Poor Service!

You are just a picky person. At least she boxed your stuff up for you.
The Olive Garden is "pretend" fine dining. The server's only get three
table sections. If you want to sit at a table for a long time then tip
good. You are wasting their time.

When I was a server, our table turn times were tracked and if we had
turn times longer than a pre-set standard, then we were penalized.
Perhaps this waitress was under pressure to reduce her turn times???

There's a better way, especially with companies like "Olive Garden"
who have a presence on the web (most franchises DO) Look up the
restaurant in your zip code you're interested in visiting and research
everything before you go. Read the descriptions, look at the pictures,
ingredient lists etc... Jot down notes, even questions to ask....I'm
sure Michelle would have been MORE than accomodating. (I still can't
see where "rude" describes her actions)

This works well for your "style" of dining. Also you can ask to have
things bagged seperately if food touching is your particular
"issue"...or better yet, ask for bags and boxes and I'm sure they'd
let you do it yourself.

I am glad you wrote because I've enjoyed reading the many responses.

The IRS considers tips to be taxable income. They have a list of
occupations where employees are assumed to receive tips on a regular
basis. Hairdressers are on that list too.

In order to ensure that waitresses reported at least some of the tips
they received, the IRS settled on 8% of sales as an appropriate
minimum threshold. Every waitress must report at least 8% of their
sales as tips each pay period.

That doesnt mean if you tip 15%, the other 7% is "free money" to the
waitress. She is required to report ALL tips. The 8% threshold is
there because the IRS considers that the bare minimum a waitress will
make so if they dont even report that, the IRS can come in and ding
them. If a waitress only reports the bare minimum they also run the
risk of getting audited because it looks like they're only reporting
what they have to...not what they actually made. Reporting tips is a
very tricky business and, while there are a lot of waitresses who dont
get audited, enough do that it gives folks sleepless nights at time.

Ive never known a waitress, ever, who ended up only making 8% of her
sales in tips. Sure, they groused like crazy at having to report at
least 8% of sales however they ALWAYS made well more than that.

There are states which have what's called "tip credit" which allows
restaurants to apply part of their tips toward the minimum wage.
Companies have to prove their waitresses make at least enough in tips
to bring their wage to the min. wage. This is very easy to do just
using the 8% that they have to report. For instance...in a state
where the min. wage is $5.15 and the tip wage is $2.13, the waitress
must make at least $3.02/hr in tips. That means, in an eight hour
shift, they only have to make $24.16 in tips. Show me a waitress who
thinks that $24 in tips in eight hours is a good day and I'll show you
a lousy waitress.

In addition, not ALL states have a tip credit law. A lot dont. Here
in Washington state, not only do we not have tip credit, we also have
one of the highest min. wages in the country. Waitresses here get
$7.16/hr plus tips. That means a waitress making a lousy $24 in an
eight hour shift is STILL making $10/hour or $21600/yr. And most
waitresses make much more than that. In this state, waitresses can
easily make $30,000/yr and, while not the most money in the world,
it's certainly nothing to sneeze at.

And the situation here in Washington speaks directly to Nobody
Special's point in a previous comment in which he/she wondered if the
waitresses were paid a better wage, would folks still tip? Even
though they get a much better wage than other places in the USA, to
hear the politicians frame it, they're some of the most mistreated
people in the world, pay wise.

Hope this helps!

From an Olive Garden Franchise Owner. I would have done the same
thing. It seems that you are the one being rude. If you want your food
in 3 seperate boxes, tell your waitress, and it is common practice for
the customer to box their own food.
It seems the waitress stated the standard initial greeting properly,
which is industry standard.
After years in business, one learns that their are customers who have
their nose stuck up in the air, and the old adage that the customer is
always right ..IS WRONG.
I am happy that you you visited one of my competitors restaurants and
not mine.

Boo Hoo!

Wish my life was so "rough".


Well written letter though. I just cant believe you actually
complained about this.

why do people that write these types of complaints seem so entitled. i
believe that in the time i have been visiting this site i have read 4,
well written and well based complaints. i agree if you experience was
not to your satisfaction, talk to the manager. if the server crossed
the line and was totally rude or disrespectful, sure talk to the
manager. that is why the managers are there. i work in a restaurant
and i know just how entitled people can be, especially with corporate
restaurants; that just by opening thier mouths they can get free
stuff. you wouldn't beleive the amount of idiotic complaints i have
heard in the time i have worked in a restaurant. trust me the freebie
complaints are way more than the real complaints.

now maggie, at the end of your letter you say you are a great tipper,
but you had a hard time leaving her a 15% tip. is 15% the best you can
do because that is the standard. if you are tipping 15% for great and
excellent service you need to re-evaluate it because that is not quite
right.

customers always say the server was rude when they don't get what they
want. if you were one of those snotty ladies we encounter then of
course we won't be checking up on you like we would to a normal table;
especially if we know you are annoyed. then again if you want your
left overs boxed a certain way, let your server know or simply do it
yourself.

