Diner beware
I'm boycotting one of my favorite restaurants - one my family has been going to regularly since it opened a few years back. We're good customers - noisy, but pretty good natured and easy to please. And this is a noisy restaurant, so we don't stick out.
About a year or so ago, I thought our bill was high and saw that a tip had already been added in. This was the first time I had seen the restaurant do that. The waiter said they started adding them on for parties of six or more. OK, they had never done that, and my husband, children and I always make a party of six, but that was fine. I felt he should've pointed it out when he handed me the bill.
We went back to the restaurant shortly after that, again with more than the six in the party, but no tip was added. I asked the waiter about it, and he said, "Oh, we don't really do that." Over the last year, I've always checked (we've got our six, and we usually go with my parents, my uncle, my mother-in-law, my brother's family or a combination of them). No tips were ever added.
We went to the restaurant again two weeks ago for my husband's birthday. We had a party of 13, five of them young children. By the end of dinner, the kids, especially my 3-year-old, were beyond restless. It was time to get them home. I said I'd put the bill on my credit card, just looked at the total of $180-something and handed the card over. When the waiter brought it back, I signed it and handed him $40 in cash for a tip.
The next day, I started thinking about it. We all pretty much stuck with sandwiches. There was only one appetizer and our drink bill didn't amount to much. I stopped in on my way home, and the maitre d' said that, no, they wouldn't have added on a tip, but he'd ask the manager.
The manager found our waiter and asked if he had, and the waiter said that yes, he had. Sorry, nothing they could do about it, the manager said. I just tipped about $70 for a bill of about $150. The manager insisted that it's noted on the menu (it is), that they always add a tip on for parties of six or more (they don't) and chastised me for not reading the bill more closely.
I usually do, and next time my little one is rarin' to go, somebody else at my table will have to. But it won't be at that restaurant. I once worked in a restaurant where we had the option of adding tips to bills that were over a certain amount. But if we did, we told the patrons that a 15 percent gratuity had been added on. If the policy's selectively enforced, they should tell you when they do.
About a year or so ago, I thought our bill was high and saw that a tip had already been added in. This was the first time I had seen the restaurant do that. The waiter said they started adding them on for parties of six or more. OK, they had never done that, and my husband, children and I always make a party of six, but that was fine. I felt he should've pointed it out when he handed me the bill.
We went back to the restaurant shortly after that, again with more than the six in the party, but no tip was added. I asked the waiter about it, and he said, "Oh, we don't really do that." Over the last year, I've always checked (we've got our six, and we usually go with my parents, my uncle, my mother-in-law, my brother's family or a combination of them). No tips were ever added.
We went to the restaurant again two weeks ago for my husband's birthday. We had a party of 13, five of them young children. By the end of dinner, the kids, especially my 3-year-old, were beyond restless. It was time to get them home. I said I'd put the bill on my credit card, just looked at the total of $180-something and handed the card over. When the waiter brought it back, I signed it and handed him $40 in cash for a tip.
The next day, I started thinking about it. We all pretty much stuck with sandwiches. There was only one appetizer and our drink bill didn't amount to much. I stopped in on my way home, and the maitre d' said that, no, they wouldn't have added on a tip, but he'd ask the manager.
The manager found our waiter and asked if he had, and the waiter said that yes, he had. Sorry, nothing they could do about it, the manager said. I just tipped about $70 for a bill of about $150. The manager insisted that it's noted on the menu (it is), that they always add a tip on for parties of six or more (they don't) and chastised me for not reading the bill more closely.
I usually do, and next time my little one is rarin' to go, somebody else at my table will have to. But it won't be at that restaurant. I once worked in a restaurant where we had the option of adding tips to bills that were over a certain amount. But if we did, we told the patrons that a 15 percent gratuity had been added on. If the policy's selectively enforced, they should tell you when they do.
2 Comments:
I agree wholeheartedly-that restaurant has a terrible customer relations policy. With your track record of many large parties they should not only refund your tip (any fool could see that it was made erroneously)but offer you a couple of free dinners in appreciation of your patronage.
Why not name the restaurant here?
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