Couple Busted for Refusing to Pay Tip :blink:

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Updated 12:20 PM EST, Thu, Nov 19, 2009

If you’re frustrated by poor service at a restaurant, think twice before you decide to not tip. You may be in for a bit more than just a dirty look from the waiter.

"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.

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.

“At this point I became very annoyed because I had already gone up to the bar myself to have my soda refilled because the waitress never came back,” Pope said.

After the $73 bill came, the group paid for food, drinks, and tax but refused to pay the tip. After explaining the bad service to the bartender in charge, Pope claimed he took their money and called police. The couple was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.

“I understand that, you know, we didn’t pay the gratuity, but it was a gratuity, it wasn’t something that was required,” said Wagner.

The owner admitted that the group waited unusually long for their food, but said the pub was extremely busy that night. He said managers offered to comp the food, a claim the couple denies ever happened.

“Obviously we would have liked for the patron and the establishment to have worked this out without getting the police involved,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Stuart Bedics.

Police charged them with theft since the gratuity was part of the actual bill. However, it is doubtful that the charges will hold up in front of a judge. The couple is scheduled to appear in court next month.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Just as an aside, the owners must have lied. If you comp a 73 dollar bill (even just the food portion) then no one wouldn't agree to pay the tip because your likely ahead.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Sousuke

[Mags 112]

All menus tell you that parties of 6 (or sometimes 8) or more are charged an 18% (or 15%) gratuity. It is the restaurant's right and to not pay it IS theft.

The waitress was probably overworked rather than just cr@p.

[Jenn! 918]

I'm definitely all for generous gratuities for servers (relied on them myself for some time), but I don't think they should ever be mandatory.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

lol here is their yelp page.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lehigh-pub-bethlehem

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Mandatory gratuities shouldn't be called gratuities.

[Mags 112]

Oh I agree about the mandatory thing; where I used to work we rarely did.

I went to the Hard Rock Cafe once in a group of 6 people. The server slapped on a 18% gratuity. She actually diddled herself out of a larger tip because I would have tipped around 25%. She was good at her job too.

Funnily enough, there was no place on the receipt to up the tip either.

[Peikko 1,575]

I'm surprised they were arrested though, for $16. I didn't think the police bothered with such trivialities. Talk to them yes, but arrest? I guess they refused to comply even after the police arrived is the only thing I can think of, which makes them idiotic.

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

Mandatory gratuities shouldn't be called gratuities.

agreed. and making it mandatory to tip, regardless of how crappy the service is, is extortion.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Gratuity: something given without claim or obligation

So yeah a mandatory gratuity is an oxymoron.

I rather doubt this will hold up. If a menu says "parties of x will be charged a gratuity of x%" that is basically saying that they will be charged for something that they have no obligation to pay.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Mandatory gratuities shouldn't be called gratuities.

Exactly. they should be called "service charge" or something like that.

[Mags 112]

Menus tend to say "we reserve the right to add a mandatory gratuity of 18% to tables of 6 or more".

Mandatory gratuities shouldn't be called gratuities.

Exactly. they should be called "service charge" or something like that.

*nods* Yup, sounds better.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Persephone

[one...two...tree 2,762]

That was pretty stupid, IMO, of the bar to call the cops and have them arrested. Kick them out...tell them not to come back again, but knowing that the charges will not hold did nothing but opening the couple to sympathy.

[GabiandVi 34]

I would never stiff the waiter no matter how bad the service, but it IS a tip. I don't see how it can ever be considered theft if you don't pay it, even if the restaurant takes it upon themselves to assess it. Like someone else said, I don't think this will hold up in court, but the couple has already been penalized. They were arrested and now they have to go to court.

Personally, I would prefer to get rid of the tipping system all together, but I don't think I'd ever work as a waiter without it.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I'm surprised they were arrested though, for $16. I didn't think the police bothered with such trivialities. Talk to them yes, but arrest? I guess they refused to comply even after the police arrived is the only thing I can think of, which makes them idiotic.

I'll admit it is odd that it even came to this. I think I've not tipped twice in my life. Both times we paid in cash and were out the door before they even got the bill from the table.