The presumptuous waitress

T.G Catter

Myself and a friend had watched the rugby on Saturday and went for a bite to eat afterwards in in a well known restaurant in Ranelagh. We had a pasta dish each and a bottle of wine, all very satisfactory and served by pleasant staff. The bill total came to 49 euro and we handed over a 50 as payment expecting the change of a euro and then we would leave a tip. But we never got back our change, it wasn't so busy that we were forgotten about, as the waitress that took the payment was chatting with work mates and setting tables and walking up and down past us.
Now it's not that we were desperate for the euro, but it just seemed that we were the victim of a "presumptuous waitress" in that she possible thought, ah sure it's "only" a euro.
Is this a form of stealing? and in light of what happened the waitress actually did herself out of a tip.
Do people think this is acceptable?
We were too embarrassed to ask for our change as we felt we would come across as petty as it was "only" a euro, but it is still our money?

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Pete P Peterson

49 bills for some pasta and a bottle of plonk, and you're worried about one euro? Man, I can't wait for the recession to hit Ranelagh.

Mr.Lizard

Nah, legally as soon as your balls disappeared and you became just another Irish pussifed freak of nature consumer afraid to complain about bad service it ceased to be your money.

Davei141

I hope you told Joe about this travesty.

Gummy Panda

BURN THE RESTAURANT DOWN!!

PK2008

T.G Catter wrote: »

but it just seemed that we were the victim of a "presumptuous waitress"

We were too embarrassed to ask for our change as we felt we would come across as petty

You were indeed the victim. Its important that, as the victim, you dont allow your attacker to make you feel emabarrassed or ashamed. Dont let this mindless and outrageous incident put you off dining out in future or make you prejudiced against waitresses everywhere

Remember: It wasnt your fault, you did nothing to provoke this

(well except being a rugger bugger of course)

Pete P Peterson

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall:

OP: Hey Tarqs, the over-inflated, arbitrary price we agreed to pay has actually risen by two percent.
Tarqs: Two percent? Bloody ruffians. And what's with all these flies on the walls?
OP: I'm reporting this to the internet.

AlmightyCushion

Steal her first born as compensation.

Zillah

Yup, I hate when people do this. If someone gives themselves a tip out of my change I feel like they're stealing from me even if I was going to give them more. Have some dignity for God's sake, give back all of the change and they'll probably give you a nice tip anyway.

Sharpshooter

"Excuse me, but you forgot to give me my change."
It's that simple.
Cheek of her,I would have embarrassed her into giving it back and then showed her the fiver you would have left for a tip had she not been so presumptuous.
/huh a bloody euro.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Did you say anything like "thanks, that's grand or anything that might have made her think you meant for her to keep the change?

staker

Don't visit the US of A EVER!!!

easyeason3

Everyone is missing the point. If the waitress had not helped herself to a euro coin she could well have ended up with a lot more.
This has happened me quite a few times. I'm a good tipper, I'm not stingy.
But if it is shoved in my face, like a service charge, then I tend to get a bit upset. I don't believe in service charges because if I'm told what to tip I usually don't leave one.
One restaurant I go to has one, ONE, good waitress. When I leave tip I want it to go to her because she has served our table all night, with no problems. I don't want it to go towards the other three wasters who have no interest in what they are doing.
Having worked as a waitress before I know what it is like to try to bulk up the wages, but I never resorted to claiming a euro that wasn't mine. Chances are if the waitress had left the change back she would have ended up with a bigger tip.

Hunchback

i agree with the previous poster in that i think it was prolly a miscommunication, like she heard you wrong, and thought you had actually told her to keep the tip, through gesture or her mis-hearing what you said. i have difficulty believing that the waitress would be so cock-sure as to keep your change 'because it was only a euro'. i have witnessed customers lose the plot over less.
the thing that has caught me out before ( but never will again) was one time a customer gave me a random amount, lets say 52.72 to pay for a bill of 48.35. i presumed at the time that it was a tip, because i couldn't see WHY he would give me this random amount of extra money. Like if it was clear he had given me extra so as i could give him a change for his convenience, i.e. less coins , i wouldn't have made the mistake. he got reaally angry, and even though i explained my gaffe and was completely mortified and embarrassed, he was having none of it, and actually wouldn't leave the restaurant at the end of the night, and i had to threaten to call the gardai if he didn't leave ( he had had a few!! ).
now, even if its painfully obvious that i'm being tipped i STILL return the change to the table ( unless its verbalised they don't require change ), because i figure, sure if it is a tip, they'll leave it anyway, right?

