Couple Arrested for Refusing to Pay Tip

[FireDancer]

It seems to me that there are some people that operate under the assumption that gratuity is guaranteed or automatic. Gratuity is earned, not automatic. Both automatic gratuity and manatory tip are oxymorons. If it is mandatory it is a service charge and not gratuity or a tip. Just because it is called gratuity or a tip doesn't make it so.

I tip when it is earned and don't when it is not. The size of the tip depends on the service I am provided. If I get better service while eating a $20 dollar meal than I do while eating a $100 meal the former will get more gratuity. Just because the meal costs more at the later doesn't mean the gratuity earned was greater. What constitutes earning gratuity is the sole discretion of the customer and may very from one to the next.

It takes a lot for me to not leave gratuity but I have left none when my service has been unacceptable. It is my servers responsibility to know if the kitchen messed up my order. It should not make it to my table incorrect. If the kitchen made my meal wrong and the server tells me it will be a bit longer because she noticed it was wrong and they are redoing it her gratuity just increased. If it makes it to my table and I have to send it back the gratuity decreased.

When a subcontractor messes up on a job it is ultimately the contractor's job to make it right with the customer. Look at it like the server is the contractor who has to make sure the subcontractors are properly servicing the customer (ie:Me).

 

[OceanAnnie]

Glad the police are dropping the charges.. They never should have been made in the first place if the refusal to pay the tip was based on poor service.. They paid for their meal, so they didn't "steal" anything..

Thanks for the follow-up, C.Ann. I don't think they should've been arrested either.

 

[MIGrandma]

The soft drinks in most restaurants the servers can get them at the soda stations, which at a lot of chain restaurants for example, they may have at least 2 or 3 soda stations available. That is not a bartender issue in most restaurants.

The silverware and a napkin is initally usually the hostess's or host job, but if they don't do, it becomes the server's job, because the customers aren't supposed to get their own utensils, should they? They shouldn't be serving themselves the basics.

I can say for sure who is to blame, the LAST PERSON to notice if there is no utensils and is getting paid to notice this, which is the SERVER, NOT anyone else. It doesn't matter who is at fault initially, it only matters if the customer receives the mistake or not, because if the server can prevent the mistake, that prevents the forgotten silverware/napkin/refill, which prevents problems. That makes the service have no problems, so WHO do you think is at fault now that you see it through common sense?

It's always the server's fault if you don't have utensils unless there aren't any ones to clean available. I have had a waitress once serve me and my husband side salads and told us since there was no clean silverware, SHE had to go clean some. She didn't depend on the kitchen staff. She tried to make her own tip. We sat for at least 3-4 minutes waiting to eat the salad with no forks. The point is, if she had the attitude you have, we wouldn't have been eating our salads. We would have received our meals before getting any utensils even depending on "it's someone else's job, not mine" attitude.

Soft drinks/tea/water are ALWAYS the responsiblity of the server unless there are no soda stations, which there are some restaurants that you have to go to the bar to get soft drinks, but they are rare in general.

I think you're an imposter.

You cannot be the real Springs1 because you didn't use enough CAPS, and you didn't complain about the Ranch dressing.

 

[happygirl]

I think you're an imposter.

You cannot be the real Springs1 because you didn't use enough CAPS, and you didn't complain about the Ranch dressing.

 

[DarthKTrava]

It seems to me that there are some people that operate under the assumption that gratuity is guaranteed or automatic. Gratuity is earned, not automatic. Both automatic gratuity and manatory tip are oxymorons. If it is mandatory it is a service charge and not gratuity or a tip. Just because it is called gratuity or a tip doesn't make it so.

I tip when it is earned and don't when it is not. The size of the tip depends on the service I am provided. If I get better service while eating a $20 dollar meal than I do while eating a $100 meal the former will get more gratuity. Just because the meal costs more at the later doesn't mean the gratuity earned was greater. What constitutes earning gratuity is the sole discretion of the customer and may very from one to the next.

