[lookout123]

i was a bartender so from my experiences there i remain an over tipper. that being said, when the service or food is truly unsatisfactory i ask for the manager and explain the situation. i have found that to be the best way to take care of things, because if you just leave little or no tip they think you are just another cheap customer. if you bring a problem to their attention they will usually try to make it right.

that being said, i recently (about 3 months ago) went to a higher end seafood restaurant with my wife and some of her coworkers. my wife's lobster came out gray the first time. they obviously threw the second one on the grill to make a point. and the third one didn't come until everyone else was finished eating and we were getting ready to leave. the manager never approached us until after the waitress handed me a bill with a full charge for the lobster and i explained that i wasn't going to pay for food we never received. the asst. manager intervened and stated that we were lucky because we were only being billed for one lobster. i laughed at him and put the appropriate amount of cash for what we did receive in his hand and started to walk away. he actually yelled from across the restaurant that he was going to call the police because i was walking out on my bill. me being the even tempered guy that i am (and having a couple of beverages in me) walked back and explained to him that if i was going to get arrested it would be for something worthwhile... such as leaving him in a puddle of blood. of course, i would never do something like that but the guy's jaw hit the floor and right about that time his boss walked up, took my money out of the asst manager's hand, handed it to me along with 2 gift certificates and told me to have a better evening and "come back real soon."
then it was my turn to be completely shocked. he fired the asst manager on the spot.

other than this extremely bizarre instance, talking to the manager works better than just leaving little or no tip.