Tips as legally enforceable debts or as a term of service

Factual Questions
1

From this story.

Long story made short:

Man was arrested for “theft of services” for leaving too small a tip. Resturaunt owner says that patron was advised that there was a minimum 18% tip for large parties (which the patron was part of). Patron says he was unaware, service was substandard, and left only a 10% tip.

The question is - if I make a potential customer aware of something as a condition of service, is it legally binding? Can I require an 18% tip? If I print it clearly on the menu, can I require all patrons to do a waltz to polka music while whistling Dixie - and then have people arrested for failing to perform?

IOW, what are the legal limits to what I can require of potential customers before providing them with goods and services?

Yeah, I know this may vary based on state and municipality. I’m just looking for some general guidelines.

Zev Steinhardt

2

just a best-guess, but I’d imagine that if you print it clearly enough that customers understand it isn’t a joke, then your requirements are condition of an implicit contract.

Nothing is forcing people to order the food at your restaurant… if they choose to do so, they are entering into a business transaction with you, and are agreeing to abide by the conditions you have set out, if they’re aware of them. Of course, if you make the conditions too stringent, you aren’t going to get much busines at your restaurant.

As far as the conditions for breaking the terms of the contract, I’d imagine those might vary based on the terms. It’s probably less likely that you could get people arrested over a polka waltz than when it’s a question of money - a judge might decide to fine them two cents or something, I’m not sure how that end of things would work.

3

Most restaurants, including (I think) the one in the article, post on the menu or on the window that for parties of X or larger Y% gratuity will be added. By the restaurant posting that upfront and you eating there, both parties agree to that contract (like using a credit card binds you to the contract).
I think it would not be such an issue if it were not stated on the menu.
PC

4

My WAG is that it’ll all come down to whether the ‘service charge’ was clearly stated on the menu (miniscule print on the last page probably doesn’t count).

5

So how would you cope with sub-standard service? Would you have to demand to see the manager first?

6

I have been in many restaurants where it was standard policy (and stated on the menu) to automatically add a gratuity for large parties, and have it placed on the bill before it was presented.

I have never seen a situation where the diner was expected/required to figure up a fixed percentage on their own and add it in.

Even with the automatic tip, I had one occasion where the service and food were horrible (the food was incredibly late, one member of our party had a pitcher of water poured down his back, etc.). I spoke to the manager and had the tip removed from the bill with no protest.

7

From what is stated in the article, the restaurant may not be blameless, no matter what is printed on the menu, or how prominently. If the bill, as presented, had an 18% charge, precalculated and labeled [e.g. “Service charge for parties of 6 or more” ], and a calculated total, then the patron might be expected to question the charge, rather than disregard it. If (as is often the case) the servers don’t clearly specify the mandated tip (in the hope of getting more), then expecting a patron to notice and include the expected minimum is much less reasonable.

A bill isn’t the full substance of a contract, but any business must clearly specify what they consider “payment in full for services rendered”, and a bill -though negotiable- is a business’ offer of final settlement. The ‘debt’ must end somewhere. Imagine if any other business tried to dun you or have you arrested for a fee they expected you to pay but never billed you for.

A tip is a sort of “delivery and installation charge”. If a company delivers/installs a refrigerator without explicitly telling you about, or billing you for, their “large appliance charge”, and you pay in full, they’ll be on shaky ground if they try to later claim that charge, no matter what is posted at the store. The deal was concluded on terms they spelled out in dollars and cents, as surely as if you’d negotiated with the manager to have the charge waived.

The patron said he didn’t notice the wording on the menu, but didn’t mention if the charge was on the bill. If it was, and he disregarded it as a ‘suggestion’, a court may reasonably expect hime to contest it before payment, rather than recalculating the bill on his own terms, and unilaterally leaving his own version of “payment in full” (You certainly can’t do that most bills!) If the restaurant didn’t bill him for the service charge, their case is very weak, no matter what is on the menu. It’s not my job to seek out and obey internal company policy; it’s their job to bill me.

Thel “leave payment and go” method at most restaurants is convenient, but it leaves room for unfulfilled expectations, which build up and create an often tense subculture. Based on discussions with servers and ex-servers, it seems that they they don’t fully credit patron dissatisfaction; it seems a different category to them. Sure, we are all sometimes disappointed by our purchases, but that’s a problem that shouldn’t be accepted as “fact of life”.

Servers hope for more money when a customer raves about a meal they didn’t cook, but don’t like being penalized for a meal they didn’t botch. I’ve always felt that the system puts an unfair burden on them, and the patron, in many ways.

8

Yes. If you get bad service, always ask to talk to the manager. He’s the one who can comp items and reduce your bill, or determine what happened and explain it to you, and reprimand the waiter, expediter, cooks, hostess or whoever is responsible for your problems.

9

Ah, I’m not asking about bad service, just service which is below-average. The sort where you wouldn’t bother complaining but just leave little or no tip.

10

FWIW, the case was dismissed yesterday. The DA declined to press charges, saying customers can’t be required to pay a tip. If the fee had been called a service charge and had appeared on the bill, then the restaurant would have be right in demanding their money, but a tip is optional.

11

According to etiquette rules, the times where you would leave little or no tip and the times where you would complain to a manager are the same times. The position is that tips are an essential part of the waiters wages and as such, you can only withhold them in an instance where the service is so far below standard as to merit a complaint. You can tip more for great service, but if you’re withholding a tip, it has to be pretty bloody awful.

12

I suspect that you could probably set almost any condition you wanted as a condition of service, and could therefore refuse to serve a person who wouldn’t waltz to polka music by whistling dixie. After all, plenty of places won’t serve people who aren’t dressed properly. (even if properly just means a shirt and shoes) But you can’t have them arrested and charged with theft of service unless they refuse to pay for the service.

13

Let me know when this restaurant opens.I wish to see opening night :smiley: