Please always tip at least 15%, regardless of the service.

[athena]

149. This is what I disagree with.

If you find that a server is rude, incompetent and belligerent, the thing to do is to speak with the manager, and if the manager is unhelpful, stop frequenting the restaurant. If a restaurant cannot make sure their staff are respectful, they deserve to lose the business. But not tipping is stealing the person's wages. It is wrong. You don't get to do this with any other service: you don't get to not pay your airfare because a flight attendant was incompetent, or not pay for gas because the gas-station attendant was rude, or not pay for groceries because the checkout clerk was belligerent or because the people working at the store didn't help you find what you were looking for. This is why tips should really be abolished. People should not be allowed to steal a server's wages just because they feel entitled to it.

Moreover, just as in the professional world women are seen as belligerent or incompetent even when they behave the same way and produce the same results as men who do the same level of work, a waitress will tend to be seen in a much more negative light than a waiter doing the same thing. Punishing the server for perceived deficiencies therefore allows the salaries of servers to be much too dependent on our society's prejudices.

I pay a 15% tip when the service is less than satisfactory. And I am completely comfortable with my position. The fact that some people feel entitled to steal servers' wages only strengthens my belief in my own position.