Couple Busted for Refusing to Pay Tip

Patrons claim service was so bad, they had to get napkins and silverware for themselves
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.

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.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Time-In-Prison--70426052.html?yhp=1

If I owned the bar I'd do a couple of things real quick like. First, I'd fire the Manager/Bartender that called the cops. Then I'd fire the waitress. Then I'd make a public apology to the patrons and do everything I could to get them to come back.

Yeah, I know it probably states on the menu that the 18% tip is mandatory. Places do that so their wait staff doesn't get stiffed by cheapskates. But that does not give the wait staff the right to provide poor service. It is not an 18% surcharge for service it is an 18% gratuity.

My wife worked as wait staff, mid level and upper level management in the food service industry. The bad publicity from this will cost the bar more than most realize.

I HAVE walked out and not paid a "mandatory" tip when the service was subpar. And when I tip I do so in accordance with the service I receive. Typically 24%, unless there is an added in Gratuity, in which case I tip only that amount.

If it's an item on the bill they can't just choose not to pay. Then it becomes theft. They are college students in a city that is most likely a college town. College students tend to be cheap like foreigners and mandatory service charges are used in places with a lot of foreign tourists (or college students). Now they will be found guilty of theft for refusing to pay the bill and have a criminal record.

No - simply putting something on the bill doesn't make it a justified charge. You could turn it around as fraudulent billing - billing for services not provided is fraud.

I'd probably give them their meal back. Two fingers, a little projectile vomit, and viola!

On the east coast not paying a restaurant bill will result in arrest. It's similar to not paying a hotel bill.

I agree that this will cost this place business, at least short term. Dumb move.

Of course we are hearing just one side of the story.
While it is a rare thing in the upscale food business, there are always people trying to get something for free and you can tell who the scammers are with little difficulty. As is typical they are not very good at hiding their intent.

I would not have bickered with them over the tip but if they were those sort of "customers" I wouldn't feel bad about having them not return either. Those are not worth the hassle, nor the added expense of dealing with their crap.

Having the bartender call the cops leads me to believe this pair were dirtbags and had probably caused problems in the past. Perhaps.

There is always another side to the story and this may have been the business's way of making sure they don't come back. They probably still will if they are scammers.

I can only come up with about 3 times in my life I've not left a tip and the service was horrendous. Perhaps insulting is a better word.

Point is, there is another side to the story.

Yes, there is always another side to the story, and I suspect that there is "more to the story". My point is that billing for a service not provided is no different than billing for an appetizer or beverage never received.

Always is. Another side that is. I NEVER leave no tip. Poor service gets my $.02 worth every time. ;)

I tip well for good service, the standard for fair service, 10% for poor service and .02 for horrible service. And I explain the tip every last time to the server.

...My point is that billing for a service not provided is no different than billing for an appetizer or beverage never received.

I hate to agree with Mark on principle alone (LOL) but that is squarely on point and correct...

Perhaps they should have payed the "mandatory" tip under duress for miserable service, and then slipped and fell on the way out the door? Then sue the pricks for a couple of hundred grand, as a way to express their "satisfaction" with the services rendered?

"Mandatory gratuity" is an insulting oxymoron. Wanna bet the wait-staff are unionized and that their union is behind this offensive "law?"

Many places have a mandatory gratuity for groups 6 - 8 or more because if you leave it to all the douchebags to leave a tip it is very easy for the waitresses to get stiffed with large groups. I don't have a huge problem with this, overall, and that is usually noted right on the menu so that the tip becomes part of the bill.

One year we went somewhere nice for Christmas brunch. Very expensive and took out my family and some of my extended family. I left a 20% tip and only later noticed another 15% taken off as part of the bill. This was noted nowhere.
Yeah, I was a little ticked off and the management later just said there was nothing they could do about it. This was a resort that we stayed at every Christmas near my family for 3 or 4 days. Last year we stayed there. I hope it was worth it to them.

Many places have a mandatory gratuity for groups 6 - 8 or more because if you leave it to all the douchebags to leave a tip it is very easy for the waitresses to get stiffed with large groups. I don't have a huge problem with this, overall, and that is usually noted right on the menu so that the tip becomes part of the bill.

One year we went somewhere nice for Christmas brunch. Very expensive and took out my family and some of my extended family. I left a 20% tip and only later noticed another 15% taken off as part of the bill. This was noted nowhere.
Yeah, I was a little ticked off and the management later just said there was nothing they could do about it. This was a resort that we stayed at every Christmas near my family for 3 or 4 days. Last year we stayed there. I hope it was worth it to them.

