No tipping policies create horrible waitresses in Japan

[TheNoNamedOne]

When I first began living in Japan I thought "Wow, no tipping and still these waitresses greet you with a hearty 'Irashaimase' and what seemed to be a heartfelt 'Arigato Gozaimasu' when you paid or left the place," but now I know, all that is superficial fluff when it actually comes to the real purpose of waitressing -- to serve.

Just to start, I will give you one example why U.S. waitresses are better than Jpn waitresses:

American waitresses, for the most part are trained to always keep looking up to scan the dining areas in case a patron is hailing them to their table for service, which could be the initial order, or simply wanting a refill on a glass of water between orders or the bringing of food. Aside from training, they know that better and prompt service to patrons as soon as the patron wants it, will for the most part mean a higher probability in getting a bigger tip. In short, they have an incentive to keep them on the look-out for the wants of their customers.

Jpn waitresses on the other hand, often have their heads down at the immediate task in front of them, which could be washing dishes, moving boxes, putting napkins in another holder, wiping and clearing a table, WITHOUT, or trying to avoid, raising their heads to keep them from making eye contact. They lack the regular and often scanning of the dining area technique that U.S. waitresses live and die by (figuratively speaking).Simply put, Jpn waitresses don't want to be bothered!

And who can blame them, realy? No incentive for extra hard work at pleasing the customer. Their pay will not change.

Therefore, customers are reduced to yelling "Sumimasen," or clapping their hands, or just to keep waiting until FINALLY one does by mistake raises her head and makes eye contact.

The lack of a tipping culture kills service in the restaurants here.

[dk]

I get better service from Japanese waiters and waitresses compared to anything I've ever experienced in America any day of the week.

Yelling sumimasen is part of the culture here except at restaurants that have the pimpom button.

I can only remember having bad service from a restaurant once on Okinawa. Ever. And that was simply because they were understaffed and completely packed.

Also, in America, most waitresses make an average of a few dollars per hour and then the bulk of their pay is from tips. It doesn't work that way here. On average, how much more money are American waitresses pulling in per night compared to Japanese waitresses.

Sorry, I just don't see the lack of service, and I've eaten out a lot.

[Asshat]

I agree with TP to a point. If the discussion is limited to waitresses, then yes, perhaps that American waitress will be coming up asking if you need anything else more often.

However, in America people are not ordering a a plate of aspeributter, and onigiri for the table to share. Everyone has their own individual entree coming. Thus, after delivering the entree, the waitstaff need offer coffee/desert. In no case will the waitstaff have to make twenty trips to the table delivering munchies.

As far as service in general, there is absolutely no comparison to Japan. Although it has been 12 years since I was in the US, I distinctly remember the lack or lowered service being the most obvious difference.

[TheNoNamedOne]

Another example of a non serving mentality, and certainly one of non-flexibility -- oh, and on the part of waitresses not being able to make a decisive desicion on a trivial matter (which may be the falt of management style here):

Me: I would like to order this, but instead of sunny lettuce, could you put regular lettuce on it, or just not any lettuce at all?
Waitress: (Sucking air through teeth and that puzzled look at the audacity that the food preparer in the back should be flexible) Shosho matte kudasai. Kite miyou. -- Please wait a second while I go and ask if it is ok.

Me waiting.

Waitress returns.

Hai, Ok desu. Kedo, Kyou dake. Ok, but only for today.

Like, wtf! LMAO! I cannot remember once ever having a problem with some small part of the order as being flexible in the U.S. But, I don't know. Maybe someone will probably come on and say it is so there as well. But, as for me. I just haven't had problems with flexibiliity in the States over little things or waitresses scampering to the manager asking about trivial changes.

Sure, I know there are places here that have no problem with being flexible on some things, but it often wreaks havoc on their mental skills when put to the test at some places. I am like, why is this even an issue?

