Man arrested for not tipping at NY restaurant

Leave a good tip - or else

By MARY SPICUZZA - The New York Times - 09/11/04

When stopping in for a meal at Soprano's Italian and American Grill in Lake George, N.Y., leave a good tip.

Or else.

A man from the New York City area was arrested Sunday after his party of nine failed to leave an 18 percent tip, the restaurant's mandatory gratuity for parties of six or more people, which had been added to his bill.

The diner, Humberto A. Taveras, 41, was arrested, fingerprinted and photographed for a mug shot in this resort village an hour's drive north of Albany, N.Y., but he did not produce the $13.73 tip to the $77.43 cost of his meal. He faces a misdemeanor charge of theft of services and, if convicted, could serve up to a year in jail, said Larry J. Cleveland, the Warren County sheriff.

Joe Soprano, who owns the restaurant, said that he and his wife, Tina, had not intended to have Taveras arrested when they filed the complaint. But Soprano was unapologetic on Friday.

''They shorted the check and didn't leave any money at all for the waitress,'' he said. ''This is not a vendetta. This is just about standing up for my waitresses.''

Independent Record

I don't know what to think, on the one hand, the tip was included in the bill, so technically, he didn't pay his bill, but... is it still a tip if it's mandatory?

You have to post a notice that for bigger parties you have to leave a tip.
But I only tip for good service. If I don't get that you don't get a tip.
18% is a little high, should be 10%.

If this is one of those places where a waitress makes a crappy wage and has to get tips up to a certain amount or else the employer has to compensate them up to that amount, I can certainly see what he meant by "standing up" for his waitresses...

Fortunately, I don't waitress anymore, though I do miss the tips in particular...

the shocking thing isn't the arrest it's that a dinner for nine cost less than $80.

I can't get a dinner for two for less than that in NYC.

Do you guys smell that? Smell it?

"The diner, Humberto A. Taveras, 41, was arrested, fingerprinted and photographed for a mug shot in this resort village an hour's drive north of Albany, N.Y., but he did not produce the $13.73 tip to the $77.43 cost of his meal. He faces a misdemeanor charge of theft of services and, if convicted, could serve up to a year in jail, said Larry J. Cleveland, the Warren County sheriff. "



Boy! Do I smell a lawsuit cooking in the kitchen...
Mental anguish/stress/lost wages due to the embrassment....

Originally posted by valkeryie
You have to post a notice that for bigger parties you have to leave a tip.
But I only tip for good service. If I don't get that you don't get a tip.
18% is a little high, should be 10%.

The common 'excepted' minumum tip in the US is 15%. It is kind of like an unwritten rule.

20% is usually expected for above average service.

As far as this goes, if it was a mandatory tip, he should have paid it.

What gets me is that in the food industry, most waiters/waitresses get like 2 bucks an hour or something, so the majority of their income is in tips. So people who stiff the help are being especially cruel. If the service is bad, leave them 10%

By most definitions, a a mandatory gratuity is an oxymoron.

I believe that customers must be informed that the "gratuity" is mandatory and when that amount is added to the bill, the customer has to pay it. I usually tip very well, but when the tip is mandatory, I pay only that amount and the waiter loses on me. In the long run, I think they do better. There are a lot of cheapskates out there.

[edit on 04/9/11 by GradyPhilpott]

Actually in California it is state law that a gratuity is added for large parties. I think it is 6 or more. It prevents the server from being screwed in the inevitable discussions that follow a large, each person paying thier own, meal. In this context, the man broke a state law. This is really nothing new here, the law has been on the books for sometime.

I always leave 20%, and 18% would be a little break. If the tip was included in the bill, and the man didn't pay, then he was in an essence,.... stealing.

That's the way see it.

I mean, come on now. You take your wife out to eat and don't pay for services rendered? Damn, what a cheapskate.

I am just wondering how the owners get away with not paying minimun wage. How can they do this?I mean is dose the cook get payed 2 dollars a hour? or dose he get at least minimun wage? And dishwashers also. I know the dishwashers and cook by law should get minimun wage, but I have had a dishwashing job once where I only got payed 1 dollar a hour. Yes I was young then about 22 yrs. I never got any tips. The sad thing is I would love to have a job even if it payed a dollar an hour. But thats another sad thing about the job so called no one wants. There are people that want them jobs, and yes we are born americans. And yes some of us have gone to school and have degrees, but having a job thats pays is better then no job at all.

If the asshole restauranteur wants to "stand up for his waitress" he should pay her enough so she does not have to depend on the generosity of the restaurants patrons.

the owner isn't getting away with paying below the minimum wage. Tips are like commissions so earning 2 bucks an hour AND 15 bucks from one table is actually 17 bucks an hour, much higher than the min. wage.

Originally posted by Intelearthling
I always leave 20%, and 18% would be a little break. If the tip was included in the bill, and the man didn't pay, then he was in an essence,.... stealing.

That's the way see it.

I mean, come on now. You take your wife out to eat and don't pay for services rendered? Damn, what a cheapskate.

It should be illegal to include tips in the bill for the dinner. It should also be illegal to pay a wage so low that somebody has to beg the public for money to supplement their wage.

lol this was one of the weird things i found when i went to america , cos here in the uk you dont have to tip atall something like this is really funny to me lol

[edit on 10/2/2004 by esther]

I actually had to argue with a waitress when I was in the UK and I tried to give her a 5 pound tip for a 15 pound meal... was quite amusing actually. I said "But miss... this isn't McDonalds!" (where you actually have to pay for ketchup and the vinegar is that rancid smelling brown stuff, eww lol)

I tip 10% most places (that's standard in Canada), but if it's a nicer restaurant I tip 15% and base anything higher on the service. When I'm in New York I usually tip 15%+ because the places we go eat usually is just darn good food and great service. Some wickedly good restaurants with amazingly low prices along 3rd avenue between 93rd and 96th - best chicken on the planet can be found in a Portugese restaurant there for $6.65 on the lunch menu too! Harlem sure is becoming a nice area these days.

Federal Tax Codes state that waitresses/waiters and other employees that rely on 'TIPS' for a part of their income shall be TAXED for said tips at 14%.

Originally posted by groingrinder
It should be illegal to include tips in the bill for the dinner. It should also be illegal to pay a wage so low that somebody has to beg the public for money to supplement their wage.

Well said. These waiterses are the ones doing all the work and the owner is paying them less of a wage than a paperboy? Don't get pissed at the customer who pays for what he buys but refuses to augment the owners greed. Blame the owner. I tip because I work in the serve industry part-time but I don't bitch when I don't get a tip. It isn't manditory.

[edit on 10/2/2004 by esther]

Originally posted by esther
Since when did we as Americans get so spoiled and heartless over something so small? When in doubt, give up the extra dollar. Many times for me, it has been the difference between eating or starving, keeping a utility on or not. Do you want that on your conscience? Over a measly tip?

You're missing my point Esther. The heartless are the owners that don't want to pay you a decent wage and rely on the generousity, or guilt, of the customer to augment the wage he SHOULD be paying you.