thelordofcheese

T.G Catter wrote: »

Myself and a friend had watched the rugby on Saturday and went for a bite to eat afterwards in in a well known restaurant in Ranelagh. We had a pasta dish each and a bottle of wine, all very satisfactory and served by pleasant staff. The bill total came to 49 euro and we handed over a 50 as payment expecting the change of a euro and then we would leave a tip. But we never got back our change, it wasn't so busy that we were forgotten about, as the waitress that took the payment was chatting with work mates and setting tables and walking up and down past us.
Now it's not that we were desperate for the euro, but it just seemed that we were the victim of a "presumptuous waitress" in that she possible thought, ah sure it's "only" a euro.
Is this a form of stealing? and in light of what happened the waitress actually did herself out of a tip.
Do people think this is acceptable?
We were too embarrassed to ask for our change as we felt we would come across as petty as it was "only" a euro, but it is still our money?

A whole euro?
The scandalous wench!

ferrigan101

CKonetheonlyone wrote: »

i agree with the previous poster in that i think it was prolly a miscommunication, like she heard you wrong, and thought you had actually told her to keep the tip, through gesture or her mis-hearing what you said. i have difficulty believing that the waitress would be so cock-sure as to keep your change 'because it was only a euro'. i have witnessed customers lose the plot over less.
the thing that has caught me out before ( but never will again) was one time a customer gave me a random amount, lets say 52.72 to pay for a bill of 48.35. i presumed at the time that it was a tip, because i couldn't see WHY he would give me this random amount of extra money. Like if it was clear he had given me extra so as i could give him a change for his convenience, i.e. less coins , i wouldn't have made the mistake. he got reaally angry, and even though i explained my gaffe and was completely mortified and embarrassed, he was having none of it, and actually wouldn't leave the restaurant at the end of the night, and i had to threaten to call the gardai if he didn't leave ( he had had a few!! ).
now, even if its painfully obvious that i'm being tipped i STILL return the change to the table ( unless its verbalised they don't require change ), because i figure, sure if it is a tip, they'll leave it anyway, right?

Same happened to me once, and i do the same, if i'm not sure its a tip it goes back on the table.
Are you sure you didn't say anything op? If you didn't she was a cheeky cow!

Overheal

staker wrote: »

Don't visit the US of A EVER!!!

I don't tip..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFUDbOldMs

Lia_lia

She probably actually just forgot.

Coriolanus

Yeah, sounds like she did herself out of a few more shekels than by presuming to take the euro.
I'll tip the 10% I got used to stateside for good service in Ireland (whereas I tip regardless in the States, their girls make dog biscuits compared to our minimum wage).

SoupyNorman

Mr.Lizard wrote: »

Nah, legally as soon as your balls disappeared and you became just another Irish pussifed freak of nature consumer afraid to complain about bad service it ceased to be your money.

Amen.

If the person does nothing but plot a rant later on boards then they dont deserve any unified outrage.

Tell you what, I'm a decent tipper but in that scenario I'd of barked at the waitress to bring my change over and then made sure she knew she was getting no tippy and maybe a little slappy.

