Locked in Restaurant for refusing to pay forced gratuity

[stdreb27]

Assuming the story is true, I would have paid with a credit card, had someone else sign it, eff you. And said it wasn't my signature...

I can't think of a single restaurant that doesnt charge a surcharge for large parties. This reminds me of a restaurant in corpus, it is always packed out, but I hate going there, because they have all these ridiculous charges, for everything. Always pisses off my wife, when she asks to go. Because I tell her hell no, I'm not going to eat at a place that nickel and dimes you for everything.

 

[Acera]

Nothing criminal about that. Read theft of service.

You serious? You can charge people for something you did not provide and get away with it? I though that would constitute some form of fraud. I am talking about the food they allegedly did not serve, but charged for.

 

[TexasShooter]

You serious? You can charge people for something you did not provide and get away with it? I though that would constitute some form of fraud. I am talking about the food they allegedly did not serve, but charged for.

Article only indicated that they didn't receive the whole order. Not that they were charged for the items they didn't receive.

 

[TexasShooter]

Time for a lawyer... I was pretty sure that if a charge was labeled gratuity it was optional. What a charge is labeled is quite important.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (federal law), if an automatic service charge is added it is not "gratuitous". Thats the only thing i've seen limiting gratuity to only discretionary payments. But the classification only affects what the employer can do with the money. It in no way limits the ability of an establishment to charge it.

 

[txgunner00]

[h=2]gra·tu·ity[/h] noun \grə-ˈtü-ə-tē, -ˈtyü-\
plural gra·tu·ities


[h=2]Definition of GRATUITY[/h] : something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service; especially : tip

This is how Webster's defines the term. Legal or not the manager is a moron for handling it the way he did.

 

[kusai]

I totally avoid place which are jam packed, and specially hate the wait line. If a restaurant expects me to pay high, I expect to be treated royally.

 

[Justin Appleseed]

I'd be like.. Me and my wife are taking the booth.. You three take the table in front of us... We can still interact, problem solved. Just like carrying your gun, don't put yourself in to a situation you can avoid with common sense or simple training. Awareness of your laws, surroundings, and the type of people your dealing with. If its your treat.. Just pay two bills on the same card! Win win!

 

[lalonguecarabine]

Manager was an asshole for the way he handled the situation. Period!

I can't tell you how many rebates, freebies, etc. I've given guests at work due to some problem they may be having (half the time, it's not even our problem, but we try to help a guest having a bad day!). It's called "customer service".
If you're gonna aspire to be in the hospitality business, you need to be freakin' hospitable!

 

[steve-o]

Isn't it against the law to lock the entrance/exit of a restaurant/business during normal business hours. I thought that was part of the fire code. I think the people should have paid, but locking the doors and restraining someone and blocking exits is just as bad in my eyes. If the patrons really feel that they don't want to pay for the service they should take it to small claims court, but the restaurant should also hold their servers liable for the quality of service when the gratuity is included.

 

[ChunkyMonkey]

I worked in a restaurant before. I always received good tips.....some staff would intentionally ignore them because they knew they'd get the mandatory gratuity. I quit. Couldn't stand that environment. Wasn't a ma' and pa' place either.

 

[Acera]

If they would just change the menu to read "Service Charge" instead of "Gratuity" the issue would be clear.

 

[matefrio]

As a waiter I had a large party 20, sit and stay for a long time at my table. I gave them great service, they were my only customers for those 3.5 hrs and I was totally focused on them. Now normally I'd be turning 4 or 5 tables that night at 45 min each during my shift. So, you expect to get tipped well.

Cleaning up the table after I found $1. Went up to the cash register and they hadn't tipped on the credit card.

I went out to the parking lot and found the group. The "head' of the table was there who paid. I gave him back the dollar and told him, politely and calmly it seemed his group needed it more than I did.

Seems when the one person paid the others assumed he'd pick up the tip and the person paying thought, as is customary, that the others would pick up the tip as he was paying the bill.

Needless to say that $1 turned to a very good tip as the guy who paid the bill had everyone go back in and tip. ;-)

Large parties are crazy. They can really cost a waiter money by how long they sit and the tables they take up for the night. Even when a service charge is added if a group is sitting for a long long time they should tip in addition to the charge.

 

[stdreb27]

Now that I don't have a problem with...

 

[ZX9RCAM]

I've eaten at places where the "large group tip" added to the bill ended up being less than I was going to tip....I was pissed it was added so I did not add any more to it, ended up costing server unfortunately.

 

[Acera]

If the restaurants would just pay their employees a decent wage (more than $2.13 a hour), maybe we could do away with the issue. But their lobby keeps them special, and not required to get close to minimum wage, so the menu prices can stay lower. There are over 1/2 dozen states that the minimum is $7+ per hour.

I like the European system, round the bill up to the nearest euro if you got above average service, otherwise you don't have to worry knowing that the server is making a fair wage. If a member of the service staff is not doing a good job, rely on the management team to correct their issue, not the general public, like in just about any other business.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm#Texas

 

[jtriron]

Isn't it against the law to lock the entrance/exit of a restaurant/business during normal business hours. I thought that was part of the fire code. I think the people should have paid, but locking the doors and restraining someone and blocking exits is just as bad in my eyes. If the patrons really feel that they don't want to pay for the service they should take it to small claims court, but the restaurant should also hold their servers liable for the quality of service when the gratuity is included.

+1 on Steve's quote above.
And sounds like that restaurant's management or owners have friends at the HPD, another reason my money will never spend there.

 

[txinvestigator]

+1 on Steve's quote above.
And sounds like that restaurant's management or owners have friends at the HPD, another reason my money will never spend there.

Oh please. No fire code, law or moon phase was broken by the business. If you stiff a restaurant bill for under $50 you probably just get a ticket, more than that you go to jail.

 

[TheDan]

Manager was an asshole for the way he handled the situation. Period!

Yep... A restaurant isn't even about food; it's about the service. If a customer is dissatisfied, the smart decision would be to comp part or even all of their bill. Legal or not, their actions show they are not in the right business.

 

[cuate]

Life's too short to live in places where those rip offs serve the public ! Eff 'em all, the long, the short & the tall ! I have read where 10% of 15% is proper but it's what you can afford and how good or bad the food & the service.. A tip is proper for the hard working waitresses but what you can afford is the name of the game. Avoid that rip off dump at all instances !

 

[jtriron]

Oh please. No fire code, law or moon phase was broken by the business. If you stiff a restaurant bill for under $50 you probably just get a ticket, more than that you go to jail.

I'm shocked you didn't quote some penal code.