If you’re frustrated by poor service at a restaurant, think twice before you decide to not tip. You may be in for a bit more than just a dirty look from the waiter.
"Nobody, nobody wants to be forced to pay a tip or be arrested for terrible service," Leslie Pope said when her happy hour ended in handcuffs.
Pope and John Wagner were hauled away by police and charged with theft for not paying the mandatory 18 percent gratuity totaling $16 after eating at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem, Pa. with six friends.
Pope claimed that they had to wait nearly an hour for their order and that she had to get napkins and silverware for the table herself.
source:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/loca...26052.html
If you have to get the tableware yourself then there's no need for you to pay a tip, that's the waiters job. If that were to happen to me I'd kick his donkey! (well maybe not, but I'd have a-little talk to the manager at-least.)
service charges should be illegal. the original concept of tipping was to reward your waiter, or person who served you for excellent service. expecting a tip, and actually MAKING you pay one imo is disgusting.
ProperBritish Wrote:expecting a tip, and actually MAKING you pay one imo is disgusting.
↑ that...
what's wrong with the world :/
it's not really a tip if it's mandatory, just an added cost to the meal. i may be wrong, but in my professional view, BLEH
Here In the Philippines it may be the equivalent of the 12% value added tax which is mandatory.
I kind of understand the automatic gratuity placed on groups of (blank) or more, but still, if the service was that bad, she needs to be addressing the manager and not trying to passively show her displeasure through her tip (or lack thereof).
On the one hand, I think you should always leave a tip (buffets I occasionally don't if the waiter is particularly unattentive), and having been a pizza delivery man for 4 years, it annoys me to no end when I get stiffed, but it's all the worse when you are paid well below minimum wage, and all your income is from tips. Perhaps, given that outlook, you'd think the waiter/waitresses would take a more proactive approach to earning their tips, but nowadays, everyone just wants everything handed to them.
I suppose the problem could stem from the waiting staff, and if so, the management definitely needs to address the issues that are obviously present, given the customers' complaints. Obviously, something was drawing the attention of the waiting staff, which in this case it was extremely busy, according to the owner. However, if that is the case then it is a management problem, because they did not have enough waiters to meet the anticipated demand for the night. I remember that from ~5-7PM where I used to work, they'd have about 10-12 drivers on a Friday night. After around 6:30 or so, they start letting drivers (who want to go home) go home until they have enough to easily control the flow of orders.
In the end, I'd have to side with the customers. Such bad service obviously is coming from a problem somewhere on the restaurant's side, and so the problems either should have been addressed earlier, or the meal should have been comp'ed (which the owner said they offered, but the customer's deny occurred), and THEN immediately addressed upon the first opportunity. Gratuity should not be absolutely "required" just because of those special situations such as this, but I do believe if there is any effort put forth by the waiting staff, then at least a 15%, and for me I always do a min of 20%, should be left. Just my two cents.
Quitacet Wrote:Here In the Philippines it may be the equivalent of the 12% value added tax which is mandatory.
that's tax, not service charge.
service charge is added after tax.
a tip is a 'service charge' but one out of goodwill. service charges are generally overinflated and an excuse to raise profit.
that's ridiculous. if the service is that bad, no tip is a perfectly good way to express ones displeasure.
and for a bad waiter to have the gall to then call the police?
for shame, for shame.