Pennsylvania couple handcuffed & arrested for theft for not leaving tip

[Ravi]

This happened three years ago.

The charges were dropped. The Lehigh Pub no longer exists.

Thank you President Obama for protecting our civil rights.

^So stupid she thinks this issue has something to do with Obama.

You didn't read the OP, did you.

 

[Katzndogz]

A menu is a contract. There is a cheeseburger on the menu and a price. Order the cheeseburger and you are contractually obligated to pay the agreed upon price. IF that menu has, in writing, a statement that a 15% gratuity will be applied to the total bill of sale, it becomes part of the contract. If you don't pay to pay the tip, reject the contract offer and leave the restaurant.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

This is what happens when you have a communist like obozo in the WH. You have no rights and the state controls everything.

Couple arrested over 'theft' for refusing to tip in restaurant - Telegraph

5:47PM GMT 23 Nov 2009
Leslie Pope and John Wagner were handcuffed and hauled away after they failed to leave a restaurant's mandatory 18 per cent gratuity - totalling $16 (£10) - for their party of eight.

"Nobody wants to be forced to pay a tip or be arrested for terrible service," said Miss Pope, 22.

The couple, students at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, had joined six friends at the town's Lehigh Pub for dinner. They claimed they had to wait almost an hour for their meal to arrive and Miss Pope said the service was so shoddy they had to get their own cutlery and napkins.

The group said they had to repeatedly ask for drink refills while their waitress smoked outside the pub.

At the end of the meal of salad and chicken wings, they were presented with a $73.87 bill. A $16.35 tip had been added as there was eight people in the party

What the fuck does this have to do with Obama?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

The bill sounds pretty reasonable for 8 people. Apparently the menu said that gratuities were included in the bill but the college types couldn't understand that concept. They were arrested for theft of services and it sounds like they are guilty.

I used to wait tables before I finished college and if the service really was as bad as they claim, then they were justified by not wanting to pay it. Having them arrested was a very poor decision by the management and they have just garnered bad publicity for this restaurant.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

You know, my dad had a policy about that sort of shit...

You see, my dad was a generous guy. Friendly. He always took the time to remeber the name of his waiter or waitress, made a point to use their names during the course of the evening. Joked with them, got to know them a little. And he would always tip well, sometimes better than 30% if he had had a good time, I don't think I ever saw him tip less than 20%.. But there was always one thing he resented, it was that notice that a particular percentage of your bill would be automatically added if you had a party of a particular size or larger. What if the food sucked? What if the service sucked? He believed tipping was based on the quality of the food and service, not the size of your party...

So, his solution? If you want to limit yourself to 18%, if you want to force me to pay 18%, fine, but that's all you'll get. Those were the only times he tipped less than 20% or better.

There is nothing stopping your father from leaving an extra dollar or two on top of the mandated gratuity other than to be a jag off.

The reason most restaurants attach automatic gratuity to large parties is because they are more difficult for a server to wait on, they can take up his/her entire section for most of the evening so the server isn't making money on anyone else during that time, and if they unjustly leave a bad tip, the server is screwed. I've seen it happen plenty of times as I worked at a restaurant once that didn't have an auto gratuity policy. In fact, I waited on a table of ten one night who ran up a $250 bill, occupied my entire section for three hours, said everything was wonderful when they left, and tipped me a whopping $7.

Your dad tipping 20% is not the norm, so I would much rather have an 18% mandated gratuity on a large group than miss out on the occasional person like your father who just sticks with the 18% rather than the 20% he normally may have given. Overall, the server is making out far better with the mandatory policy.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Thanks to Reagan, waitperson have to pay 15% of their sales to taxes.

It's 10%

 

[Full-Auto]

Thanks to Reagan, waitperson have to pay 15% of their sales to taxes. Whether they get a tip or not. The mandatory tip is for large parties. If youhave a bitch tell the rest.
It is not the governments fault that mandatory gratuity is printed upon the menus.
So tell the OP his BS about communism is no where near close to gratuity.

Thanks to Reagan, waitperson have to pay 15% of their sales to taxes.


Do you get anything right? Always quick with the lips, yet fact less.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

This is what happens when you have a communist like obozo in the WH. You have no rights and the state controls everything.

Couple arrested over 'theft' for refusing to tip in restaurant - Telegraph

5:47PM GMT 23 Nov 2009
Leslie Pope and John Wagner were handcuffed and hauled away after they failed to leave a restaurant's mandatory 18 per cent gratuity - totalling $16 (£10) - for their party of eight.

"Nobody wants to be forced to pay a tip or be arrested for terrible service," said Miss Pope, 22.

The couple, students at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, had joined six friends at the town's Lehigh Pub for dinner. They claimed they had to wait almost an hour for their meal to arrive and Miss Pope said the service was so shoddy they had to get their own cutlery and napkins.

The group said they had to repeatedly ask for drink refills while their waitress smoked outside the pub.

