couple arrested for theft for not paying a tip

[Ksandra]

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

Couple Busted for Refusing to Pay Tip
Patrons claim service was so bad, they had to get napkins and silverware for themselves
By DAVID CHANG
Updated 12:20 PM EST, Thu, Nov 19, 2009



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.

Even from being a waitress in the past I always found that "required' gratuity semi-retarded, just because of cases like this, added to that forcing a required gratuity for 6 people? Rather silly imo.

[Senoska]

I went with one of my friends out to Chinese food about 2 weeks ago and we were there an hour and a half before we got our cold food. Bitch didn't get a tip and was proud to write "0.00" under the "tip" amount on the bill. Fuck that noise

[Yuri-G]

I completely sympathize with these people. and I think the managers of the restaurant are lying - what idiot on god's green earth would turn down a free meal? I don't care how pissed I was or how much pride I had invested in the situation, you offer to comp my shit and I'll pay your goddamn gratuity. I just don't believe they'd turn that down.

something similar happened to me once, though. only time I can remember deciding not to tip someone because the service was just that shitty, but it turned out our party was above their mandatory gratuity limit. which, by the way, should not be fucking 18%. 15% is standard, I usually tip 20% or more even for halfway decent service, but charging me an automatic 18% is bullshit.

anyway, I was pissed then, and I can understand why this couple would be pissed now. sucks that an automatic gratuity can count as theft if you don't pay it, although I do see the logic behind it.

imo this is a case of the restaurant getting away with theft. but legally, I doubt there's anything the customers can do.

[Cream Soda]

Well some places do say the gratuity is required or is already added into the bill, of course, I don't eat at those places.

I've not given tips at steak and shake though (also wiping my ass w/ my coupons in the bathroom prior to using them).

[Stumblingdrunk]

I went with one of my friends out to Chinese food about 2 weeks ago and we were there an hour and a half before we got our cold food. Bitch didn't get a tip and was proud to write "0.00" under the "tip" amount on the bill. Fuck that noise

You're such a rebel, It's not always the server's fault.

[Elesirdur]

Unless a restaurant has a specific policy of including a mandatory gratuity on bills for larger parties (usually 6 or 8 is what I've seen), then a customer is free to leave a tip or not. Hell, I've had horrible table service but awesome food and have gone to the Maitre d'Hotel or Front of House supervisor and handed them a cash tip with the request that it go straight to the kitchen - I can only hope they upheld my request.

But this situations sounds fucking retarded, and I can't believe the management would do such a thing. The reputation of that pub is going to fucking tank after this gets around the local news.

[Cream Soda]

Unless a restaurant has a specific policy of including a mandatory gratuity on bills for larger parties

charged with theft for not paying the mandatory 18 percent gratuity

Seems this is the case.

[Stumblingdrunk]

Unless a restaurant has a specific policy of including a mandatory gratuity on bills for larger parties (usually 6 or 8 is what I've seen), then a customer is free to leave a tip or not. Hell, I've had horrible table service but awesome food and have gone to the Maitre d'Hotel or Front of House supervisor and handed them a cash tip with the request that it go straight to the kitchen - I can only hope they upheld my request.

But this situations sounds fucking retarded, and I can't believe the management would do such a thing. The reputation of that pub is going to fucking tank after this gets around the local news.

Tips NEVER go to the kitchen staff, you're being silly.

[Maaglin]

get a job that pays a real wage so you dont' have to depend on your customers to directly hand you your pay check based on some antiquated system of social "do's and don'ts".

problem solved.

[Stumblingdrunk]

get a job that pays a real wage so you dont' have to depend on your customers to directly hand you your pay check based on some antiquated system of social "do's and don'ts".

problem solved.

yeah, that clearly solves the problem, its not like we have an entire industry based around this system, asshat..

[Yuri-G]

get a job that pays a real wage so you dont' have to depend on your customers to directly hand you your pay check based on some antiquated system of social "do's and don'ts".

problem solved.

you know, this shit gets brought up every time we talk about restaurants on BG, and while I can see where you're coming from, I really don't think it's a bad idea for service-based jobs to receive service-based pay. imagine if customer service phone reps got paid based on how happy the customers were at the end of the call... I guarantee you'd get better service.

[Mizango]

Fuck that shit, the server can take that shit up with the motherfucker of a cook then.

[Mizango]

Shit rolls down hill etc..

[#686578]

you know, this shit gets brought up every time we talk about restaurants on BG, and while I can see where you're coming from, I really don't think it's a bad idea for service-based jobs to receive service-based pay. imagine if customer service phone reps got paid based on how happy the customers were at the end of the call... I guarantee you'd get better service.

Wrong. You could not be more wrong. Most customers are fucking retarded. Making tech support's wages based off of this would just increase the amount of time you're on hold before you get on with the three people that would put up with that bullshit.

American based, of course.

[guartz]

wait n/m

[Qalbert]

http://www.imagebeast.net/images/oph...o8mnnjex2d.jpg

[Mizango]

loooool

[Boyiee]

I always always leave 15-20%... if the server was slow or was bad, then 15%, otherwise its almost a garunteed 20%.

Except at 2 bars I go to... one bartender is REALLY into my friend and has had a 3some with him, she always gives us a break on the bill and we always tip rediculous. At the other bar we go to, well the bartender is hot and doesn't pay much attention to anyone else at the bar when my group is there, so we take care of her... Think last time she got a 30$ tip on a 20$ bill, but again, she comps us and whatnot. She invited us to her halloween party this year, we shoulda went =/

[Firedemon]

I'm getting sick and fucking tired of this forced tip bullshit. It's a gratuity, its a gift to your waitress/waiter based on his/her service. Forcing tips is making people lazier than shit with good service because they're getting tips anyway, so who cares, right? I was in Winnipeg with family at Moxies, and our bill was $600 and they wanted a mandatory 20% tip. We looked at them and asked if they were out of their fucking minds? We just spent 600 dollars in their restaurant, and they had the nerve to ask for an additional 120 dollars? I don't know, I think this forced tip is getting retarded. What ever happened to tipping for good service?

[Ksandra]

what I find interesting is at the end it comments the couple was charged with theft but that it "wouldn't hold up in court". So that makes me wonder if it doesn't hold up in court is it really theft? I wonder what courts actually consider "mandatory gratuity" to be.

It does kinda suck that the article doesn't state whether they knew ahead of time if the tip was going to be mandatory or not.


[edit] also there is this one restaurant out here where I always get terrible service. It seems whenever co-workers wanted to do an outing they wanted to go there, so of course it was always mandatory gratuity. And because of this the waiters took forever, rarely refilled drinks, every single time get the orders wrong, and really act like they don't give a shit since they know they're getting a nice tip no matter what. I seriously hate that place.