As a counterpoint to yesterday’s post about tipping trends I hate, a reader sent me a news article about a couple that was hauled off to jail for refusing to tip.  I’m guessing that reader may have worked in the service industry earlier in life

The story is pretty hilarious.  Apparently a couple went out to eat with several other couples at a restaurant that charged parties of 6 or greater an automatic 18% “gratuity” (it’s not really a gratuity if it’s required, now is it?).  As you can probably guess, the service turned out to be horrible and the couple refused to pay the “gratuity.”  According to the “criminal,” they had to wait nearly an hour for their order and had to fetch silverware and napkins for their table herself.  Now the waiting an hour for their order thing isn’t necessarily the waiter’s fault if it was busy.  Perhaps the kitchen was backed up?  But the silverware/napkin fiasco was absolutely inexcusable and certainly deserved a dock in the eventual gratuity.  Oh wait, they couldn’t lower the tip because it was automatically included.

Anyway, after the bill came, the couple for the food and tip but refused to pay the included 18% “gratuity.”  The head bartender in charge, unsympathetic to their plight even after the horrible service had been explained to him, promptly called the police and had the couple arrested.

Since the tip was actually included on the bill, refusing to pay it is technically “theft,” or at least that’s what they were charged with.  However, it appears the theft charges were eventually dropped and the matter will be treated as a civil rather than a criminal offense.

The moral of the story is that being cheap can get you arrested.  The second moral is that if you’re going to charge people for service, you’d better make sure it’s good.

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