Cat Deeley didn’t leave a tip after ‘disgusting’ service at an LA restaurant

7th Annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic

On Sunday, Cat Deeley went on a Twitter rant. In case you’re about to drop a “WHO?” on me, stop it. Cat Deeley is the host of So You Think You Can Dance, a show which I’m surprised to learn is still on the air. Its 14th season will air this summer. I guess it’s sort of popular. So now you know who Cat Deeley is. Did you also know that Cat Deeley is one of those people who will take to social media to trash a restaurant after horrendous service? Not only that, she’s also one of those people who will refuse to leave a tip if the service is particularly bad.

Since I don’t want to embed 20 million tweets, let’s just do the basic story. Cat tried to dine at TomGeorge in LA, a place described as a California take on classic Italian cuisine (much like the Olive Garden, BUT FANCIER!). Cat first tweeted: “The worst featuring! Worst food! As for the manager?????? Moron!!!!!” She followed it up with: “The most disgusting restaurant , terribly run, by a manager – who can only be described as an amateur. Avoid at all costs. #tomgeorge.” She called it the “worst restaurant in LA.” On one of her tweets, her waiter tweeted back with a copy of the receipt (literally, he had the receipts!) and a note about how she didn’t tip him:

Her reply to him was in tweets too:

And as I respectfully told you, the catalogue of errors were not your fault . However the mistakes were repeatedly not correctly rectified. The food was terrible and your manager was unhelpful and rude. Respect and love should be shown to all,attention to detail is necessary too!

[From Cat Deeley’s Twitter]

That was it for hours, until her tweets got picked up by media outlets. She tweeted this on Monday:

A lot of people have a lot of strong opinions about tipping and bad service and how you should react. I’m one of those “can I speak to a manager?” people when the service is really bad. And even if the manager comps part of the meal, I still leave a tip, depending on how helpful the server was for retrieving the manager. Like, unless my waiter is a complete dumbass who ghosts my table for an hour, I’m generally going to leave a base 10% tip regardless. If the food is inedible and the service is as Cat described, I don’t really know what I would do. Like, I would probably raise hell to the manager, but it seems like the manager did next to nothing in this situation. Hm. This is an interesting “What Would You Do?” case-study.

People Magazine spoke to an etiquette expert about this situation and the expert’s hot-take was that Cat is making herself look bad by “airing her grievances like this in a public forum.” I disagree. We can debate the tip thing, but I don’t have a problem with Cat telling her followers not to go to a restaurant that sounds pretty sh-tty.

Shoulda gone to Olive Garden after all. Free breadsticks, at least.

Cat Deeley goes grocery shopping with her mom at Bristol Farms

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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105 Responses to “Cat Deeley didn’t leave a tip after ‘disgusting’ service at an LA restaurant”

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  1. Claree says:

    Cat Deeley is pretty well known in the UK – I mean, I can’t remember what she is known for, but she is definitely a known entity. I think she does morning shows and adverts for hair stuff?

  2. original kay says:

    you know, if the food is THAT bad, you can always, I don’t know, go to a different restaurant.

    Just a thought.

    • Snowflake says:

      That wouldn’t be an option for me. Leaving and going to another restaurant would mean at least another hour and a half before I got to eat.

      • original kay says:

        ok. sorry, don’t understand that line of thinking?

        You;d rather sit and eat bad food, and have the stress of bad service, not being happy, than leave and go elsewhere, even if hungry?

        to each his own.

  3. Snowflake says:

    I used to wait tables, so I usually tip quite well. But for an order with 5 mistakes, I would be very tempted not to tip. If it’s wrong, either the waiter messed up the order or the kitchen. But the waiter should have checked over the order before he took it out to make sure it was correct.

    • Goats on the Roof says:

      I waited tables a couple semesters in college, so I tend to tip pretty generously. I know what it’s like to make $2.13 an hour and rely on tips to make up the difference. Having said that, waitstaff should ALWAYS work for their tip, and diners should not be expected to tip even when the service is downright shitty. The way I figure, I have to actually do work to get paid at my job, so the same applies here.

      • Claree says:

        The fact that the onus for providing a living wage to waitstaff has been passed on to the customer – who has no way to show their pleasure or displeasure other than with their $$ – is completely bizarre to me. And the expectations that customers will pay an OPTIONAL charge of at least 20% plus, even if they had a terrible experience, is just nuts.

