"This is an invasion of my privacy!" or the walk out chronicles

[LillFilly]

I want to know if they guy got caught; that must have been a heck of a large bill to walk out on!

Reminds me of the story of the restaurant that banned the woman who never tipped. She said she had the right to not tip, they countered with they had the right to refuse service for any reason

[NateTheChops]

The SC notices this, comes storming back in and smacks the piece of paper out of the employees hand.

Employee: I'm going to go ahead and add an assault charge to that.

[Trjgul]

A lot of places in the states do add gratuities (I usually see 8%) to large parties. It's always printed on the menus at least. At least that's what I've noticed.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I can only hope the group he was with had the decency to be mortified.

[Caractacus_Potts]

Well, a mandatory service charge or gratuity is illegal in the US unless certain conditions are met; the two primary being:
1) The SC must sign a contract with the restaurant acknowledging the service charge as past of the total cost to be paid prior to receipt of goods or services; a sign on the door and/or in the menu is not a legal substitute for a signed and dated contract.
2) The service charge must go to the restaurant and must be reported to the IRS as income by the restaurant (regardless of whether the restaurant subsequently gives the gratuity to the servers).

Typically you will only see valid service charges for caterers or restaurants that provide catering service. So, as far as the mandatory service charge goes, the SC was correct in the fact that he was under no legal obligation to pay it (no legal obligation...the restaurant still has the option of pursuing this in civil court to recoup the charge but no one is going to be arrested for theft of services for not paying the mandatory service charge).

That being said the guy was an ass. When I was a server people like him were the bane of my existence. Anyone who lives in a place like the US where tipping is so common it is figured into the wages an employee receives should stay home and cook for themselves if they don't want to tip.

Walking out on the entire bill IS theft of services and I for one hope the restaurant pursues this and has the police file charges against the guy. He needs a wake up call to reality.

[Little Retail Rabbit]

That being said the guy was an ass. When I was a server people like him were the bane of my existence. Anyone who lives in a place like the US where tipping is so common it is figured into the wages an employee receives should stay home and cook for themselves if they don't want to tip.

Walking out on the entire bill IS theft of services and I for one hope the restaurant pursues this and has the police file charges against the guy. He needs a wake up call to reality.

I was always made to feel like an asshole in the past when I openly said I disliked tipping (although as I stated earlier, I have only NOT tipped when the service has been poor), because Americans I spoke to would say I was out of order not to tip. It was ages before I realised why tipping is such a big deal though- when a friend of mine told me she was earning only $2.13 an hour because her tip is considered part of her "wage". (Would have been nice for someone to explain it to me earlier so I wouldn't look like some English prick lol) This would be completely illegal in the UK, and I had had no idea! So I make adjustments for culture differences now now!

But yeah, from what I know, tips are generally taxed over here if you don't make sure it ends up directly in your server's pocket. Another reason why my mother in particular disagreed with the gratuity charge we had that time was because she knew it would be taxed, whereas if she had slipped some coins to our (sexy) waiter, he could have gotten away with not declaring it easily.

But hey, things are different everywhere.

If I had been another person in that group, I would have at least tried to pay for MY portion of the bill or something. I would like to think that they were ashamed of their friend's actions, but if they were all good buddies, I suppose theres a chance they were all bastards

[LadyAndreca]

I'm not so sure a mandatory gratuity is illegal when nearly every sit-down restaraunt with servers I've been to for years has that little sign in its window. My favorite Chinese place also has it on little plaques around the place.

[Jester]

SC: No, the service was fine, but I didn't come here planning to pay a tip. I NEVER tip. I pay the price on the menu and that's it because I am NOT required to pay a penny more.

Ah, if only this guy could have suffered the same fate as Jim Carrey's character in "Liar, Liar." It might have gone something like this:

SC: "No, the service was fine, but I didn't come here planning to pay a tip. I NEVER tip. I pay the price on the menu and that's it because I am NOT required to pay a penny more. Also because I'm insecure about the size of my penis, so I compensate by being a loathsome ass to people, as well as a penny-pinching miserly bastard. I can easily afford this bill, and the tip, and know that servers make their livings off tips in this country, but I don't give two fucking shits about them. If they want to make money, they should do it the way I do it: by embezzling from my employer as I screw over the elderly and infirm.

Also, while the eggs were lovely, I would have enjoyed them more if I could have eaten a few children with them. Preferably toddlers. They are the tastiest."

SC: You can't do that, it's an invasion of my privacy!
Em: There's nothing illegal about writing down a number sir.
SC: YES THERE IS! It's invasion of my privacy! I did not consent to having my plate number written down!

Funny how many times the police have invaded my privacy in just that manner. And I never once consented to it! If only I had had the sharp legal counsel of this fine upstanding citizen!

