guessing it wasn't these 5

Can we please get rid of gratuity and just pay the waitstaff a decent wage?

/soshulizm

tip thread!

Cheap ass customer is snippy. Maybe they'd be better off in an establishment that lets you pay before you eat.

When the bill came, Marks said there was a problem. The restaurant added an automatic 17 percent gratuity because their party had more than five people in it, but Marks didn't feel like the staff earned the full tip so she asked to speak to a manager.

"She was like, 'You have an unsettled bill and ya'll can't leave until you pay it,'" Marks said. "We paid our bill for what we ate, we paid the bill."

Marks said it was only the 17 percent tip they were questioning.

People actually say these things out loud.

I tip everywhere and I tip well but if the service sucks I will either tip poorly or not at all automatic gratuity is the dumbest thing ever. Yes it was clearly marked on their menus so they were made aware before ordering that this was the case but who thinks, oh lets eat somewhere else the service might be poor here and then I'd be forced to tip when I'd rather not?

scottydoesntknow

I really don't know where to stand on the issue.


Heh - scottydoesntknow doesn't know.


Gonna go get the papers, get the papers.

scottydoesntknow: if you receive very crappy service (like they said they did), then forcing someone to tip does nothing to actually improve the service there. The waitstaff know they are getting at least 17% no matter how bad service is, so there's no motivation to become better. Minimum should be 10% for large parties, then you can tip more if the service warrants it.

This.

/Welcome to Obama's Amerika.
//trolling...

Walker: Because People in power are Stupid: she claims they locked the door and called the police.
And Then?

Choose your adventure:

1. When the police arrived the entire restaurant staff was charged with false imprisonment and kidnapping. It was then discovered most of them were illegal aliens. They were all deported immediately. The ones who weren't illegals are still locked up in jail.

2. Since this is Texas, the customers pulled out their guns, the restaurant staff pulled out their guns, and a scene right out of a John Woo movie took place.

3. In the end, the family ended up paying the 17 percent gratuity because they wanted to avoid any further problems


In that situation I'd have been pushing for number 1 - press charges for kidnapping.

Oh, no. They called the Better Business Bureau.

xanadian: Because People in power are Stupid: she claims they locked the door and called the police.
And Then?

I was going to post exactly this.

AND THEN!??

Walker: Choose your adventure:

I'll pick #2.

/not a Texan, but a Mainer
//we like guns

Pick a random number between 1 and 10. If it is 1-5 take option 1, if it is 6-9 take option 2, if it is 10 you lose.

#1 The diners get the drop on the restaurant staff kill 3 wounding 2 and exit the restaurant before the police show up.

#2 The staff shoot two of the diners and sell the rest into slavery to pay the remaining 17%. They have to donate 40% to the local police charity fund though and lose money.

Paris1127: La Fisherman? What kind of a restaurant name is that? What language is that supposed to be?

How about "The Pescadero"?

canuck money even!

scottydoesntknow: The waitstaff know they are getting at least 17% no matter how bad service is, so there's no motivation to become better.

The waitstaff know that I'm never coming back to their shiatty restaurant if their service is crap.

Automatic gratuaity on *5* or more? I've never seen it lower than 8 or more. Seems like quite a racket they have there. Why not just make it "1 or more" and be obvious about it?

As someone who has before worked in restaurants and had large parties where gratuity was included I must agree with the guest. Usually at restauraunts they don't put crappy waiters on the large parties in the first place, people know gratuity is included going in so the service must have been horrible for them to complain in the first place. But then again it was texas and whitetrash people are the worst tippers ever, so they could have just been trying to get out of paying their whole tab.

Put it on a credit card and then do a charge back due to coercion. Let the restaurant and Visa fight it out.

When I'm going to Japan next year -where tipping is a nono- I'm sure I will receive bad service because the waiters there can't adjust their service to the tip they expect from me.

/get rid of tipping already
//charge everyone more instead

It's not often you get e Stockholm syndrome and tipping thread for the price of one.

pudding7: 5 people is a pretty small group to do the forced gratuity thing. I've never seen that, usually it's parties of 8 or more.

Darnit. Beat me to it.

Andrew Wiggin: tip thread!

