- So last week I ate at a tasty restaurant I like called Granville Cafe. They were doing a buy one dinner get one dinner as a promotion. The catch? You have to buy two drinks and they also charge you an 18% gratuity charge on your bill (written in deceivingly small print on the coupon)!!!! WTF!
- First off I have to say that my guest and I sat at the bar where minimal work was necessary for the bar tender to provide us. Secondly one of the main entrees we ordered was missing the usual amount of noodles. We counted 6 measly strands of noodles whereas usually there is a a huge mound of them on the plate. Lastly when I got the bill and noticed the sneaky 18% gratuity charge I spoke to the manager to tell him they could not do that and should not. The manager was more combative than helpful. This was also the case when I told him about the missing noodles on the entree.
- It was a very bad experience. If you go out and buy a t-shirt on sale at a store, the store doesn’t penalize you and charge you an extra percentage on the shirt just for it being on sale! Granville Cafe seems to think that is ok to do to their food. If they are going to offer a free meal with the purchase of a meal and two drinks then they should not try to charge customers and extra 18% on the bill, especially if the service sucked. Plus they cannot do that by law. I think it is something only a professional shyster would try to get away with. I smell class action!
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- Main Entry: Gratuity (gra·tu·ity) : something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service ; especially : tip
According to a NY state prosecutor “A Mandatory Gratuity Is Just a Tip, and Thus Not Mandatory”
The prosecutor states a client is not obligated to pay your “mandatory gratuity” if they do not want to!
reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/nyregion/15tipper.html
So if the client feels like scratching out that mandatory gratuity part of the bill, and only paying you for the food that was provided. They are legally entitled and lawfully protected to do just that.
While I understand how annoying a gratuity can be, please keep in mind that servers and bartenders depend on these along with their tips to make a living. A server makes an average of $2.13 an hour and a bartender averages around $4 or so, not including tips. While it may seem like they aren’t doing much, a bartender is usually responsible for making the drinks for every single patron at the restaurant or bar, not an easy thing to do.
While a client is entitled to scratch out the gratuity, know that doing so will also scratch out the server or bartender’s chance at making rent, grocery, gas and living money.
Once again a gratuity is a thank you and is not required. I understand people depend on tips for their livelihood but maybe they should be in a different profession. I don’t believe in anything mandatory for a gratuity although they should recommend what gratuity could be left. I tip well but have never had it try to be a set mandatory fee. I don’t expect to have a restaurant pretend to give me a deal but then charge me something extra.
Interesting opinion considering I used the same coupon recently. I love Granville and I find the gratuity perfectly acceptable for the fact that they gave me an entire meal FREE with only having to buy another meal and two drinks. Being a waitress in a former life, I found that a fixed gratuity is often added because people tend to only tip on the reduced amount, instead of the amount BEFORE the discount – which is not cool to the waitstaff. The coupon accurately discloses the offer, and if it’s not to your liking, don’t use it. They gave you FREE food for god sakes.
I guess my point was completely missed by you Brenda. That’s ok.
I have to say, charging a customer a gratuity on their bill without prior warning is wrong. Yes, waitstaff and bartenders etc do rely on tips, that isn’t bad in itself. Its the fact an establishment has the cheek to charge a ‘mandatory’ gratuity. If waitstaff & bartenders etc aren’t happy with their wages/salary & tips – then its up to them to talk to their superiors to come up with a straightforward, honest and informative means to rectifying that. Not charging a sneaky 18% gratuity on a bill. I know a lot of people do not pay close attention to the bills at their favourite establishments as they know prices etc & for a place to charge their loyal customers a gratuity that is almost a secret (since it hasn’t been mentioned by the poster that there was a big, clear sign informing customers of it) is downright disrespectful to their loyal customers.