To tip or not to tip....

[jmattbassplaya]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...052.html?yhp=1

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.

“At this point I became very annoyed because I had already gone up to the bar myself to have my soda refilled because the waitress never came back,” Pope said.

After the $73 bill came, the group paid for food, drinks, and tax but refused to pay the tip. After explaining the bad service to the bartender in charge, Pope claimed he took their money and called police. The couple was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.

“I understand that, you know, we didn’t pay the gratuity, but it was a gratuity, it wasn’t something that was required,” said Wagner.

The owner admitted that the group waited unusually long for their food, but said the pub was extremely busy that night. He said managers offered to comp the food, a claim the couple denies ever happened.

“Obviously we would have liked for the patron and the establishment to have worked this out without getting the police involved,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Stuart Bedics.

Police charged them with theft since the gratuity was part of the actual bill. However, it is doubtful that the charges will hold up in front of a judge. The couple is scheduled to appear in court next month.

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What you guys think about this one?

[CrispyDelicious]

Absurd. Tips are for good service. Large tips are for exceptional service. Tips are mandatory? That's crazy.

[MatticusMania]

LAME.

I think mandatory gratuity is dumb, however I kind of understnd why its added on, usually for parties of 6 or more, and its most likely because a group that large might not tip appropriately. Still, I think its lame, and even more so to get the police involved.

[Armueller2001]

I think "mandatory gratuity" is an insult to the customer and is extremely dishonest for a business to do.

I will never, ever leave more than the mandatory gratuity at a restaurant that includes it on the bill, even in situations when I normally would have tipped 20 or 25%.

[()smoke()]

i think a reasonable judge will dismiss the charges of theft and chastise those involved for wasting the time and money of the taxpaying citizens on such an utterly asanine case that should have been resolved in the restaurant

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Armueller2001

I think "mandatory gratuity" is an insult to the customer and is extremely dishonest for a business to do.

I will never, ever leave more than the mandatory gratuity at a restaurant that includes it on the bill, even in situations when I normally would have tipped 20 or 25%.

Same here. Im generally a good tipper, but if its required of me then you can forget it.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...052.html?yhp=1

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.

“At this point I became very annoyed because I had already gone up to the bar myself to have my soda refilled because the waitress never came back,” Pope said.

After the $73 bill came, the group paid for food, drinks, and tax but refused to pay the tip. After explaining the bad service to the bartender in charge, Pope claimed he took their money and called police. The couple was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.

“I understand that, you know, we didn’t pay the gratuity, but it was a gratuity, it wasn’t something that was required,” said Wagner.

The owner admitted that the group waited unusually long for their food, but said the pub was extremely busy that night. He said managers offered to comp the food, a claim the couple denies ever happened.

“Obviously we would have liked for the patron and the establishment to have worked this out without getting the police involved,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Stuart Bedics.

Police charged them with theft since the gratuity was part of the actual bill. However, it is doubtful that the charges will hold up in front of a judge. The couple is scheduled to appear in court next month.

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What you guys think about this one?

hopefully negative press will result in a severe downturn in revenues,and a change in policy for the owner......

but this tipping thing is out of hand......

even self serve places have tip jars.......why is a waitress in a diner tipped so much less that some haughty waiter simply because the bill is more.....i'd rather hear a howy'all doin shug,than a formal good evening sir any old day.....

[CrispyDelicious]

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

i'd rather hear a howy'all doin shug.....

You might have to travel for that.

[kesslari]

Wow, amazingly stupid on the part of the owner (or his/her employees).
Lose a customer, forever, and incur reams of bad publicity, over a $16 gratuity.
Some folks just don't get it.

[nortonrider]

My woman tends bar and waits tables.
We are normally very good tippers, but when a gratuity is automatically added to the bill - well... then that's all they get.

They would have always gotten more if the amount was left up to us!

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

You might have to travel for that.

i know,sigh,i know

[Phalex]

I would sit out front of their restaurant every chance I got with a sign, and a guitar, and I'd sing songs and tell anybody who was interested about what happened.

Hmmmmm..... I wonder if you made $16.00 busking like that out front of the establishment if they'd accept the money as payment and drop the charges??

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by Phalex

I would sit out front of their restaurant every chance I got with a sign, and a guitar, and I'd sing songs and tell anybody who was interested about what happened.

Hmmmmm..... I wonder if you made $16.00 busking like that out front of the establishment if they'd accept the money as payment and drop the charges??

if the guitar/voice was suitably untuned they might drop the case if you went away.....i keep thinking of that youtube vid about the airline breaking guitars......"_______ diner arrests it's patrons"
could be the title

[JmJ]

hmm..... they accepted payment and then called the cops because they did not pay "enough"?? They did not leave before the cops arrived, I can't see a judge taking the restaurants side. Exactly what law was broken? Next they will bust you for taking napkins.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by JmJ

Next they will bust you for taking napkins.

I should really quit doing that...

[LiquidMidnight]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

He said managers offered to comp the food

Then why the *%#*& is the restaurant making a stink about the gratuity? "Okay, due to slow service, your meal, which costs more than the gratuity, is free. However, if you pay for the meal, YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THE GRATUITY!!!"

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court, though.

[UncleFluffy]

I can't even see how they could be arrested for this. Surely it's a contractual dispute - a civil matter - not a criminal one?

[Stigs]

My brother worked as a waiter for a few years, and he said there was a regular customer who would come in and place his tip out on the table, usually about five or six dollars in ones. Every time he felt dissatisfied with the service or had to wait too long, he would take one of the bills away.

I imagine seeing your money disappear is a good incentive to provide good service.

[warwick.hoy]

I've never been part of waitstaff but I have worked in the hospitality/food service industry for a while now. I can understand that in sit down restaurants; waiting on large parties is a lot of work and it may be difficult to be as focused and attentive as a server would with a smaller table. I agree that the amount of the automatic gratuity is all anyone should feel obligated to pay. I cannot see how a pub has automatic gratuity on 6 tops. A 6 top racked up a $73 bill? How hard it it to wait on 6 people ordering greasy bar food? Large groups go to bars all the time. That is some underhanded *** **** right there.

Here is what a google search of lehigh pub netted. Enjoy.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lehigh-pub-bethlehem

[Pilgrim]

We don't have the whole story, but regardless, no tip was warranted. If the restaurant did offer to comp the food, I would have taken them up on it and possibly tipped the server IF he/she had visited the table often and kept me informed as to what was going on. If I'd had to get my own utensils, I would NOT have tipped.

My daughter is a server and sometimes the kitchen screws things up - she's the one who gets stiffed, but she does her best to communicate with the guest and keep them informed. This server evidently let them down.