Gratuity include !... GRATUITY INCLUDED ! WTF ?!?!? * The original tip thread*

[sillymofo]

Ok... to make a long story short... when the damn waiter brought my check after we've finished our dinner at a restaurant on Santa Monica's 3rd street prominade, I noticed "Gratuity Included" on the check. Now, this has never happened to any restaurants that I went to, and this is not a fancy restaurant either. Dinner was about $20.00 a plate, but we didn't look like most of the people that ate there, i.e. I was in my usual khaki and shirt, and gf, like always, looks hot. I got the impression that they didn't really want to serve us there, don't know if it was cuz I was Asian, or I didn't look like I "should" eat at their stupid ass restaurant (Mario's Bistro or something like that). The whole time, the waiters never came up and ask if we're doing o.k. and by any standards, that's bad service to me.

How would you take it, I took it as an insult... don't know if I was over reacting... Your thoughts?

 

[MacBaine]

I never understood the 'gratuity included'... if service is bad, and gratuity is included, I would talk to the manager and have them take it off.

 

[Gyrene]

Umm...a lot of places have gratuity included...you're definately overreacting.

 

[amdskip]

How much, 15%? I would have asked to speak to a manager.

 

[Ryan]

Yea, if the service sucked, refuse to pay the gratuity.

 

[sillymofo]

Originally posted by: dtyn
Umm...a lot of places have gratuity included...you're definately overreacting.

Of all the years going to restaurants and eating out, this is the first time I've had gratuity included on the receipt.

 

[badluck]

I would tell themthey messed up the bill and added gratuity. I decide how much to tip, not them.

 

[Amused]

How many of you were at the table?

Most restaurants will put the tip on the check for parties of 8 or more.

Of course, you have every right to demand it be taken off if you feel the service was sub-par.

 

[sillymofo]

Originally posted by: Amused
How many of you were at the table? Most restaurants will put the tip on the check for parties of 8 or more.

just the two of us.

 

[MrChad]

How many people were in your party? Just you and your gf? It's not uncommon for gratuity to be included for parties of six or more.

EDIT: Sorry, I post too slowly.

 

[AbsolutDealage]

I would be pissed. Unless it was a party of 8+ they have no right to slap on the tip like that.

It actually happened to a couple of friends of mine (group of 4). They went to a restaurant and got horrible service. The check came with the tip already added. One of the guys insisted that the waiter take the tip off... and that he would "take care of the tip" himself. They took the 20% off and he left a 10% tip.

 

[richardycc]

did you use a buy one get one free coupon?

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: cr4zymofo

Originally posted by: Amused
How many of you were at the table? Most restaurants will put the tip on the check for parties of 8 or more.

just the two of us.

In that case, I would protest, and explain to them that if this is standard policy, you will not be returning. And if it's not standard policy, please explain why you were singled out. Either way, I'd not go back.

 

[alkemyst]

Most places will automatically add a gratuity to parties of 5 or more (sometimes 6 or more, etc).

The reason are:

One, the check now has a set total and it makes it easy to divide if you do it by 'common manners' where dining together is a group thing and not something where Suzi spent 5.96 on her burger and Frank 10.95 on his chicken plate, etc

....high school you do that because you don't know better. Now if someone orders the filet and lobster when everyone else is having chips and dip...then they should step up and offer to pay extra.

Two, a lot of times a 'party' has a few members eating outside their social circle. Getting a $10 chicken sandwich has some idiots thinking why should they tip with the sandwich so expensive.

Three, last but not least I like it because people sometimes drop down the next dollar amount of their meal without thinking about tax even...so now I have $7 for a $6.95 plate that with tax coming to about 40 cents and a tip which should be at least a buck....so now I or someone else has to come up with another $1.40 to make up the difference.

Also in tourist areas it is common in season, esp if you have alot of canadians....they will not leave a tip even if proded in South Florida most of the time...argueing that it should have been included. Many restaurants will add tip in automatically during these seasons.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: Amused
How many of you were at the table?

Most restaurants will put the tip on the check for parties of 8 or more.

Of course, you have every right to demand it be taken off if you feel the service was sub-par.

well, if it is 8 or more, i think you should be very lenient in what you consider bad service. that's one of the reasons why it is included.

if it was just the 2 of you, i have NEVER encountered gratuity included at a resturaunt for just 2 people.

 

[shenaniganz]

That's BS. I would protest, maybe give the waiter the tazer. I usually tip the standard 15% if service is acceptable, but depending on service the tip can be anywhere from 10-20%. Once at Applebees the service was so terrible I left a one cent tip, just so the waitress knew I hadn't forgotten the tip.

 

[amnesiac]

^^^ You're not paying attention.

This is in Santa Monica, CA. Party of 2. It's a subpar Italian joint. Their food isn't even that great.
cr4zymofo, your server was probably just a stupid dildo. Do yourself a favor and don't eat there. If you're gonna get italian from Santa Monica, go to the place up the street (Used to be Trastevere, dunno what it is now).