        Of course customers who are frustrated with service (or just arseholes) will vote with their dollars. Of course unhappy people will express their unhappiness through the only optional part of their bill. It is unfair to servers.

      • Wren33 says:

        Yeah, the whole tipping institution in the US is out of control. The percentages keep going up and the low wages are criminal. A tip is supposed to be optional, so calling it a “tip” while being able to count it towards meeting minimum wage requirements is ridiculous and puts both the wait staff and the customer in a bad position.

      • original kay says:

        I agree. When I was in Japan, they don’t tip. It was strange at first, the bill is what the bill is.
        I suppose they add it into the cost of the food, which is fine.

      • kimbers says:

        Never understood states that make customers pay pretty much the entire salary of the wait staff. Shouldn’t an employer pay the hourly wage of more than 2something an hr to their staff? Is it bc it cuts their profits? paying customer should give a lil something something as appreciation for good service, but not pay 3/4 of an establishment’s payroll via tipping. I think this is why tipping tudes are crazy and businesses should pay their own employees. Tipping def depends on people(how many ppl share-leave more for them to split), place(expensive/not), food(quality/correctness) and attitudes(attentive&polite), but always leave something. I like leaving cash bc they can claim it or not. Their choice.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        Just as an FYI: I think in CA, wait staff gets minimum wage, which I believe is $10.50/hr. They don’t have a separate minimum wage for tipped employees.

      • kimbers says:

        *i dont tip the proprietor of a business if they are alone. If not alone cross my fingers they give the whole tip to the employee

      • Lady D says:

        We had a boss who used to take 50% of the tips, “for the business.” He was such a jerk in so many ways.

  4. Teddy says:

    What a c*nt.

    • Anna says:

      COMPLETELY!!!!!!! Monster! My kids are both in the food/bar service industry in LA and complain that people from Australia and UK try everything they can not to tip and tip meagerly when they do. As for the tweeting, go to Yelp or Trip Advisor and leave and appropriate rating you entitled princess.

      • Claree says:

        Sorry, but the monsters are not the people who don’t tip well (although that is pretty crummy), but the employers who put the onus on customers to pay their staff’s wages, instead of owning that responsibility.

        Also, before you start attacking people from other countries for tipping ‘meagerly’, please note that in many places (including the UK and Australia), servers are paid at least minimum wage, and they do not depend on tips solely. With this in mind, perhaps consider that they may not be aware of how much (or little) servers in the US are normally paid. In the UK, tips of 15% or more are given for excellent service, they are not a given (although this is changing), so maybe consider that before assuming that people are ‘trying to get out of’ leaving generous tips.

      • kimbers says:

        Monsters? Lmao

      • SouthWest says:

        Claree, the reason I work as a waitress is because I make more money as a tipped employee than a minimum wage employee. I’m happy that I have the opportunity to make a great living, and I do my job well and take a lot of pride in it. There’s a lot of assholes out there, but a hell of a lot more good people I can connect with, and that’s why I make money, not because I’m being exploited by restaurant managers.
        Any restaurant in America that tries to do away with tipping and instill a minimum wage will never attract good servers.

      • Anna says:

        Claree. Thank you for your comment. Everyone in the US make minimum wage unless they are outside the law. Servers make minimum wage plus tips. As for foreigners tipping because they “are not aware of what to tip”. That was already being changed back in the 80s when I bartended in college. It is no longer an excuse. It is VERY well known that in our restaurants you tip. Period. If you cannot afford at least 15%, eat at a take out place where you still tip (albeit less) or a sandwich at 7/11 where there is no service involved and they can revel in the fact that they do not need to tip.

      • AG-UK says:

        People in the Uk tip small in general but that’s the culture now it seems it’s 12.5% and usually added to the bill at some places, but anything more it’s unusual. I know in NY they will come to the table and ASK WHY you tipped so low and some have the amounts 12.5/15/18% and no one tips at bars. If she had an issue I wouldn’t be on Twitter not on it anyway just don’t understand that entire culture of every thought that pops in you write it down. I am old I guess.

      • amilu says:

        Everyone might make a minimum wage unless they are outside the law, but the minimum wage varies greatly. It’s kind of insane.

