"Sheldon" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Doug Kanter wrote:
>> "pennyaline" <nsmitchell@spamspamspamspamspamspamspameggandspam .com>
>> wrote
>> in message ...
>> > Sheldon wrote:
>> >> Methinks this article must assume all folks frequent an establishemnt
>> >> but once... it definitely pays to tip, and well, at a restaurant one
>> >> frequents often. Naturally if the experience is such that due to poor
>> >> service you're never going to return then why bother to tip at all, I
>> >> don't, the consumer votes with its pocketbook. There's no rule that
>> >> says poor service deserves a tip anyway.
>> >
>> > Methinks also that both the author and the restaurant owner missed the
>> > court
>> > case in which demanding addtional "service charges" in the guise of or
>> > in
>> > lieu of gratuities, and in the absence of additional services, was
>> > found
>> > to
>> > be bogus and therefore unenforceable.
>> >
>> >
>>
>> That sounds odd. There are plenty of restaurants where it'll say on the
>> menu
>> "A 12% service charge will be added for parties of 10 or more", or
>> something
>> in that vein. Regardless of what "the court case" said, this is not
>> unusual.
>
> Nothing odd. Doesn't matter what it says on a menu, a menu is not a
> legal instrument. Many restaurants post signs/notices saying "Not
> Responsible For Personal Property (per management)", but by law they
> are responsible, not only for your property but they're responsible for
> you bodily as well (regardless the presumptuousness of management), in
> NYC businesses are prohibited by law from posting such signs. A
> business is an "invitee", ergo they are responsible. Btw, a restaurant
> patron is not required to read a menu, in fact they are not required to
> know how to read. In order to enforce a 12% service charge the
> business must inform *verbally* _prior to_ taking an order, where upon
> with _acceptance_ a legal contract (verbal) is entered into... posting
> a private sign/notice (especially one contrary to law) hoping it will
> be read and comprehended does not a legal contract make. Even though
> the vast majority of patrons will note the sign and comply they are not
> legally required to, not in the US.
>
> Sheldon
>

Interesting - not required to read. I wonder how someone claiming to be
illiterate would explain how they chose an item off the menu, especially in
a place where relatively uncommon dishes were served.