Couple Arrested for Refusing to Pay Tip

[EthansMom]

On the one hand, as a customer, I usually tip something for less-than-stellar service.

On the other hand, if this article was about an establishment local to me at which I usually dined, I would no longer dine there because I feel that calling the police over a dispute regarding the tip was an grossly inappropriate response to the situation.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We had this conversation while on our Disney vacation last month. We are a family of seven, so we get charged a mandatory gratuity at every table service restaurant.

Of course we would pay tip at each one, but every restaurant has a different level of service. For example, our server at 1900 Park Faire received an over $80 tip for bringing our drinks. We never saw her again. No refills and others cleared our table of plates once.

We still paid close to $1000 in tips for our last vacation, on free dining.

 

[MIGrandma]

Of course not, but that statement could apply to just about any line of work. Until a person has worked retail, they have no idea how difficult it is; until a person has been a teacher, they have no idea how difficult it is, and on it goes.

Exactly! That is why I treat the retail worker, the teacher, etc. etc. with the same respect that I would like to receive at my job. That is why I am patient and polite, not rude and demanding. If more people would try to understand what it's like to be in someone else's shoes, there would be a lot less frustration in all jobs.

 

[scuba]

I don't understand what you are saying here? Do you base your self-worth on the tip left? If I don't leave a tip (which happens very, very rarely), it means the server ruined my experience at the restaurant.

If I don't have silverware and have to source my own - it is 100% the fault of the server. If you are doing your job, you will have checked on me enough to realize I needed some.

If I have to go to the bar and get my own drink - once again the server's fault. I would still leave a tip for that, but I would be peeved if I had to pay the forced 18% for such a crappy level of service.

If I'm sitting in a restaurant without food or without SERVICE for an hour, yep, once again 100% the fault of the server.

Don't completly agree with your last point...I would never sit around waiting an hour without food or service...I would have most certainly spoke up before an hour elapsed, NICELY without risk of folks spitting in my food....how long is it acceptable for a patron to wait until folks stick up for themselves? 10 minutes? 20 minutes? certainly not a whole hour...whose fault is it that you wait a whole hour for food or service? come on stand up for yourselves. If I've waited a whole hour, instead of fuming about it the whole hour get up and go to that little podium thingy where the young 18 or so old coeds are standing and say...hey someone has forgotten about us!...15-20 minutes or so certainly the servers fault for not checking up on a party...but an hour?

 

[MIGrandma]

I agree again, I would suppose there are folks now reading this and saying "i"m going to go and check this place out".......I would also assume that if this was a popular place then I would believe the folks not wanting to go back would be rather low, despite the negative press and might actually think that what these patrons did in fact was stupid.

I would try the restaurant, even after reading the article that is the topic of this conversation.

I would want to find out for myself.

And this is exactly what we did when DH and I were at Mackinaw City for our anniversary. We really wanted to eat at the Dixie Saloon, but most of the reviews on Trip Advisor were poor. So did we really want to risk it? We said yes, let's see for ourselves. I'm glad we did. We had a very sweet server, attentive and helpful. The food was great, no complains whatsoever.

If we would have listened to all the bad complaints we would have missed out on a very nice anniversary dinner.

 

[scuba]

I would try the restaurant, even after reading the article that is the topic of this conversation.

I would want to find out for myself.

And this is exactly what we did when DH and I were at Mackinaw City for our anniversary. We really wanted to eat at the Dixie Saloon, but most of the reviews on Trip Advisor were poor. So did we really want to risk it? We said yes, let's see for ourselves. I'm glad we did. We had a very sweet server, attentive and helpful. The food was great, no complains whatsoever.

If we would have listened to all the bad complaints we would have missed out on a very nice anniversary dinner.

Heck, if we all listened to the complaints , most of us wouldn't go to disney

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

When you go in usually on the menu it will usually say groups of 6 or more 15% w ill be add to your bill. I think when you read that and still stay there then you agree to the terms of the resturant

It usually also says that it's added for your convenience and that you do not have to pay it if you aren't happy.

I used to be a server so I'm very soap box on this subject. Yes, there are really bad servers at there, but 99 percent of the servers out there work there butt off to make every dime they can. When you don't tip a server for whatever reason you are really hurting that server.

It's not my job to ensure that my server is paid appropriately.

And why it is only for larger groups? I'm sure other patrons didn't leave an 18% tip, and noone got arrested.

Sounds like discrimination.

