Gratuity

[Garin]

Ate today at Irma's in midtown 2 adults 3 kids and gratuity was added into the bill when I asked about it I was it was part of their new billing system. Anybody else have a problem with that?

[catch22]

Being a former server.. No I do not have a problem with it. Too many people as of late think it is acceptable to not tip. Back when I served, at least one table a night would not tip... And you could tell the moment they ordered that they wouldn't. This is a case of the crappy behaviour of a few ruining it for the rest.

[Easy180]

No problem at all since an adequate tip should always be factored into the decision to head to a restaurant anyway...I have encountered so many cheapskates that are just looking for an excuse to leave a crappy tip

[rezman]

I wouldn't like that. .. How much did they add?

[Bill Robertson]

I would have no problem with 15% being added automatically and having to talk to a manager to have it reduced/removed if the service was bad enough to do so. If the service is that bad management needs to know.

[Garin]

We'll I like to be the one to decide the tip I'm going to leave. Because bad service does happen this was not one of those cases however if it were you now have to make a scene to have the tip removed instead of just tipping accordingly to the bad service you might have received. We eat at Irma's quit often but sadly today was the last time.

[Garin]

Sid you make some good points, I have a real problem with the restaurant not having to pay their employee and now are forcing the patron do it. Is there a law that restricts restaurants from just paying the wait staff a fair wage? If not then Why don't they step up and do it.

[Jeepnokc]

Although I haven't waited tables since the mid nineties, I don't remember being stiffed that often. Usually was more of a factor of people only tipping 10%. I do not ever remember making less than non wait staff minimum wage. The wait staff has to report their tipped earnings each shift because the employer has to make up the difference if the server isn't making the regular minimum wage. Every server I knew reported nothing more or very little more than the credit card tips as they wanted their cash tips to be unreported.

It irritates me when restaurants automatically add it and generally it costs the waiter because if they are going to preset the amount, then that is what I am going to pay. As a general rule, I always tip at least 20% and 25% if really good service so if they want to add 15%, then that is what they are stuck with. You take the good with the bad. However, I generally will not visit restaurants that do that as there is no incentive for the staff to provide attentive service. I will not be visiting Irma's again either.

A gratuity is not an entitlement. If you are working somewhere where people don't tip, change restaurants. If restaurants can't find qualified wait staff, then they will pay a higher wage.

[Jeepnokc]

From Nolo.com. It had the best explanation of Oklahoma and federal law.

What is the minimum wage in Oklahoma?

The minimum wage in Oklahoma is $7.25 per hour.

Is the minimum wage different in Oklahoma for tipped employees?

The FLSA allows employers to pay a lower hourly minimum wage, as long as that wage plus the tips the employee earns adds up to at least the full minimum wage for each hour worked. If not, the employer has to make up the difference. In Oklahoma, employers can pay tipped employees an hourly wage of 50% of the minimum wage, as long as the employee’s tips bring the total hourly wage up to the state minimum wage.

[Mel]

I do not eat out that often but I have 99.8% of the time tipped. I even tip at Sonic. Servers will know ahead of time that I'm not tipping if I have to get up and make a bit of a scene to get refills or whatever. I have walked into the kitchen at times if I can't get anybody's attention. I do not suffer in silence.

[Teo9969]

This is a very interesting issue in the American restaurant industry and potentially the most important one with regards to how the industry will look over the next 25 years if things change.

As a server, I would not be a fan of the service charge on every table for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that a server has no legal right to the money received on a service charge. The restaurant actually has to calculate the service charge as income. But if there is no service-charge/gratuity on the check, and a patrol leaves the server $100 on a $50 tab, the restaurant has no right to any of that $100.

Furthermore, while I would be for a slight rise in the server-minimum wage from say $2.13/hour to something like $5.50/hour, the server is offered protections/advantages by the $2.13/hour that s/he would otherwise not have in a non-tipped system.

1. Great nights are all yours. If you sell $1,000 of product and average 30% on your tips (probably because one very generous individual), then you can walk out with $300 (less a likely tip-out to other employees like hosts/busboys/bartenders/sommeliers). However, if you're paid the federal minimum wage, you can be required to pay into a tip-pool that could severely lessen how lucrative your job may be.