That's why when I tip, I usually do it AFTER I go and pay the check. That way, they can't double-tap you, at least. If they take it out AND I was going to leave a tip anyway, then they already got it.

That's why when I tip, I usually do it AFTER I go and pay the check. That way, they can't double-tap you, at least. If they take it out AND I was going to leave a tip anyway, then they already got it.
Yeah, I'm more careful now but it was Christmas, about 12 people, $20 a person and then drinks, etc. I just paid for it and we later checked out. Only when I got home did I realize what had happened. Called and got pretty much told to FO.
Yeah, I was pissed.

Like I said, I hope it was worth it to them. I'm sure they'd have made more by just giving me my money or a gift certificate even. Poor management on their part.

If the waitress had any class she would have said something. Easy enough since we were guests.

That was quite a few years ago now. Almost 20 and I hadn't thought of it for a long time until this thread.

I ALWAYS pay 20% or more as a gratuity. Crappy service gets 10-15%.
Crappy service aint necessarily the server's fault. If it's that bad just bang out a Nasty-Gram to the proprietor. You'll either get a free meal and/or an investigation. If you get nothing don't go back and spread the word. All good service industries understand how Capitalism works.

I can see an 18% gratuity to a group of 6 or more but it's a GRATUITY not a 'Service Fee'.

I pay extra for decent service. These folks are STILL getting $2.01 an hour or some such sad chit for busting thier butts.

Many years ago I worked at a dealership and many folks left tips with the service lane folks for the mechanics. We never saw a single cent of the tips, not once. The management kept the $$ and treated themselves to lavish lunches and golf outings.
To this day I try to make sure the service staff gets the money in their pocket before I turn my back.

By accepting the amount of money offered by the patrons,the bartender agreed to the terms of the patrons. He should have either not taken any money,and called the police,or taken the offered amount and not called police.The bill is a contract,and by accepting the money,he agreed to its alteration.I'd sue them.
Gratuities are just that,and are optional.

I don't eat where there is a mandatory gratuity included on the bill, as it's an outright con.

WHERE is the incentive for staff to provide better than average service if they get the gratuity even if the service is utter shite?

EM, everywhere in america this is the norm ... but only for parties of 6 or more, and then the gratuity is 15% or as in the OP 18%. its a US thing i suppose, i never remembered this from my time over there.

say the party of eight ran a bill w/ liquor to 300.00 bucks, table leaves a twenty after two hours, thinking in their merryment that its a big tip for the waiter(ess) but the working mom, and the busfolks, and often the cook who share this tip make a mere 7%. not so good as realized by restaurants here (which pay below minimum wage ... $2.50 p/h for 'tipped' employees). thus the widespread policy here, and has been for many years.

my mom always leaves 10% regardless, and she worked her way through college as a waitress. go figure. (i think folks spit on her food) i usually tip 20% and only once have had to leave my .02 cents. ;-)

I don't think I have ever seen a restaurant that charged a mandatory gratuity for parties less than 8. However it is pretty common for groups of more than 8.

Once in England I left a tip and the waitress got really po'd come to find out that not every place likes or expects tips.

This is Horseshit pure and simple.

Just more bullshit and the proof of the collapse of good work ethics.

Give shitty service and expect me to kiss your ass and tip you!?

I don't think so!

Lick my balls! There, thats your f*cking tip, bish!

Tip??? Don't take any wooden nickles, there's your tip biotch.. I usually ask to talk to a manager and explain the situation. I usually receive a comp. meal or something that evens out in the end. If they give you crap... tell them you have a good friend that is a health inspector and they may receive an unexpected sanitation inspection. Sit back and watch them chit on them selves....

This is Horseshit pure and simple.

Just more bullshit and the proof of the collapse of good work ethics.

Give shitty service and expect me to kiss your ass and tip you!?

I don't think so!

Lick my balls! There, thats your f*cking tip, bish!

A lot of restaurants leave that up to the server to decide. When I was a server during my freshman and sophomore years I only did it to certain parties, and even then I told them when I delivered the bill. High School students, big groups of college students, Sunday church groups (they were, hands down, the worst. Highest maintenance, worst tippers), etc.

