My ire is up.
Back in October (21st, to be exact) I wrote about tipping. In case you missed it, and I am sure you did, I stated that I believe the whole thought that a tip is owed for a service regardless of how good or bad it was is ridiculous. I also said that I do tip, even though half the time I think it is unearned.
And now we are given the story of two college kids arrested for not leaving a tip at a restaurant. They were with 6 friends, so the restaurant tacked on what it called a mandatory 18% gratuity. The kids received bad service, so they refused to pay the $16.35 tip. As a result, they were handcuffed and arrested for theft! The restaurant says that the menu clearly states, "18 percent gratuity added to check of parties of 6 of more," and a similar message is printed on receipts, therefore, the offending customers have no excuse for not paying.
I say that's baloney.
The problem is the wording of the notice on the menu. A gratuity, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is " something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service; especially : tip." What? Two people have been arrested and charged with theft because they chose not to VOLUNTARILY GIVE something? The restaurant should call it what it is, which is a surcharge. The 18% charge was NOT a "gratuity". The arrested customers say they received bad service, which included them finding their own napkins and cutlery while their waitress took a smoke break, and waiting over an hour for salad and wings. I wouldn't have tipped her, either.
I hope those kids fight this, and if I were a lawyer I would sue the doors off that restaurant for them, pro bono. I am sick of the whole idea of entitlement in this world, and tipping is just a symptom of the real disease.
Read the original story from The Philadelphia Inquirer:
College students arrested for not paying tip
It was an evening out that college students Leslie Pope and John Wagner will long remember.
Not only did they get what they called lousy service, they got handcuffed and arrested.
All over a $16.35 tip.
They were with a half-dozen friends at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem last month, so the establishment tacked what it called a mandatory 18 percent gratuity onto the bill of about $73, according to reports.
Pope and Wagner refused to pay.
"You can't give us terrible, terrible service and expect a tip," said Pope, a 22-year-old Moravian College senior who's a Pottsville native, according to the Lehigh Valley Express-Times.
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.
The pub, which was very busy that night, took the $73, but then called the cops, who treated the matter as a theft.
The menu clearly states, "18 percent gratuity added to check of parties of 6 of more," and a similar message is printed on receipts, a pub employee said this morning.
A court date is scheduled for next month.
What would they do if it happened again? a reporter asked.
"Honestly, probably gonna pay the tip anyway," said Pope, prompting Wagner, 24, a Lehigh University grad student, to laugh.
