All My Children Discussion Group

Topic: Couple Arrested for not tipping at a restaurant

"Nobody, nobody wants to be forced to pay a tip or be arrested for terrible service," Leslie Pope said when her happy hour ended in handcuffs.
Leslie Pope and John Wagner were hauled away by police and charged with theft for not paying the mandatory 18 percent gratuity totaling $16 after eating at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem, Pa. with six friends.

Pope claimed that they had to wait nearly an hour for their order and that she had to get napkins and silverware for the table herself.

What ingy said.  Those customers chose to eat in a place where they would be charged a gratuity whether they liked the service or not.  If you don't want to pay an automatic gratuity, eat somewhere else.

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As usual, Squeezeme, you and I disagree again. Why should a customer have to pay for bad service? The restaurant owner should have had the decency to take the tip off the bill because the service was so bad. Holly

As I said, if you don't want to pay for bad service, don't put yourself in a situation where the gratuity is included. If this couple had approached the manager instead of the bartender and explained their problem in a polite fashion, I have a feeling this story would have had a very different ending. //SqueezeMe

Why did Princess January complain about you, Squeezeme? She must have had a good reason. eom Holly

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Posted by: PhoenixTamer
Date posted: Thu Nov 19 22:45:23 2009
Message:

Holly...while im aware of all ingy is talkin about and know where she is coming from ... this still just reeks of Modern Day Insanity to me ...

chris/pt

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Hi, Chris, you and I are from the south so we have the same view about politeness. A restaurant owner with integrity would have taken the gratuity off of the bill because the service was so bad. Rude Yankees don't get it. Holly

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Posted by: ingyandbert
Date posted: Thu Nov 19 19:38:51 2009
Message:
A tip and a gratuity are not the same thing.  A tip is entirely voluntary, a gratuity is a fee that is part of the bill.  The couple was not arrested because they didn't tip -- they were arrested for not paying part of their bill (and probably for acting like jackasses).  You have to wonder what kind of scene those customers caused to have the restaurant call the police and for the police to then drag them out in handcuffs.  I hate bad service as much as the next person but it's no excuse for getting yourself arrested.

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You're right, Ingy... It's in the fine print, usually, like on the bill or the menu. Many restaurants put a mandatory gratuity on parties of 8 or more. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen one on a table of 6, but whatever. I bet that's one restaurant that got more bad publicity than good, over this. I'm not saying that letting them walk would be a good idea, but something must have gotten out of hand. eom/jenny

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