Food the service industry, "if you dont like it then..."

I would be interested to hear the views of the food dictators on this.

If I was the family I would have made a complaint against the restaurant for false imprisonment. This is a criminal offence and hopefully the staff involved will have three months porridge to reflect on their actions. They can eat as much as they like of prison food without having to tip at all.

With regards to the bill, I would have requested that they make clear the argument they will make in court to enforce the invalid charge for a service they did not provide. If I was forced under threat to make a payment for a meal I didnt have, I would certainly pursue a claim through the small claims court, and certainly make sure the restaurant received as much publicity as possible (as has happened here.)

When the arrogant bully who used threats and intimidation to take his 17% for doing a bad job is out of business and sleeping in a cardboard box under a bridge and eating his own shoes, perhaps he will reflect how he good it made him feel to push people around when he had his food shop.

My view is that if your attitude, as a provider of a service is "we do this our way and if you don't like it why don't you go away?" does not deserve to stay in business.

 

I've got mixed feelings about this. It's one thing if the policy weren't clearly spelled out - there's a restaurant in New York, for instance that has outlandish prices that they don't print - but apparently the menu very clearly states this. Honestly, I think that the best possible thing happened here - the manager and restaurant are being publicly humiliated, and folks nearby aren't going to be quick to patronize a place like this. Chances are that it goes under soon.

As far as false imprisonment, I don't see how that's possible here. The police didn't arrest anyone, and it's still unclear if a crime would have been committed if they'd paid only the non-tip bill. I somehow doubt it, but it's local law at stake, so who knows.

 

if you went to the store and bought a carton of 12 eggs, but when you got to the checkout it was half empty, so you tell the kid on the counter "I'm not happy to pay for these" and he said "I am going to force you to pay and will call the police and say you stole from us if you argue"... how would you feel?

Thats an exagerated example of what happened here.

Yes, the menu advertised 17% charge. But they DID NOT deliver the service that this charge was for. (they did not fill up drinks as they advertised they would do on the same menu)

If you do not provide the service, you do not have a right to charge for it.

 

Sounds like they were fed and got their initial drinks. Beyond that, I don't think that you can argue that the implied contract was broken.

 

The policy was clear, and many restaurants do this sort of thing. If the service was bad, why would you wait until the bill arrived to bring it up?

I agree that threatening arrest for refusing to pay the tip is over the top. They say they've called PD for this before. Obviously, they expected to have to do that.... one wonders why.

I'm sure there is more to it than we are reading in the news article. I think more questions than answers have been raised.

 

Right or not, this is just not the way a good restaurant runs. When a person makes a complaint some form of restitution should follow. Whether it is a meal deducted or appetizers waived.. something. Service industries need to shine on how happy they make their customers. How you make me feel in the end is what matters most. I can easily overlook some issue with an issue of my plate arriving late, drinks not being refilled or some other quality issue if a company responds with respect, shows empathy and tries to make good on their mistakes. Honestly, I use tipping as a way of showing my gratitude for the service I receive. I also know that I am not the only one in the world who fears what someone may do to my food/beverages if I make a complaint during my meal. I don't like to complain as I am dining unless something is seriously affecting my ability to eat my food. Undercooked bloody chicken is a good example. I can totally understand why they waited until the end. It is a little different than someone polishing off their plate of "bloody chicken" and complaining about it after the proof is in their digestive tract.

If it were me, I would have paid the bill. I also would have assured them that I would be posting negative reviews on the experience every place I could find and make sure to leave with a copy of the itemized receipt. As a rule, I do tip rather well but I agree that after making a complaint my request to be allowed to choose my own tip should have been honored.

 

I would have made the point to the manager that the service was not up to par, before the bill arrived. If nothing was done to remedy my dissatisfaction by the time the bill came, I would have paid the outrageous gratuity then gone straight to my computer. My dissatisfaction would be displayed on all the relevant websites I could find. I wouldn't hesitate in advising friends and family to avoid them like the plague.

My guess is either their poor service has resulted in their wait staff being stiffed by larger parties on too many occasions or they're a restaurant which caters to a clientèle prone to stiffing or low-balling on tips. Either way, it speaks volumes about a restaurant management that chooses to add a mandatory gratuity, especially one that exceeds the 15% standard, instead of cleaning up their own act by providing better service or striving to attract a better class of diners.

 

For larger parties, a mandatory gratuity is often added, the only problem I have with that is that they might have gotten a better one if it had been left up to me. But that's their lookout.

I would have brought up the issues before the bill arrived, and if they insisted, would have paid it. Then, as Joniemack says, I'd go straight to the computer.

 

For someone who lives in the UK, you sure seem to be very concerned about US tipping practices.

 

I don't understand the reasoning behind the "gratuity" charge, especially if mandatory. I've never encountered it and find it in very bad taste.

Where the "business-sense" in it lies, no fucking clue. After all, a larger party means higher revenue and, if everybody follows the 10% tipping practice, larger tips.

How serving 6 and getting the revenue and 6 people's worth of tips (and possibly more since groups tend to drink more) necessitates a gratuity charge, I really really don't understand.

There isn't really an "extra effort" argument either, as the effort would likely be very similar to 6 individual patrons.

It seems like such a counter-productive thing to do.

StrangeFamous seems to be concerned about many things in life, on earth and in the universe.

 

A part of the advertised service is alleged to be to offer refills of drinks.

The restaurant does not dispute this.

The drinks were not refilled despite requests. Therefore the advertised service was not provided and the charge does not stand.
--- merged: May 3, 2012 5:44 PM ---

Yes, it does fundamentally bother me. Abuse of power bothers me, and bullies rile me.... whether it happens on a small scale or a large scale I have the same emotional reaction to ot

 

For one, I see a difference between 17% gratuity and 10% service charge. What I don't see is any real justification for the added 7%. Restaurants by and large exist to serve as many customers as possible. Adding cost to a large party makes no sense in any way. It discourages large parties to become patrons of your establishment and sure as hell does not help you increase income. Neither the restaurant owners nor the patrons can be appreciative of this. The only party that wins are the servers, who I don't see as deserving extra due to getting more customers to serve and receiving a proportionally larger tip.

And there is the issue I see with mandatory service charges in general. A tip to me is the perfect tool for a customer to show his/her satisfaction of the waiter's service he/she has received. This is the service industry, after all. If a waiter does not bother to deliver an acceptable service, I see no reason why they should have the benefit of being rewarded by the customer. Mandatory service charges take the edge off the servers to perform better... which, again, does not make sense for a competitive business, nor for the waiter profession.

 

I kind of agree. If they charge mandatory tips for large parties, they should just go ahead and charge them for everybody, regardless of party size. I'd even argue to include the tip charges in the food charges so people really know how much it's going to cost before they order... It's just more honest.