Exactly

It is obvious why this minimum charge would only apply to larger parties, because of the extra work involved.

What extra work?

I can't believe how many people think a 73$ dollar ticket and the server doesn't deserve a dime.

We think that it doesn't matter. The only thing the server DESERVES is their paycheck. The service could have been above-and-beyond stellar and the ONLY thing anyone is required to do is pay for their food.

Excatly!!! I feel like when you don't live a tip you are saying that person isn't worth anything

They shouldn't be basing their self-worth on a tip.

I'm out of the crazy post!! Everyone have a good night and Don't forget to tip your server

I don't think people "forget" to tip. They purposely (and legally) choose not to.

Part of the article I read (not sure if it's the same one that was posted) says that the other part of the problem was that they complained that the mandatory tip was higher than the 18% posted gratuity.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Like I said do you think not refil a drink is bad service? I don't

Absolutely.

+ hour waited for food

+ having to to get their own silverware and napkin so they could actually eat the food.

Especially when I am sitting there for an hour without food. I don't want to be without something to drink either.

That is all part of dining out. I get very annoyed when I get one drink and then never see the server again for a refill.

Even the manager admits the service was not up to par by saying he offered to comp the food.

 

[C.Ann]

A "mandatory" gratuity is a contradiction in terms. I don't blame them for not tipping. Waiting an hour for food is bad enough. But when I have to get up and refill my drink, I get testy. The tip starts to decline. To those who say it's not the server's fault that the restaurant was crowded......Well, it certainly wasn't the customer's fault! If the place is too crowded to properly serve the patrons, then don't seat them. If you think you might not be able to refill tea or water, leave a pitcher on the table. SOMETHING.

I don't think the manager ever offered to comp the meal. If so, he would have taken part of that money and paid the tip. Calling the police was an idiot move and will cost him business. No jury would ever convict these people, because I guarantee you....at least some of those jurors have suffered through lousy service and will sympathize with the customers.

Why should the server get tipped 18% for doing a cruddy job? I don't know of I would have left nothing, but I'd have been reluctant to leave 18%. It may be the restaurant's practice to add an 18% tip to parties of 6 or more, but it was this customer's practice to not tip for lousy service. Maybe they declined to accept the condition because they didn't think they actually received SERVICE.

Regardless of whether or not this news article is 100% correct, I better stay out of places that tack a mandatory gratuity on the bill or for the very first time in my life, I may find myself on the "wrong side of the law"..

I tip based on the quality of service - that is directly related to the server.. (Not the servers fault if the food is burned or raw - I would take that up with the management.) I tip very well for excellent service - a decent amount for average service - less for below average service - and nothing (yes - I said nothing) for "I can't be bothered taking care of you because I'm busy chatting with my co-workers, yakking on my cell phone, flirting with the guy at the bar service"..

And no - I don't tip extra "just" because it's a holiday.. A holiday AND excellent to average service? You bet..

I can assure you I would never step foot in a restaurant that would call the cops over a "tip" - when the meal was paid for without incident..

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

We aren't the only ones who feel this way:

restaurant reviews

 

[tasha99]

I can't stand it when the server doesn't bring a refill because drinks in restaurants cost so much. For my $3 soda, I expect refills. What happens when I don't get them is I take it out of the tip. I wouldn't tip nothing, but I'd subtract a couple bucks for the refills I didn't get. And if it happened more than once, I'd just quit going there.

 

[disykat]

I am very familiar with this story since it's my hometown. The only thing I have a problem with is the fact that everyone is completely believing what this couple says about the service. Yes, the manager admitted that their meals took a long time but how true is it that they had to get their own silverware and drinks? I'm not saying it didn't happen but nobody knows for sure it did either.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again - people are taking the side of the customer because the only one that has been proven a liar in this episode is the restaurant by claiming the couple turned down an offer of comped food prior to refusing to tip. If they did indeed turn down having their food comped, not tipping is hardly a big deal because the restaurant came out ahead.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Someone on that restaurant review site that I posted asked an interesting question:

Second, I wonder if the IRS is aware of what they're doing. If that 18% isn't "optional", then I hope the IRS is reporting it as INCOME to them, and as WAGES to the waiters and waitresses. FICA has to be paid (both parts), along with income taxes/etc.

Comments? I don't know anything about how this stuff works...