[DoctorP]

The only American waitresses I see going beyond the call of duty are those trying to increase their tips. I think as a whole the service in Japan is much better.

[P_chan]

Sorry but japanese waiter/waitresses are better. They don't scan the tables because most places have a pinpon button! Not to mention if you just raise your hand and let out a little shout they will run to your table. While american waitresses don't give two s**** about you unless they know your going to give a good tip.

[TheNoNamedOne]

Another sign of waitress nonflexibility:

2 hours before closing time at a certain popular restaurant several years ago, but oddly this night we were the only customers there:

We sit down to order. Waitress brings glasses of water and menus and leaves.

Comes back a few minutes later to take our orders.

Me: Excuse me, but could we have some more water?
Wts: Sure, just one moment.

Brings pitcher with water and pours into our glasses and gets ready to turn around and leave...

Me: Excuse me, but could you leave the pitcher here. We are quite thirsty and will be drinking a lot of water.

Wts: Sucking air through teeth, ... I am sorry, it is our policy not to do that.

Again, WTF!? I mean there is like no one in there, they have 10 pitchers lined up on the counter. This is just comical. (A friend of mine reported the same thing in Tokyo -- something with water and pitchers and glasses [no freakin biggie].)

So, as I said, we were thirsty and those glasses were drank rather quickly. Very shortly we called for more. Drank them. Called for more. ....

Basically, this waitress was spending so much time running to our table and filling up our glasses that she couldn't get any of her closing duties done. So what does she do? She has a boy from the kitchen sheepishly come out with the pitcher and offer to leave it on the table! There goes the policy!

A prime example of nonflexibility to the customer.

[dk]

Policy is policy. She didn't make the rules, but she was told to follow them. You should have asked to speak with her manager if it bothered you that much.

[TheNoNamedOne]

Policy is policy. She didn't make the rules, but she was told to follow them.

EXACTLY my point! The rules rule here on trivial matters, and that burries flexibility. But she abandoned those rules as soon as it stopped her from putting napkins in napkin holders.

You should have asked to speak with her manager if it bothered you that much.

It bothered me enough to form an opinion, but since it was only water, I figured our thirst at the table and her constant catering to that would soon make her think differently about this trivial and flexible matter. It did.

[TheNoNamedOne]

Now, you go to an American owned restaurant here, like Sams Group, and those waitresses are trained to always be scanning the dining area. I wouldn't expect anything less from them and the Wyatt brothers that run the group. But, they also pay their waitresses a few hundred yen more per hour.

Those two, American style expectation in service and demanded by the owner, plus a higher rate than the average waitress, combine to create good service on par with the typical American level. Without those two, for the most part, waitresses here do not serve very well.

Though, without reducing their base hourly wage, introducing a tipping system could help to rectify that imbalance in service.

[dk]

You mean Payne brothers? :P Wyatt is only one of them. lol

As for your water story, if the girl was cute, I positively would have kept making her come over to fill up my cup! If she was fat and ugly... I would probably have done as you did and just asked for a pitcher. hehe.

[TheNoNamedOne]

You mean Payne brothers? :P Wyatt is only one of them. lol

lol. Yes, that is it. Wyatt sticks out in my memory cuz he always feels a need to tell me a funny dirty joke -- which I enjoy too much.

As for your water story, if the girl was cute, I positively would have kept making her come over to fill up my cup! If she was fat and ugly... I would probably have done as you did and just asked for a pitcher. hehe.

Borderline decision on both counts. But my wife was with us.

All we freakin wanted was a damn pitcher on the table in that empty restaurant with freakin 10 pitchers sitting on the counter not being used! Geeeeesh. lol.

One pitcher! One trivial request! And a girl who just couldn't understand why she didn't have enough time to get all her napkins stuffed in those freakin napkin holders!!!

[dk]

Yeah, some people just have no backbone. I highly doubt her boss would chew her out for something as silly as letting you keep the pitcher.