It takes a lot for me to not leave gratuity but I have left none when my service has been unacceptable. It is my servers responsibility to know if the kitchen messed up my order. It should not make it to my table incorrect. If the kitchen made my meal wrong and the server tells me it will be a bit longer because she noticed it was wrong and they are redoing it her gratuity just increased. If it makes it to my table and I have to send it back the gratuity decreased.

When a subcontractor messes up on a job it is ultimately the contractor's job to make it right with the customer. Look at it like the server is the contractor who has to make sure the subcontractors are properly servicing the customer (ie:Me).

Don't blame the server if he/she isn't the one who brings your food to the table. Alot of places use a "runner" who's job is to take the food to the table, creating one less "hassle" for the server to deal with so they can concentrate more on customer service.

And I've seen where it's the BUSBOY who sets the table after he (usually) clears the table.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'm a server and I don't get this one. No one HAS to tip me...PERIOD! Tips means TO INSURE PROPER SERVICE. A mandatory tip isn't a tip...isn't a service charge and that's COMPLETELY different. Wow...arrest someone for $16! YIKES!

 

[DarthKTrava]

I'm a server and I don't get this one. No one HAS to tip me...PERIOD! Tips means TO INSURE PROPER SERVICE. A mandatory tip isn't a tip...isn't a service charge and that's COMPLETELY different. Wow...arrest someone for $16! YIKES!

:thumbsup:

Also: love your Hanukkah sig! Hope you have a great Hanukkah!!!

 

[smidgy]

No. If we were talking about a gratuity, it would be labeled 'gratuity' on the menu. It's a charge for service, i.e. service charge.

Disney already addresses this, so it's not unreasonable to expect that other restaurant companies do as well:
Parties of six or more seated at one table are assessed the 18% service charge.
Parties of six or more seated at separate tables which have the same server are assessed the 18% service charge.
Parties of six or more seated at separate tables which have different servers* are exempt from the 18% service charge - unless one or more of those tables has six or more Guests seated at it.

*Likely that separate tables with different servers would not be adjacent to each other, making group interaction difficult/impossible.[/QUOTE


I have read threads on the disney "tipping info" thread... people SO stressed out about having to pay 18%, tip, and looking for ways around it. all I know is.. hubby and I go to disney A LOT... just the two of us! and if we are having a romantic dinner, we do NOT want to be in the middle of 2 tables of 4, who are "really" together, and the kids are running back and forth (this happened to us once). we asked the waitress, "if these peopleare "together", why aren't they seated together? (actually, they were seated about 15-20 minutes apart, but it didn't matter to us!) so hubby and I hd to try to have conversations (let alone any "romantic" conversations) with "uncle" so and so talking to jimmy nephew or grandma sophie ACROSS our table! they had 2 ressies for 4 at the same time. and they avoided the dreaded 18% gratuity.
sheesh!

 

[Petraman]

hehe... I think we strucka nerve on this one

This has long been a pet peeve for me as well.Truth is, many restaurants still say in their menu "mandatory gratuity" and therein is the problem.

Gratuity according to the dictionary..
gra⋅tu⋅i⋅ty  /grəˈtuɪti, -ˈtyu-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [gruh-too-i-tee, -tyoo-]
–noun, plural -ties. 1. a gift of money, over and above payment due for service, as to a waiter or bellhop; tip.
2. something given without claim or demand.

I worked for many years in a high-end restaurant where the only salary we earned were tips. We earned our tips with exceptional service.

Want to force people to pay even if you give subpar service? Then do NOT call it a gratuity... you have to earn that!

Call it service charge or whatever, but stop pretending it is anything but a fee you charge for the privilege of dining in your restaurant.

