Frankthedm Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Here is another insane case on the diner/ server axis. Since tips to me are bribes not to spit in my food i am kind of biased against mandatory tipping. Man Arrested for Leaving Small Tip http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...o_small_tip&e=2 Mon Sep 13, 7:37 AM ET LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. - Humberto A. Taveras put his money where his mouth is and ended up arrested, accused of leaving an inadequate tip at a restaurant. Taveras, 41, faces a misdemeanor charge of theft of services after he and his fellow diners argued with Soprano's Italian and American Grill managers over the legality of requiring an 18 percent tip for large parties. "They chased us down like a bunch of criminals," Taveras said. "It killed our weekend." Taveras and eight others had pizza at the restaurant in this resort village Sunday night. He said they weren't completely satisfied with the food and left a tip of under 10 percent. Taveras said they also were not told of a mandatory 18 percent gratuity for parties of six or more and did not see notice of it on their menus. Restaurant owner Joe Soprano said all the menus have the notice, and the waitress informed the group. He said he did not choose to pursue charges because of the money, but because Taveras' group was obnoxious. "It's unfortunate it has come to this, but this guy was rude and abrasive. They practically threw food at us," Soprano said. Taveras plans to fight the charge. The arrest raises the issue of whether the gratuities that restaurants automatically tack on for serving large groups are legally enforceable debts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadaver Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Ah, but it was written on the menu, and the waitress informed them of the gratuity. Having been in the SIN business, I personally know how hard it is to do large groups, especially when they are loud, obnoxious and rude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Besides, IIRC at least some servers are paid below minimum wage because of the expectation of gratuities -- sort of like a commission for good service. By refusing to pay the gratuity you might be making a statement about the idea of a "gratuity as a bribe," but ultimately the only person you're actually hurting is the server, who will now earn less than another person for an equivalent level of work. Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pae Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Having been in a large, obnoxious group at the B-B-Q place in Denton during ReaperCon, I know what they can be like. Of course, we tipped very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Joe Soprano??? I never though he would call the police... More like get his "button-men" to the dude's house and get those bats ready. "You'se ain't tipping Don Soprano's restaurant? You'se don't tip, and you'se sleep with the fishies, capise???" Damn, I've watched Godfather one too many times... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coogle Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Hehehe.... Mandatory tipping. Good for business, they can get away with paying their servers less up-front. And it looks as though their meals are cheaper than they are. Glad they don't have that in Aussie land. Tipping is only if you really want to, and most places I know of put the tips in a communal bucket and share them at the end of the night. They even use this to cover people who 'forget' to pay the bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chastity Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Well, remind me never to eat at a resturaunt with a large group in New York ... I will only leave a tip based on service. (but then, I'm always polite to servers, complete with please and thank you, no matter what, so it's never an issue ... and it often surprises them) If I am at a resturaunt where they work the tip into the bill, they get exact change ... for the food and drinks (and tax, of course) only, regardless of service, because I feel it is incredibly rude to be billed for something that is supposed to be a "thank you" and an incentive for the servers to be nice. If they're guaranteed whatever percentage, then they can treat you however they want (to a point), and they're still getting the money. (but then, I don't think that they do the lower than minimum wage thing for waitresses here ... I should look into that) If I'm at a resturaunt where I receive good service, they get anywhere from 15% to 30% depending on the service. (trainees tend to get more, even if they mess up a little) Poor service will receive anywhere from a nickel to a dollar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errex Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Same here. If the service is good, people gets tipped. If not, well, it's their tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunnyPuncher Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 It's not the mandatory tip I find offensive.. it is rather that it is standard practice for management to take 33%-50% of that "tip" off the top before passing it along to the underpaid servers. Mandatory tipping is rarely a good thing for wait staff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 A restauranteur behaving like that wouldn't last five minutes in Melbourne. He would if he had... say... A stiff baseball bat, and some nice fedoras. Maybe a Tommy gun... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital [email protected] Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 I hate tipping, I just don't understand it. A company chooses to pay their employees very poorly and expects me to make up the difference. For many things it just does not make sense. Take a haircut for instance. It takes no more than 15 minutes to cut my hair. If I go anywhere but Greatclips or the like my haircut is $20. Why should I pay a tip, I just paid a premium price for a service. This is especially true for women. If my wife gets her hair cut and colored it is $125+ and she leaves a tip. I sure as heck wouldn't tip after someone charged me that much, they obviously made a profit. There are few times at a restraunt that I can say I really get good service. An average meal for 2 people with a drink or 2 is easily $35+. That is a $5.75 tip. That is paying the server more than a dollar for every time she comes to talk to me. Why if two people go out to a nice restraunt and pay $100+ for food should they pay another $15 for someone to spend 3-5 minutes talking to them. Why not the same $5-7 a person at applebees would get? You already paid a huge profit margin on the food. I will admit that outside of certain situations, I am a very bad tipper (because I do not agree with it). I was at a hotel restraunt where they had a continental breakfast that was not included in your room costs. Other people at the table were leaving a tip for a buffet breakfast. I couldn't do it, that is as bad as tipping at DQ. If someone could explain tipping to me I sure would appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coogle Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 The tip jar I know of wasn't an at the counter job, it was behind the counter and out of the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 Well DM just keep in mind that for that hour of work your server gave you, if you don't tip then they may be only earning $4 for that work, instead of the $9 or $10 they would normally earn. Mandiatory tips or the practice of underpaying servers aren't the servers's fault, but the management's/owner's. Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 I like to leave decent tips if the service was good. Once, I had the worst service ever and left some bills under the plate just enough so he could see that I had left several dollars. Wished I could have seen the look on his face when he cleared the table and realized that they were those Clinton $3 bills that were published as a gag a few years ago. Darn, wished I had some more of those phoney $3 bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coogle Posted September 14, 2004 Share Posted September 14, 2004 ah well, that's different.... heh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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