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When your server asks if you "want" or "need" your change...

September 30, 2021 01:16AM
@nolimitem wrote:

I was referencing Rosseau asking for a manager, because someone asked if they'd like their change. So dramatic. But also, in general, even when not short staffed servers are BUSY. This isn't like any other industries. A rush happens within a matter of 1-4 hours. You can't really stop the rush. It's not like you can set things aside for later. It's a very in the moment business.

I get it; I was a server for a very busy family restaurant. There were two waitresses, one of which was me, and one busser for the entire place, even on Friday nights when every table was occupied! We had no host, and we made the big bins of salad, the milkshakes, the ice-cream sundaes, and even ran the dishwasher sometimes. I absolutely know how busy servers get. All of that being said, I'd never have thought to ask a customer if he or she needed or wanted change back. I don't think it's unethical, but it's not cool. As a customer, I've been put off by that.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
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September 30, 2021 04:46AM
Curious what your industry is Roseau?
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September 30, 2021 11:06AM
Unethical? Not cool? Not mentioned in the employee training module? Cause to summon tptb? Plain old annoying?


i like to give. I dislike attempts to extract from me.

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)
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September 30, 2021 12:43PM
I think next time this happens, I'll say "What the hell kind of stupid question is that? Of COURSE I want my change!"
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September 30, 2021 06:44PM
Solution to this whole discussion - use a credit card! No questions about change and you earn miles/points if you are using a rewards card!
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September 30, 2021 09:15PM
@nolimitem wrote:

I was referencing Rosseau asking for a manager, because someone asked if they'd like their change. So dramatic. But also, in general, even when not short staffed servers are BUSY. This isn't like any other industries. A rush happens within a matter of 1-4 hours. You can't really stop the rush. It's not like you can set things aside for later. It's a very in the moment business.

Evidently you have not been in many other industries if you think no one else has rushes. Have you ever experienced a rush in health care where timing of service is critical, in the entertainment industry including concerts, movies, museums etc, in the hotel and travel industry, in a grocery store line. Every one of these causes a backup to the normal business and every one of these have current personnel shortages now and anxious customers who I have seen get irate. The only difference is the restaurant business is the only one where the employees regularly get tips.
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October 02, 2021 04:36PM
The other day I went to Taco Bell.. I order an combo meal. It was like $ 5.65 or something.. I gave the cashier $ 10,00 .. He only gave me back $ 4.00.. I did not think about the .35 cents. He did not say that they were out of lose change..

I went back and got something else and it was like $ 1.65 or something.. I gave him $ 2.00 and he did not give me change.. I said something about it and he said that he was out of change.

There was no sign on the door or anything.. When I didn't get my change the second time, I said something about it.. I just told him that I want my money back.. He pulled change out of his pocket.

I know last year a-lot of places had very limited or no change.. But there should have been a sign on the door or sign at the cashier register.

The next time I go to Taco Bell, I should call and say "Do you have change?"
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October 03, 2021 10:15PM
I believe the “coin shortage” is a problem that has been created to push consumers toward using electronic payments. Electronic payments can be tracked, cash can not. ????
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October 03, 2021 10:18PM
Isaiah4031a I wonder who is profiting from all the change being kept by that Taco Bell.
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October 03, 2021 10:56PM
This has been an interesting discussion. Maybe this deserves its own thread but what has kept me hot and irritated is the places where you order at the counter and it you use your credit card it asks for the tip amount first thing. I'm sorry, I tip on the quality of the service. Let me eat and be served before You ask for a tip!
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October 04, 2021 04:19PM
And yet these stores always round up, never down. If a purchase is $9.50, how about making it $9 instead of $10.
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October 04, 2021 06:26PM
Had I been making the change AND employing dollar rounding, I would have rounded $9.50 to $9.00, but $9.51 to $10.00.
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October 05, 2021 12:46AM
I’ve seen tip jars at Five Guys and found it tacky. I worked at McDonalds, Wendy’s and Arby’s and would never expect a tip. Five Guys pays pretty well. Their food is pricey to begin with. Why would I tip a cashier ringing up my order?
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October 05, 2021 12:56AM
I don't know if the minimum wage applies in Texas. I once asked a carhop how much they are paid and he said something along the line of $3.17. He said they are paid the same wage as a server in a regular restaurant.
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October 05, 2021 11:20PM
Based on my personal experience Taco Bell employees seem to like to pocket change.
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October 06, 2021 12:17AM
They have signs up at my local Sonic. $12/hour for crew members, $10 plus tips for carhops. That seems ridiculous to pay them less since they probably don't get many tips.
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October 06, 2021 03:03PM
And the guidelines for Sonic touts that Sonic does NOT expect you to tip the carhops! And you won't be reimbursed if you do.
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October 06, 2021 07:13PM
I got an email the other day from one of the fast casual places I get emails from. It may have been Chipotle but I am not sure as I get emails from several upscale fast food places.. In any case they seemed very excited to release their new program to help their employees. What was the program? Tips were now accepted. So there will be a tip jar I gather at the end of the line where several different people served me. I cannot write down the name on a dollar bill of the person who I thought deserved a tip if only one of them did what I consider a great job. That means to me the tips all go in one pool to be distributed to all employees or all servers, or all servers that day. This does not reflect at all the entire purpose of a tip being for good or great service in this country. All it does is contribute money to the restaurant owner to bulk up all the chosen employees pay by the same amt regardless of their performance. That is something the restaurant itself should be doing.
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