Celebrity chef Thomas Keller’s Per Se restaurant in Manhattan is one of the world’s most expensive eateries, with diners paying a minimum prix fixe of $310 each for dinner. And yet the restaurant has been caught charging certain customers for “service charges” that didn’t go to pay the people performing that service. Now it faces having to pay $500,000 in restitution to employees who should have received this money. [More]
gratuities
Once All Tip Jars Take Credit Cards You'll Have No Excuse Not To Give
By 8.29.12
“Ooh… sorry, I don’t have any cash on me… [cue regretful face]” will no longer be an acceptable policy if this newfangled tip jar gadgetry catches on. DipJar is pretty simple — a credit-card scanner that sits upright and resembles a traditional tip jar. Stick youur card in and leave a tip wherever it’s deserved. Time to start dreaming up alternate excuses, ye stingy folks. [More]
Deciding The Right Amount To Tip
By 11.14.11
Since the beginning of time — or at least the beginning of the movie Reservoir Dogs — people have debated the proper amount to tip. There are no hard and fast rules for how much you need to tip for various services, and it comes down to a matter of personal preferences as they relate to social customs. Few people really like paying more than they need to be, or to be viewed as a cheapskate, so everyone walks a fine line when deciding how much to leave. [More]
Restaurant Bans Customer For Not Tipping Enough
By 2.26.10
The menu of a restaurant in Winston-Salem, NC, says a gratuity of 15% will be added to parties of six or more. A former customer says she was in a party of three and saw that an 18% gratuity had been added, which she complained about but paid. She said the next time she showed up, she was met at the door by staff and told that she had to agree up front to pay 18% or she couldn’t eat there. [More]
Police Drop Theft Charges Against Pub Non-Tippers
By 11.23.09
Police in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, are withdrawing charges against the two college students who refused to tip at a pub last month, says The Morning Call.
Should Yelp Remove Reviews By Non Customers?
By 11.20.09
Lehigh Pub, the restaurant in Pennsylvania that had two patrons arrested for not tipping, was blasted on Yelp in the past 24 hours or so by angry readers. Many of them weren’t customers, but heard about the arrests in the news and came to vote down the pub. As of this morning, it had an average of one star out of five.
College Students Arrested For Refusing To Pay Tip
By 11.19.09
Should you be required by law to pay a gratuity if you don’t think the restaurant’s service was worth it? The police in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania think so, and they arrested two college students for refusing to pay a $16.35 tip over what they claim was poor service. Update 11/23/09: the charges will be dropped.
Johnny Rockets Automatically Adds 15% Gratuity To Takeout Orders
By 2.24.08
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.”
American Airlines Skycaps, Upset With Low Tip, Fill Suitcase With Garbage
By 3.22.07
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.
Waiters Lobby for 20% Mandatory Tips
By 9.18.06
Anyone who’s ever waited tables knows the agony of the crappy tip. But should diners be forced to pay mandatory 20% tips?
Tip or Sign the Slip?
By 6.1.06
Tipping, a venerated system of checks and balances that rewards good service and punishes bad, is under attack, or is it evolution?
