Today I ate at a D.C. restaurant with 4 others. After our meal, we requested for the check to be split 5 ways (we assumed they would do this). When we got our receipts we all had a gratuity charge of 18%!!! The waitress was incredibly rude and we only wanted to tip 10%. We inquired with management and they said the gratuity was at the servers request!
Is this legal? It seemed extremely unfair and this has never happened before to me; I eat out in groups all the time.
2007-03-01 12:10:49 · 14 answers · asked by Kristen 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
No, it is not. You pay what's posted on the menu plus tax. Tip is optional.
2007-03-01 12:15:28 · answer #1 · answered by WJ 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Legally, any requirements concerning gratuity should be posted on the menu or another visible place. Many restaurants will add gratuity for things like splitting checks because it is quite a hassle for the servers and often times takes away from the service they can provide to other tables.
If gratuity requirements are not posted, you can argue it. Also, even if the gratuity requirements are posted, and you felt the service was sub-par, you can still argue it.
Any intelligent manager will immediately remove the gratuity for one simple reason. They want the business.
If the manager had agreed to remove the gratuity and had apologized, there might still be a chance (however slim) that you and your 4 friends would return for a second try.
By treating you the way they did not only did they:
A) ensure you would never return therefore losing the business of 5 people
they also
B) created a situation where you and your 4 friends would advise people to NOT go there -- effectively losing out on an untold number of potentially new customers.
If you ever find yourself in this situation again, ask for the General Manager if you're dealing with an assistant manager. Or, if you are already dealing with the GM, then ask for the corporate address/phone number or the contact information for the owner(s) of the restaurant.
You can be sure that unless you yourself are being completely unreasonable, the higher ups will do anything in their power to get you to come back for a second try.
2007-03-01 15:20:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't believe a compulsory gratuity is legal. Perhaps the only exception is if it is clearly written on the menu.
Also, 18% is higher than the customary 15% (perhaps the other 3% was to cover credit card costs, or did you pay in cash?)
I just recently moved from Chicago to the Czech Republic. People here tip very little (sometimes not at all), and a "good" tip is 10%. However, some restaurants are including a 15% tip right on the bill, which is catching some tourists unaware. Some are leaving double tips: the one they are automatically charged and another one left on the table.
If I had been you, I would have refused to pay the tip, and if the waiter complained, tell him straight to his face you didn't like his attitude.
I usually tip way more than 15%, but there have been a couple times when the service was so abysmally bad that I left less. By "abysmal", I mean the waiter either lost my order or didn't get it right. I might have requested something, like a slice of lemon and never gotten it. If I'm paying $30 for a dinner, I should get the meal I order, and not have to flag down my waiter to bring me the typical items one would expect at any dinner table.
2007-03-01 12:19:51 · answer #3 · answered by pachl@sbcglobal.net 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Usually if you eat with a large party a resteraunt will automatically include gratuity, but the policy must be in writing somewhere (unless it is a state law, which is unlikely). At the bottom of menus or on a sign in the entrance you'll often see something along the lines of "If your party has 6 or more people, 15% gratuity will automatically be added to the bill". This is completely legal. HOWEVER, if this is not in writing, and there is no place on the menu or posted in public that deals with this, then it is most likely not legal. Go into the resteraunt and look... ask to see a menu. If you can't find it, tell them you will be calling the Better Business Bureau and reporting their practices.
2007-03-01 12:17:08 · answer #4 · answered by Wildernessguy 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No what the first poster said, unless stated in the menu or some other place in writing where you can see when entering the Establishment, you are legally only liable for what is in the contract IE the menu and the written price of food and booze
usually menu will say of parties 6 or 8 or more a x% gratuity
side note unless posted you are if you are within your right to tip what you want and if Establishment try to hold you until the police come, they would be liable for a tort charge of false imprisonment and would be barred from using the shopkeeper exception to the tort, since they have no legal valid reason to hold you with the threat that you owe the tip
2007-03-01 12:24:32 · answer #5 · answered by goz1111 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Many restaurants add a gratuity to the total. The reason for this is that too many left nothing at all. Or, the cheapskates would leave 5 - 10% only.
It is pretty standard. It is your responsibility to either read the information that is provided or to inquire before you sit down. Don't blame the restaurant.
2007-03-01 12:55:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, a gratuity means a gift. It's up to you whether or not to give one. Some restaurants post a notice that some level of tip is required when a group of more than X is at one table. No notice, no extra tip, in my opinion.
2007-03-01 15:29:26 · answer #7 · answered by Buzzy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This can not be done unless the patrons are warned in advance, either on the menu (service non-compris) or verbally by the server. Out of courtesy YOU should have told the server in ADVANCE that you wanted separate checks, so tough on you for not doing that. If it happens again after you have asked in advance, tell them you are going to call the local police and let them decide. Then ....leave them $1.00 (pennies if you have them). No restaurant,lousy, mediocre, or great wants a scene with the police.
2007-03-01 12:24:50 · answer #8 · answered by gervoi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The regulation is stupid and so are each and all of the solutions till now mines. You all do understand that if the guy chosen to pass in unprotected the girl chosen to allow him in no? If a woman is incapable of looking after a teenager herself without toddler help she shsouldn't have the toddler and then rigidity the fairly to pay for what's not any her undertaking on my own. it is the place the accountability isn't being taken. a guy can't be blamed for a being pregnant a hundred% you dunces. females could desire to have the main stunning to opt for, yet then so could desire to men. Why could a woman opt for to have a toddler that she would be in a position to in basic terms cope with to pay for to guard with toddler help besides? it is not any thank you to enhance a toddler.
2016-10-02 05:45:46 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take it to the management. If this doesn't work, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau http://www.bbb.org make sure you note down the name and exact address of the restaurant.
2007-03-01 12:16:54 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's legal for groups of X amount or more. Usually 8.
2007-03-01 12:33:46 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