...they didn't like the sort of...presumption that a tip would be charged. I suppose in my view, you choose to give a tip because you appreciate the service...

Normally that is correct. But it is somewhat standard practice for restaurants to put a gratuity on the bill of large parties. Virtually all of them post it somewhere, but even if it is not posted, it is not illegal for them to do so, as technically speaking, the party is not required to pay the gratuity. The restaurant generally will remove such if requested, though I can understand the restaurant in the OP not doing it since the dude was such a royal scrotum about it.

Speaking of scrotums, I once saw a large group of people from a country I won't name pay the exact amount of their bill, leaving off the gratuity that had been added, and walking out, leaving the server with exactly no tip, despite having been worked to death by them (15-20 people, I think) for about 2 hours. That was pretty damn low.

And in our case, we were not informed of this in anyway prior to ordering.

There are some places, usually in tourist towns, that will automatically add a gratuity to EVERY bill, be it a party of 1 or 100, and not mention it, thus often resulting in unsuspecting customers effectively double-tipping their servers. It's great for the servers, but it's rather unethical of the establishments. I know a few such establishments here in Key West, which is why I always look at my bill to see if that's been done.

Reminds me of the story of the restaurant that banned the woman who never tipped. She said she had the right to not tip, they countered with they had the right to refuse service for any reason

Winner! Winner! Winner!

A lot of places in the states do add gratuities (I usually see 8%) to large parties. It's always printed on the menus at least. At least that's what I've noticed.

I've never seen it at 8%. Usually 15% or 18%, sometimes as high as 20%. I would hate to be the server working for a place that only uses the 8% number. Ouch.

I can only hope the group he was with had the decency to be mortified.

Clearly not, as they all walked out with him, and not one of them offered to pay. Clearly a lovely bunch of people.

Had I or my friends bee in that group, that would not have happened. I know that the bill would be paid, and while I can't say what my friends would do in regards to Mr. Blowhard, I expect I would have reacted something like this: "SHUT up, SIT down, and PAY your fucking part of the bill, AND your part of the tip, you cheap fucking piece of shit! Or I will help these fine hard-working people detain you until the cops get here, AND will bear witness to your attempt at ripping them off in court. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD, SIR?"

Have I mentioned I have a very effective Death Glare? Especially when righteously pissed off?

I dare say the fucker would have paid after something like that.

Well, a mandatory service charge or gratuity is illegal in the US unless certain conditions are met

I beg to differ. While the establishment cannot force the part to pay the service charge, there is nothing illegal about putting it on the bill. And there is everything illegal about not paying that bill.

And I have not heard one case of a restaurant being charged with a crime for adding a service charge or gratuity to the bill; it is standard practice in the industry for large parties and special events.

I would like to think that they were ashamed of their friend's actions, but if they were all good buddies, I suppose theres a chance they were all bastards

Clearly they had no shame, as according to the OP, they all followed the guy out, and not one offered to pay. So yeah, they were all bastards for following his lead.

[Caractacus_Potts]

I'm not so sure a mandatory gratuity is illegal when nearly every sit-down restaraunt with servers I've been to for years has that little sign in its window. My favorite Chinese place also has it on little plaques around the place.

The only case I can find where someone was actually arrested for not paying the automatic gratuity was in NY. In that case the DA dropped the charges before it went to court because the "automatic gratuity" did not meet the legal standards of a "service charge" (mainly based on the way it was reported to the IRS). That person successfully sued the restaurant and the police department for defamation of character and false arrest (the case against the police for false arrest was dropped and the restaurant settled out of court).

In all other cases I found the police would tell the restaurant owner/manager that they could pursue the charge in civil court but it was not a legal matter (by legal matter I mean something they could arrest a person for).

So, yes, you might be arrested if you refuse to pay but based on precedent you are more likely to wind up with the charges dropped and an opportunity to sue the police and the restaurant that filed the charges.

I would guess that 99.9% of people pay the auto grat without question. The last 0.1% are people who are cheap bastards, or, I have heard of a few cases where the party received such horrible service that it was more of a personal issue that they objected to the server getting any tip for what they did.

Out of the 0.1% probably 99.9% are settled either with the manager removing the charge or the customer being scared into paying it whether they want to or not. I think it is rare for the police to get involved and (still guessing) mosty likely some of the people scared into paying are scared by police telling them they WILL be arrested if they don't pay it, never knowing that the charges probably won't stick.

I am not a lawyer but I have seen this topic debated to death on another forum and I have read several links in those debates. I am certain about the case in NY and I am certain about the legal defenition of a service charge (by any name you want to call it...a percentage of the total that is required to be paid). I don't have the links but I did see the original articles and legal defenitions.

[Sapphire Silk]

It's interesting that no one else in his group spoke up and said never mind, I'll pay it, don't cause a scene.