        Servers in CA make $10-$10.50 + tips, but servers here in TN make $2.13 an hour plus tips.

        https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm

      • funcakes says:

        I’ve read the comment on here and I can tell a lot of you will be receiving mystery body fluids I’m your food in future.

        Life is not fair. If your order is
        wrong either suck it up and eat it or leave.
        If your an extremely picky eater learn how to cook at home.

        I know this will sound unreasonable but the last thing you want to do is f**k with the people making next to nothing.
        They are tired,pissed and been on their feet for hours.

      • Anna says:

        AG-UK. Not sure if I understand your post, but it sounds like you are saying people do not tip in bars in NY. If so, I would like to say that NOTHING could be further from the truth. People who frequent bars in their neighborhood tip their beloved bartenders generously, and anywhere else you go, you will see all bar patrons tipping their bartenders, except for those in ignorance of the fact that it is inappropriate not to tip the bartender.

      • amilu says:

        And since it’s too late to edit my comment, I want to note that, yes, I realize the cost of living differs greatly in these two places. But the cost of living in Nashville has skyrocketed in the past few years, but the minimum wage for tipped employees has stayed the same.

      • Anna says:

        Hi Amilu. A quick browse of online listings in Nashville shows that your housing is about 33% lower than what it cost to live in the area near this restaurant (barring skid row). and purchasing power in Nashville is 13% higher than in LA.

      • Lady D says:

        “try everything they can not to tip and tip meagerly when they do.” Curious about what antics they try to avoid tipping? You make it seem that tipping is mandatory or a law almost. Here in Canada, tipping is an option. I almost always tip because I have been in their shoes, but like @SouthWest above, I also made really good money in tips, far above my hourly wage at clubs, restaurants and local bars. The last bar I worked at was in a town of about 3500. I was clearing $80-$100 in tips 5 nights a week. Nice little chunk of change each month.

      • Tina says:

        I am British and I hate the tipping culture in the US. That said, I always tip 20% in the US, unless the server has done something egregious himself or herself, like ignoring me for an hour. The culture sucks, but I’m not going to change it on my own. All I am going to do by refusing to tip is both take money away from people who don’t make very much, and confirm all of their prejudices about British people.

      • Ange says:

        When I went for a month last year this Aussie tipped at least 20% at all times, even when the waiter was really rude. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that diners have to pay the living wages for staff but I upheld the social contract. There’s no excuse for ignorance, I knew all about tipping and percentages for years before I actually got to the US.

  5. Tris says:

    I always loved her, thought she was positively adorable. But this story is ridiculous — never air your dirty laundry in public! Because then people who thought you were adorable see that you can be a bitch who eats $6 lettuce.

    • Kelly says:

      HAHA I caught that too. That was my biggest WTF of the story.

    • Margo S. says:

      I agree! What the eff is “butter lettuce”?! Sounds nasty.

      Basically, she has cast herself in a really bad light. If i had service that bad, I’d pay for what we’d had, canceled what hadn’t arrived yet, then go to McDonald’s or some sh!t. She made this so much worse.

      And also, was her order wrong 5 times, or was she displeased 5 times…? Sounds like there was no winning with her even though they compd like half the meal. Shut up cat.

      • eggyweggs says:

        Gonna defend butter lettuce, here. It’s soft and tender, good flavor and, unlike iceberg lettuce, actually has some nutrients in it (not knocking iceberg, but it’s mostly water). Not sure I’d pay $6 for a side of it in a restaurant, though.

      • kimbers says:

        Butter lettuce is sweeter than reg. I love it!! It’s kinda like bibb lettuce. It’s in most grocery stores across the country. I eat it all the time. It’s a better quality lettuce.

      • stinky says:

        stay in school, kiddies.

  6. lisa says:

    i’m inclined not to believe her because she just says it was terrible and isnt very specific. once the manager is involved, is this the waiter’s fault anymore? he didn’t cook it. she doesnt say he ignored her.

    • Peeking in says:

      She clearly replied to the server that it wasn’t his fault, why not tip him, then? Also, she got the good for free, paid for the drinks, and still didn’t tip on the drinks. The server will then have to “tip out” the bartender from his pocket to cover her cheapness. She literally took money from the server’s pocket.