At the end of the meal of salad and chicken wings, they were presented with a $73.87 bill. A $16.35 tip had been added as there was eight people in the party

The gratuity isn't optional when its stated upfront that its included in the check, you moron.
You leave without paying it - you've left without paying your bill - and are hence a thief.


What does this even have to do with Obama anyway?

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

The bill sounds pretty reasonable for 8 people. Apparently the menu said that gratuities were included in the bill but the college types couldn't understand that concept. They were arrested for theft of services and it sounds like they are guilty.

It seems to me to be a perversion of tradition not only to include the supposed "gratuity" in the bill but to enforce the policy even when very reason for a gratuity (appreciable service) is not forthcoming. Unless there are extenuating circumstances we are not informed of here, such as obnoxious customer behavior, I'd say that restaurant deserves some really bad publicity.

So the entertainment editor of the local paper needs to do some checking and reporting on that place.

You're taking the word of the thief over the word of the restaurant.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

Thanks to Reagan, waitperson have to pay 15% of their sales to taxes. Whether they get a tip or not. The mandatory tip is for large parties. If youhave a bitch tell the rest.
It is not the governments fault that mandatory gratuity is printed upon the menus.
So tell the OP his BS about communism is no where near close to gratuity.

Oh bullshit.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

i think it's disgusting to have a mandatory gratuity. you cant demand a gift for crappy service.

Gratuities are not "gifts".

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

The bill sounds pretty reasonable for 8 people. Apparently the menu said that gratuities were included in the bill but the college types couldn't understand that concept. .

Oh i see. The restaurant says you have to pay and so you pay or the state locks you up!!

Shorting a restaurant on the bill is a criminal offense most everywhere. Paying isn't optional shit for brains.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Or, MikeK, take your custom elsewhere.

The bill sounds pretty reasonable for 8 people. Apparently the menu said that gratuities were included in the bill but the college types couldn't understand that concept. They were arrested for theft of services and it sounds like they are guilty.

It seems to me to be a perversion of tradition not only to include the supposed "gratuity" in the bill but to enforce the policy even when very reason for a gratuity (appreciable service) is not forthcoming. Unless there are extenuating circumstances we are not informed of here, such as obnoxious customer behavior, I'd say that restaurant deserves some really bad publicity.

So the entertainment editor of the local paper needs to do some checking and reporting on that place.

 

[MikeK]

The bill sounds pretty reasonable for 8 people. Apparently the menu said that gratuities were included in the bill but the college types couldn't understand that concept. They were arrested for theft of services and it sounds like they are guilty.

I used to wait tables before I finished college and if the service really was as bad as they claim, then they were justified by not wanting to pay it. Having them arrested was a very poor decision by the management and they have just garnered bad publicity for this restaurant.

And if that is the case it's likely the service was poor because of this guaranteed tip policy, which in fact is a levied tax.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Or, MikeK, take your custom elsewhere.

 

[OohPooPahDoo]

The bill sounds pretty reasonable for 8 people. Apparently the menu said that gratuities were included in the bill but the college types couldn't understand that concept. They were arrested for theft of services and it sounds like they are guilty.

I used to wait tables before I finished college and if the service really was as bad as they claim, then they were justified by not wanting to pay it. Having them arrested was a very poor decision by the management and they have just garnered bad publicity for this restaurant.

And if that is the case it's likely the service was poor because of this guaranteed tip policy, which in fact is a levied tax.

Almost every sit down restaurant adds a gratuity for parties of X or more - usually 6 or 8. This is printed on the menus along with all the other prices - and in fact anyone with any common fucking sense already knows this. (If you don't - you risk double tipping and stiffing yourself by not realizing the gratuity is already included!)

Its funny you consider a fee paid to a business for its service to be a "tax". Taxes are paid to governments, not private businesses. I guess the couple shouldn't have had to pay at all, right, the restaurant shouldn't be allowed to tax them!

Is there any evidence they attempted to resolve their dispute with management or was their "solution" to simply short the bill and dash like total pussies?

 

[Againsheila]

i think it's disgusting to have a mandatory gratuity. you cant demand a gift for crappy service.

Gratuities are not "gifts".

then what are they?

Tips are "to insure prompt service", if the service isn't prompt, you certainly shouldn't be paying a tip.

I'm back to thinking we should do away with tips altogether and just have the wait staff covered by the price of the meal.

 

[Againsheila]

i think it's disgusting to have a mandatory gratuity. you cant demand a gift for crappy service.

Gratuities are not "gifts".

gratuity [grəˈtjuːɪtɪ]
n pl -ties
1. (Business / Commerce) a gift or reward, usually of money, for services rendered; tip
2. something given without claim or obligation
3. (Military) Military a financial award granted for long or meritorious service

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

seems to me it's a "gift"

 

[hjmick]

i think it's disgusting to have a mandatory gratuity. you cant demand a gift for crappy service.

Gratuities are not "gifts".

Yes, they are.

 

[AmyNation]

i think it's disgusting to have a mandatory gratuity. you cant demand a gift for crappy service.

Gratuities are not "gifts".

Yes, they are.

Theyre supposed to be, but I don't think they really are anymore.