Couple arrested for not paying tip

Phantom Pain

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/loc ... html?yhp=1


Couple Busted for Refusing to Pay Tip
Patrons claim service was so bad, they had to get napkins and silverware for themselves
By DAVID CHANG
Updated 12:20 PM EST, Thu, Nov 19, 2009



If you’re 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.

First Published: Nov 18, 2009 9:44 PM

norm

dunkman's gonna have a conniption over this one :shock:

Phantom Pain

norm wrote:

dunkman's gonna have a conniption over this one :shock:

HaHa !

His favorite past time

polaris_x

norm wrote:

dunkman's gonna have a conniption over this one :shock:

wow ... is that how you spell conniption!?? ... always wanted to know!

they say there's no such thing as bad press but i'm not too sure that i want to have my restaurant or bar in the news for this ...

Phantom Pain

polaris_x wrote:

norm wrote:

dunkman's gonna have a conniption over this one :shock:

wow ... is that how you spell conniption!?? ... always wanted to know!

they say there's no such thing as bad press but i'm not too sure that i want to have my restaurant or bar in the news for this ...

I know...come on for $16 ?

The service sucked and they admitted it

philthehip

Wow thats madness by the bar, If my service was shocking on a rare accasion I would knock off the tip and chuck in a bottle of wine for while they wait. I certainly would not make a big deal of it.

JOEJOEJOE

Most restaurants add a gratuity for large groups. I have never heard of adding 18% automatically. I wonder if it was mentioned on the menu, or somewhere else in plain view.

Should be an interesting court case!

Phantom Pain

JOEJOEJOE wrote:

Most restaurants add a gratuity for large groups. I have never heard of adding 18% automatically. I wonder if it was mentioned on the menu, or somewhere else in plain view.

Should be an interesting court case!

From the article it said it was a party of 6

I guess it was on the receipt maybe at the bottom...I've seen it there before

Hammerdonkey

This country embarrasses me from time to time.

That's completely punk ass to call the cops.

FearTheBeard

Im under the impression tha you do not have to pay that tip even if it is included, maybe Im crazy though. It is lame that the bartender called the cops and maybe even worse that the cops actually showed up!!

PJFAN_seattle

a mandatory tip of 18%?? thats crazzy!
what an asshole too to call the cops, if it was that bad service.

Fifthelement

norm wrote:

dunkman's gonna have a conniption over this one :shock:

That was my first thought when I saw the thread topic.

I wonder if Dunk has successfully completed his move :?: We'll have to keep this topic bumped until he returns Definitely need some Scottish input on this topic.

81

when i first saw this, i figured it would be in chicago


it really is bogus on the restraunt, and cops. that whole auto tip thing on larger parties is bs

philthehip

Fifthelement wrote:

norm wrote:

dunkman's gonna have a conniption over this one :shock:

That was my first thought when I saw the thread topic.

I wonder if Dunk has successfully completed his move :?: We'll have to keep this topic bumped until he returns Definitely need some Scottish input on this topic.

I should have been given a tip.

DO NOT DRINK OUZO TILL 5.30 IN THE MORNING WITH DUNK!!! :oops:

SPEEDY MCCREADY

I tell ya what....

I know its not right...
I know I would be considered an asshole by many....
But it is what it is....

Had that fucking manager called the cops on ME for refusing to leave a tip.....

By the time the cops showed up, they would have been able to charge with me with a few more misdemeanor crimes...........

And that manager would have eaten his meals through a fucking straw the next 6 months......

hehehehehehe

lukin2006

I didn't know tips were mandatory, always thought tips were for good service.

lukin2006

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

I tell ya what....

I know its not right...
I know I would be considered an asshole by many....
But it is what it is....

Had that fucking manager called the cops on ME for refusing to leave a tip.....

By the time the cops showed up, they would have been able to charge with me with a few more misdemeanor crimes...........

And that manager would have eaten his meals through a fucking straw the next 6 months......

hehehehehehe

Fifthelement

lukin2006 wrote:

I didn't know tips were mandatory, always thought tips were for good service.

In most places they are

I think that some places in the States, instead of paying a decent living wage, businesses (and/or the State) expect customers to pay the employees, above what they are already expected to pay (for meals/drinks, etc., at least this is what I have garnered from numerous tipping threads in the AET).

rearviewmiror

The tip is considered mandatory by most places with 6 or more people. However, this will not stand up in front of the judge even though it probably said so on the menu.

This is terrible publicity for the pub and shows a lot of arrogance/ignorance.

I hate the 18% auto tip because I generally tip more, and they get nothing more from me if they already tack it on.

EDIT: The bill should have been 89.00 to have a 16.00 tip right?

Hammerdonkey

Also...how do 8 grown adults eat a meal WITH DRINKS for $73? Assuming a drink at a pub is no less that $4.00 and each of them only had 1 drink which is highly unlikely, the meal they each ordered was around $5.00 per person? Considering they had to wait a long time, I'm guessing they didn't have soup because what they ate had to be cooked.

Something doesn't jive here. Interesting.

Regards,

Mathematics Forensics Expert Investigator

Kel Varnsen

rearviewmiror wrote:

This is terrible publicity for the pub and shows a lot of arrogance/ignorance.

That is exactly what I am thinking. Why the hell would you call the cops? I mean now there is a national story (this is the second place I have heard it) where an important part of the story is that the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem, Pa, has terrible service. That kind of press is only going to lead to less business and staff possibly losing their jobs. All over $16, way to go geniuses.