What are your thoughts? Do you think a gratuity should be part of the bill or be what the word actually says … a gratuity? 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. I personally think this story shows not only where this country is headed but has gone – people demand something for nothing. A gratuity is supposed to be a tip for good service not an added cost to your bill.
“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. They 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 Bethelehm, 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,
“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.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.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:08 PM
How can they be charged with theft? They paid the bill. If the service was poor, it was poor. I have never not left any tip. I find that a penny or nickle tip for extremely poor service is a more effective statement. That manager and server should take the opportunity to learn how to improve service. In this economy, noone can afford to lose a customer.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:19 PM
What a unique way to keep your customers, have them arrested! Why has no one thought of this before? Brilliant!
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:53 PM
I don’t agree mandatory tips at all. I know from experience that if you give people the chance to be generous, they will be. But people will not be generous if it’s not deserved, and they certainly will not be if it’s crammed down their throat that it’s a must. Especially when the tip wasn’t even earned!
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Wow, what a great use of our tax dollars! Arrest a couple and put them in front of a judge for not tipping. What’s next? Communism?
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:45 PM
It is hard to believe you could go to jail for poor service. I have been to a restaurant before and been tempted to walkout and not pay the bill. I hope there is a follow-up on the conclusion of the story.
November 24th, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Wow! This is what happens when a restaurant team gets so tied up in their proceedures that they forget that the guest is why they are there in the first place. When I was a server, I hated the automatic gratuity. You take the good with the bad. That is the nature of the business. The only place for the auto-grat is when you have a large (40+) party…and it has to be negotiated in advance. If they refuse to pay it, you know that you have learned something about your service. What a great opportunity to then remove the gratuity and get them to tell you what you could have done better. That owner needs to be shopping for new managers!
November 24th, 2009 at 8:21 PM
I think the word TIP originally meant “to insure promptness” and was paid prior to being served. Maybe we should revert to that method!!
November 26th, 2009 at 8:57 PM
Ridiculous. Is the tip really worth the amount of court costs the company will incur?
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:07 AM
I shudder at the thought that this companies in this industry could even think about doing something like that!
I once had a server complaining that she didn’t want to wait a table because they were know to be poor tippers, instead of sending her home I gave the table to a more experienced server who received a 25% tip. It was an easy thing to prove that great service will pay off.
After some grumbling and gathering of her things she left…and no one has seen or heard from her since…educate or amputate!
December 12th, 2009 at 1:50 PM
It seems to me we are losing focus on Customer Service. The money being spent to argue this point in court would be better spent educating the staff on customer service skills.
December 14th, 2009 at 10:59 PM
This is absurd. Gratuity is for services rendered. I understand minimums for larger parties but certainly is not part of the bill and then to have a customer arrested is beyond belief.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:51 PM
So what’s next? Pay a minimum gratuity at the door as a cover charge? This restaurant owner should think about the kind of negative publicity he’s getting. Who would want to eat there if they are going to be arrested for paying what is “expected” as a tip.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:17 AM
You have to remember it is not mandatory, though implied. If you go to the barber and get a bad haircut, your not going to leave a tip until it’s fixed, right? The right thing for management to do to is a discount, which they say they offered. Normally they try to save the tip for the servers by doing that. Sound like the whole group of 6 eating for $73 was pretty cheap to begin with!
December 21st, 2009 at 12:21 PM
I agree with Rachel, if the couple would have left a nickel, they would have left “something” and avoided the arrest. Although I doubt it will stand up in court too.
December 21st, 2009 at 1:07 PM
I was a waitress and got stiffed on the tip before. But we never called the cops. It’s just something that comes with the territory.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:45 AM
I am a General Manager in the food industry and I just cannot believe this actually happened. I do not agree with mandatory tipping. As someone stated above, when it is not forced down people’s throats, they can actually be more generous when the service is good. I also agree that the owner or that company needs to find a new manager. This alone will kill their business anyway.
February 18th, 2010 at 3:28 PM
Just an FYI, always check your bill to see if gratuity was already added even if your parties small. I went to miami beach and had a total of 3 at my table. When the waiter dropped off the check he informed us the gratuity was already added (thank god, not all of them will). Then we read the menu and in fine print it said 15% gratuity added for your convience. it might be that way in big tourist areas, so watch out!
February 18th, 2010 at 3:31 PM
I agree with Rachel, if you want to get the point across that it was bad service, leaving a very small tip gets the point across better. If you leave nothing at all they think there is something wrong with you, not them.
May 29th, 2010 at 9:31 PM
I have had this happen to myself when I managed establishments with a policy that stated a Gratuity would be added to your bill for parties of 8 or more. It was basic for each server to inform each guest of this policy. If anyone had a problem with service they would be directed to a manager who could, at their discretion, remove the gratuity.
I myself have spoke to managers in other restaurants and explained to them that I would not pay the gratuity for lousy service. I had other servers take care of us at the party. Servers who I flagged down as they walked past our party. I did TIP that other server, but NOT the one waiting on the party. She did make a scene, she did call me our and cause a fuss, but it became clear to her that her lack of attentiveness, prompt deliverance of beverages and refills and the fact that I saw her outside smoking a cigarette were enough to end the discussion.
This always seems to go either way when you have to deal with a built in gratuity. Most people get upset at being charged for something they do not get. I agree that it is there for protection (server) when they DO THE JOB. Most servers shy away from large parties because they usually get stiffed on the tip. I have seen this happen, the first guest would cash out and leave without tipping, thinking someone else in the party would leave a large enough tip to cover them. They really hurt the way the service industry views large parties. I have included an link that will shed some light on the subject of ‘tips’ around the world.
Enjoy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_%28gratuity%29
July 7th, 2010 at 1:32 AM
I am a server myself and i know FROM EXPERIENCE that 9 out of 10 times if you don’t add gratuity onto a ticket you will be tipped considerably less than what the gratuity would have been. People these days use the failing job market and reduced income as an excuse for not tipping. If you don’t have the money to go out to eat AND tip then you should go to a fast food restaurant. ALSO, most of the time it is the GUEST who blows things out of proportion and says that they are getting bad service when in fact the server is probably slammed with other tables asking for a million different things. People need to wake up and realize that they are not the only ones dining in a restaurant and cut us a break. We only make $2.13 an hour. Do you honestly think that we would purposely give crappy service? No, we wouldn’t. We rely on tips as our income. We are servers, not idiots. I am not in any way saying that every server gives perfect service all the time but the next time you go out to eat with your little perfect family and the server takes one minute too long to refill your shirley temple, you should stop and look around to see if that person is busting their butt for everyone, including you. You are not going to die of thirst while you wait on a refill for a few minutes. OH AND, we don’t cook your food, the cook does (hence the word cook). So if your medium steak comes out medium rare, DON’T GET AN ATTITUDE WITH US. We will get it fixed for you! You don’t have to piss your pants and whine like a 5 year old. Most of you people would’t last 5 minutes waiting tables.