  7. Hiccup says:

    The restaurant sounds like shit and I don’t get why the waiter needed to get involved. She had every right to complain. I used to run front of house in a restaurant and if we’d managed to screw up a table so badly that they had to return things five times and it was still inedible, I would have comped the shit out of that table with free drinks or desserts and definitely not expected a fucking tip! I know things are different with tipping in the Us from Europe but we used to pull 10 – 15 % tips on each table, the waiter sounds so salty when it’s just one table not tipping! Some customers are assholes but it sounds like the manager is the asshole here…

    • Bridget says:

      If you look at the bill, they had a ton comped. So they paid less than half their original bill, and didn’t leave a tip at all – for a waiter that she literally says wasn’t the issue.

      • Hiccup says:

        It’s a difference in how we all view restaurants I guess, in Europe mostly the waiter is seen as part of the whole experience of going out to eat, not as an individual who’s wages you are supposed to pay regardless if it was a shit experience over all 😉

        I think the wages are fucked in America with the tipping system and I tipped 20 % when I was in the States, but I also don’t understand how the waiter can claim he had nothing to do with service being wrong. If you bring out the wrong meal once it’s your job to double and triple check it the second time around in my opinion. Bringing the wrong meal five times sounds pretty “I don’t really give a shit about the customers” to me. But then again we don’t know the whole story. I just personally wouldn’t have been expecting any tips or complaining about it after someone’s evening was effectively ruined. It’s a service occupation after all.

      • Lucy2 says:

        That’s what is bothering me- she says it wasn’t his fault, but in the end he is the one who got punished.
        Considering they comp’d over $120 in free food for 4 people, I think that is sufficient and she should have tipped something.

      • Bridget says:

        It’s her choice not to tip, BUT when someone who has been comped to that extent and still chooses to complain on a public forum, she’s opening herself up to that criticism. And if I can point out, to me the fact that the waiter dug up the receipt and replied for himself makes me think that something is amiss. All of the restaurant folks I know would quietly mea culpa if it was really that bad, but would get defensive if the complainer was out of line themselves.

  8. Nikollet says:

    If waitstaff were paid a proper wage this wouldn’t be an issue. Here in Australia, waitstaff are paid a proper hourly rate, they don’t rely on tips at all to make up their pay. So regardless of the quality of the service, you are not obliged to tip at all. So give me rubbish service, you’re not getting anything out of me 🙂

    • Anna says:

      Thank you for confirming my point. Our system is different here. In Los Angeles, a one bedroom apt. is $2000.00 a month (often more). Our servers are paid $10.00 per hour, plus tips. Tips are pooled (generally) in the following way: the server collects a tip on the tab for food and drink. They then tip out the bartenders, bussers and (in some restaurants) food runners, barbacks and hosts. In our economy, a restaurant would not succeed and would close it’s doors immediately if they had to pay the servers $25-$30 per hour which is what a person in OUR ECONOMY in Los Angeles needs to make. This comment is all in broad generalization of the varied restaurant styles and prices. But, the bottom line is that IN OUR ECONOMY, it is UNDERSTOOD that servers work for tips.

      • Anners says:

        I get that they work for tips (and depend on them to make ends meet), but I think they need to earn them. Tipping is for good service (don’t need to kill yourself, just check on the table occasionally and keep the water glasses full 😉). I’m not going to tip if the service is bad or the waitstaff neglectful. If it’s decent, then I have no problems tipping 15-20%. I do have problems with people who feel entitled. But that’s my $0.02 as a Canadian.

  9. Des says:

    If anyone has seen SYTYCD, you know Cat is a total delight. Team Cat.

  10. Erinn says:

    I’m in Canada, in an area with a $10.70 minimum wage, and relatively low cost of living. I still tip 15-20%.

    There have been a few times where I have not left a tip though – and it was when we had a server completely ignore our table and sit at the bar with some male customers flirting and I’m assuming attempting to work up a good tip. The restaurant was nearly empty. And she brought us incorrect food. There’s really no excuse for that kind of service – especially when you see other customers getting their butts kissed just a few feet away.

    • Mle428 says:

      I used to wait tables, and we had a waitress do the exact same thing. She completely ignored our table while sitting at a table full of older men.

      We didn’t leave a tip, and I wrote a Yelp review. It has to be really bad service for me to not leave a tip.

  11. grabbyhands says:

    Sorry, but this is a c**ty move.

    If your gripe was with management and not your server, then you need to tip your server who, by your own admission, did nothing wrong, and take the issue up with management directly instead of spending the evening having a Twitter tantrum so you can smear the restaurant to your followers with little repercussion.