Not as bad as the time I went to Teaser's across the way. The server showed up twice during the whole meal -- once to take our order, once to give us the check. Drinks, bread, dinner all served by the poor overworked busboy. My attempts to signal the waiter were flat-out IGNORED.

So I left him a 2 cent tip. He RUNS UP to us when we're halfway down the block, yelling at me and calling us cowards for doing that. I tell him to fvck off. The place closed a month later. I hope the bastard is still unemployed.

 

[Ranger X]

and gf, like always, looks hot

And somehow this plays into the rant about gratuity.

Many restaurants are adopting the practice of including gratuity in the bill for large parties and some even calculate 15% and 20% already by writing it off to the side. My take on gratuity is that if the service sucked, you shouldn't be obligated to pay the standard 15%.

 

[prvteye2003]

Originally posted by: rbloedow
Yea, if the service sucked, refuse to pay the gratuity.

yep

 

[sillymofo]

Originally posted by: richardycc
did you use a buy one get one free coupon?

haha... ha....

Like I've stated, this is not the first time I go to a restaurant. I've been to more prestigious restaurants than this dump, dressed the same and never had any problems. I never, ever put on a suit just to go eat, and I didn't think that this was one of those stupid restaurant. Don't know if it's being an Italian restaurant has anything to do with it. I usually tip very well, even with bad service, I kinda understand how hard the job is, but to assume that I don't, that's what ticked me off.

 

[alkemyst]

Also since you mentioned you were not dressed like others that where eating there....chances are you should have picked another restaurant.

That's another thing here in South Florida that is hard sometimes...many places have open dress codes due to the beach atmosphere....however there are also many not necessarily dinner jacket places, but rather no jeans and collared shirt only places.

You get Joe Dirt coming to the reception and being told politely that he is too dressed down even for the complementary coat they would lend him. Now he goes on a screaming tirade of how just because he is a working man doesn't mean he should be excluded. How this is the F----ing beach, are you really supposed to where a black tie to it? etc....

It's not fair to the other patrons you have dressed up for there meal. A restaurant is not necessarily an equal opportunity place to catch a meal .

It could have been a slightly un-needed reminder that the $20 does not include the tip....and as always whether or not tip is included, it doesn't mean you have to pay anything...you can pay for the tip as you see fit, simply X'ing it out and rewriting it.

 

[kranky]

First time that happened to me was this summer on vacation at a steakhouse in Wyoming. The menu did point out that a 15% gratuity would be added to the check.

As you might expect, the service was pretty bad and I had to ask the cashier to have it removed. What made it awkward was that the waitress was standing at the register when I went to pay and she was looking daggers at me. I handed her $5 (vs. the $12 that was on the check) and left. I'm sure she was thinking "just another cheap tourist" but I couldn't see the point of getting into a discussion about it on the way out the door.

 

[PunDogg]

Originally posted by: MacBaine
I never understood the 'gratuity included'... if service is bad, and gratuity is included, I would talk to the manager and have them take it off.

yeah, talk to the manager

Dogg

 

[sillymofo]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Also since you mentioned you were not dressed like others that where eating there....chances are you should have picked another restaurant. That's another thing here in South Florida that is hard sometimes...many places have open dress codes due to the beach atmosphere....however there are also many not necessarily dinner jacket places, but rather no jeans and collared shirt only places. You get Joe Dirt coming to the reception and being told politely that he is too dressed down even for the complementary coat they would lend him. Now he goes on a screaming tirade of how just because he is a working man doesn't mean he should be excluded. How this is the F----ing beach, are you really supposed to where a black tie to it? etc.... It's not fair to the other patrons you have dressed up for there meal. A restaurant is not necessarily an equal opportunity place to catch a meal . It could have been a slightly un-needed reminder that the $20 does not include the tip....and as always whether or not tip is included, it doesn't mean you have to pay anything...you can pay for the tip as you see fit, simply X'ing it out and rewriting it.

Ok... when I said that I wasn't dressed like the rest of the people, I didn't mean that I went as a bum (halloween is sill three weeks away). Just very casual with khaki and a T.

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: Ranger X

and gf, like always, looks hot

And somehow this plays into the rant about gratuity.

Many restaurants are adopting the practice of including gratuity in the bill for large parties and some even calculate 15% and 20% already by writing it off to the side. My take on gratuity is that if the service sucked, you shouldn't be obligated to pay the standard 15%.

You should NEVER be obligated to pay a tip. A tip should be for exceptional service. If you feel that the water/watress went above and beyond what they needed to do, they deserve a tip. If it was incredibly busy and they managed to do a decent job, I'd say that is a good job and deserves a nice tip. If it's dead and they provide only decent service, then a crappy tip, if any. You should NEVER be obligated to pay a tip. If you have a large party, I would slap you if you didn't though because it's difficult serving those large parties.