 

[scuba]

There seems to be a couple of sides here being unreasonable, the whole server issue and the tip, that tip is divided between wait staff, cooks, folks busing tables and even the bar tenders in most cases. I know I just couldn't leave without leaving anything. Now with that said, it's also unreasonable for the restuarant to drop the 911 on the patrons....cut your losses and let them walk..end of story lesson learned, question is for all of you now is, can this establishment not permit them back in again ever? I think that most of us would see comps as a suitable reembursment of poor service and apparently the patrons wouldn't have none of that. The greatest tragedy to this story is that the police had to be taken off the road to handle this. There HAS to be more to the story.....I would have thought a dispatcher wouldn't have just have said, "i'm sorry resturant man, that appears to be a civil issue and not criminal". I'm sending my police cruiser over to the speedy quick..it was just robbed at gun point

 

[eliza61]

Good for the people... I wouldn't tip either.

My question is why the police felt the need to arrest anybody.... unless nobody on the police force understands the definition of "gratuity". Somebody's panties got bunched up, I guess.

Maybe it's because I'm live in a major city that is financially strapped and trying not to lay police and firemen off, but as a tax payer I'd be pissed at this collosial waste of police time and now the waste of a courts time.

Bad service means no tip!! The couple was way more generous than me, no way would I have sat for an hour waiting for food without finding the manager.

 

[michellev]

Don't completly agree with your last point...I would never sit around waiting an hour without food or service...I would have most certainly spoke up before an hour elapsed, NICELY without risk of folks spitting in my food....how long is it acceptable for a patron to wait until folks stick up for themselves? 10 minutes? 20 minutes? certainly not a whole hour...whose fault is it that you wait a whole hour for food or service? come on stand up for yourselves. If I've waited a whole hour, instead of fuming about it the whole hour get up and go to that little podium thingy where the young 18 or so old coeds are standing and say...hey someone has forgotten about us!...15-20 minutes or so certainly the servers fault for not checking up on a party...but an hour?

If I have been sitting around long enough that I have to go seek out someone to ask for service - yep, I'm blaming the server for that. So, still 100% the server's fault in my world.

 

[scuba]

We aren't the only ones who feel this way:

restaurant reviews

This is most unfortunate, a resturant review site that has turned into much a message board, It says nothing about the food and really nothing about the service, Just about a bunch of folks stating an opinion, and it's just that because i'm certain that most of them were not even there when the event took place. I'm certainly of the opinion that this could have been handled way differently from both sides if we are to believe the story, even the cops handled it wrong......handcuffs really, for not paying a bill. Glad we didn't hear about a tazing....again, There has to be more to the story

 

[Dachman]

No, you are right the restaruant needs to make sure that there enough people on the floor that can handle the busy time,but once again that isn't the waitress fault

So it sounds as if whatever happens it is not the wait persons fault at least 99% of the time as you stated earlier because that is the number you pulled out of the air to indicate good wait staff.

Saying that 99% of wait staff is very good may be pushing it.

When we tip who are we tipping, I know when I worked as a bus boy at 16 if I kept tables clean and helped the wait staff I would get a very small tip at the end of my shift, did I say small I mean very very small. I remember also the cooks getting their tip also based upon how they did. Being a bus boy at 16 I would take what I could get and I would dred certain demanding wait staff who would tip me terrible (here is a buck kid have fun).

So when I tip I am tipping based upon the overall experiance in the restaraunt. If the hostess is not engaging and is more worried about talking to the other hostess and does not bring my drinks that I requested or the table is dirty and the food is slow in coming or incorrect that will all reflect in my tip.

But with all that said I dont remember ever skipping out on a tip and rarely give a small tip.

In the end a tip I would give to you wait people, if you would like to assurances of steady wages and not a fluctuation nightly then find a new job.

Entitlement is an ugly thing and we see it all over the place. happygirl, being happy is based upon circumstance being joyfull is not based upon circumstance but a state of mind. Not to be harsh but you are living up to your name and being ruled by your circumstance.

 

[disney1990]

We had this conversation while on our Disney vacation last month. We are a family of seven, so we get charged a mandatory gratuity at every table service restaurant.

Of course we would pay tip at each one, but every restaurant has a different level of service. For example, our server at 1900 Park Faire received an over $80 tip for bringing our drinks. We never saw her again. No refills and others cleared our table of plates once.

We still paid close to $1000 in tips for our last vacation, on free dining.

OMGoodness - you had almost $6,000 in restaurant meals. No wonder you went during free dining.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

^^ That's the point. Bad news travels fast. People don't want to eat at a restaurant where customers are arrested for doing nothing wrong.