    Not to mention, you got most of the meal FOR FREE. What else were they supposed to do-write an apology in their own blood?

  12. Jess says:

    I waited tables and bartendered for 7 years while I figured out what the hell I was doing with my life and eventually went to college, I get unreasonably upset when I see people not tip. I’m not sure how it works in other states, but in mine the ONLY money servers make is tips. They make 2.13 per hour, which might add up to a little paycheck but then they tax you on how much they think you made in tips,they took 18% of the tables I served, my paychecks were literally 3 to 5 bucks after 80 hours. So, I always tip 15% at least, if I get great service I’ll go up to 30, which is insane but I know what it’s like to work that kind of job and sh*t happens sometimes, the server could be overloaded with other tables, they could be short staffed, they could be sick but forced to come in by their manager, or fighting with significant other and just having a bad day with life distractions. Most other professions still get paid if their job isn’t done correctly every single second of the day, we all have off days. A lot of people look for excuses to not leave a tip, please don’t do that! Unless your server curses you out and throws food in your face just leave a tip, they work hard and don’t make much money!

    As for this story, it sounds like her server was gracious and tried to help but she took her frustration out on him, screw her, I’ve never even heard of her until now but I don’t like her.

    Edit-damn that was long, sorry! Lol

    • detritus says:

      Yikes. I got paid much more than that as servers minimum, but we were still forced to clean bathrooms on serving wage, often bars would stiff me on hours or shifts, they ‘forgot’ about.
      No breaks, no lunch hour, and you have to tip out the kitchen and bar at every place I ever worked. Sometimes tip out was as high as 7%. So on a $200 bill, no tip would have cost me $14. Or two hours or serving. I’d think very, very hard before I’d do that. The waitstaff would have to be outright rude and hostile for me to not tip.

      When you don’t tip your serving staff at all, you are actually forcing them to pay for the pleasure of serving you.

      Lets not pretend with all those adds and subs on that receipt she was an easy customer either.

      • Lady D says:

        You still had to tip the kitchen when you didn’t get a tip? Unflippingbelievable. I would have told them to kiss my grits.

      • detritus says:

        almost every serving job had that, and i’ve worked a few. you could fight it, if you didn’t get a tip on a big table, but it was a good way to get your orders/drinks messed with.

        Bars/restos that didn’t try to outright steal your wages were considered great, and i worked a range from martini style bars, to the kilt and bobby sock style pubs, with a few fancy restaurants thrown in. The martini bar was the absolute worse. Thieving cokeheads the lot of them.

        Another common and illegal practice was to force waitstaff to pay for walkouts.

        even the absolute best places did sketchy and illegal things

      • PennyLane says:

        “When you don’t tip your serving staff at all, you are actually forcing them to pay for the pleasure of serving you.”

        Thank you! I really wish more people understood this.

        Also in addition to tipping out the busboys and the hostess from the non-tip, that waiter will have to pay taxes on the $0 tip, because tips are taxed and calculated from food sales. Uncle Sam looked at that bill and calculated that the waiter received a $30 tip – and will be taxing the server on it.

    • Goats on the Roof says:

      I have a very emotionally taxing and exhausting job and am frequently over-worked. I also have a personal life. That’s no excuse not to put on my professional face and get the job done 100%. Also, I don’t get paid if I don’t do my job–I get fired. Bartenders and waitstaff are no different in my eyes. If you wanna get paid, work like you wanna get paid. Ignoring tables, bringing the wrong order multiple times, failing to offer a single refill, overcharging, and being flat out rude shouldn’t entitle you to a 20% tip you didn’t earn.

      • Jess says:

        I get that, and I worked really hard in that industry and was a fantastic server, but to compare now I work in the medical field and I have coworkers who slack off or have bad attitudes and they get paid a living wage regardless. If a server has a bad day or bad tippers they could wind up owing money after working a 10 hour shift, and that’s not fair. You could have a rude or overworked ER nurse and a 10 hour wait to see a doctor but they still get paid, or say a customer service rep pisses you off for not helping you with a bill or something, they still get paid, that’s the comparison I was trying to make:) like someone said upthread maybe servers need to make a regular wage and get rid of tipping all together!

