"He noted the growing trend toward small portions, and
decided that
was the direction he would take." --
sltrib.com
Six of us went -- the food
was good; the portions were not large; the atmosphere loud, dark and
yuppie-ish: Many HD TVs tuned to a sports channels and to a
repeating Victoria's Secret models' intimate apparel video
garnished the room. It's
kind of a sport bar atmosphere. Our server spoke English and
Mandarin.
The cost was
$144.19, including a hidden "Auto-gratuity". Unbeknownst to us, and without first asking, PIPA's Asian
Tapas & Sake Bar had added 18% to the
bill. When the credit card statement arrived, there was an
ADDITIONAL $15 charge, the amount of our voluntary
tip, making my credit card payment
159.19!
I think it's dishonest to do that.
Credit card Statement
It would
have been polite for the restaurant to ask. In my view, tipping is a
thank you for excellent service and the amount is always at the
discretion of the customer.
The same
family also operates East Sea Restaurant around the
corner from
PIPA's
Asian Tapas & Sake Bar.
LINKS
"David Tran,
who recently opened Pipa, an Asian tapas and sake bar in
Salt Lake is a second generation business owner who's..."
InThisWeek.com
"You'd be
hard-pressed to find a server who wouldn't love to see his
or her employer slap an automatic tip on to every check. But
wouldn't it make more sense for restaurants to hike prices
by 20 percent and raise workers' salaries?"
More...
More...
Google image
of PIPA Asian Tapas & Sake Ba
Because Pipa's
restaurant is a "fine dining establishment" a hidden
Auto-gratuity was added to our bill.
I sent a letter:
PIPA's Asian Tapas & Sake Bar
118 North 900 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Jan. 31, 2011
Dear sir or madam,
Please return the 15 dollar tip we gave you on 1/14/2011. We didn’t know
that you would add an automatic tip onto our bill.
Thank you kindly [etc; etc...]
When
I was a young'un, a normal tip for good service was
nominally 10%.
In the 1980's I learned that 15% is now expected because
"Things have gone up" (sic). PIPA automatically adds 18% onto its bill in
2011 -- no questions asked! At this rate, when will
the tip equal the price of the meal? Could it go even
higher than 100%?
I received a
reply:
I
replied:
PIPA's Asian Tapas & Sake Bar
118 North 900 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Feb. 12, 2011
Dear Pipa Asian Tapas
+ Sake Bar Management,
gra·tu·ity
- noun grə-ˈtü-ə-tē,
something givenvoluntarily or beyond
obligation usually for some service; especially : tip
* A 15
percent gratuity is automatically added to the restaurant bill.
* For parties of eight
or more, we automatically add a 15% gratuity onto the bill.
To say, as you do,
that probably all fine dining establishments charge an additional
automatic tip to one's bill, over and above the tip left on the table, is
not true in America, in my experience.
Because English is my
second language, I looked up the definition. My understanding of the
word and practice concurs with my experience: a tip is
given voluntarily, not automatically.
Thank you for your kind offer to refund my
money. Please pull up the transaction from 1-14-2011 on your computer and
credit my Visa account, then let me know that you credited the refund. I
have already sent you the bill, which you issued us -- so you have the
information and you have my address.
Again, it’s not that you did not
receive a tip. Unbeknownst to me you charged an even greater “gratuity” onto
our bill on top of that which was left on the table and that’s not right.
Thank you kindly in advance [...]
Ps: Your web page is at
NowScape.com/suck/Pipa_Asian_Tapas_Sake_Bar.htm
There was
no answer.
PIPA's Asian Tapas & Sake Bar 118 North 900 West Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Feb. 22, 2011
Dear
sir,
Because I haven't
heard from you and because I haven't received a
refund I've updated my web page about your
establishment under the Restaurant Review Index
for Salt Lake City. I hope you don't mind. If you change your
mind about the refund, which you promised in
your letter, I want you to know that I'm still accepting
and expecting it.
Respectfully yours [...]
You can GOOGLE your page using keywords
tapa
review salt lake city.
A waitress at a St. Louis
Applebee’s restaurant lost her job for posting online the receipt upon which
a pastor had declined to leave a tip, with a snarky note saying she gave God
10 percent.
A waitress at a St. Louis Applebee’s lost
her job for posting online a receipt upon which a pastor had
declined to leave a tip, with a snarky note saying she'd
already given God 10 percent.
After
her dinner Pastor Alois Bell crossed out the automatic 18
percent tip charged for parties of more than eight. “I give
God 10% why do you get 18,” she wrote above her signature.
Employee Chelsea Welch — a colleague of the stiffed server —
took a picture of the receipt and uploaded it to the online
site Reddit. She subsequently lost her job, an Applebee’s
spokesman confirmed to
TheSmokingGun.com, for violating a customer’s privacy.
Yesterday on Fox 2 Now, the pastor issued a (sort of?)
apology.
All this information, of course, is so yesterday. “Pastor
gets waitress fired” was Chapter One in this
strangely entrancing saga, on par with a slow-motion train
wreck from which you cannot tear away your eyes. Chapter Two
is where Applebee’s apparently wants to commit suicide in
front of our digital eyes.
Applebee’s fired the waitress in question, named Chelsea
Welch. This created a fury of rage on the Internet, with
social media users taking to their weapons of choice and
lambasting away, thousands at a time, against the
restaurant’s decisions. Numerous “Boycott Applebee’s” groups
sprung up on Facebook, along with “Rehire Chelsea Welch” and
other similar groups. Applebee’s website has a “What’s the
Buzz” widget, that shows what people are saying on Twitter
about the company. It’s been non-stop attacks, all publicly
displayed on Applebee’s own page.
Victims: Emails
received will be posted here, with or without name and email address
-- you say. Rebuttals / corrections are accepted, but you must give name and email
address.
This
blog
has been brought to the attention ofPIPA's
Asian Tapas & Sake Bar.
Google image
of PIPA Asian Tapas & Sake Ba
After
her dinner Pastor Alois Bell crossed out the automatic 18
percent tip charged for parties of more than eight. “I give
God 10% why do you get 18,” she wrote above her signature.