Okay, which of you hardasses and small business owners would throw the book at these people for refusing to pay for a “mandatory” “gratuity”? (Hey, that seems like a contradiction in terms right from the get- go!). Is that Hanson, I hear, complaining, “WHAT HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH ORANGE COUNTY?!?” Actually, yes Hanson, THIS is a Rogue post outside of OC, but it does qualify as politics 😉
Here’s the STORY that goes with the video clip: If youre 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.
In this economy, a restaurant establishment with a pretty clueless business owner who would allow this kind of bad publicity over sixteen bucks( resulting in patron arrests) will ultimately pay a big price.
What a great analogy to explain exactly what the Obama/Pelosi/Reid Healthcare Bill will do to everyone – if it passes.
This is absolute absurdity at its worst! Just like the Restaurant owner who “got his way” by having the couple arrested but will pay for it by word-of-mouth advertising that will tell people to stay away; and this will likely cost him his business, Obama/Pelosi/Reid might get their Bill through but the Democrat Party will pay for it dearly by larger than normal losses of Incumbents next November.
Hopefully, the good, smart Democrats wake up and put a stop to this before this train jumps the track.
Or if you are a resturant giving bad service, be careful about insisting on a tip. You may get millions of dollars of bad publicity.
Crystal B – I don’t quite get the analogy, but thanks for weighing in!
Tony – the woman said that she would have just paid the tip, if she had known what a hassle this was all going to be. I found it of interest that the manager claimed that they were trying to comp the food because of the poor service (the patrons denied that they were made this offer) and YET, the management called the police to arrest them when they paid the bill in full, minus the 16 dollar tip. That does not pass the truth test to me.
I hope the judge issues some scathing remarks when he dismisses the case. That is one restaurant/bar/pub that I would deliberately avoid if I lived in that area. I would hope that a whole lot of other people would do the same. This is a shameful management decision, imo.
Welcome to OJ to both of you, btw 😉