It seems as if Michelle was in the grips of a server's nightmare:
Dammed if you do. Dammed if you don't.

You seemed as if you wanted to linger, she tried to leave you alone.
When left alone, you complained about being left alone for *too
long*.

She boxed your food for you, because most people appreciate that
gesture, rather than being handed the boxes to do it themselves. Yet,
you complained about her doing it sloppily and making the food 'touch
each other'.

Sheesh!

Up until now, I thought that my 16 year old was the finickiest eater
on the planet. He'll be happy to know that, because of this letter, I
have officially 'dethroned' from this honor.

Seriously, if you found a way to spend 70.00 at Olive Garden, you
might consider taking that same 70 and going to a restaurant that
specializes in the kind of high-maintenence service that you obviously
require. You probably won't get a 'few' appetizers with your meal at
this price, but at least maybe you'll get a server who is better
equipped to handle a high-maintenence customer such as yourself.

I'm not sure that I see how her question of whether you wanted
anything to drink was rude. Also, what you perceived to be her lack
of attention may just have been an attempt to accomodate your desire
to relax and order course-by-course. In my experience, people who
order this way want to kick back a bit.

If you didn't want your food touching in the go box, I would suggest
in the future that you handle the matter yourself. I think it's a
little much to expect a waitress to be psychic in this regard. Maybe
she could have done it with a bit more finesse. But, I also think
that an effective way to deal with this matter would have been to say
something to her or her manager at the time.

This may not be relevant at all but maybe it is. When I waitressed
and cooked, the restaurant staff shuddered when people wanted to order
course-by-course instead of all at once. Why? The kitchen's timing
gets thrown off. The staff can plan ahead by looking at the total
order. It's tough to fire one order that you can't anticipate while
trying to get out four other tables. I've worked in restaurants that
were rather upscale with very competent kitchen/wait staff and we
still had problems accomodating this.

It's also difficult for the waitstaff. Of course you have to pay
attention to your tables. But you have to pay even more attention a
table that wants to order course-by course and juggle their 3 separate
orders--telling the kitchen when to get out dishes. Waitresses plan
ahead to based on a table's order. This doesn't mean that one should
get lousy service in this case--but it may explain why your salad and
soup came out so quickly after your appetizers.

how Michelle was rude. It seems to me she was respecting your time.
You didn't mention what day and time this was and that could also be
part of the reason Michelle did not stick around. Also remember,
Michelle is a server and you probably were not her only customers.
While you were not in a hurry to eat and go, she may have had other
tables to tend to, which hopefully tipped her well. She sounds like
an excellent server from what I have read. You don't mention how long
you actually stayed either. I am curious because if she had stayed
near by you and did not give attention to other customers, she would
have probably lost a lot more in tips.

I always put my own food in "to go" boxes. Therefore, if the food
touches, it is my fault. But I still eat it anyway.

Ok, I have been in resturant all my life, You can pretty much read the
table if they are going to be there awhile or if they are in for a
quick bite. You adjust accordinly...a good server can wait on 4-5
tables including the guests that are there to relax. If your server
gets the vibe that you want to be left alone then he/she will cut back
on the unnecessary visits to your table, offering refills and
pre-buss's when appropriate. However..we are trained to follow steps
of service that ensure the guests get thier drinks, then appitizers,
then within a few min of being finished with apps, we deliver the
pre-meal items..soups/salads, then right before your done with
pre-meal, your entree should be delivered, then we check to see if you
would like dessert when you slow down on your entrees, deliver
derssers/coffee, then the check. Michelle was probably doing her job
like she was trained to do. She also may have picked up on your
comment about "just wanting to relax"..that means to me that your not
there to chit chat, you would like your meal in an orderly manner, and
you really dont want to be bothered with me trying to get to know you
alittle better..(which is how we obtain regular guest who come back
and ask for our sections!) I personally think that you should try
waiting tables for $2.13 an hour plus tips, You work all day with no
breaks, you recieve about $25.00 from the company for your 12 hr day,
you have rude guests and cannot reply back to their negativity, and
you have no family time/holidays off. Go try it, it will open your
eyes to customer service in a whole new way!

Wah effing wah. I mean, really -- your complaint is ludicrous. Not
even cool enough to be spelled Ludacris. Just ludicrous. Why am I
being so hostile? Because every single one of your complaints is
asinine and petty. All she said was "Can I get you something to
drink?" What'd you want her to do? Ask how your day was? How much
groundless, frivolous complaining you were going to do online after
being served?

I have to say, if you ate "a few" appetizers (that implies MORE than
two to me) AND had entrees, I'd not thing there'd be room for
breadsticks.

And you couldn't eat the lasagna because it was mixed in with the
fettucine? Give me a break. I'm a picky eater, and even *I* wouldn't
think twice about chowing on leftover pasta that was "touching."

You need to get a life if you think your Olive Garden experience
warranted even a single negative comment.