2. If you receive $2.13/hour, you cannot be docked pay for walk-outs, breakages, or cash-register shortages. So if a table walks out on a $200 tab, and a server being paid $2.13/hour, the restaurant cannot recoup any of that cost from the server. If they pay the server the full minimum wage, they can recoup all of the cost so long as the employee still makes $7.25/hour.

[Teo9969]

Know that if tipping goes away as a whole in favor of set hourly rates, that we should expect as a society to have a vastly different experience when dining.

Fewer servers would be employed on a nightly basis, and they would be required to cover a lot larger territory in the restaurant (resulting in a lower quality of service), and because they are not tipped, many servers would not have any sort of incentive to go above and beyond taking an order and delivering food. Menu prices would also increase due to higher labor costs.

[Pete]

The whole idea of the patron determining a gratuity is why the U.S. generally has great service and places like the U.K. are horrible.

Tips represent *incentive* which is completely removed when added automatically.


It goes against the cultural norm and therefore such establishments run the risk of losing business because of it.

Personally, I would say something to the manager of the restaurant and probably go there less frequently if the policy didn't change. I don't want someone else making that decision for me.

[Mel]

^^like^^

[BBatesokc]

Didn't read all the replies, and I'm sure my opinion won't be popular - but - I would not continue to patronize a restaurant that forced me to pay a tip on a party of say 8 or less.

And I say this as someone who worked many, many years as a server and even longer as a bartender.

My reasons;
1.) The service may not have been deserving of a tip. Is the customer now expected to ask for money back if the service was substandard?

2.) If you make the tip decision for me, then I'm not going to give you a penny more - and I often tip more than 15-20% if the service and food are exceptional.

I know what servers make and that's not my concern - that's between the server and their employer. I tip if the service warrants it and that's all I concern myself with.

Some kid in India probably made the shirt I bought at Sam's Club today and only was paid pennies for it - does that mean I should put a $10 bill in an envelope and send it to him? No.

[Midtowner]

My guess was that OP was part of the after-church crowd. Said crowd is notorious for poor tipping. I'll bet at almost any other time other than Sunday morning, this wouldn't have happened.

[Pete]

Looking at that bill, they added a 16.6% gratuity.

That's a strange number and frankly, outrageous.

[Pete]

BTW, I'm quite sure they cannot add this without first printing it on their menu or telling you before ordering.

They can't simply wait until after the meal then just add some arbitrary surcharge.

[Stew]

We're there more people in the party than stated on the receipt and separate checks were issued?

Was the policy fully disclosed on the menu?

I'm not a fan of automatic gratuities because it's no longer a gratuity. It's a user fee and probably an unpopular one. Also as Brian stated it may actually reduce the tips the servers earn.

[Garin]

We're there more people in the party than stated on the receipt and separate checks were issued?

Was the policy fully disclosed on the menu?

I'm not a fan of automatic gratuities because it's no longer a gratuity. It's a user fee and probably an unpopular one. Also as Brian stated it may actually reduce the tips the servers earn.

Nope it was just me ,wife and the kids. And no it wasn't anywhere on the menu.

[rte66man]

Nope it was just me ,wife and the kids. And no it wasn't anywhere on the menu.

It also is not listed on their online menu as of 11/10/13

[Zuplar]

This is unfortunate to hear as I'm a fan of Irma's. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this because if they are adding 16% I will not be going there anymore. I've never had outstanding service there so I couldn't justify paying that much. It's already a fairly expensive place.

[Mel]

unless I am in a large party I will not eat at any establishment that fines you for eating there. If I get good service I am generous, but if I get dismal service I want the option to leave a penny and a note about future career choices.

[jerrywall]

I've heard of people crossing out the automatic gratuity and writing in the actual amount and signing the slip. Not sure how well that works.

I'm with those that typically tip well. I waited tables for almost 10 years. My bottom end is 20%, and I tip up to 35% for a really good experience. However, if it's automatic? They get the 15% that was added. It costs the waiter money when that happens.

I also don't return to a place that adds gratuity. If you're that concerned about your waiters, pay them more. There are places I like to support because they pay their tipped staff a true hourly wage.

[Teo9969]

Looking at that bill, they added a 16.6% gratuity.

That's a strange number and frankly, outrageous.

18% on the subtotal