Sorry to have been out of circulation recently. It’s not that ST doesn’t “get around much anymore” (thanks Duke Ellington). It’s just that between weddings, graduations, funerals, back-yard parties, out-of-town travel and other special occasions, StingyTipper’s dine-out quotient has been more than met without stepping foot in a St. Louis area restaurant.
Recently, however, ST had the occasion to stop in at Syberg’s Gravois restaurant in South County following attendance at a wake/visitation service for a wonderful young man (only 22) who died tragically in a vehicular accident in Kansas City. Perhaps StingyTipper and companions were just in a sour mood because of the sad circumstances, but the service experience at Syberg’s that particular evening was truly a nightmare. It was so bad that ST feels compelled to dust off the laptop and get back into writing about the experience using the S.E.R.V.I.C.E. rating system.
Everything that could go wrong with a dining service experience did go wrong at Syberg’s Gravois: No set-ups available; not clearing the table of appetizer or main course dinnerware; needing to constantly chase down our wait staff for service; forgetting to bring items that were requested; not providing the basics like salt/pepper, condiments, napkins; not checking back with us regarding our needs and satisfaction; etc, etc. The server was pleasant enough; it just seemed like she didn’t particularly want to wait on us that evening. Maybe she too was having a bad night!
Here’s how the gratuity ($15.00 on a $106.50 pre-tax base) was determined:
Scoring Key
1 = Unsatisfactory 2 = Satisfactory 3 = Commendable
S.E.R.V.I.C.E. SCORE
Salutation = 2
Equity = 1
Responsiveness = 1
Value = 2
Informed = 2
Comfort = 2
Experience = 1
Total Score: 11 = 15.0%
(but ST left only 14% because of the overall
usatisfactory experience)
Gratuity Scoring Guidelines
"Stingy" 7-10 = Tip Same %
"Not-too-Stingy" 11-15 = Tip 15%
"Gracious" 16-21 = Tip Same %
