MASON CITY – A Mason City woman says she and her co-workers waited on over two dozen players and coaches with the NIACC baseball team Monday and were essentially stiffed on their tips as the team ran up a bill of about $500.
According to Madison Graney of Mason City, she and two other servers waited on the NIACC baseball team Monday when they came into Buffalo Wild Wings for a meal. The team was supposed to play a game against DMACC in Waterloo on Monday, but the game was rained out.
Ms. Graney says that she had the team’s coach at her table, and “he seemed nice, [paid] for the whole team.” She says a total of 26 people were in the party.
“We busted our butts serving this table. It took up most of our dining room,” she told NIT. She said there were no complaints left by anyone in the party about the service or food.
After the meal, a bill of about $500 was presented, and the coach was said to leave a tip of $7, while a few loose dollars were left by a few players, for a total tip of between $17 to $22, split between the three servers. A 15% standard tip would have been $75 on a $500 bill.
“I was speechless when we recieved the tip,” Ms. Graney said. “I live off of my tips. I feed myself, pay my car payments, pay my bills with the money my tables leave me. I don’t think that people understand that. As a waitress your paychecks every other week are extremely small.”
NIT sought clarification from the NIACC Athletic Director, Dan Mason, and NIACC baseball coach, Travis Hergert, about the meal and the tip. Neither had an immediate response to our questions.