Why is gratuity included

Good riddance. Even if you generally tip more than 18 percent, automatic gratuities can't help but rub you the wrong way. Tipping is supposed to be discretionary — nay, voluntary. Some customers have even sued, saying it's not up to a restaurant to say how big the tip should be. People who work for tips and their bosses say the charges are just meant to make sure the workers are fairly compensated.

Waitresses, bartenders and busboys rely on tips to supplement their less-than-minimum wages. Most customers get that. In a recent survey by discount firm couponcodes4u. A Cornell University study found that customers rarely vary the size of their tips by much, regardless of the quality of service.

A percent tipper will almost always give 15 percent. An automatic gratuity is not a tip, though. It's a service charge. Viewed 27k times. I got the following receipt at some restaurant in the USA: Can I refuse to pay auto-gratuity, or pay a lower percentage of gratuity, given that it wasn't mentioned on the menu and no restaurant employee told me about it?

Improve this question. Franck Dernoncourt Franck Dernoncourt I don't know what your legal rights are in this regard, but it normally is mentioned on the menu, usually in small print somewhere out of the way. At a minimum, not doing so is a tremendous dick move. Far more so than their adding it to the bill, IMHO. You can leave a negative "Additional Gratuity. Problem solved! Show 2 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. Other than that, this sort of thing is just a cost of doing business in North America.

Improve this answer. Add a comment. Here is an article from NYC about the same thing happening there photo from NY Daily News If you really felt it was improper, you could probably have asked them to take it off the bill. Spehro Pefhany Spehro Pefhany An automatic gratuity for a large party is common in the USA. An automatic gratuity for a party of one or two people, as in that Olive Garden receipt, is extremely rare.

The over 6 limit is also very common in cities in the UK too — Uciebila. Just to add some perspective to those who have never worked in the service industry. Anonymous Anonymous 43 2 2 bronze badges. I think the actual answer to the question could be made a bit more explicit here. It seems to boil down to a cultural clash between what you describe and the assumptions tourists from other parts of the world may arrive with, such as: 1 When you buy something from a business, you pay the business, and it's solely their responsibility to allocate that money to pay for raw materials, electricity, location, legal expenses, staff, etc.

Thus, based upon your insightful description of the situation, it would be helpful to derive some conclusion such as "The so-called 'tip' actually is what would be implicitly included for service in the regular price in other places. Rather than blaming the tourists, blame the employers. And if all people who now have to rely on tips would take action together, they can force the issue. The actual answer can't be made "a bit more explicit" because there is no actual answer in here.

None of this is wrong , but no part of it even remotely attempts to address whether OP is allowed to refuse to pay it. The question is about whether that's permitted, not whether it's virtuous. Show 1 more comment. Glorfindel 5, 6 6 gold badges 38 38 silver badges 53 53 bronze badges. This means that they are at a loss before even ordering any food, once they do order food they are already behind loads of money, and its all perishable!! Unless you have such a high reputation such as the French Laundry or other very high end places that are on a waiting list to get in, there is no way to pull this off.

Real Estate? Anything in which someone gets commission is being paid based on your performance. Why should they get bonus money which could go towards my own survival?

If you happen to have the extra to spend, then by all means. Write down food. Remove dishes. Bring cheque. Waitresses no longer get paid meager salaries in the US and Canada. Thank you so much for your comment. When you eat out at a restaurant—regardless if you believe it—you are entering an agreement to pay for services rendered. I understand that times are tough and eating out is a luxury. If you want to save money, make a beautiful dinner and go to a camp ground with picnic tables so that you can take control of every aspect of service from the ordering of the food, the setting of the table, and serving of drink.

Servers are professionals that require payment in the form of a low hourly wage and tips that are doled out by the customer. Whether or not you respect the work of restaurant people, the work that they do is important, valuable, and worth respect. Please keep in mind that when you go to a restaurant to eat you are entering a business that is built on charging fees for service.

Being from Australia, tipping is offensive. When I visit the USA I never tip, the waitperson is my equal and as such will treated as an equal, hence to give money to them for doing the job they have choosen to do would be like me giving money to a beggar there is no difference. This tip will help you for a life time.

In Australia, and most of the world it is the norm to state the price including all taxes fees etc and trust me the system is simple and fast as a result.