 

[smidgy]

Honestly they should pay servers more than that crappy base wage, making them earn the rest in tips.... But doesn't mean they should be given the shaft by the customer unless their service is crappy. In which case they should find another line of work.... Waiting tables isn't for everyone.

well, there'snumerous discussions online about this. .. if owners paid more, ... the price of entrees would raise..(obviously). actualy, we servers do not want "minimum wage". we would rather take sub minimum wage, hve the prices low eouh where the average person can afford to go out to eat, and we ahve the opportunity to make more.
quite honestly, if being a server was a minimum wage job.. flat... I would not do it. most professional servers would quit. you would get sub-par service.. at best. good servers pride ourselves on our good service. I almost always get 20%, but I know my customers. but many tip 15%, even though I spend time with them, they just can't afford it.
I HAVE had the "big" table, where it takes up your time, and , in order to give good service, you pass on other tables (and also to be fair to the other servers, in the "rotation, I have a table of 10, the next few tables that come in are deuces,, I'm not going to be a "table hog"! )
so, business is slow, (economy and all), I'm passig up on other tables andcounting on this one to make my night worthwhile. and... NOT taking hardly any other tables, so that can REALLY give them full attention. (example: I guarantee, when one person asks for another drink, and you say, "does anyone else want anything else from the bar?" no one does... so you go, wait in line.. (YES the waitress has to wait in line like everyone else, behind other waitresses AND the customers at the bar.. who tip the bartender,incase you ever wonder why it took the waitress so long to get just one rum and coke)and I bring that one drink back, NOW someone else wants a drink, and so on, and so on. with a table for 8, you can spend your whole time waiting for drinks, and running back and forth for more butter, tartar, sour cream, etc.
a big table takes a LOT of a server's time. and he/she gives up other tables to take that big table. to give thatbig table good service.
now some people (as I'm sure you have read on these threads ) just, for one reason of another, don't believe in tipping, or think 10% is good. meanwhile the other waitresses are waiting on tables of 2or 4, that don't take much time, and tip well. what do you do? It states on the menu, "gratuity added for parties of 6 or more". yeah, it's ALWAYS a gamble in this business, but for a small table, less of a gamble. if a big table takes up most of your "rush" time?
and, as I read an oinion on another thread, most servers are kidsright out of high school... NO..a lot of us our struggling to pay our mortgages.
I prefer the smaller tables. cause I know they will tip me well, cause give personalized service. and they appreciate it.
I posted earlier about the "gamble".... tough call. you learn to "read" your customers. but you neverknow. there is a group of older "folks" snowbirds.... come in during he summer months (they spend their summers in "the villages" in fla (lucky them!!!)
a group of 8, older people,always get 4 sp. checks. at first I though.. Sep. checks., oh boy.... but... EVERY check ! at LEAST 20%!
I had a group of10...younger people (30s) , one check. younger people always tip more, so I didn't add the 18%. I waited on them hand and foot. 10%!. you never know.
this is why Disney (and many establishmnts) add the 18% gratuity for larger parties. Our restaurant has many private parties (buffet style) where the 18% is included in the cost.
now, the other night, I had a party of 7, 3 kidsl, all ordering pop and iced tea and water.(ie, no cocktails). I gave up other tables to give them good service, they ordered apptizers, etc, talked tothem all about Disney (imagine that! disney should give me a kickback for advertising!)wrot down some disney websites for them (the DIS, of course, and allearsnet and mousesavers)
the bill was 160 and change. I chose NOT to add the 18%.... gamble... gamble... they left me a $40 tip!
but... the grandparents were paying the tab... now, if they are anything like my dad (bless his heart) it would have been $16!. or, 15%... $24 so I made a good choice. cause some people Do get offended if you add the tip, and leave JUST that. others add more anyway.
but, like I said, I've been realy burned on that, too. who wants to work the WHOLE nght, and make squat, on a big table that, you are a good server, but theyre just "cheap"?

in regards to this particular instance, the owners of the restaurant where I work would never let it get so far (not would I) I'm not sure if they got poor service or not (havent really delved into it that far). either way, we would have said, ok you don't like it here, you weren't happy, toodles. no WAY would we have called the police! not only do we not want the bad publicity, w really don't want those kind of customers anyway. sounds like, (the little I hard) they didn'tget silverware?)
even f I KNOCKED myself OUT over a table, and they stiffed me, I would just chock it off to .. "that's the breaks, it's a tough business...sometime it'll come back to them"
I think they should have paid the bill, but I never would have called the police over it. the police have more mportant things to deal with.