Dog3 wrote:
>
> Kate Connally > :
> >
> > What I can't figure out is how he got away without
> > paying the gratuity. In my experience when there is
> > a mandatory gratuity (usually 12% when I've come across
> > it - if I'd seen 18% I'da got up and walked out without
> > ordering) for a large party they add it into the bill
> > for you. So when they present the bill it's already
> > included in the total. Only thing you could do would
> > be to just leave the cash on the table and walk out
> > without waiting for the waiter to come pick up the
> > check and money or cards. You definitely couldn't do
> > it if you were using a credit card. If the restaurant
> > is not adding it into the bill then I would say that
> > you shouldn't have to pay it if the service was bad.
> >
> > Kate
>
> I don't think anyone said it wasn't added to the bill did they? I don't
> remember that part.

I don't believe it said one way or the other. So I was
speculating on how they could get away with not paying it
and leave the restaurant before it was noticed, as that
appears to be what happened. In my experience it is always
added to the bill, so if that's the case and the waiter
comes and takes the bill and the cash or credit card and
goes to ring it up, in the case of cash he/she would see
right away that they did not get enough money to cover the
bill.

So, if it was added into the bill the only way you could
get away without paying it would be if they brought the bill
to the table and left it there, planning to come back in a
few minutes to take the payment, and the dining party just
threw cash on the table to cover the actual meal plus a
small tip (the article said about 10%) and walked out.

If they had waited for the served to return and take their
payment and the payment was less than the total on the
check, then something would have been said at that time,
I would think, and it wouldn't have come to having to chase
them down the street and arrest them, which is what happened
to the best of my recollection. Anyway, that's what I was
getting at.

But if it wasn't added to the bill then they could
have paid by credit card or cash and then left a smaller
tip than they were supposed to have done and just walked
out before it was noted.

> Why would you walk out for the 18% gratuity? Just
> curious.

Well, because it's one thing if the management wants
to make sure that a large party doesn't end up stiffing
the waiter by adding a "service charge" or mandatory
"gratuity" if it's the customary 15% or less (many places
I've been to only charge 12% and you make up the difference
to the !5% or higher if you think the service was worth
it. But I think 18% is too high. I don't even like the
mandatory 15% or even the 12% because there have been
many times when the service was not worth it and I would
have liked to leave a smaller amount. (Yeah, I know I
can talk to the manager, etc., but I don't always want
to take the time and hassle of dealing with that.) Anyway,
I grudgingly accept the lower % but 18% is off the wall as
far as I am concerned.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?