mello
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 26, 2005
- Messages
- 1,497
Well in order to "earn" the gratuity - it is the servers responsibilty to give prompt service....
jerry557 - You are 100% on the mark that it is not just Disney that adds the automatic gratuity to parties of 6 (or 8 depending on the restaurant) or more ...
...and did you know that even though the add-on gratuity is a *policy* it is not something that is mandated by ANY laws - if you feel your service for your large party was not WORTH the automatic gratuity - get a manager - let them know and be specific - even at Disney, just because they serve at Disney doesn't mean they are AMAZING & STELLAR servers!!!!
.....
Part of the issue I have with this policy stems from not one but two horrible experiences in this regard that we have had at the Rainforest Cafe (I should add, not the ones at WDW - we haven't been there because DH flat out refuses to ever set food in any RFC again). On two separate occasions we celebrated a child's birthday with a family dinner at the RFC nearest us - larger groups but not huge. The service was deplorable both times. Children's dinners were completely forgotten and not brought until everyone else was finished, a couple drinks were never brought at all (yet they surely showed up on the bill), one time we were actually charged for someone else's meal and then the server had the audacity to argue with dh about it and say, "Well somebody has to pay for it!" (Yes, maybe, but it isn't going to be us thank you very much, how about charging the person who actually ordered and ate it???) The second time, my brother's whole family's meal was charged to our visa card by mistake and it took them about 25 minutes to figure out how to fix it while my poor dh and brother sat there waiting and everyone else left the table. On both occasions dh explained very politely that he didn't feel the automatic gratuity was warranted and he would like to take it off of the bill, and not only did the servers argue with him but the manager came over and argued with him about it too. They flat out refused to do it, saying, "It's our policy".
So anywhoo... I know that the Rainforest is not Disney and vs versa, and we have certainly always had competent service at Disney, and often downright fabulous service at Disney (which is why dh decided we should buy DVC - in his words, after a few particularly magical CM/server experiences, "With service like this, why vacation anywhere else?" Nevertheless, perhaps it's possible to see why I'm extremely wary of the whole enforced tip situation.