For those of you who are new to StingyTipper, here are some details about how the S.E.R.V.I.C.E. rating system works.
Rate your experience with service at a dining establishment using the follow criteria, based on a seven item acronym formed from the word SERVICE.
Rate your experience with service at a dining establishment using the follow criteria, based on a seven item acronym formed from the word SERVICE.
Each of the seven variables is to be rated on a scale from one (1) to three (3):
1 - unsatisfactory
2 - satisfactory
3 - commendable
Scoring: Add up the scores for each variable and arrive at a total score, from a low of 7 to a high of 21.
Leave a gratuity based on the following table:
Total Scores Percent Gratuity
7-10 % that corresponds with the score = “Stingy”
(This is the only “power” you have to send a message about unsatisfactory service)
11-15 15% = “Not-Too-Stingy”
(What used to be considered an appropriate gratuity)
16-21 % that corresponds with the score = “Gracious”
(Yes, even above 18%; commendable service should be rewarded and incentivized)
S.E.R.V.I.C.E.
Salutation:
Rating___
Are you greeted warmly/sincerely by the host and your server? Are you made to feel welcome? Are you informed about where to place your coat and belongings? If you made reservations, were they honored with no more than a 15 minute delay (with an apology for the delay)? Does where you’re seated (hopefully not right outside bathrooms or the kitchen) bespeak of the establishment’s greeting of you, and do they accommodate, if possible, a request for change of seating? Were you made to feel special just because you were there?
Pet Peeves: When the server says: “Hi, I’m Eric, and I’m taking care of you tonight” when you know he could care less about taking care of you or anyone else. Or…the host(ess) fails to provide menus for you to read and the server gets in a huff because you’re not ready to order.
Equity:
Rating___
Is your dining party being treated equally compared to other diners? Do you feel respected, that the staff believes that your needs are as important as those around you? Are you and your needs being overlooked while others are being waited upon and “cared” for? Does every other table have an assigned server but your group seems to have a rotating cadre of “helpers.”
Pet Peeves: When everyone else has bread and butter service but the server doesn’t bring any to my table. Or…all the other tables have their candles lit, but my party has to sit there in the shadows or request that our candle be lit. Or…there are no set-ups, napkins or water service at your places while everyone else is enjoying the “basics.”
Responsiveness:
Rating___
Does the wait staff respond to your requests on the first ask, or do you have to repeat your request one or more times? Do you feel like the server is ignoring you or forgetting you? Does the server return to your table to check on your satisfaction; or do you have to “flag” down your server to get him or her to respond to your needs? Are the “basics” –replenishing water, offering to bring another round of beverages, checking the accuracy of the orders—being attended to? Do you ever wonder if your server has left the premises? (I’ve had that happen!) Did your food arrive cold because the server was busy checking out the scores on TV (Also true story)
Pet Peeves: You have gotten to the end of your meal and the server finally brings what you asked for some time ago and sunnyly proclaims: “There you are!” Or…the server smells of cigarette smoke after finally attending to your table after a considerable absence.
Value:
Rating___
Regardless of the menu prices for food and drink (assuming you selected this place and knew what you were getting into), do you feel like you got your money’s worth? Are you comfortable that you spent the amount of money you did, or do you wish you could have spent less for what you got? Was there a sense of fairness or “balance” between what you received and what you paid in return?
Pet Peeves: Departing a restaurant having spent more than you thought you should and still feeling hungry (thereby prompting a run to the store for a bag of “Krunchers”!) Needing to add up the total check again and again in your mind to avoid thinking “I paid that much for that!?”
Informed:
Rating___
Are servers thoroughly familiar with what’s being served by the dining establishment? Are they informed and knowledgeable about the specials of the day? Can he/she address any questions you have about what you’re ordering? Do they inform you of the establishment’s policies impacting cost (e.g., splitting plates, substitutions, corkage fees, cover charge, set tipping for large parties, etc.)? Does the wait staff seem to know what they’re doing or is there a general sense of “cluelessness” among the servers? Were your unique requests (hold the mayo and onions!) transferred back to the kitchen staff?
Pet Peeves: The server is clearly stumped by a question you have and either bluffs his/her way through an answer (which turns out to be incorrect,) or leaves your table altogether to check with someone else. Or…You are served the wrong plate of food, particularly if it wasn’t even ordered by anyone at your table!
Comfort:
Rating___
Things your server cannot control: Do you feel comfortable with the arrangement of tables? Is the lighting to your liking? Is the heating or cooling satisfactory to meet your comfort needs? Is the noise level acceptable? (Don’t take it out on the server, take it up with the management)
Things your server can control: Does the server attempt to address any of the above issues within their scope of authority? Does your server make you feel uncomfortable with too-friendly, “over-familiar” conversation and lack of boundaries in their interactions with you? Were you made to feel rushed through your meal to turn tables to accommodate other diners?
Pet Peeves: The tables are so close together you feel like you’re dining with another group. (I’ve actually refused to be seated in a setting where I knew I’d be staring into the eyes of someone other than my spouse’s.) Or…seating is so tight the wait staff has to ask you to move to serve others. Or…your dining companion talks more to the wait staff than to you. Or…your server was so “over-friendly” that your dining companion (or you!) begins to flirt with him/her! Or...Your server attempts to cram more plates on to your table without first removing dishes from prior courses.
Experience (overall)
Rating___
Did you come away from your overall dining experience feeling happy and satisfied, particularly as it relates to the service experience? Did you say to yourself or your dining companions: “Let’s come back to this place!”? Will you tell your friends about the positive experience you had at the dining establishment. Will you remember your server (positively!) after the dining experience? Do you feel yourself compelled to not be a Stingy Tipper?
Pet Peeves: Leaving a dining establishment disappointed because you were looking forward to it based on recommendations from others. Feeling a dining outing was unsatisfactory, not because of the quality of the food, but because of the service experience.
____ Total S.E.R.V.I.C.E. Rating Score
StingyTipper Service Rating System
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