I ate at an Olive Garden (unfortunately) recently. We had split into multiple checks, but they naturally counted us as a full group...no problem. However, my family and I did not receive our food until after the entire rest of the party had finished eating (more than 1/2 an hour). They never commented on this with an explanation that our food would be right out nor apologized when asked about it. When I paid the bill, I left a $5 tip rather than the full amount from the automatic gratuity. The waiter returned to the table and said that I had not paid enough. I asked if I was obligated to pay the full tip amount. He said yes, so I asked to speak to a manager. While he went to get the manager, I pocketed the $5. The manager said it was not an obligation, so we walked.

Take what you deserve or you deserve less, buddy.

/Cool story bro

Time to bad word of mouth that place into oblivion, if this article doesn't do it.

Gratuity: a gift of money, over and above payment due for service.

Are you legally required to give someone a gift? No? Then unlock the doors motherfarker or I'll have YOU arrested for kidnapping.

KatjaMouse: Cheesus: Can we please get rid of gratuity and just pay the waitstaff a decent wage?

This. Then servers won't get all stabby when a nice family after a Sunday lunch leaves them with a Chick Lit at the end of the meal instead of cash. Uh, Chick Lits don't pay for the gas to get home.

Have you ever eaten at a restaurant in Europe? Fark that. Their waiters get paid, and in most places, service sucks ass. Getting a refill of water makes you feel like the waiter just donated a kidney.

Egoy3k: I tip everywhere and I tip well but if the service sucks I will either tip poorly or not at all automatic gratuity is the dumbest thing ever. Yes it was clearly marked on their menus so they were made aware before ordering that this was the case but who thinks, oh lets eat somewhere else the service might be poor here and then I'd be forced to tip when I'd rather not?

You ever try to get a bill together for a large group without automatic gratuity? There's always some cheapass who's trying to reduce his payment, someone who wants everyone to cover the appetizer they ate as an entree that was supposedly "for the table", and someone who agonizes over tax and tipping on their two $5 dollar beers.

I won't eat with a large group anymore who aren't my closest friends if the place can't split bills. I'm done with my wife's friend's birthday party with a bunch of people I don't know who act like they never get out of the house.

Mandatory gratuity.

Like jumbo shrimp.

scottydoesntknow: I really don't know where to stand on the issue.

On the one hand, everyone knows there's a forced gratuity at most places for large parties. On the other hand, even knowing it's a forced gratuity, if you receive very crappy service (like they said they did), then forcing someone to tip does nothing to actually improve the service there. The waitstaff know they are getting at least 17% no matter how bad service is, so there's no motivation to become better. Minimum should be 10% for large parties, then you can tip more if the service warrants it.


I agree with this. When 15% is "the standard" (and no matter how much waitrons keep trying to turn it into 20%, it is), a 17% fixed gratuity is bullshiat. A mandatory gratuity for large groups makes sense, but it shouldn't exceed what's customary, and should in fact be below it, allowing customers to add to it if they choose and be a genuine gratuity rather than a hard and fast fee.

For the record I generally tip more than 20%, but chafe at servers trying to act as if that's the minimum... especially when they try to claim "increased cost of living and other stupid shiat. The cost of meals IS as "cost of living" as you can get. As the prices on food go up, so too do the tips... that's how percentages work. You don't get a double boost of increased prices PLUS an increased percentage.

If the price of my meal has gone from $10 to $12, a 15% tip has already gone from $1.50 to $1.80. THAT is your cost of living adjustment.

/oblig.
//hot, like a hostage situation

Walker: Choose your adventure:

1. When the police arrived the entire restaurant staff was charged with false imprisonment and kidnapping. It was then discovered most of them were illegal aliens. They were all deported immediately. The ones who weren't illegals are still locked up in jail.

2. Since this is Texas, the customers pulled out their guns, the restaurant staff pulled out their guns, and a scene right out of a John Woo movie took place.

3. In the end, the family ended up paying the 17 percent gratuity because they wanted to avoid any further problems

Page 34! PAGE 34!!!!!

I haven't clicked on the video so I have no idea if they interviewed the people involved. Having said that, I'm willing to bet that they're black.

What "Chick Lit" might look like...