Although... that is a pretty smart decision to not leave pitchers with customers. It's only a matter of time before a restaurant is faced with an evil customer who poisons dozens of people. I'd hate to be stuck in the middle of that lawsuit.

[Mad Hatter]

She can poison my coke with some Jack

[Asshat]

The Paynes make you pay for that "Americanized" service. I don't want to blast them, as two of the brothers are friends of mine. But their establishments are a poor comparison of either American or Japanese waitstaff methodology.

[TheNoNamedOne]

American waitresses will come to your table two or three times, often times not as part of refilling water, and ask, "Is everything all right here?"

That service is typically lacking here in Japan.

[dk]

American waitresses will come to your table two or three times, often times not as part of refilling water, and ask, "Is everything all right here?"

That service is typically lacking here in Japan.
Woah, Americans doing things different than Japanese? You're kidding me! :rolleyes:

Whenever I go out to eat (typically Izakaya), the girls end up visiting my table a good 20 times or more. They don't come over to ask if everything is all right. They also don't call me sweety, honey, or sugar as the old women waitresses used to do at the old trucker restaurant right downstairs from my apartment in Ohio. It's a whole new world out here.

[Talindra]

hmmm
Well i don't live in japan and don't really know how it goes but. i did work in a restaurant once. (not very long i didn't like it and got fired lol)
But in my understanding, even if you would have be allowed to tip that poor girl, she wouldn't have left you the pitcher. And she would have said the same thing about changing something from the food you ordered. tip has nothing to do with that, that only has to do with what her boss tells her to do.
And besides. you don't want to leave a pitcher at the table, you want the client to eat, not fill their belly with water.

[coldnoodles]

I get better service from Japanese waiters and waitresses compared to anything I've ever experienced in America any day of the week.

Yelling sumimasen is part of the culture here except at restaurants that have the pimpom button.

I can only remember having bad service from a restaurant once on Okinawa. Ever. And that was simply because they were understaffed and completely packed.

Also, in America, most waitresses make an average of a few dollars per hour and then the bulk of their pay is from tips. It doesn't work that way here. On average, how much more money are American waitresses pulling in per night compared to Japanese waitresses.

Sorry, I just don't see the lack of service, and I've eaten out a lot.


I agree with you to a point. We get way better service off base than on base. On base - OMG...there is no service! The Rocker NCO and Officer's club I swear is self service, my daughter refil our drinks, I give her their tip! I fill out coment cars non stop at chili's for sucky service or no service, sometimes I will get free gift cards, but we got tired of the cold food, waiting forever for food and drinks. Here me and my husband laugh and joke about everything and still waiting for drinks or something, we end up walking out. Off base - never had any problems, service has always been good.

When we have bad service at a restaurant we don't go back for awhile or depending on how bad it was from service, food, atmosphere we never go back. We eat out almost daily to Japanese restaurants.

There are some restaurants in the states they have excellent service, but some have the worst. We went back home last month for 3wks. we ate out mainly. I complained to all the sucky service, waiting forever for food, getting cold food, being told a waitress wouldn't serve us cuz my husband is asian (2hrs later we got our cold food).

I rather eat off base to get the best service!

[P_chan]

yes saying that the service in america is better then in japan is a joke. Japanese are all about pleasing their customers. Not just in the food industry, but just about every other one as well! I've never had a problem with a japanese waiter/waitress not coming by the table often. I prefer to be left alone while I eat anyways. Thats why I love the pin pon button!

[TheNoNamedOne]

They[waitresses] also don't call me sweety, honey, or sugar as the old women waitresses used to do at the old trucker restaurant right downstairs from my apartment in Ohio.

Nice and folksy when they do that. That friendliness in service always caused my father and other family members and friends to tip well.

Trucker restaurants have some great biscuits and gravy! Oh, and the Sh:t on the Shingle is out of this world!!! (But I don't eat it anymore)

It's a whole new world out here.

Agreed. One where the level of service is degraded.