From an interesting article on Reddit in which a table at a bar did not tip a waitress when she refused to bring one of their party a soda. This started to make me think on what to do about a tip when service is bad. I have friends who come out all across the spectrum on the tipping discussion. Some of them would take any opportunity to reduce or eliminate their tips while others feel for the waitstaff and will tip their usual amount regardless of circumstances.
For those of us in the middle, I have some thoughts that you can embrace or forget about. As way of background, I traditionally tip 20% of the bill pretax. I will tip more if service is excellent. I tend not to nickel and dime if the waitstaff makes minor mistakes.
If, however, they perform poorly by refusing to bring us drinks, forget about us, fail to bring our meals or something that rises to this level, I will definitely cut their tip. Depending on the severity of the service, I may provide little or no tip.
But I have only done this in one instance. We were at a restaurant where we ordered drinks, appetizers and entrees. We received the appetizers about an hour in and then never received the entrees. We were told that they are coming up a few times. At the end, they told us their kitchen was closed so they could not bring our order out. I do not know what happened but I feel that we were lied to about the status of our meal and it was never delivered. As a result, we left no tip!! And I have never been back to that restaurant again.
If the service is just bad, I would definitely reduce the tip from 20% to something like 10%. I do not fall into the camp where I feel that the waitstaff is entitled to a tip. In fact, I think that tipping has gotten out of control. You are not asked to tip at takeout counters and self-service kiosks. It seems that every hospitality service personnel is now asking for tips. I know this is an overstatement but it does make my point.