we purposefully booked on a weeknight so that we could take advantage of their "unlimited time at party table" offer. We were also having a lot of kids coming, but I wanted to use my own coupons for the pizza and tokens, so that everyone wasn't limited to what the package offers (for an arm-and-a-leg). So, I reserved the party for the minimum number of kids and told the girl that I wanted to use coupons and divvy up everything myself. She kept counting the kids and trying to bring us out things that we hadn't requested. She also kept telling us we had to follow her party schedule, even though not all of our guests had arrived yet. (I purposefully put the start time at a half-hour later on my invites because I wanted to be able to go in, set up my cake and the goody bags I'd made myself, and order the pizza and divide up tokens before everyone arrived.) But because we were not following her "routine," she seemed a little impatient, and even tried to kick us off our table after the 90-minute time slot ended.

All in all, I understood that she was just doing her job, and we gave her $20 for her trouble, but I would have gladly preferred the option to NOT have a dedicated hostess. Yes, it's part of the package, but I wish they'd given me more options. I'd have even been willing to pay a fee to bring in my own cake, and done a party without the package.

Was my tip reasonable?

 

[mjkacmom]

What is the proper tip, then, for the opposite scenario:

Our CEC will not allow outside cakes unless you have a party booked with them. So, to follow their rules, if you want to celebrate your kid's birthday there, you either book the package or have no cake.

A few yrs ago, my daughter wanted an Enchanted party, complete with a castle-shaped cake. She also wanted to have it at CEC. The only way to have both is to buy the package and bring our own cake. But the party hostesses at our CEC are SO PUSHY! I know it is their job, and they're trained to take care of everything on a set schedule, but we purposefully booked on a weeknight so that we could take advantage of their "unlimited time at party table" offer. We were also having a lot of kids coming, but I wanted to use my own coupons for the pizza and tokens, so that everyone wasn't limited to what the package offers (for an arm-and-a-leg). So, I reserved the party for the minimum number of kids and told the girl that I wanted to use coupons and divvy up everything myself. She kept counting the kids and trying to bring us out things that we hadn't requested. She also kept telling us we had to follow her party schedule, even though not all of our guests had arrived yet. (I purposefully put the start time at a half-hour later on my invites because I wanted to be able to go in, set up my cake and the goody bags I'd made myself, and order the pizza and divide up tokens before everyone arrived.) But because we were not following her "routine," she seemed a little impatient, and even tried to kick us off our table after the 90-minute time slot ended.

All in all, I understood that she was just doing her job, and we gave her $20 for her trouble, but I would have gladly preferred the option to NOT have a dedicated hostess. Yes, it's part of the package, but I wish they'd given me more options. I'd have even been willing to pay a fee to bring in my own cake, and done a party without the package.

Was my tip reasonable?

She is not responsible for CEC's policy. You say you purchased the package for the minimum, and then purchased pizza and tokens for the rest. I assume you then helped serve the pizza, drinks, cake, etc., to the extra kids? When you buy the package, the hostess is responsible for serving that many kids, not any more. I'm sure she is told exactly how far into the party she is to serve pizza and cake, and have it done in time for the "show."

Our CEC's are always too crowded to risk not booking a package - there are rarely any non-reserved tables. Plus, out of all of the parties we've had, at many venues, CEC is definitely the least expensive option (which we've only done once, because I can't stand the noise, second only to bowling parties).

So, if you helped out with the serving, yes, it was reasonable, but if you made her serve those not on the package, you should've put in some more.

 

[snow_white's_mom]

She is not responsible for CEC's policy. You say you purchased the package for the minimum, and then purchased pizza and tokens for the rest. I assume you then helped serve the pizza, drinks, cake, etc., to the extra kids? When you buy the package, the hostess is responsible for serving that many kids, not any more. I'm sure she is told exactly how far into the party she is to serve pizza and cake, and have it done in time for the "show."

Our CEC's are always too crowded to risk not booking a package - there are rarely any non-reserved tables. Plus, out of all of the parties we've had, at many venues, CEC is definitely the least expensive option (which we've only done once, because I can't stand the noise, second only to bowling parties).

So, if you helped out with the serving, yes, it was reasonable, but if you made her serve those not on the package, you should've put in some more.

I would have to agree. When I did parties (not a chuck e cheese) we had to have the safety instruction done at a certain time, have the pizza orders in so they can be served in time to do cake, presents, dancing, games, ect. before the party time ended. If we did not have them in, our supervior would keep reminding us until it was in. The pizza ovens only go so fast and when you have multiple parties going on at the same time, especially larger parties, and one that order a lot of extra pizzas, the ovens get backed up, the pizza is late coming out, the kids are hungry, the parents get mad, and the party runs over time. It's a chain reaction, and turns out badly. Many time I would have parents come 30-45 minutes early to set up extra decoration they brought. Next time I would really consider showing up early and decorating and putting the correct time on your invitations.

I also agree witht the tip. The $20 is standard for a party, but when you throw in all of the extra children and food that need to be handled, the hostess is doing a lot of extra work. When we would look at our party book to break up the parties, if we had 4 parties and 3 girls, we would give to smaller parties to one girl, then if all of these extra kids show up it really puts her in a hard position.

I understand why you booked it the way you did to save money. Kids parties can get very expensive very quickly.

 

[mrsr2ro]

Alert the etiquette police!

Wow, I am really clueless.... We always had parties at home but last year I was 8mo pregnant at the time of my DS4's b-day and had a 7week old at DS6's b-day... I needed easy. We did both of their parties at one of those indoor jumpy house places. It was $$ but it met all my needs at the time! They even had a "toddler" section for my DD that was gated off from the main room.