I noticed this as well. Seems this guy prefers the company of cheapskates.

In the UK tipping isn't as big a deal as it is in the US (although most people WILL tip, its not seen as obligatory)...personally I dislike it when a mandatory gratuity charge is placed on the bill.

I'll agree, anything with the word mandatory makes me want to grind my teeth. I almost always tip . . . but the tip is based on the performance of the service. Great service=great tip. Horrible service=no tip. And anywhere in between.

I prefer to keep the right to lower the tip based on the service received. That's why I don't like the mandatory tips.

But knowing what I do about how wait staff are paid, I do think anyone who doesn't tip good service is an cheapass jerk.

[Jester]

I have heard of a few cases where the party received such horrible service that it was more of a personal issue that they objected to the server getting any tip for what they did.

In cases where the service is bad, I have no issue with the customers requesting the removal of the auto-grat, or in the customers not tipping. Tipping is for good service. If you provide bad service, you have not done your job, therefore you have not earned your tip.

And this is why I make more than the average in the food service industry; I provide excellent service.

[Caractacus_Potts]

It was ages before I realised why tipping is such a big deal though- when a friend of mine told me she was earning only $2.13 an hour because her tip is considered part of her "wage".

It took me a while before I realized the world is not the US and customs about many things differ. I like to think of myself as a glass half full type of person (alright, more of a "who drank half my drink?" type person) but in retrospect I like to believe the people who stiffed me were from other cultures where tipping is not expected (or even allowed - I actually went to a place in Jamaica where when I tried to tip the bartender he told me he appreciated the thought but he could get fired for accepting a tip).

[MadMike]

It was ages before I realised why tipping is such a big deal though- when a friend of mine told me she was earning only $2.13 an hour because her tip is considered part of her "wage".

Don't feel bad. I'm an American, and I was a real ass about tipping for the longest time. Not that I routinely stiffed the sever -- I only ever did that one time that I know of, and when I told my story here, everyone backed me up. For those who don't know the story, the short version is the waitress took our order, brought us our food, got my wife a refill on her drink, accidentally spilled it all over here, and then vanished, not even coming back to clean up the mess, see if we needed anything, or even bring us our check. We had to go to the manager, and you better believe we told him what happened. He was not happy, to say the least. I'd hate to have been in that waitress's shoes.

While I did leave tips, I'd just leave a couple of bucks, regardless of the amount of the check. I figured they'd be happy to get anything. My ex tried to correct me on a few occasions, telling me that these people work hard for their money, but since my ex couldn't even hold down a job, I figured what did she know? It wasn't until I became a member here on CS that I found out that most servers don't make minimum wage and rely on tips to get a decent paycheck. Several people said a decent amount was 15% for good service, so since then I've been tipping around 20% unless I got shitty service.

People seem to notice this. When I go out to one of my regular hangouts for karaoke and/or beer, they remember me, they know what I drink, and a lot of times they'll get it ready as soon as they see me walk in, and it will be waiting for me when I get to the bar.

Ah, if only this guy could have suffered the same fate as Jim Carrey's character in "Liar, Liar." It might have gone something like this:

SC: "No, the service was fine, but I didn't come here planning to pay a tip. I NEVER tip. I pay the price on the menu and that's it because I am NOT required to pay a penny more. Also because I'm insecure about the size of my penis, so I compensate by being a loathsome ass to people, as well as a penny-pinching miserly bastard. I can easily afford this bill, and the tip, and know that servers make their livings off tips in this country, but I don't give two fucking shits about them. If they want to make money, they should do it the way I do it: by embezzling from my employer as I screw over the elderly and infirm.

Also, while the eggs were lovely, I would have enjoyed them more if I could have eaten a few children with them. Preferably toddlers. They are the tastiest."

Nice rant! They should have you write the sequel.

[Caractacus_Potts]

I beg to differ. While the establishment cannot force the part to pay the service charge, there is nothing illegal about putting it on the bill. And there is everything illegal about not paying that bill.

And I have not heard one case of a restaurant being charged with a crime for adding a service charge or gratuity to the bill; it is standard practice in the industry for large parties and special events.

You have no idea how much this burns me. One of my pet peeves is people using the word "illegal" incorrectly.

I had intended to convey that there are certain criteria that must be met before it was considered a legal service charge and the person who refused to pay could be arrested and charged with theft of services.

When I said illegal I was wrong and you were absolutely correct to call me on it. No police officer is going to arrest a server or restaurant manager/owner for adding an auto grat to a bill.

If you will excuse me I am going to finger a pair of handcuffs while I repeat the Miranda warning twenty times.

[Jester]

If you will excuse me I am going to finger a pair of handcuffs while I repeat the Miranda warning twenty times.

Completely off topic trivia question: what state gave us the Miranda warning?