  13. Amanda says:

    No one has to resolve problems this way, by going onto a public forum and blasting a restaurant for being “terrible” and “most disgusting.” it’s JUST a restaurant, not the end of the world. It looks like they tried to resolve the issue by comping her food but apparently Cat Deeley likes to be an ass and used her fame to really rub it in. So cool! Not.

  14. Daisy says:

    This is so so very American.

  15. Missy says:

    I was a waitress for ten years….and I don’t tip if service and food is bad. What’s to tip for?

  16. Mi says:

    Whoever wrote this piece drive thru places were invented for your kind!Or learn how to use your microwave properly.Or you can watch Rachel Ray and cook one of her cheap gourmet slop concotions you entitled cheap barf bag!!

    • lisa says:

      ita, people who dont like the upping customs in the US shouldn’t go to places where tipping is expected

  17. cindyp says:

    Guessing they had some drinks while sending their food back. Insulting & not tipping servers, then posting on twitter is a big no no. She should know better. People don’t like B/C/D listers who berate wait staff. Don’t know of her, so don’t know where she falls on the list

  18. Lary says:

    She’s from Europe, this is what they do in Europe…I actually picked it up while living there – some countries don’t even tip since its just not customary. If service is bad, than don’t tip – its only in America where tipping is this extremely called upon. Its your money you’re giving above what is owed. I understand that American wages are a lot less than Canada and Europe but its a personal decision (or should be) to tip….if not, than include it into the receipt already.

    • PennyLane says:

      The restaurant industry is the only industry in the US that is allowed by law to not pay its employees minimum wage. Absolutely tipping should be abolished.

      Oh, and by the way – are you aware that the amount people leave for a tip correlates very closely to a server’s race and gender? White males get the biggest tips, and black women get the smallest tips. Even though they are all doing the same work, white males get tipped more money. Another reason to replace tipping with an actual wage…

  19. Pippa says:

    She was comped over half the meal, and she told the waiter the mistakes weren’t on him. She obviously should have tipped him instead of singling him out for punishment when according to her he’d done nothing wrong. That said, California is one of the few states with a decent wage for waiters– $10 an hour, if I remember correctly.

  20. JustJen says:

    Totally OT but I can’t believe people still eat Steak Tar Tar in this day and age. I thought that was an 80’s thing. Anyway, I have the utmost respect for servers. I lasted a grand total of three days before being let go when I was in college. I truly despised it. It didn’t help that the boss was a horrific elitist douche. I always tip well because I’d rather dig ditches or clean toilets than have that job. Now, ignoring me and my empty water glass will earn you a pittance at best, and if I’m just chilling at the table for a while I tip more just for taking up the space. Any respectable restaurant would immediately shut down one of their servers for posting an actual receipt online for any reason, so even though I know nothing about this lady, I’m Team Cat.

  21. lamaga says:

    There are very few excuses not to tip at least 20% in the US. Period. She has no idea how much goes into serving food. You navigate timing, deal
    with customers who usually have something to say about everything, the manager who is business, the chefs who have egos, the people who do various jobs in the kitchen. It’s total impression management and product management. It makes me angry when people do not tip or when they think 10% is adequate. You are not just tipping your server; a lot of times, it’s house split amongst many people, most of whom did nothing wrong. If you can’t potentially tip at least 20%, don’t go out to eat. Even the cooks–who are not really paid a living wage in the States–are affected if you don’t tip decently.

    • kimbers says:

      Curious to how much money a business woukd lose if those people stayed home? How many people do tip so low? Would a business fail if the bad tippers didnt frequent an establishment? Resulting in no employment.

      Someone should do a study bc i am so fascinated by this. I was a barista (not starbucks) got paid a good hourly and tips were icing.

  22. LondonLozza says:

    In the UK automatically adding tips and grats is only just becoming a more widespread and common practice – and isn’t always appreciated! As a general rule, if service really is *that* awful – and having spoken to a manager you’ve not gotten anywhere – then not leaving a tip is pretty standard practice.

    However, having worked in pubs and waitressed as a student – and if the fault does not lie with your server – then not tipping the wait staff does seem a bit mean. Equally, if the meal was brought out wrong once, I’d double check I was bringing the correct meal out the second time, let alone the third, fourth or fifth time…

  23. Beth says:

    If my waiter doesn’t do a great job,I still leave a tip because that how they make their money. , just not as big as it would’ve been if they had done better. Plenty of people haven’t had the best waiter or some not so great food at restaurants. You don’t have to go there again if you weren’t happy with it. Very bratty to tweet about it for everyone to see,especially if you’re famous.

