Accused by some servers of being cheap with a gratuity, Utah diners say they're actually just thrifty and will ante up when the service warrants it.
"Waiters and waitresses don't get any pity from me," said Nadine B. Turner of Heber City."I can't honestly imagine many of them not making minimum wage, considering we are now told the minimum tip I'm supposed to give them is 15 percent of my tab."
A number of waiters and waitresses who work in Utah County recently banded together to list their complaints with various media in the area. According to a letter received by the Deseret News, few Utahns appreciate how hard it is to make a living as a waiter given the low percentage most local diners add to their tab.
"When I was young the expected tip was 10 percent of the tab, 15 percent for really good service," said Turner. "Now I'm told it's 15 to 20 percent. When I take my family out to dinner at a fairly nice restaurant, we generally run up a tab of about $60 for the six of us. This waiter/waitress then usually adds in the gratuity of $9 because there are six of us. I'm expected to add more. All this for taking our order, carrying out the meal, maybe checking on us once and maybe clearing the table, a total of about 15 minutes of attention."
Brandon Pulsipher, a student at Brigham Young University, said, "Tipping is not and should not be an assumed cost. I pay the menu price for my meal and I pay the tip for service."
Pulsipher said the overall quality of service in the valley is not what it should be, and low tipping is the customer's way of relaying satisfaction or dismay to the server. "It's the customer's way of saying that they will not put up with it, not that they are cheap."
However, employers of servers and the servers themselves point out that the Internal Revenue Service taxes them on an assumed 15 percent standard of tips plus the minimum wage of $2.13 an hour, set by the Labor Commission. When the tip is less than 15 percent, the waiter or waitress actually loses money.
"The 15 percent is supposed to be the industry standard for adequate service," said Ed Abplanalp, manager of the Orem Mullboon's Restaurant. "Only in Utah do people seem to believe that its optional."
Abplanalp said his servers know immediately what to expect when they get diners from out-of-state.
Conversely, one of his waiters overheard a Utah man complain that he already gives 10 percent in church tithing "to the Lord. I'm not going to give more than that to anybody else."
Abplanalp said most of his servers are college students trying to balance work, family and classes and school bills.
"It's not an easy route. They have a limited time to work. Because we are a little higher-priced, they work fewer tables for customers who tend to stay longer."
Abplanalp said not only do many customers fail to leave 15 percent, some are not tipping at all.
Chuck-A-Rama employees say they get almost no tips at all. Customers seem to assume the buffet-style service absolves them of any responsibility to tip.
Magelby's manager Kendell Wim-mer said his servers probably average $10 to $20 an hour with the weekend dinner crowd. Lunch and weekday tips tend to be smaller because the price of the meal is less.
Wimmer said women tend to tip less than men, and credit card customers generally leave a more generous amount. Businessmen tip well. Europeans and older customers do not, said Wimmer.
"The average here is probably 16 to 17 percent. But as in every business, you win sometimes and you lose sometimes."
At Magleby's, the gratuity is automatically added on if the group is larger than five, and taken off only is the service is deemed to be poor.
Los Hermanos manager Justin Rucker said he thinks Utahns do just fine with tips.
"Our waiters don't complain, and we have a family-oriented restaurant with quite a few family parties."
Los Hermanos owner Craig Witham said he loves Utah customers and believes that, "as a rule, they are fair with tips."
He also sticks up for the servers, saying that service in Utah is above standard. "In other places, you just don't get the kind of service you see here.
"The kids who give go away with twice as much," he said, noting that not everyone is cut out to be a good waiter. Those who are get a good wage plus the opportunity to work a more flexible schedule that in most jobs, he said.