Hello all, I'm a little late this week due to illness, internet issues (thanks T-Mobile), and WORKING ALL WEEKEND, so thanks for being patient, I'll try to be more punctual with my posts in the future.
Due to the current groupon craze, I feel it's necessary to address proper procedure if you are planning to go to just about any restaurant with a coupon in tow. A few weeks ago, I had a table of four very polite and personable patrons. All was well as they enjoyed a nice meal, but as I cleared their dinners, they mentioned that they were trying to make a movie, so I quickly presented their check and went about greeting another table. When I returned to the other guests to reconcile their payment they were gone. No problem, I saw they had left cash and a......groupon. I knew there would be an issue because most people do not know how coupons work in a restaurant and sure enough, their oversight of one of the coupon's stipulations resulted in my intended twenty dollar tip vanishing into thin air.
The procedure I'm about to outline may seem a bit excessive to any non-restaurant readers, but If you care whether or not your server can afford to put gas in his or her car to get to school the next day- I mean if you want to make sure your server receives your fully intended tip, you will follow at least a few of these steps:
- You should already be making reservations at any restaurant that will accept them. This is also a chance to mention the promotion or coupon in question to find out ahead of time if their are any limitations or restrictions to the offer. You don't want to go to a restaurant on a Saturday with a coupon that's only good at Friday's (heh, heh).
- Present your coupon to the server when he or she greets you. This gives us a heads up to track down a manager, adjust the check, scan and staple the coupon, mix the anti-counterfeit chemicals etc. ahead of time, not when you are trying to leave and I just got triple-sat.
- This may seem like common sense to some of you but in lieu of recent personal experiences I really must remind everyone to please tip on the pre-discounted total, maybe even a little more than usual. If you saved fifty bucks, why not throw the server an extra five?
Coupons and groupons can be great in that you may get the opportunity to sample a restaurant you wouldn't normally splurge on. These can also be great chances to practice your etiquette and restaurant procedure in a setting you are a little less used to. So until next time (tomorrow if I wanna get credit!), remember 20% is always accepted.
I absolutely love your blog. I am and avid couponer(is that a word). I never thought about mistakes being taken out on the waiter for any messed up coupons or whatever. Granted I always tell the waiter ahead of time just in case, but this is nice to know for future coupon use in other situations. p.s I also never leave the table until the waiter comes back just to make sure the tip actually stays on the table.LOL.
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