  24. Fluff says:

    I think her being British might be a factor. Over here tips really are just for good service, and 10-15% is considered a very decent tip. Although she’s been in LA long enough to understand the tipping culture.

  25. funcakes says:

    She should

  26. Rae says:

    I don’t think she’s done anything wrong; how else are people going to show their displeasure at poor service than with their wallets?

    If the service was THAT poor, I would begrudge tipping as well. Europe has it right; we pay the wages through the cost of the meal, we tip the staff extra when their service warrants it.

    I always try to tip a min of 10% (UK), but if the meal was so bad that the management agreed to knock half of, then I’m certainly not going to tip.

  27. Veronica says:

    I think it’s fair for her to air her grievances about a restaurant online – that’s what all of us do, really. I do think it was unfair for her to not tip the waiter if the kitchen was making the errors, not the waiter. If I have an issue with the meal, I’ll file a complaint with management, but I won’t punish the server.

  28. Dutch_Blue says:

    I agree with the “experts” that airing your grievances will simply make you look bad. But over the years I have started to get annoyed with the tipping custom in the US. Which is probably made worse by the fact that I lived in Europe for two years where tipping is not done or if you want to tip because the service was exceptional you give 1 or 2 Euros, not 20%. There is nothing exceptional about the service in the United States, yet I go out to a restaurant and I’m the devil for not tipping 20% when I receive mediocre service. I think she was well within her right to keep her money and not tip.

    • Harryg says:

      I really hate the tipping custom in the US. The servers should be paid a normal wage. I don’t care if my burger costs two dollars more. Every time I say this someone answers “well, they’ll spit in your food if you don’t tip!” or something idiotic. (How would they know I won’t tip? I do, though, because it is the custom.) I think serving is a hard job and I really appreciate a good waiter/bartender. But they should be paid by the employer.

  29. Ollie says:

    It’s Not ok to post your customers receipts online. He lost my sympathy there. Sorry.

    I don’t understand the american tip system. Pay your staff or don’t open a restaurant! A restaurant that won’t survive if they pay staff a real wage is an economic failure.
    If they don’t invest in good employees what do you think they’ll serve you? Cheap food. Cheap is cheap!

  30. Lady Rain says:

    I think restaurant workers should be paid a decent living wage through their employers instead of passing this responsibility onto consumers.

    I never understood why the food service industry is one of few in which consumers are expected to supplement salaries of industry workers through tips.

    We often don’t get the opportunity to tip in other industries, such as healthcare or education; it always struck me as odd that the rules are different when it comes to certain industries in the U.S.

    • Lady D says:

      I remember back in the late 70’s and early 80’s everyone was being tipped. Your hairdresser, the kid that pumped your gas, your cab driver, the milkman, paperboy, garbage man all expected to receive a tip, or a serious bonus in a Christmas card.

  31. teacakes says:

    The tipping culture in the US is a scourge, I’d be all for paying your staff a decent wage and just making that officially part of the bill instead of leaving it up to the customer’s discretion to pay your waistaff or not.

    As things stand, the tip is technically discretionary. Paying staff shouldn’t be a matter of tipping luck – ffs add that to the cost of the food!

    • Anna says:

      Luckily you only have to criticize us online and you don’t have to live here. When I come to UK I am considerate and still pay my bill even though the food is always lacking in any flavor.

      • Lady D says:

        Always? Really Anna?

      • teacakes says:

        I’m not from the UK, but it’s rather interesting to me how defensive Americans get over their awful tipping system.

        Literally all I advocated was paying a fair wage to the servers, but you’re angry about that? (and yes – given the current state of American politics, I’m VERY glad I don’t live there!)

  32. Hannah says:

    It sounds like a bad experience and she’s right to complain. But, I think it’s ridiculous to take this to this extent on twitter. It makes her seem a bit of a drama queen.

  33. funcakes says:

    If you don’t like the service leave

    The last thing you want is to pIss off the person handling your food.
    They will do haneous things too it.

    It happens.

  34. blonde555 says:

    She made herself look bad and I lost respect for her. Complain about the food all you want BUT TIP THE WAITER. She comes off as an entitled B.

