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It makes sense. Good servers are compliance professionals, whether you or they know it or not, and their pivotal role in the experience means that the good ones
by mr_luc 13y ago
It makes sense. Good servers are compliance professionals, whether you or they know it or not, and their pivotal role in the experience means that the good ones can make good money.
But I know that I've not gone back to restaurants precisely because I didn't like interacting with the staff, or I didn't like how they interacted with my guests.
And looking back, the most specific I could be about it was "well, the waiters were kind of intense." You know what I mean. They were professional, they did their job, but ... they were intense. And they didn't need to be; we're going to give them 20%, but they don't know that. So they're ... slightly intense, forward with their presence, so you won't dare undertip, instead of melting into the background and letting the food and ambience dominate.
In a restaurant like this guy posits, waiters aren't compliance professionals.
On the other hand, in a tipless restaurant, they aren't paid based on merit, so maybe they won't be as motivated to do a great job in the parts of their work that require concentration and diligence.
But they're doing a job that a robot should be doing as soon as possible, and a whether my server is good, great or okay isn't going to affect how my food tastes.
- omegaham 13y agoI think that in a tipless restaurant, the manager becomes even more important. In this case, you wouldn't express your displeasure at bad service by giving a poor tip; you would instead get the manager.
- clicks 13y agoIs there ever really a case where the server is so bad that you have to take it to the manager? In my 14 years of frequently going out to eat I am hard-pressed to recall even one such instance. I think it is quite peculiar that the service of the server is perceived to be such a profoundly important component to the overall restaurant experience. Think of it this way: have you ever had to report a floor clerk at JC Penny or Sears to the manager, because he ruined your buying experience? Or a McDonald's employee or a Taco Bell employee? Front floor people are important, but it's probably not fair to place them above people in the background (cooks, dishwashers). This reminds me, my favorite restaurant (Pita Inn in Evanston Illinois) does not even have servers, you just pick your food up, go to the table and eat it. Honestly, I prefer the "experience" there over other fancy restaurants -- I just like to be given my food and eat it without interruptions, and without going through a sometimes-socially-burdensome task of having to decide on a right tip.
- omegaham 13y agoIn my own opinion, yes. The point of a restaurant is to have the food brought to you. I can make perfectly good food at home. If I don't get good service, then why should I even go out to eat?
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- javajosh 13y ago> Good servers are compliance professionals I hate it when people use terms without defining them.
- mikeash 13y agoCould you please define the terms "term" and "defining" before we proceed further?
- arjie 13y agoNo reason to be sarcastic. The phrase 'compliance professional' isn't used in common speech and seems to carry more weight than just the sum of the words. Googling for it reveals the wiki article for Media Manipulation and some PR websites but neither of those ideas fits neatly with the OP's narrative.
- mikeash 13y agoFine, then ask the person nicely what he means by that phrase. Or is this one of those situations where I'm the only person not allowed to be rude?
- apalmer 13y agoeveryone is allowed to be whatever they want... I dont see the other guy as being rude though, he just made it clear that he expected defined terms...
- mr_luc 13y agoSorry -- it's a reference from the book "Influence", which is a fascinating and, dare I say, influential tome. It doesn't mean anything more complicated than it reads as.
- qwerty_asdf 13y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence:_Science_and_Practice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence:_Science_and_Practice > Compliance professionals often play on this trait by > offering a small gift to potential customers. > Compliance professionals can exploit the desire to be > consistent by having someone make an initial, often > small, commitment. > This trait has led compliance professionals to provide > fake information on what others are doing. ...sounds like it's psycho-babble parlance for "sales people" or maybe a broader definition meant to include social roles such as actors, spokespersons, and celebrity endorsements.
- pdpi 13y ago> On the other hand, in a tipless restaurant, they aren't paid based on merit, so maybe they won't be as motivated to do a great job in the parts of their work that require concentration and diligence. So should we conclude that as a general rule the chef isn't as motivated as the waiters to provide good service? This sounds to me like bullshit.