Last week I went out to eat with my siblings at a restaurant near our house. After the meal, the waiter brought the check over which had already written down the tip. I've never seen that before at that place so it took me by surprise. I usually tip 15% or more anyway. The next line under the already calculated tip was a line that said additional tip. I've never seen that at this place before either.
As I calculated the cost of the meals, I couldn't help think about whether or not I should leave extra tip on the additional line. Usually after I pay my regular tip, I rarely add any extra tip unless I come in with a large group and we get very good service. In the case of this meal, they're were only 4 of us, so I wasn't inclined to leave any more tip than I was already being asked to.
After signing the receipt the waiter looked at it and seemed fine with what he saw and just wishes up a good night.
I've never had anyone calculate the tip when it's been less than 6 people, and have never seen the additional tip line. Was I supposed to leave more tip on the additional line? How often do you see the additional tip line?
Comments (13)
Wow, I've never seen that before. I'd probably deal with it using the same rationale you did.
heck no.
Yall are too nice. I woulda called him over and asked how come tip is already included and where on the menu (or signs in the restaurant) that 4+ is automatic grat.
A tip is a gratuity...not a service fee.
I have seen the gratuity is mandatory type thing in several places. I always think of it as a bit rude and offensive. It's basically like raising the prices without bothering to change the menu. I view it as a price increase and generally add the tip I was going to give in the additional gratuity area.
don't leave any more!!! 15% is sufficient!
restaurants add the 15% automatically if the party is more than 6 ...jI forget where I was, but I went out to dinner with my boyfriend one night out of town, and we got our bill and it added a 20% tip automatically....I was dumbfounded, especially because our waiter was pretty crappy...
You should always leave at least 15%.. usually 20%.. what you may not realize is your waiter only makes $2.13 an hour and is making a living off of your tips.. so please tip nicely..
@j - what you may not realize is that the waiter/waitress took that job knowing exactly how much they were going to get paid hourly. What they don't realize is that a tip is not mandatory. If they don't want to provide customer service that is deserving of my 20%, then they need to find a new line of work.
I've never seen that before, but even though I always tip a lot, I think that's presumptious and a turn off. That's how they did it when I was in France though, and I think it was 18% + additional tip if I remember correctly.
had a "service charge" at a restaraunt this week.
isnt it enough that we are paying for the food but are now being asked to pay extra for it to be brought to us?If I ever got really super crappy service and saw that on the check, someone would be getting an earful. Tips are supposed to be something extra you give the server for good service, not something to be added on to the bill to save their employer money. And yes, if base pay and tips together don't add up to minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the difference. It's not like the server gets three bucks an hour if they don't get tipped.
I've seen it before. The restaurant in question made it a policy because they did not pay the their waiters. The waiter minimum wage law does allow for this in some states.
I think waiters/servers feel less inclined to do a good job when their establishment charges gratuity automatically. Also I hate when they do it so I never leave any more of a tip than what they charged (which is costing them a pretty nice tip when I'm in a good mood).
Last night I went out for dinner and at the bottom of the check was written print of minimum tips! For a $40 check, the minimum tip to leave was $6. I would normally leave this amount anyway, but isn't it illegal or something to demand a certain amount of tip? Tips are supposed to be generous on the part of the customer! I was kind of outraged by that, just in principle.