Not Tipping is a Crime!!

Hi katsmeow, how can not tipping be a crime? I don't understand that, a tip is by definition a gratuity given out of choice. I always feel it wise to tip the hairdresser as I always use the same one and don't want an extra inch lobbing off the next time by mistake, but for a meal. I know that tipping is expected in America and some other places but it isn't here and most people don't, they might leave the change from a note but just as likely not. The taverans should just pay the help properly in the first place and if someone wishes to tip that's an extra bonus. Where a tip is mandatory it means the employer is making up the wages from the tips and that should be illegal.

...Well my thoughts on this are varied. I think I would sue the Restaurant for making the tips Mandatory. Oh, I just remembered what I was taught T.I.P.S stand for...To Insure Prompt Service. A gratuity is not an obligation no way no how. This is just ridiculous, I wouldn't care how many people are in your group I would not make tips included in your bill. Cheers.

Hi, kats.. That is dumb!! If the waiter did a crappy job then they won't be getting their hand rubbed by me! Remind me never to eat out at a restaurant again! Taking someone to jail for not tipping is beyond foolish! I don't know what is wrong with these people whom think they can get what they want. This waiter should be charged with making a false call to authorities for something crazy as this!

Hey kats! I have never heard of anything so absurd in my life! Since when is not tipping a crime? I don't blame these people for being angry and not tipping and in no way has that ever been a crime worth being arrested for! And then the restaurant agrees that they did wait extremely long for their service and lies that they agreed to comp them? WTF? So then why would they be arrested! I would go on TV, go to the local newspaper and make sure everyone in town never visited this particular restaurant ever again! I would not keep quiet about this! I know that the Judge in this case is going to be angry and annoyed and will throw this case out! How dare this restaurant take the Courts time for such an absurd travesty! I hope they end up going out of business! They are damn lucky I wasn't their customer!

I have worked as a server and I think that has made me hyper aware of the service I receive at restaurants, and also, maybe, hyper critical. I'm not saying I was the world's greatest server, quite the contrary, I hated the job. But I don't believe that every server is guaranteed a tip just because they make crappy wages (and they do make crappy wages!). One thing that a lot of people (working in the food service industry) don't realize is that tips is an acronym that means "to insure prompt (or proper, depending on who you ask) service." If you don't receive prompt or proper service, you don't have to tip. In probably 90% of all restaurants (here, "restaurant" refers to a place where you sit and order from a menu, not where you order at a counter and take your food to your table) the servers' wages are about half of minimum wage (there is actually a "servers' minimum" which is a certain percentage of the regular minimum) and they rely on tips to make their living. In my opinion, this means they should have to work for their wages, just like they would in any other job. If they were working at a grocery store and didn't do their job properly they wouldn't get paid. Another thing that a lot of people don't understand is that you should never not leave a tip. If you really feel that your server was terrible, you are supposed to leave a single penny, face down. This way, they know that you didn't "stiff" them or forget to leave a tip, you did it intentionally. Assuming, of course, that they know the "rule."

There is no law that states you have to tip. The waiter could call the police all they wanted but that will never hold up in court and then the police and the waiter can be sued in civil court. Tipping is a gratuity - a thank you - for exceptional service. I normally tip 15% for average service and 20% for exceptional service. If I get poor service I do not tip. However I do not hold long waits for food or a table against a waiter/waitress as they do not have control over those things. I expect my beverage no to get empty or at least not stay empty for long. I expect them to check on me several times during the meal. I expect pleasant and prompt service. If I don't get it I tip or not accordingly.

Well, there is definately a fine line in what is called Service, and then being made to get your own refills, etc. For the most part I usually do try and tip when in places where we are supposed too, and find it a pleasure to do so, especially when the Service has been good. I do try to tip everywhere I go if I feel someone deserves it. But this story even beats my last Waitress I refused to tip, so that makes me Thankful for sure, but the one who disappointed me last screwed up my order 2 times in a row, and then charged me even with the mistakes. I actually refused to Tip her, and when I complained and she did not bother to do anything about it, I even told her I will not be back in here as long as you are working. And will never go in there either unless someone else is working instead.

I have not tipped for things like someone staring at me or when they've assumed I can't order my own food. I've also not tipped when people assume I can't pay the bill after I hand them MY debit card. One time I didn't tip because the waiter said of my friend and me, "Oh look, a cripple and a fa_got." I'm in wheelchair and my friend was a very flaming gay man, but really is this appropriate language for work? If they called the police, I would've told the officer what was said.

I read it and the first thing that popped into my head was "THIS IS INSANE!" To call the police first of all would just really make me upset and to be taken in handcuffs because I wouldnt "tip" someone that wasnt doing their job? I cant believe this. I would be boycotting the place and letting EVERYONE know that this happened and tell the waitress and the rest if you want tipped do your job plus!

Is it really illegal to not tip? That seems pretty insane. I thought it was up to you if you wanted to tip. We've only not left a tip once that I can remember. The girl started by bringing me the wrong drink. But then when she came back she couldn't remember which one was mine and ended up giving me the wrong drink again. Then her family came in to eat and they sat them in her section but in the booths away from us. She spent most her time talking from across the room to them while she was serving us and another table. She never came back once to fill my husbands coffee cup or to check on us. I felt like she didn't deserve a tip for that service. The restaurant wasn't busy at all, in fact i think she only had 3 tables including her family.

How weird. I always thought a tip was more of an option for a customer, not a requirement that had to be paid no matter how poor the service is. I guess in a way it was their own fault. If the service was that slow and they were unhappy with it why bother eating there? I don't know, it sounds like there is more to the story then they are telling. I don't think that having them arrested was the answer though...unless they were causing a lot of trouble or making a huge scene about it, that is. Happy mylotting!

You can't force anybody to anything it's a cliche but damn right. If your restaurant has snails as bartenders then how on earth can you even expect let alone force people to pay a tip. Was in Germany the other day, went to a restaurant for a hot cuppa chocolate, after I was done I asked for the bill and it was 3 euros, I ask why is it that high. He says that's service costs, I said:" Lol wut" literally that, and he said yeah well that's service costs, do you think I am here for nothing? I said I understand but i don't feel like paying extra for a crappy hot choco, and he told me that if I didn't pay he would call for the police... Ridiculous... Well it was behind the Berlin wall near the touring boats... so if you come there don't order anything./

Hi, Katsmeow. I can't believe this! Someone needs to buy that manager a ditionary! A gratuity is a voluntary extra payment, given for good service. They explained the service was dreadful, and he responded by calling the police? People need to start boycotting the place. I've worked in service, and it's a tough job, but you just need to remember that your patrons are there for an enjoyable evening, not to have surly staff acting like you're an interruption of the conversation they were just having with their friend! Personally, if I've ever been given a bill with a "mandatory gratuity" (man, that's an oxymoron if ever I heard one! Lol!), I've refused to pay it. I'll pay what I think is an appropriate amount, not what I'm told to pay. Its voluntary, after all!

this is just ridiculous. why would they tip their waitress if they were given a bad service? and what kind of police officer would arrest someone not giving a tip? its not the couple didnt pay for what they had right? its just that they wouldn't want to give a tip. whats wrong with that anyway. if i was in there place i would do the same thing. and actually they can have a complaint regarding those things that the police officer arrested them for that. its not a crime for crying out loud! if not tipping is already a crime, is stepping on wet floor having a sign that says "wet floor" a crime too?? lol..

I think that if you get bad service a nominal tip is appropriate...you see for servers they automatically take 8% taxes out of their checks..but you are right. An apology is in order if the service is slow or the wait long....it's strange that of all the people that get tips the servers are the ones to pay the taxes. My hairdresser doesn't even claim hers....nor does my postman....pizza delivery guy...etc....

That's is a bit surprising news. I thought tipping is voluntary? You tip when you are happy with your server's services and not an obligation to do so. And the couple have a good reason not to tip the waitress also.

Great timing. I just went to lunch with a friend today. Our server was almost 8 months pregnant. ( I asked her how far along she was) I ended up giving her a bit extra. It is hard to cart around 2 people plus plates of food and drink etc. I generally tip based on how my service was. I think this is just NUTTY!

i think that is bs! a waiter has to earn a tip! i have only not tipped once and it was because it was my honeymoon and this woman took 20 minutes to get to our table to get our drinks then another 20 to come back with the drinks then take our order and it took about a half an hour and some one else brought it out and meanwhile we ran out of drinks, bread and salad and then after we got our food it was about another half hour before she came with the check.. i wrote a note on the bill saying if she wants a tip she has to earn one first and when we left we were looking in the window as we passed to get to our car and the manager was the one that picked it up and read it and then the next day there was a now hiring sign up! if you automatically get a tip no matter what then why the heck work hard for one?

totally unbelievable. If it is a gratuity then surely one is not expected or has to choice to pay or not pay it? what a ridiculous thing to happen and if the manager had offered to give them a comp then why did he call the police? why were they not told to that they did not have to pay? It is so stupid and was waste of both the police and court room time. I would be so mad if this happened to me. I tip for service - and if I don't get service then I do not tip. simple as that.

I just saw this on Yahoo...I didn't read the article but I can draw conclusions as to what it says and/or is about. I do tip when I go out to a restaurant as long as the service has done well but there has also been times when I don't either tip or don't tip as well as I should to match my bill. I believe that a server should be paid on the work that is done why should a waiter/waitress/server be paid for not doing the job they were hired to do, that is just not how the working world works..I mean sure who wouldn't love to get paid or tipped for doing noting at their job...I should would but that is not how it works and if this waitress didn't do her job then she doesn't deserve a tip or at the very east a decent tip...