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]
mandatory gratuities
Hawaiian Restaurant Adds Surcharge For Customers Who Don't Speak English
By 2.4.11
Fed up with being stiffed on tips by foreigners, a restaurant in Hawaii has added on a mandatory 15% gratuity for customers who don’t speak English. [More]
At Least One Overpriced NYC Bar Ditches Mandatory 20% Tip
By 11.2.10
Yesterday we brought you the story about several overpriced, overhyped NYC hotel bars that were adding mandatory 18-20% tips to drinks that already cost more than a good meal. Today, we’re happy to report that at least one of these spots has changed its policy. [More]
For Your Next Vacation, Try Norwegian's Exciting All-Upsell Cruise
By 10.13.10
Jarrod tells Consumerist that his father-in-law recently traveled to Alaska with Norwegian Cruise Line. His biggest gripe was that everything a passenger could do on board, including purchases in the gift shop, carried an automatic 18% gratuity. This would be acceptable if the service were good enough to justify a tip at all. But Jarrod notes, “[Room stewards] knew they were getting an automatic 18%, so why work for it?” [More]