Overheal

And Now because after my last post I have this stuck in my head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1GorSbE68Q

staker

easyeason3 wrote: »

Everyone is missing the point. If the waitress had not helped herself to a euro coin she could well have ended up with a lot more.
This has happened me quite a few times. I'm a good tipper, I'm not stingy.
But if it is shoved in my face, like a service charge, then I tend to get a bit upset. I don't believe in service charges because if I'm told what to tip I usually don't leave one.
One restaurant I go to has one, ONE, good waitress. When I leave tip I want it to go to her because she has served our table all night, with no problems. I don't want it to go towards the other three wasters who have no interest in what they are doing.
Having worked as a waitress before I know what it is like to try to bulk up the wages, but I never resorted to claiming a euro that wasn't mine. Chances are if the waitress had left the change back she would have ended up with a bigger tip.

you need to nail your boss downfor a wage and stop whinging

elshambo

I love when your at the till and they spend agesbreaking up your change working out a decent tip for themselves

your owed 22 etc and they route around and hand you back two 5's and a 10
instead of a 20

I always smile just before they hand it over and tell them ive worked in the business(aka know what they are at), stick the money in my pocket , wink and walk:D


and when i say I love i mean I :mad:

Rowley Birkin QC

Tipping is a nonsense anyway IMHO. Only if the service or food is truly exceptional do I consider leaving something extra.

It's pointless leaving a tip as a matter of course.

omyatari

i understand where your comming from though. even if it was a miscomunication,
u sit there for a while going...eehh?
while she walks around doin her thing watching you stare at her from the corner of her eye... getting slightly paranoid, and thinking of ways to get out without you following her into some dark alley.....

yes all very awkward...

ToxicPaddy

Had something similar happen to me except the bill had a service charge included as the group was bigger than 6.. so needless to say they werent getting a tip aswell.

However the waitress involved, who wasnt that good I have to say, took ages coming back with the change.. so I walked up to the counter where the till was and she was chatting with a colleague and hadnt even opened the little money wallet that they money was in to check the contents..

She asked was I ok, I said, yes just waiting for my change.. mortified she gave me my change. I dont care how good you are, you're not getting a tip after a bloody 12.5% service charge!!!

hussey

So if you were gonna give a tip of > euro
and because she took a euro, you didn't

.. so she got a tip, you got to hang on to more money

happy days.

Berty

Something similar happened to me yesterday.

I was checking out of the Sheraton hotel in Athlone and instead of being €84 it was €85.

I didnt see the bill so just raised an eyebrow so she says "oh its a donation we are making on your behalf to UNICEF for €1. I can remove it if you like" which makes me feel like a bum if I tell her to remove the €1.

What did I do?

Tell her to remove the god damn euro of course. She says "oh, no problem" with a look of shock across her face.

To counteract her "you can afford the Sheraton but not afford a euro for a childs life" look on her face:

I exclaimed that UNICEF use chuggers and I refuse to give any money to a charity who uses chuggers to which she cordially agreed they are bastards for this.

I may not dine in Ranelagh but €1 is certainly €1 better off in my pocket.

irelandrover

She probably forgot about your change. Especially if she didnt take the change out of the till. When i worked in a restaurant the tips were always put in a seperate glass. In this case id be inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Pete P Peterson

Berty wrote: »

I exclaimed that UNICEF use chuggers and I refuse to give any money to a charity who uses chuggers to which she cordially agreed they are bastards for this.

Bloody Unicef Scoundrels

FlutterinBantam

SoupyNorman wrote: »

Amen.

If the person does nothing but plot a rant later on boards then they dont deserve any unified outrage.

Tell you what, I'm a decent tipper but in that scenario I'd of barked at the waitress to bring my change over and then made sure she knew she was getting no tippy and maybe a little slappy.

I'd have noted the omission, hit for the bathroom and left a good ripe bolus languidly draped across the back of the bowl.

Ya gotta be more assertive OP.:cool:

Mr.Lizard

Berty wrote: »

Something similar happened to me yesterday.

I was checking out of the Sheraton hotel in Athlone and instead of being €84 it was €85.

I didnt see the bill so just raised an eyebrow so she says "oh its a donation we are making on your behalf to UNICEF for €1. I can remove it if you like" which makes me feel like a bum if I tell her to remove the €1.

What did I do?

Tell her to remove the god damn euro of course. She says "oh, no problem" with a look of shock across her face.

To counteract her "you can afford the Sheraton but not afford a euro for a childs life" look on her face:

I exclaimed that UNICEF use chuggers and I refuse to give any money to a charity who uses chuggers to which she cordially agreed they are bastards for this.

I may not dine in Ranelagh but €1 is certainly €1 better off in my pocket.

