Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (fishtaco)

Mon, 07 May 2012 16:11:56 GMT

I would really love to see the other side of the story. If they "held" them as is claimed could the restaurant not be charged with "kidnapping" or holding one against their will?

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (The Travelin Man)

Mon, 07 May 2012 11:36:23 GMT

chewingthefat

I have customers order to go, then sit down, spread out the food and expect great service even though they have no intention of tipping. I instruct my waitstaff to ignore them.

I have been to a few places recently where there are signs specifically asking that take-out food be taken out and tables left for guests requesting to be seated. This was especially noted and enforced at Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis, where they have a continual out-the-door line. The funny part is that it is not "NY-gruff" in the way it is handled, but rather "midwestern nice," and folks seem to have no problem complying.

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (David_NYC)

Sun, 06 May 2012 20:31:10 GMT

They ought to pass a law:

Two menus would be required for restaurants that impose a mandatory service charge. One menu would have to be clearly labeled "For Groups of X Number of People or More Only". All inclusive prices including tips (minus taxes) would be the only ones allow to be listed. (Municipalities would like this so they could collect sales tax on the tips.)

Now, there is no more quibbling about the tip. If the customers have a problem, it goes to Small Claims Court.

The higher prices will also make it harder for these places to compete in the markeplace.

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (bartl)

Sun, 06 May 2012 15:58:40 GMT

Usually, the fee is called a "service charge" rather than a tip, which would have solved matters better. Apparently, it was called a "gratuity", which is, by definition, supposed to be voluntary.

I come from a family of reasonably generous tippers; when there is a service charge added that is less than 20%, I typically add on to it to make it 20% or, if the service is exceptionally good, 25%. Some of my family members, on the other hand, will not give more that the service charge, even if they would otherwise have tipped more.

Bart

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (chewingthefat)

Sat, 05 May 2012 11:44:34 GMT

I have customers order to go, then sit down, spread out the food and expect great service even though they have no intention of tipping. I instruct my waitstaff to ignore them.

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (MetroplexJim)

Sat, 05 May 2012 11:07:47 GMT

Thanks to the link Screaming Chicken gave I am coming to believe that there may well be (at least) "two sides" to this story.

Sadly, I think this country may be coming apart.

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (ces1948)

Sat, 05 May 2012 10:39:06 GMT

This could get into sticky territory. I have seen the following (paraphrasing) printed on menu's and signs in various restaurants.
"A service charge of X% will be added to parties of X or more"
This would seem to make it part of the bill and not something voluntary.
Just a thought and probably was the point the restaurant owners made to the cops.

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (MetroplexJim)

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:59:35 GMT

buffetbuster

Wow, that is some bad publicity for the restaurant. Considering this is Texas, I'm surprised they didn't shoot their way out.

Well, now they can thanks to legislation passed in reaction to what happened here once in a Luby's Cafeteria: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luby's_massacre .

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (Foodbme)

Sat, 05 May 2012 00:02:09 GMT

That's CRAZY! They should not have to pay the 17% if the service was lousy!
TIP stands for:
To Insure Promptness
To Insure Politeness
To Insure Performance
And is at the discretion of the customer to decide the amount!

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (buffetbuster)

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:05:32 GMT

Wow, that is some bad publicity for the restaurant. Considering this is Texas, I'm surprised they didn't shoot their way out.

Re:Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (ScreamingChicken)

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:02:15 GMT

Channel 2 has a more detailed story here. I don't think "La Fisherman" (does the "La" stand for "Louisiana"?) is the kind of place I'd patronize.

Tips are more than appreciated; they are REQUIRED --Or Else (MetroplexJim)

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:43:20 GMT

Hostage situation in Houston: http://now.msn.com/living/0502-restaurant-locks-up.aspx .

Has anyone ever had "an interesting situation" occur re: tipping (or declining to)?