Family refuses to pay tip, gets locked inside restaurant

[mmntech]

gra·tu·i·ty   [gruh-too-i-tee, -tyoo-] Show IPA
noun, plural gra·tu·i·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.

FUCK THE IDEALS OF WHAT TIPPING HAS BECOME. Call it a surcharge if you have to and mention no gratuity is required.

It subsidizes wages for staff because restaurants have gotten away for years without having to pay mandatory minimums. I'm sure these places with mandatory tips don't even give the money to the servers.

This is why I don't eat out anymore. It's too expensive and just such an unpleasant experience. Best just cook at home.

 

[SamQuint]

It's right there in the original article.

But that is from the point of view from the cheap ass customers that did not want to pay.

My neice works as a waitress and people pull this crap all the time. She asks if everything is ok and they say yes, no complaints, nothing. Then when the bill comes they make up crap to get out of paying the mandatory gratuity charge.

Restraunts should not call it a mandatory gratuity. They should just call it a mandatory service charge.

 

[yllus]

If you take something without paying for it, the proprietor can hold you until the police arrive to deal with the situation. And, generally speaking, the proprietor has immunity from prosecution or liability if they acted reasonably and with sufficient grounds.

In this case, the "acting reasonably" could be up for debate, but, anyone who thinks that, per se, the manager acted illegally, is just plain wrong.

You learn something new every day! I would have thought this was kidnapping of some sort; in their place (pretending that the event happened exactly as the news story states, which is doubtful) I would have picked up and thrown a bar stool through their window to get out rather than let them hold me. Now I'll (probably) just pay up instead of be out the costs the fee PLUS a plate glass window!

 

[Veliko]

But that is from the point of view from the cheap ass customers that did not want to pay.

Well yes but what other evidence where you wanting?

My neice works as a waitress and people pull this crap all the time. She asks if everything is ok and they say yes, no complaints, nothing. Then when the bill comes they make up crap to get out of paying the mandatory gratuity charge.

But that is from the point of view of the crappy ass waitress that did not want to do her job properly.

 

[brainhulk]

Hotels have been adding mandatory resort fees for awhile. But then again I tip the maids extra on top of that too

 

[bfdd]

Conversely, the customer therefore has no protections against potential douchebag service staff, except in their potential tip. Hence if the waitstaff doesn't like it then THEY should go work at McDonald's instead.

Out of curiosity, how much of that mandatory 17% do you think is going to go to the servers, considering it's added as a line item on the customer's check and the check itself will still likely have a line for an additional "tip"?

And if I may ask, (MotionMan may actually chime in on this) - if a binding contract used language that is contradictory or ambiguous, are those still terms legally binding?

I fucking hate that they include the TIP line for you after they put on the mandatory gratuity. I've accidentally double tipped because of that non-sense at least twice.

 

[Texashiker]

If you take something without paying for it,

The person paid for the meal.

The extra fee was an agreement, and therefor should have been a civil matter.

 

[mnewsham]

I fucking hate that they include the TIP line for you after they put on the mandatory gratuity. I've accidentally double tipped because of that non-sense at least twice.

When going out to eat with mandatory gratuity I usually tip 20% if the mandatory is 18% then I tip a bit more on the tip line to bring it up to 20%

 

[mnewsham]

The person paid for the meal.

The extra fee was an agreement, and therefor should have been a civil matter.

good luck trying to make that argument, they should have payed the BILL, the TOTAL amount that was requested, not what they thought they should pay.

 

[Texashiker]

good luck trying to make that argument, they should have payed the BILL, the TOTAL amount that was requested, not what they thought they should pay.

That is why I said to take the case to a small claims court. That is what those courts were setup for.

If you lose, its not like your having to pay an attorney or going to be out mega money.

Pay the bill, then take the matter up with a justice of the peace.

 

[alkemyst]

This entire situation is a complete and utter failure on the manager's side.

His staff are rubbish.

He is unable to deal with complaints diplomatically.

He has gained nothing but a bad reputation.

I'd eat there because of this, I am tired of seeing these slobs having their steak night celebration with 5+ couples and kids running everywhere. On top of that they hog the service by never ordering anything together like refills.

Meanwhile everyone is talking about deals and money on their pay-as-you-go phones at the top of their lungs.

