Quoting Standlee, Kevin ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): > [Originally posted to > <http://community.livejournal.com/basfa/3906.html>, BASFA's > LiveJournal.] > > We were informed last night that the Hick'ry Pit has established a > policy of charging an automatic 15% service charge on groups using the > meeting room, on account of needing to dedicate a server to us. > > The only difference this will make to me personally is that the amount I > pay for my dinner will go down slightly, as I've usually been tipping > twice the tax before subtracting out the free pie, which is pretty > generous. I almost never add a tip to a bill that has an automatic > gratuity included. > > I do hope the servers are getting those gratuities!
1. The servers do earn every penny, in my experience. It's a tough business, and tips matter a lot to the staff. Also, we're more work for them than are most dinner parties, so I give generously. 2. That having been said, it's been established in law that tips (gratuities) in restaurants and similar places are entirely optional at the customer's discretion, being a voluntary payment for personal service, _even if_ the amount is shown as an "automatic service charge" on the customer's invoice. That is, if you as a customer feel that service really sucked, you have the absolute moral and legal right to cross out the "automatic service charge" amount and put something less (or something greater, if service was glorious). Late last year, I heard on a radio legal affairs programme about an East Coast court case, where a family had gone out to a special dinner, felt they'd gotten really bad service, and crossed out the "automatic service charge" and written something smaller when paying the bill. The restaurant manager (evidently clueless about public relations) summoned the police and filed a criminal complaint against the customers, upon which the judge ruled, sorry guys, if you want it to be non-optional, you need to make it part of the listed price, not a "service" charge. "Service" is in the eye of the customer, not the vendor. So, by all means please be generous to the hard-working restaurant staff. At the same time, please don't let yourself be bullied by "automatic service charges". (Yes, Kevin, I did read the Board of Equalization's regulation about "Amounts designated as service charges, added to the price of meals are a part of the selling price of the meals... in lieu of tips". That's a distinction for purposes of taxation. The courts have clarified that an "automatic" service charge is still a _service_ charge, and thus is under the customer's sole control.) 3. Actually, many other restaurants have recently been instituting _20%_ "automatic service charges" on parties over four persons, or such. I find the logic for this utterly lacking, and see it as an opportunistic attempt to tap corporate expense accounts. (More people requires a higher percentage for fairness? I really don't thinks so.) But it's a tough business, and I don't blame them for trying to con the public. Similarly, I think we can smile tolerantly when the Hickory Pit staff tell us they need an "automatic service charge" because they need to dedicate a server to us -- knowing that it's an irrational conclusion from a probably false, but basically irrelevant premise -- and just genreously tip what the service merits, without regard to flim-flamming perpetrated on the invoice. _______________________________________________ basfa mailing list [email protected] http://vesta.wallis.com/mailman/listinfo/basfa