I can tell you that there most definitely IS two sides to every coin. I've seen people complain about "horrible service" when it was THEY who made the service bad. Some folks just look for an excuse to be cheapskates and whine and holler about everything.

I ALWAYS pay 20% or more as a gratuity. Crappy service gets 10-15%.

Wow. Its like you are from a different planet.

Lets give a gold medal to last place as well as first.

Seriously - its like trying to psychoanalyze a butterfly.

What possible justification can there be for rewarding poor performance?

If the service sucks, I leave a couple pennies - just so nobody thinks i forgot.

Of course, I don't hold the server responsible for things reasonably outside her control, and I forgive screwups if they are fixed. In fact, I think how the server handles a screwup says a lot.


The whole concept of tips makes no real sense to me. I sure wouldn't want to work for pay based on arbitrary and capricious standards. I am in the service industry. I do some of the best work in the country. I bill for it. The concept of a tip is somewhat insulting to me, because it implies that one customer received something special, or more than what he paid for. But doesn't that also imply that others receive less? That a customer is exceedingly pleased with my service is nice, but its more because of their low expectations (which is sad in its own right) then my doing "extra" for them.

The concept of a tip is to motivate superior performance. When one must pay the same amount regardless of the performance, the motivational aspect is lost. And then, we may as well give gold medals to everyone - even those who never make it to the olympics.

Mark,

Methinks a gratuity keeps pissed off servers from spitting in my food.
I'd inspect my food if I were you.....a lot.

I'd bet if you only made $2.50 an hour your attitude would be different.

So its extortion? Pay up or servers will assault you? Your response is as irrational as your actions, as it is AFTER the service that one is typically tipped.

If you wish to encourage poor performance by rewarding it, go right ahead. But all you are doing is feeding the entitlement mentality that one is "owed" simply for being.

And yes, one of my first jobs was as a bus boy. I worked my ass off for $3 an hour . I was the one taking on the responsibilities of the lazy-ass servers who sat around bullshitting in back. I started refilling drinks and the like because I just saw it needed to be done. Soon, the lazy bitches expected me to do it for them. Then I started getting tips, and the waitresses figured that was reason to stop paying me. So I quit and started my own landscaping business.

Its so typical of the losers of our society to say "I'm only making this much, so I'm going to only work this hard . . . those dregs never realize the reason they are only making this much is because they are only working this hard.

I agree Mark.

But if I were you I'd eat at home.

I agree Mark.

But if I were you I'd eat at home.

Why?

I mean, other than because you said something stupid, then even more stupid to try to justify it, and its the best you can come up with for a retort.

I eat out with my daughter on Friday nights, usually the same place (family owned Chinese) and we always get great service, and I tip accordingly.

One time at Chili's I couldn't get my coffee cup filled, so I went back in the kitchen area and nonchalantly filled it myself, in front of the manager. Maybe she got the message, maybe not. I didn't tip, and I've not been back.

More stupid shit..

My wonder this country is in the crapper.

Window lickers.

wow mark and etek.

maybe we better consider which species of 'butterfly' to put on the couch. good points both, but can you guys hear each other ok?

i have worked as a server, and there is a lot more that goes into providing an enjoyable meal than picking up the dishes and refilling waters. and most adults (which you want in that position) completely rely on tips, to make rent and utilities. 2.50 an hour is fact. it aint a summer job.

and etek, since we said the same thing, i wonder how often it really happens? especially at a non-fastfood estalishment? i remembered critical diners, i personally got the hint, and simply worked harder next visit. so have most pros i worked with.

i've also known chinese restaurants to serve dog meat, careful. we live in interesting times.

Once again, I have to agree with gunplumber....

i've also known chinese restaurants to serve dog meat, careful. we live in interesting times.

I used to work helping a guy I knew who did HVAC work, and I remember the service calls to the Chinese restaurants in the area. I've seen the kitchens in them, and how the food is handled. And I wouldn't let my dog eat food from ANY of them, much less let him get near them off his leash. Seriously. Run away. Run very, very far away.

I always tip good. Service is amost always superior, even if the meal sucks. My friend Paul once found out it was the waitress's birthday and gave her a 100$ bill.

When it comes to tipping, I'm with Mr. Pink. :small_gri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-qV9wVGb38

6 people, bar in PA, and the total bill with the gratuity was 73 bucks, There is more to the story than what they printed.

Re-distribution of wealth. Why should a waiter/waitress work harder when their 18% is manditory?