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US waitress was fired for posting a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit

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Re: US waitress was fired for posting a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit

#81

Post by laserDinosaur »

clicks wrote: post #57
zura wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally don't get whole this tip tradition - just give me the check stating the exact amount I have to pay. And give the appropriate salary to the wait{er|ress}.

Thank you. I find the power imbalance in these situations to be very uncomfortable -- half the time in the back of my mind I'm thinking to myself this waitress has a big smile on her face because ultimately all she wants is a nice tip; the smiley front is unauthentic. Just please give the servers and waiters a proper salary and let me go on with my day. The very idea of tipping to me is absurd and silly. What constit…

Even crazier is I've eaten at a number of places where the tips all get evenly distributed among the staff at the end of the night - so what the hell was the point of the tip? As someone who is new to North American culture the whole tipping thing is a nightmare.

Re: US waitress was fired for posting a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit

#82

Post by rdtsc »

edanm wrote: post #79
rdtsc wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't even matter what the original thing was about. The way it was handled by the restaurant's PR team is what turned this small sub-reddit topic to a social media nightmare. In one single night, that PR person, probably drove away tends of thousands (if not more) of customers. It doesn't matter who is right or wrong at that point, them not catching which side the public was on, and just arguing back and forth,…

"In one single night, that PR person, probably drove away tends of thousands (if not more) of customers" How did you get to that conclusion? Based on anecdotal evidence from the past, I tend to think very few people (outside of the HN/Reddit crowd) follow this type of news, and of those who do, almost no one cares enough to actually change their behavior.

According to this (this was posted below in the comments by another user):

http://rlstollar.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/applebees-overnigh...

Re: US waitress was fired for posting a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit

#84

Post by gte910h »

silencio wrote: post #21
crymer11 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I wholeheartedly agree that the actions of the customer are absurd, I would like to point out that in the US, courts have held that a tip is not "mandatory."

The tip in question was really a service charge for serving larger groups. While leaving a tip is not mandatory, businesses have a lot more leeway in adding on extra fees and whatnot, especially if it is already outlined somewhere (e.g. on the menu). That being said, making it a mandatory charge usually means that it's separate from being considered a tip for tax purposes.

Apparently there have been high level court cases about this (last discussion had a guy posting the case). The 18% extra if portrayed as a "automatic gratuity" is not technically legally required.

It was some case about people getting arrested for theft for refusing to pay.

Re: US waitress was fired for posting a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit

#85

Post by ghshephard »

daniel-cussen wrote: post #76
ghshephard wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, in this case, the person actually paid the 18% tip directly to the serving person, and didn't want the restaurant taking an additional "service fee".

Apparently not, he didn't tip anything to anybody.

From the comments:

"Another detail she got wrong was claiming the customer left no tip. The customer left the tip as cash on the table, as most people in the US do, and something that most servers prefer, rather than pay it as part of the bill. "

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