You don't like to be rushed, but then you wonder why you weren't
checked up on?

If you indicated to Michelle that you were annoyed that she was
rushing you, I would not be at all surprised she stayed away. By
showing your annoyance, you told her that you just want to be left
alone.

I guess I'm failing to understand how Michelle was rude, or how you
were "rushed" - other than the salad and soup being served before you
were finished with the appetizers. And there's no mention of how much
time passed between when the appetizers were served and when the soup
and salad was brought out. If I'm eating multiple courses in a
restaurant, the server generally just brings the next one out a few
minutes later - they don't come over just to see if I'm finished yet.
And it sounds like you were taking your time over your appetizers...
not saying you shouldn't have, but Michelle probably waited the usual
interval to bring you your next course, which is probably usually
plenty of time for most customers to finish.

It sounds like you were a bit more high maintenence than most of
Michelle's customers. I'm not saying that as a put down. I'm just
saying you seemed to expect service outside the norm for a chain
restaurant. You may be better off going to a different type of
establishment on nights you want to relax and linger for a while.

I do respect that you gave her a decent tip even though you weren't
satisfied, instead of stiffing her out of spite! Good for you.

You took up more of her time than usual and then left her less than
15% tip! That to me is very, very rude!

You really just can't please some people. If you want to really
linger over your dinner, do not go to a chain restaurant, they are not
geared that way.

BTW..$70 is not that much for dinner when it includes drinks,
appetizers and the meal.

It actually seems to me like you were the rude ones.

Was it busy that night? Or was it kind of slow? Cause if it was slow,
and you were being rushed, plus didn't see your waitress, then Id
think something was up. But if it was busy...then thats pretty typical
of any restaurant. They want you in and out so they can make their
money and the wait staff make their money.

One thing I have used for years has been a notebook, now my cell
phone. A suggested tip is 15%, normally I tip around 20% but I use 15%
as a base.
If I don't like he service, I mean really don't like. I simply tip
$.09 and write directly on the credit card receipt that "service
wasn't worth a dime". This way chances are that a manager will read it
and know that there was an issue with service, if you leave -0- then
they assume you paid the tip in cash.
Where does the notebook fit in? I keep track of how much I didn't tip.
This includes any time my service is poor and I go below the 15% mark
for some reason. When I get exceptional service that person gets their
normal 20% plus whatever I have not tipped since the last time I got
exceptional service, regardless of the price of the meal.

I could swear I saw a post on PFB a long time ago in which a server
explained the timing of dealing with multiple tables.

Tables are expected to move through at a pretty consistent rate of
speed so that when the server finishes one thing at one table he or
she gets to the next thing at the next table right on time for those
people to feel neither rushed nor ignored and for the food to be taken
out while it's fresh and hot to all tables. When one table doesn't
progress at roughly the right speed, all of a sudden the dance of a
good server is thrown off and it affects the service that other tables
get as well.

So unless I dreamed all of this I believe that it's not just about
tips (although a slow table can mean serving fewer groups, meaning
fewer tips, and throw off the service everybody gets, possibly meaning
smaller tips), it's about a monkey wrench being tossed into the works.


Since reading this post (or hallucinating it or whatever) I have tried
to be more conscious of the way my behavior makes the job less
pleasant for restaurant servers. I don't like it when people make my
job harder and more complicated, and I would prefer not to do it to
others.

For most customers, eating dinner at Olive Garden is a fairly simple
excursion. Order drinks, order appetizers, eat salad/soup, eat
dinner, eat dessert.

And, generally, this is all done at the server's pace.

In instances like this, the customer deigns to control the timing of
the various courses. It is a testament to the skill and
professionalism of a waiter/waitress when they treat a "lingering"
customer the same as one who uses the "normal" amount of time to get
in and get out.

Unfortunately, it appears this waitress didn't rise to the challenge.

I agree CandyPT...if you are going to linger, you better leave a great
big tip. I go out with a group of lingerers occasionally and we are
great tippers because of that. We try not to hit chains for much
because of the table turnover thing. The OP is complaining because the
waitress brought their drinks and then wanted to take their order,
which is normal. She said she wanted to relax. I would bet the
waitress got the vibe that these were two people who the less she
interacted with, the better.

Even though I don't like the tone of this letter it brings up a fairly
interesting topic...

What say you all?

Should a waiter/waitress be tolerant of customers who wish to take
their time and eat slowly or are they perfectly within their rights to
try to gently nudge them along so they can clear the table and get the
next ticket in?


I lean towards the latter. All tables include adults and as adults we
all know exactly how wait staff make their money. We know if we can
enjoy our meal within an hour and then move along, the wait staff has
an opportunity to make two times the amount of tips than if we were to
take 2 hours to eat. I think it all boils down to common courtesy.

With regards to this letter, when the waitress asked about appetizers
the LW said "we want to relax". That right there tipped the waitress
off to this customer being one that will simply eat up her wages that
night. Hence the poor service from that point forward.

Just my take on it.