    • Anna says:

      Thank you soooo much for your comment Blonde555. It seems there are many here from outside our country and state siding with her bad behavior.

      • Erinn says:

        And most of those people preface it with how the tipping goes in their own country and that they understand that it’s different in the US. At the end of the day – the tipping situation is BS for workers. There SHOULD be a better minimum wage setup to cover them – it SHOULDN’T be up to tips to give them a living wage – but there would need to be legislation setup to make that happen – it’s not just going to happen magically.

        I also have no idea how the wrong food was brought to her table 5 different times – there’s at least some quality control that should be going on with the server- it might not be their fault that the food was incorrect – but after the first time they should have been on top of that.

  35. Molly says:

    Truly egregious service is one thing, but otherwise, I will always leave at least 15%. It’s absurd that customers are expected to pay employees, but that’s how it is here, and I’m not going to stiff a server over a system they have no control over.

  36. Ms_TShady says:

    Cat Deeley is a multi-millionaire and she’s not new to US tipping customs, having lived over there for more than a decade.

    TL-DR tip your waiter and cuss out the manager, don’t be so miserly with those big bucks!

  37. deevia says:

    Why restaurants in the US dont pay waiters living wages while Mcdonald’s do is beyond comprehension. When tips are to be expected regardless of service its not a tip, it’s an extra cost! If you do a horrible job 5 times, it’s lucky you don’t get fired. The nerve to ask for money…

    • Snowflake says:

      Yes! I waited tables. I would check the food against the order before i took it out, seems pretty basic to me. If a waiter can’t be bothered to make sure your order is right, he/she doesn’t give a f@ck. They don’t deserve a tip

  38. TassiDidIt says:

    Currently in Paris and we have been corrected regarding tips. It’s ok to round up or leave a euro but anything more than that is not customary. Simply put wait staff in Paris make a wage which doesn’t require tipping to make it livable.

  39. Shannon says:

    I’m pretty careful when it comes to that stuff. As an independent contractor myself, I look out for other businesses the way I’d like them to at least be respectful of mine. If I personally don’t like a restaurant or other business, I may tell a friend or family member, but I don’t do it on social media. And I always tip at least something; I mean, the server would have to literally spit in my food in front of me or flip me off or something to get me to not leave a tip, and that’s never happened. I understand people have ‘off-days’ but, wow, the way she ranted, did someone take a crap on her plate? It just seems uncalled for. I’m nowhere near close to rich, so I rarely visit a fancy restaurant but I’ve been to lots of ‘peasant restaurants’ and I’ve never felt that angry LOL maybe I’m more laid back?

  40. perplexed says:

    Was the service simply bad or actually “disgusting”? It was the word “disgusting” that made me want to know more. But she didn’t really elaborate as to what made the service “disgusting”.

    I can see why the server got somewhat defensive, or possibly appropriately offended, if she used the word “disgusting.” That’s a very strong word!

    The server might not have shown the receipt if she had simply used the word “bad” to describe the restaurant and service. I don’t get why she didn’t think her non-tipping ways wouldn’t be exposed if she used the word “disgusting.”

  41. Mi says:

    All you losers should stay home!! U cheap wankers!! SMH!!

  42. katiemed says:

    I think she sounds totally unhinged. Returning food items 5 times? This isn’t a fine dining establishment…you ordered salad and truffle fries. If you don’t like it- go someplace else next time and relax! Tweeting about a restaurant manager that makes less than 50k per year is in poor form. Check your meds Cat!

  43. jlee says:

    When dining & deciding not to tip because you didn’t like your food take a look around. Who set your table & cleared your plates? Who made your cocktails? Servers tip out multiple people with the tip you leave….bussers, bartenders, backs. Not tipping leaves your server in the red. This Cat character is a complete dick for punishing her server & essentially all front of the house staff for a back of the house kitchen problem. I hope she comes back in her next life as a Friendly’s waitress.

  44. Amanda says:

    As someone who waited tables for years..sometimes things happen in the kitchen and behind the scenes that servers cannot change. Sometimes the restaurant is so slammed you are shoulders deep in the weeds and just pray your tables get their food. Servers get shafted for everything that ppl don’t like about their experience even if they have no control ( ” this drink isn’t strong enough, this beer isn’t cold enough, the bathroom is out of soap”) if anyone at my table thinks they can do a better job balancing my whole section I’d love to watch them try.