When Dining Goes Bad: Family Locked In Restaurant When They Refuse To Tip

May 3rd, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

This incident is why black folks can’t get out from under the stereotype of being bad tippers. Jasmine Marks claims that she and her family were locked inside a Houston restaurant when they refused to tip the servers after the bill came. And though that sounds ridiculous and all types of wrong, Marks wasn’t totally innocent in this situation.

The thing is, Marks and her family made up a party of five, which meant that an automatic 17% gratuity would be added to the bill, as clearly stated on La Fisherman’s menu. When the bill came though, Marks felt the waitress didn’t earn that much of a tip due to missed orders and poor customer service and asked how the gratuity could be removed. The manager told her there was nothing they could do and when Marks refused to pay the tip, the restaurant’s doors were locked and the police were called.

“She said, ‘That’s fine. If you don’t want to pay the gratuity we have HPD outside,’” Marks told KPRC. “I asked the police officer twice, maybe three times, is it against the law if we don’t pay the gratuity and he never gave me a straight answer.”

Eventually Marks and her family paid the 17% to avoid any further problems—like being arrested—but the situation has attracted the attention of the Better Business Bureau, who is now looking into the incident and insists costumers need to be made aware of a restaurant’s policies before they sit down for a meal. Did someone forget this policy was right on the menu?

I can understand not wanting to pay for bad service, but you don’t handle that situation by attempting to only partially pay. You ask to speak to a manager, get an entrée comped, or something like that. This little incident has me thinking someone didn’t read the fine print.

What do you think about this situation? Who was wrong, the restaurant or the family?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

Tags:

, , , , ,
More from StyleBlazer
More from MommyNoire

Comment Disclaimer

Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN

← Older Comments
  • Hwllmichael3

    A quote from the above article reads…”This little incident has me thinking someone didn’t read the fine print.”
      Had the writer of that line checked the facts,and they are easy to find,she would have read the menu..It clearly states the “gratutity” would be charged.There is no such thing as a “gratutity” and therefore can not be charged..The word is spelled”gratuity”.
      Check out the menu at their website..How stupid of the restaurant and the writer of this article to not fact check.

  • Nisha136988

    I agree with most people when said bad service=no tip. I am a firm believer in giving people tips for good service or even standard service. However if you are bad I will without a doubt ask for a manager and take the tip off. Just because you are a waitress does not necessarily mean that you should receive a tip. I also hate the myth that black people do not tip, because every black person I know or associate with tip 15-20% as required (even go higher for great service). And I especially HATE with a passion that people are saying that it is ghetto to not tip bad service. IT”S BAD SERVICE, if you don’t do your job right will your boss say oh it’s okay I’m going to give you extra money anyway?!?!? I think not therefore it’s no different in saying that I am not paying extra to a waitress when her job performance is less than standard.

  • Lpatt

    All I have to say is have you ever been in the shoes of the servers???? Even when they take care of the customers,  they still get a $2 or $3 dollar tip..This is how they make their money. Why deduct from someone’s tip if that have taken care of you, but made a few mistakes…Does YOUR boss deduct from YOUR pay when YOU make a mistake, or don’t finish a report by the deadline? As long as the problem is taken care of, why not pay. We are ALL humans, and we have our bad days and weak moments..The only time I wouldn’t give a tip is if I was being disrespected..or my server didn’t take care of me at ALL!! wake up people be realistic!! If it was you, you would be upset if you weren’t tippped for forgetting a soda to a table.. smh.

  • Siennalakes

    I saw this story on Inside Edition and one of the workers said that the door was locked because it was close to closing time and that the side doors where actually open and that they could leave at anytime. I believe the restaurant because this woman looks like she has a stank attitude. Black folks having cops called over food service. SMH.

  • Realist2012

    The customer made the manager aware of the poor service and ASKED the manager if she would remove the 17% gratuity and allow her to pay what she wanted to pay, so did she did her part. Any good manager would have just apologized to the customer and either removed or reduced the gratuity or something, not call the police and hold the customers against their will…..THAT IS INSANE and all involved should be fired! Also, the President of the BBB needs to be quiet if he can’t give a statement that’s fair and accurate for both the consumerand the restaurant.  Who in the heck knows restaurant policy going in??? Yes, consumers pay attention to restaurant open/close times and pay methods, but what restaurant post gratuity policies at the entrance? 

  • Doug

    the family was wrong for breeding to the point of being a party of five in the first place.

  • Doug

    the family was wrong for breeding to the point of being a party of five in the first place.

← Older Comments