before the night is over

[inheritrix]

i know a lot of you shop at restaurant.com to buy gift certificates to restaurants at more than half off- $25 gift cert for $10 for example. but until midnight tonight, they are only $4 for a $25 gift certificate

Comments

[nadalia]

How do you find this to work out? I guess it just doesn't seem to be a good deal for me. For example. My Hubby and I went to dinner tonight at Bennigans. I had a $25.00 gift card and our dinner including 2 alchoholic beverages was $34.00. My gift card didn't have any restrictions. Most of the resteraunts I see on the site say that the certificate must be used on purchases of over $35 and many exlude alcoholic beverages. One says you can only use it at lunch and another says they add 18% gratuity (outrageous!) before the discount is applied.I guess if you have a larger family then the certs are a good deal? It just seems so restrictive to me.

[inheritrix]

it seems to work out well for us and there are only 2 of us- hubby and i. we are in the metro dc area and most restaurants here are at least $12-$18 per person for dinner. so with just an entree each that would take us over the $35 minimum usually requred to use the $25 gift certificate. Even if we went to a cheaper restaurant and got appetizer + entrees +dessert or appetizer, salads, and dessert we'd still reach the $35 minimum. So in essence we are paying only $10 for a $35 meal, plus the $4 cost of the gift certificate= $14 for a $35 meal.

and 18% gratuity is lower than standard [standard being 20% for good service as far as we were raised]. it is irritating that restaurants feel the need to tag on gratuity automatically but our point of view, however rude it is,is that if they are going to add on 18% to the check than that's ALL they get and we don't give them the customary polite 20% instead.

[clintpatty]

They also don't get to overlook reporting this money to be taxed like they might for cash tips.

[nymphatacita]

It all works out in the end. IRS taxes on a certain amount of tips, whether you get them or not. So between having to pay for your walkouts, and getting a 50% tip from a nice person, it evens out.

[tupelo]

Yeah, we never tip less than 20% of the original bill for good service. I guess there are enough of the "18% is outrageous" diners out there thst they've had to start adding the gratuity to the check, which sucks for diners AND servers who could have gotten more.

[jazzchic23]

I think they may add it because many people tip on the amount they pay after the gift certificate is taken off.. not the actual total of the bill. I agree it is annoying to have it automatically.

[ohbutitsshiny]

that's probably exactly it.

[soldiergrrrl]

Soooo many people tip on the reduced amount, and it's freakin' annoying.

For larger parties, an 18% gratuity is standard, although there are times when 100% grat isn't enough to make up for rude guests.

Any party that requests split checks should pay at *least* 20% and be prepared to wait an extra 10-15 minutes. More if you pay with $20 bills straight out of the ATM.

[nadalia]

"Waiter/waitress: - 15% of bill (excl. tax) for adequate service; 20% for very good service; no less than 10% for poor service"

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/tipping/

[inheritrix]

i'm not interested in what cnn and money magazine view to be adequate tipping. i'm interested in tipping what i was raised and taught to be polite, what my social peer group views as polite and correct, and what i believe to be polite based on the waitressing i did during college to earn money- its brutal thankless work.

[ohbutitsshiny]

i don't think an 18% gratuity is anywhere near outrageous. if i can afford to eat out, i can afford to tip the waiter a decent amount, especially when the difference is only a couple of bucks.

[clintpatty]

++

[arianna]

I don't think 18% is outrageous either. I usually leave a 20% or more tip when eating out. If the waiter/waitress was very rude or something like that which never happens often at all then that tip percentage will change, but otherwise the norm for me is 20% or more. Never less.

I agree that if you can afford to eat out at a restaurant, you can afford to give a good tip if the service was to your liking.

[manuka]

the corollary is also true - if you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out.

[soldiergrrrl]

Thankyouthankyouthankyou!

[nadalia]

"Waiter/waitress: - 15% of bill (excl. tax) for adequate service; 20% for very good service; no less than 10% for poor service"

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/tipping/