Of course, they always say service sucked as they really could afford the meal to begin with and then start wanting comps.

When things go south they always drop 'do you know who I am?' or 'dont make me get my people!' lolz

 

[bfdd]

When going out to eat with mandatory gratuity I usually tip 20% if the mandatory is 18% then I tip a bit more on the tip line to bring it up to 20%

I mean paying a full 20% again because I was silly.

 

[rudder]

This does not help one bit...

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2241820

 

[Murloc]

if it's mandatory and you're warned beforehand, then it's part of the bill and the price that you pay. It's not a tip, it's a service charge, just like the couvert.
Still the manager was an asshole. The service was bad: give them a discount.

 

[sactoking]

Respecting MotionMan's opinion and the fact that he is an attorney, I have to disagree.

In my experience most "mandatory gratuity" disclaimers read as some variation of this:

A 17% gratuity will be added to the check for parties of 6 or more.

In that situation I'd say that the fee is not mandatory, since it is referred to as a "gratuity" and gratuities by definition are not mandatory. In that case the customer would have a very compelling argument that the gratuity was just added to the bill for the convenience of the dining party (since many large parties tend to split the bill in some way). If the customer didn't want to pay the gratuity they would not be compelled to since it was a courtesy to add it to the bill and not a mandatory term of service.

I don't recall ever seeing one disclaimer that referred to it as a "mandatory" fee or otherwise obligated the diner to pay.

 

[mnewsham]

Respecting MotionMan's opinion and the fact that he is an attorney, I have to disagree.

In my experience most "mandatory gratuity" disclaimers read as some variation of this:


In that situation I'd say that the fee is not mandatory, since it is referred to as a "gratuity" and gratuities by definition are not mandatory. In that case the customer would have a very compelling argument that the gratuity was just added to the bill for the convenience of the dining party (since many large parties tend to split the bill in some way). If the customer didn't want to pay the gratuity they would not be compelled to since it was a courtesy to add it to the bill and not a mandatory term of service.

I don't recall ever seeing one disclaimer that referred to it as a "mandatory" fee or otherwise obligated the diner to pay.

When I was in Miami almost every restaurant we went to had 15-18% added automatically no matter the party size because of all the assholes who would not tip at all. Only places it didn't happen at was BLT: Steak, however that meal was $250 for two people... I would have been slightly offended if they added it automatically there.

 

[SandEagle]

i would have just yelled 'cockroach!" and start vomiting and holding my stomach as if in pain.

seriously, when is congress going to pass a bill that makes tipping illegal. i loathe the concept of tipping.

 

[JulesMaximus]

BWAHAHAHA!!! That manager should be fired. Congrats, you just created a whole bunch of negative press for your business. Hope you enjoy unemployment.

If I owned that restaurant I'd fire that manager.

We were at a restaurant not too long ago and had terrible service. The manager came over and apologized profusely, comped one of our meals (value about $30) and gave us free deserts.

The customer is always right.

 

[highland145]

just wondering... since the purpose of locks is usually to keep people out, how exactly does someone get locked inside a restaurant? Seems like it would be pretty easy to open a window or something.

You would think an alarmed fire door would be in place but then the fire dept will come, possibly. What I see a lot of are the double keyed locks so no thumb turn on one side.


I guess we're still assuming the service was bad?

 

[rpanic]

http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-fisherman-houston

Damage done

 

[surfsatwerk]

The customer is always right.

Except when the customer is drunk, belligerent, or trying to skip the bill.

 

[Texashiker]

Except when the customer is drunk, belligerent, or trying to skip the bill.

The customer was not trying to "skip the bill".

The customer did not receive reasonable and customary service, and therefor should not have to pay the added fees.

The owner of the business tried to add extra fees, but did not provide reasonable service to justify the fees.

 

[highland145]

The customer was not trying to "skip the bill".

The customer did not receive reasonable and customary service, and therefor should not have to pay the added fees.

Again, do we know this or it was a convenient excuse?

 

[Wreckem]

There are reasons why its called grautity even when its mandatory. Its because of labor laws.

If it was called a surcharge, then its not a tip and cannot be treated as such. Which means the waiter isn't entitled to it.

 

[Texashiker]

Again, do we know this

What do you consider reasonable and customary service?

This should be common sense. If you have to ask, leave your moms basement a few times a year.