"mandatory" 18 percent gratuity at Lehigh Pub.

[Pottsville woman's refusal to pay tip lands her in national spotlight; charges expected to be dropped]

I Always Said I would Never
pay a "mandatory" Tip.

Tips are for Type of service.

Why is there no Mandatory Minimum Wage
in Bars & Restaurants ?

Pottsville woman's refusal to pay tip
 lands her in national spotlight;
charges expected to be dropped

Pottsville native Leslie Pope will appear
 on CNN today, a month after her
 refusal to pay a tip at a Bethlehem
 restaurant drew national attention.

Pope, 22, a 2006 Pottsville Area
 High School graduate and business
 major at Moravian College,
 was arrested after not paying a
 "mandatory" 18 percent gratuity at Lehigh Pub.

"We could not believe that you
 could be handcuffed for not paying a gratuity,"
 Leslie's mother, Denise, told The
 Republican-Herald on Monday afternoon.
 "We think it is absolutely ridiculous."

http://mattjohnston.blogspot.com/2009/11/tipping-and-that-mandatory-18-gratuity.html

I compare this to the registration fees or application processing fees charged by many companies for the "privilege" of me becoming a customer.

When my son was being enrolled in daycare a few years back I told the director that I also charge a "sign up" fee if they wanted my business.  I told her the fee they charge and the fee I charge offset each other so we were even.  I refused to pay a fee for the privilege of dishing out $600++ each month!

She saw my point and waived the fee as a "one time courtesy".

Technically in the field of law, you have consented to the terms of the contract when you eat there.  This is where is gets tricky....was there a signed contract?  The answer is no.   Is there an oral agreement.....depends were you informed of all the terms of the contract.....doubtfully.  Is the contract enforceable.....no.   Several arguments:  1. No signed contract  2. No meeting of the minds  3.  Even if a contract is considered were the terms of service fullfilled.....NO.....poor service hence the 18 % tip was not delivered for services rendered  This is an unenforceable contract, extreme bad publicity, and a revelation as to why this establishment has to mandate tips on their menu......LOSERS!

What to do show up in court, easy win....then file false imprisonment against the establishment (they called the cops and pressed charges there were no theft of services)

The idiot owner or manager would have been better off to say let it go.

Law school 101 taught me this.

"They had to find their own napkins and cutlery while their waitress caught a smoke, had to ask the bar for soda refills, and had to wait over an hour for salad and wings, they told NBC10."

In short not only did this waitress not deserve a tip, the restaurant should have comped the customers for the lousy service.

"They had to find their own napkins and cutlery while their waitress caught a smoke, had to ask the bar for soda refills, and had to wait over an hour for salad and wings, they told NBC10."

In short not only did this waitress not deserve a tip, the restaurant should have comped the customers for the lousy service.

 

Some business owners have no sense.  Customer Loyalty is difficult to accomplish.  Every business is more interested in getting new people through the door than trying to give great service to the ones that they already have!

I agree if the service sucked no tip should be given especially by force but there could be another side to this story.  Obviously this guy and girl will claim service sucked even if it didn't to cover themselves.   These two could just be cheapasses trying to get away without tipping.  The kid is in college and it doesnt say anything about his employment so maybe he's broke, decided he did not want to tip, and walked away.  He may never tip for all we know and this time he was called on his bluff.  I could be wrong, service may have sucked but is it worth looking like an ass over 4 bucks?  One thing i've learned is always tip good especially if you visit a place often unless you like your food messed with.    So if the service was bad, fine no tip, but if this whole case is based on him not being able to afford a tip, well eat at home.  Either way a waitress really has no say on how long the food takes and they do not work on hourly wages like the cooks or at least to my understanding thats how it works.  A few of my friends are waitresses and some people do not tip regardless of service so I can understand why some places add in tips to the bill since a waitress makes roughly half of what minimum wage is.  I never understood the bar thing either, you tip a guy (or girl) like 2-3 bucks a pop for the 1-2 seconds it takes to open a beer or two, hell for that money i'll open my own.  I've waited 30 minutes for a beer before and still tipped but like a waitress they generally only get a small shift pay and the better you tip the more free stuff you get and I do like free beer. 

This is from a tourist guide TO the US :

"Tipping is customary for service industry professionals: waiters, bartenders, taxi drivers, hairdressers, hotel porters and chambermaids, coatroom attendants, parking valets and airport skycaps. Tips are an important part of their income. The tipping custom in the U.S. is 15 percent of the total bill – 20 percent or more for exceptional service. Tip coatroom attendants $1 per garment; parking valets $1-2 when you drop off your car and another $1-2 when you pick it up; hotel porters and airport skycaps at least $1 per bag; and hotel chambermaids $3-5 a day."





Tipping is a concept developed many years ago in Europe. TIP is an acronym meaning "To Insure Promptness". Today, tipping has become an "uniquely American" custom and is fully expected from your server, unless otherwise noted in the restaurant.
Tips are an incentive for the server to give good service. Since tipping is expected, though not mandatory, the customer is given a certain amount of power to reward good service or punish inferior service. However, servers do depend on tips for a living. According to the Minimum Wage Act, employers are able to pay "tipped employees" less than the mandated minimum wage because in theory, servers will earn tips to make up the difference between the two wages.
Michael Lynn, a researcher at Cornell University, actually did a study on customer reactions to restaurants who included tips in the price of the meal. Surprisingly, most people perceived these restaurants as more expensive than restaurants who expected customers to tip the server at the end of the meal. Also, there are restaurants, Per Se in New York is one, that tack on a 20% service charge to every bill instead of customers tipping the server directly. The money, which is still a form of tipping in my opinion, is then divided among all employees, who make a resonable wage.

Tipping is not done in Australia as the minimum wage is fair .
Simply put, if the service is poor the business suffers and the worker is replaced.
Tipping and the expectation of a tip to me is like bribery in advance and is just another symptom of a cancerous corrupt society.

Is this how a human being should behave in a modern advanced society :

How to increase YOUR tips if you are in the service profession and receive tips
12 Ways Servers Can Increase Tips
by Dr. Michael Lynn, Cornell School of Hotel Administration
1. Introduce yourself by name.
2. Personalize your appearance - wear a funny tie, flower to make you stand out.
3. Kneel down next to tables.
4. Recommend appetizers, wine and other extra items to increase sales and resulting tips.
5. Smile.

6. Tell a joke or play a game with customers.

7. Touch customers.
8. Thank customers.
9. Draw a picture on the check.
10. Use credit-card tip trays.
11. Call customers by name.
12. Give customers after-dinner candy.

  

This is from a tourist guide TO the US :

"Tipping is customary

  

Eating Turkey onTurkey day is customary
also. But you can't be arrested for eating rat instead

Charges have been dropped.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Theft-Charges-Dropped-Against-No-Tip-Couple--71865807.html

Lesson: The next time you have a dispute, get profiled on CNN!