ANYWAY - we brought in the pizzas, salads, cake, tableware, balloons, etc. The place had 3 reserved areas for parties so we didn't have the place entirely to ourselves. The "host" did help us carry some stuff in and out / hold the door, etc. We cleaned up most of the garbage and they did the "sweep up" and such...

I had NO IDEA I was supposed to leave a tip! We had paid a deposit and then they gave us the final balance due to pay as we left. I don't recall seeing a tip line on the receipt... Oops. Ah well... live and learn.

This year I told the boys we're back to small parties at home

 

[KibbyCat]

Thanks for your input.

She is not responsible for CEC's policy. You say you purchased the package for the minimum, and then purchased pizza and tokens for the rest. I assume you then helped serve the pizza, drinks, cake, etc., to the extra kids? When you buy the package, the hostess is responsible for serving that many kids, not any more. I'm sure she is told exactly how far into the party she is to serve pizza and cake, and have it done in time for the "show."

So, if you helped out with the serving, yes, it was reasonable, but if you made her serve those not on the package, you should've put in some more.

Yes, I served all the pizza. I specifically did not want to confuse the hostess, so that's why I arrived earlier than my guests, so that I could divide everything up beforehand.

I also served the cake, since I had brought it myself, and helped clean up afterwards. We had told the girl we'd be taking the gifts home, so she put them all in a big trash bag for us, but then my daughter changed her mind and decided to open them in front of her guests, because she had invited certain friends that she rarely sees, and she wanted them to see her opening their gifts. I felt bad that we were making a mess of what the hostess had done, so I helped clean up after the gifts were opened. I also condensed all of our stuff own from three tables to two after everyone was done eating, in case CEC needed the extra table or chairs for someone else.

I would have to agree. ...Next time I would really consider showing up early and decorating and putting the correct time on your invitations.

I also agree witht the tip. The $20 is standard for a party, but when you throw in all of the extra children and food that need to be handled, the hostess is doing a lot of extra work. When we would look at our party book to break up the parties, if we had 4 parties and 3 girls, we would give to smaller parties to one girl, then if all of these extra kids show up it really puts her in a hard position.

I understand why you booked it the way you did to save money. Kids parties can get very expensive very quickly.

I'd have shown up earlier than the party was supposed to start if they'd let me, but I was afraid our CEC wouldn't let me have my table before the preset time I'd signed up for. A friend of mine tried to show up early there once and was made to wait in the "non-party" section until her reserved time, because CEC wasn't even ready with their table decorations/reserved sign/etc. Plus, I figured since we had the "unlimited" weeknight party, they wouldn't be so rigid with the schedule. I'd rather let the kids play for 30 minutes (until all their tokens are spent) and THEN eat, do cake/gifts/goody bags. Because nobody's going to want to stop playing to come eat or sing with Chuck-E.

Not that I'm going to be doing a party at CEC again in the very near future, but if I do ever book one there again, I think I'll call ahead and ask to speak with the manager, and let him know exactly what I plan on doing. That way, I won't get a hostess who's pressured by her boss to stick to the schedule, and I can set up exactly how I want knowing that I'm following their rules.

Now, I have heard of other CEC locations in my area allowing people to bring in their own cakes, but those are older, slower restaurants, and not convenient to my house. Plus, I think it's up to each individual manager what they will allow. Our closest one is right off a major freeway across from a busy mall, in one of the city's busiest shopping plazas. So, obviously the manager knows he'll get the most business by not allowing outside food.

I just didn't want to be *that* mom (you know, the one that demands the moon and expects them to deliver it on a silver platter). I only hope that they didn't put my name and picture up on their employee bulletin board with a sign that says "Don't book a party for this woman!"

I may be cheap, but I fully believe in tipping for good service. In this instance, I wasn't necessarily tipping for the work since I had done almost everything myself. I was mostly tipping for the convenience, or rather the hassle of them allowing me to have a private party in the public party section!

 

[Ericandjenng]

Evidently the local managers (franchise owners, maybe?) have a lot of control over each location. The only rules we were given was that cake and ice cream are the only foods you're allowed to bring in. I've seen people who've not booked parties bring in cakes. That's not an issue here but we also only have 1 CEC anywhere in our area and it's BUSY! most of the time.

We've also done on of the Jumping place parties. I don't know what the expected tip was there but they did indicate it was more or less expected by asking if we'd like to include a tip when we paid the final bill. At the one we used, we had a dedicated hostess who was in the jump area with our party and then escorted everyone to the party room--she also collected the gifts on a shelf unit as our guests arrived. She served the food (hot food was not allowed unless you ordered pizza through them) and the cake/ice cream. Helped organize the gift opening. Looking back now I wish I had given her more than $20. We had about 10 kids and 10 parents but I was there with a 2 week old baby and all that help was phenomenal!

 

[seashoreCM]

Could you go back a few days later and leave more tip?

 

[mjkacmom]

Plus, I figured since we had the "unlimited" weeknight party, they wouldn't be so rigid with the schedule. I'd rather let the kids play for 30 minutes (until all their tokens are spent) and THEN eat, do cake/gifts/goody bags. Because nobody's going to want to stop playing to come eat or sing with Chuck-E.

Not that I'm going to be doing a party at CEC again in the very near future, but if I do ever book one there again, I think I'll call ahead and ask to speak with the manager, and let him know exactly what I plan on doing. That way, I won't get a hostess who's pressured by her boss to stick to the schedule, and I can set up exactly how I want knowing that I'm following their rules.
!

I've been to many CEC parties (we have 3 in our area), and have never been at one where only one party is going on at the same time. The timing is very rigid - all of the pizzas come out together, drinks, and cake, and then the show starts, and all of the parties do a conga line, and then each birthday kid gets a chance in the grab a ticket thing. I just assumed that they are the same everywhere. CEC is, by far, the least expensive party option around here.