Fair play to ya. Although you let yourself down with explaination part. I think I would have slapped a €50 down on the counter and said "ok since you've already started the ball rolling, do you want to tell me what charities I should give this to because you clearly don't think I'm capable of doing it myself?"

Nodin

PK2008 wrote: »

Remember: It wasnt your fault, you did nothing to provoke this

(well except being a rugger bugger of course)

I for one support the Rugger Bugger Tax.

waraf

Why didn't you just give her the 49 euro plus the tip at the same time like a normal person? She probably thought you were just a lousy tipper

Capt'n Midnight

irelandrover wrote: »

She probably forgot about your change. Especially if she didnt take the change out of the till. When i worked in a restaurant the tips were always put in a seperate glass. In this case id be inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Tony Blair used to have a tale about that , he claims to have worked in a French restaurant and being the only one who put tips in the communal jar that got shared to everyone.
Tony Lie ?
Nevvvver. Alledegedly

kelle

In a restaurant in Aberdeen, i paid for a meal for three and afterwards started counting up some loose change. We continued chatting, next thing the waitress came over and picked up all the loose change on the table, counted it then walked off! We were shocked, and did comment loudly that she was a cheeky b**ch. We got our own back by staying in the restaurant for another half-hour so nobody else could use the table:D

Agree with OP that waitress was cheeky.

Quazzie

elshambo wrote: »

and when i say I love i mean I :mad:

I take it you're female

Loopy

I waitressed years ago and always found if you gave back change, even if it 20c you were looked after tip wise.
Short skirts helped too..

dr.bollocko

What kinduva person does she think you are? Not even a Cavan man would tip a solitary quid on a 50 buck table.

Dudess

I don't think it's the amount that bothered the OP, more the fact she didn't return the change. But OP, she probably just took it as red that you guys wouldn't expect the euro back - even if that was unprofessional of her.

hobochris

I would have said to her on the way out: "your tip was going to be more then my change,but since you took it upon yourself to take my mire euro change as your tip instead of returning it to me, you can keep it, same way I'll keep the tip I was gonna give you!"

Red Alert

My tip amounts have totally dried up since the recession - anything I don't have to pay for I won't!

Professey Chin

I read this as being the promiscuious waitress. Im sad now

stovelid

I not sure I believe that you were going to give a tip.

If you were, surely you would have just given the fifty plus tip? Why did you want her to come back with that particular euro before giving the tip?

SoWatchaWant

The girl isn't saying she wouldn't have left the euro, she probably would have. What she's saying is that the done thing is to give the change, and then the customer may take it or leave it.

It's the principle of the thing.

Enii

Nevore wrote: »

Yeah, sounds like she did herself out of a few more shekels than by presuming to take the euro.
I'll tip the 10% I got used to stateside for good service in Ireland (whereas I tip regardless in the States, their girls make dog biscuits compared to our minimum wage).

15-20% would be the standard for the States. 25% for good service!

upmeath

OP, considering you're of the rugger bugger persuasion, did you consider putting it on "the old cord"? That way they have to charge you the amount on the tab, and you're given the option of tipping from your plastic if you like. And just to think, that euro could have got you 150yds further home in choc-a-bloc traffic in your fuel-guzzling 5 Series :eek:

Puddleduck

This sounds like it should be a book.

Helix

Nevore wrote: »

Yeah, sounds like she did herself out of a few more shekels than by presuming to take the euro.
I'll tip the 10% I got used to stateside for good service in Ireland (whereas I tip regardless in the States, their girls make dog biscuits compared to our minimum wage).

im a firm believer of a 0% tip for them doing their job to an expected standard. if they surpass that, then its worth a few quid, but im ****ed if im paying someone to carry some plates 10 yards

walshb

Pete P Peterson wrote: »

49 bills for some pasta and a bottle of plonk, and you're worried about one euro? Man, I can't wait for the recession to hit Ranelagh.

Missing the point. He is not worried about the Euro, he simply is asking was the waitress
being ignorant, presumptuous, or both? I think she was. She showed a lack of manners and she broke the law knowingly or unknowingly. Maybe the person would have given the Euro to her, but at least allow the customer the choice!