Consumerist: Gratuities

Johnny Rockets Automatically Adds 15% Gratuity To Takeout Orders

Carey — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:17:40 EST

Johnny Rockets added a 15% mandatory gratuity to reader Melissa's takeout order. When she questioned the charge, her server voided the order and awkwardly explained that Johnny Rockets had run out of burgers, fries, and root beer.

She writes:

When I went to pay for the order, I noticed a gratuity already included on the bill. I told the waiter, "this is take out gratuity is not included."
He looked at me and said "that's how we always do it." I sat there staring at my bill scratching my head wondering if i should sign this receipt. A few seconds later they told me that they were out of what i had ordered. Good I thought. Cancel my order completely, but I'm taking the receipt.

We called the Coconut Grove Johnny Rockets last night and spoke with a manager who explained: "It's the law that we have here." Even worse, the Coconut Grove Grapevine posted another Johnny Rockets receipt, and it looks like they are adding the 15% gratuity to the post-tax total. Let's see what the Florida Department of Revenue thinks of the arrangement:

...Rule 12A- 1.011(11), F.A.C., provides that the unless the following conditions are met, a gratuity is taxable as part of the total sales price:

The charge is a voluntary gratuity or tip added to or by the purchaser to his bill or money given freely by the purchaser over and above the sales price of such food or drink product; and

Separately stated on the purchaser's bill or invoice as a gratuity or tip; and

All such voluntary gratuities must be distributed in full to the employees at least every six months with no part accruing to the benefit or advantage of the dealer.

Even if the tip is legal, does Johnny Rockets really think they are worth a mandatory 15% gratuity? Stop pretending to be Per Se and earn your tip.

Restaurants and Bars Standard Industry Guide [Florida Department of Revenue]

American Airlines Skycaps, Upset With Low Tip, Fill Suitcase With Garbage

consumerintern — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 11:15:46 EDT

Airport skycaps have been admittedly screwed over in recent years. Airlines have imposed $2 curbside check-in fees, but none of that money goes to the skycap. Most people don't know that, and don't tip.

But these American Airlines skycaps at Miami International Airport went too far in pushing for tips:

I checked one bag with him, and, after giving him $2 plus $1 tip, he said my tip wasn't enough. I thought he was joking. He said $2 went to American Airlines, and he needed more than a dollar tip per bag to make a living. I said I thought the gratuity was up to my discretion. He said not if I wanted my bag intact when it arrived in Chicago - and suggested I take my bag inside if I didn't give him a better tip.
I was stunned and asked the skycap next to him if harassing customers for tips was part of American's policy. He said yes, with a smug look. I said I was going inside to talk to customer service. As I walked away with my baggage-claim number, he said he couldn't guarantee my bag would arrive safely in Chicago.
[...]
I boarded the plane and picked up my suitcase in Chicago without a problem. But, when I got home, I found bags of messy garbage in my luggage! I had to dry-clean some clothing and am considering throwing away the suitcase.

A $1 tip gets you some complimentary trash. What would a $0 tip yield?

American's response: "Appropriate action was taken." The passenger got 8000 frequent flyer miles and an apology. No reimbursement for the dry cleaning bill. Stay classy, American! — MARK ASHLEY

Give a good tip to Miami skycap or get a surprise in your luggae (sic) [Daily Southtown] (Run a spell-check, people!)
(Photo: dann :*)

Waiters Lobby for 20% Mandatory Tips

consumerist.com — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:34:09 EDT

Anyone who's ever waited tables knows the agony of the crappy tip. But should diners be forced to pay mandatory 20% tips?

Yakup Ulutas thinks so. He's founded FairTip.org, an association that's lobbying for a 20% mandatory standard gratuity, like New York's Per Se restaurant most famously instituted last year.

I'm all for tipping good service, and I feel sorry for waitstaff who get stiffed. But why not just pay your servers more than $2.13 per hour to start with, and incorporate the wage increase into the price of food?

As I've ranted at length before, making tips mandatory won't make service worse at top-end restaurants. But, as a betting man, I'd make book on service quality taking a dive in more downscale, family-style restaurants, if 20% tips were mandatory.

Until then, research shows that servers looking to max out their tips should limber up their knees and start visiting their local florist:

One study showed that when waitresses wore flowers in their hair they earned 17 percent more than when they didn't. Another study suggests that waiters who squat beside tables receive an average tip of 18 percent, versus a 15 percent tip received by waiters who stand next to their tables.

Waiters' Tip Fight Grows [Washington Post]

Tip or Sign the Slip?

popkin — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 13:33:01 EDT

Tipping, a venerated system of checks and balances that rewards good service and punishes bad, is under attack, or is it evolution?

Customary overseas, automatic service charges are making headway in America as hotels discover how lucrative they can be, as pointed out by this substantive article in the LAT which noted:

"A 2005 poll of top-rated hotels and spas by Michael Lynn, a tipping expert and associate professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., revealed that almost 50% of those businesses added mandatory service fees and gratuities to guests' tabs."

That's despite a Zagat survey that 90% of customers are averse to the practice.

Many hotels are adding service charges which should replace tips, but in some cases, the bellmen are still staring down customers for the handout.

What do you think? Should all tips be discretionary or does a flat "tip tax" ensure universal good service?