Tipping... an arrest worthy 'theft'?

So this happened a year ago.. but I just heard about it at work for the first time today..

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Time-In-Prison--70426052.html?yhp=1

A couple was arrested for not paying a mandatory 18% gratuity that a restaurant put on their bill because their party was over 6 people.  They claim their service was horrid, and that they had to refill their own drinks and get their own silverware... and that a tip wasn't deserved nor earned..  They paid their bill -- minus the tip... and the manager called the police.  They ended up being arrested for 'theft'.

Now..  I believe in tipping..  to a point.  But this is flat out insane.

Where exactly do people in the service industry get off?  Tips have slowly moved from 'earned' gratuity that a diner can leave to show his appreciation for a well served meal... to a mandatory part of eating out -- that if you don't tip well, you are a bad person.

I had a friend the other day bitch on facebook that a couple spent $211 dollars on food/drinks.. but only left her $23.  According to her, the service given was amazing "they didn't want for anything"... and it pissed her off that she only got 10%.

I have a major problem with this.  The name is "gratuity."  Not, "mandatory extra payment directly to the server so they can avoid taxes."  As it becomes more of something that is expected..  frankly my expectations of service go up exponentially.  10% service is a lot different than 20%.  If the food is dropped on the table and we get refills once... that isn't 20% worthy service. That honestly isn't even 10% service.  That is their freaking job.

Now you might claim they don't get paid a lot because they are expected to get tips or some garbage like that... well..  that is the problem.  The restaurant itself is trying to be cheap (which they all do) and avoid paying more than they have to.  But that isn't the customer's fault.  And it isn't up to the customer to reward mediocre service with a 20% tip that wasn't earned.

Same thing goes for pizza delivery people.  I think it is pretty ridiculous that we are expected to fork over $2-4 if not more, for someone doing their JOB and delivering a pizza.   It is one thing if it is fast on a friday/saturday night.. or if it is fast during a football game or whatever.  Or maybe you just order a ton of food.. Fine.. totally worth tipping since they had to do extra.  But these days they add a delivery fee that is anywhere from $2-4 on to the bill anyways.  So isn't that their tip???

Anyways..  I just have a problem with this.  If the service was crap on a bill they were trying to force a mandatory gratuity... I would have major issues.  Would I go so far as to get arrested.  Probably not.  But I would go out of my way to get that manager/waiter reprimanded/fired for not removing it or comping the entire thing.  That is just bad service.  Especially since he admits they had problems.  (he claims they tried to comp part of the meal.. which just flat out doesn't make sense (and the couple deny happening) when they could have just as easily broken the bill down and made the customers happy by avoiding the mandatory tip)

So there you go.. tipping is evil!! ;)

End of Term

Well.  Just finished a long week.  It was finals week of Term 3 at my school.. and it has been up and down.  Between students not showing up or finishing finals... and students coming in with some of the most amazing projects to date... it has been an interesting week.  I am really proud of my capstone group which has really come through with an awesome game.  I am also preparing for the next quarter and making my instructors have everything they need from curriculum to books.  Should be a good start.

Welcome to my first rant!

Hello everyone... Writing this for a grade, but also just because blogging can be fun.  It can get fairly emo if taken too far, but the ability to write down your thoughts and share them with others and get feedback on it is pretty cool.  It is like the idea of a journal yet without all the secrecy of it.  Though I guess if that limits the writing you could always hide behind a fake profile..  but your thoughts would still be your own unless you just totally go out of your way to write something completely unlike you.. and then at that point what is the point at all, you should just be capitalizing on your creativity and making money off your fiction.  Unless it sucks and well then you are just screwed.

Well.  That is all for now.  In the future I will be responding to various news articles, facebook posts, and any random thing that crosses my mind.