Boathouse Service Charge Query

[Gehrig1B]

Wondering if this has happened to others...

We had a reservation at Boathouse 2 weeks ago and only planned to celebrate a birthday with desserts and drinks. When the check arrived an 18% service charge was added even though our party was less than 6. Not sure who keys that in but my thoughts were:

1) Because we weren't eating dinner and our tab was going to be about 30% of what a dinner tab might be this was a way to insure a decent tip?

2) Although I am a very good tipper and this situation called for a very nice tip recognizing the situation the wait staff really lost out here because I refuse to tip more when forced to pay a service charge! I was ready to tip 30-40% on our $70 tab.

3) If this is SOP how many people never notice their small party was charged a Service Charge of 18% and tip another 20% on top of that?

I am not complaining just wondering if this has been anyone else's experience and those with experience in the restaurant business can offer a better explanation.

Thanks, and Boathouse we will be back but someone lost out on a great tip by adding the service charge to our bill.

 

[Jennasis]

How many were in your party (including all children/babies if any)?

 

[Gehrig1B]

How many were in your party (including all children/babies if any)?

Party of 4 adults and one child.

 

[Jennasis]

Party of 4 adults and one child.

No infants/toddlers? That is odd since you only had a part of 5 by that count. I thought 6 was the magic number for the auto-gratuity. I guess I will have to keep a close watch on those TS receipts.

 

[Gehrig1B]

No infants/toddlers? That is odd since you only had a part of 5 by that count. I thought 6 was the magic number for the auto-gratuity. I guess I will have to keep a close watch on those TS receipts.

Party of 5 living, breathing souls. No one else.

 

[supersnoop]

Is the Boathouse owner by Disney? Their policy might be different.

 

[Gehrig1B]

I am sure it is not directly owned by Disney but I did check the receipt and at the bottom there was a disclaimer stating a service charge would be added for parties of 6 or more.

 

[sponica]

Party of 5 living, breathing souls. No one else.

Maybe a ghost from Haunted Mansion tagged along? But in all seriousness, I would have just flagged down a waiter and played dumb "I'm confused....I thought parties of 6 triggered the gratuity".

 

[Gehrig1B]

Maybe a ghost from Haunted Mansion tagged along? But in all seriousness, I would have just flagged down a waiter and played dumb "I'm confused....I thought parties of 6 triggered the gratuity".

We had not visited Haunted Mansion that day... I thought about asking the waiter but decided it was not worth the effort. It did cost the waiter a very nice tip though.

I was just wondering if anyone else had an experience similar or if anyone had insight into why this might have happened.

 

[sponica]

We had not visited Haunted Mansion that day... I thought about asking the waiter but decided it was not worth the effort. It did cost the waiter a very nice tip though.

I was just wondering if anyone else had an experience similar or if anyone had insight into why this might have happened.

More than likely, someone couldn't count...I've had that happen at restaurants where the gratuity is auto billed with large parties. Like there are 9 people but they accidentally put in 10 because it took 10 seats out of service or something wacky like that.

 

[SteveH]

I hate any mandatory minimum tipping as I usually find the service suffers. Yes, some people are cheapskates, but in this case the employees missed out on a larger tip, but since they can't count properly they probably didn't even care. Doesn't hurt to contact them directly and ask about it, and since you're not asking for are refund it does give them the opportunity to coach their employees (407) 939-2628 - they can't fix something if they don't know its wrong.

 

[Allison]

Do they take Tables in Wonderland and did you use it?

 

[hllb]

I've heard of people being charged the gratuity if they reserved for 6, but fewer showed up. The restaurant fixed it, but it was an automatic thing based on the reservation.

 

[Gehrig1B]

Do they take Tables in Wonderland and did you use it?

We did not use Tables in Wonderland and I do not believe Boathouse accepts it.

I've heard of people being charged the gratuity if they reserved for 6, but fewer showed up. The restaurant fixed it, but it was an automatic thing based on the reservation.

Reservation was for 5.