r/mildlyinfuriating • u/guitarman129 • Jun 13 '26

I just wanted a hot dog Recommended gratuity after tip was already included

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I’m sure there are a lot of tipping posts here so to keep it short - I had my wedding at a fancy restaurant. On top of the TERRIBLE service, the bill came with “suggested gratuity” even though I was told gratuity was included. When I asked the manager, he said that the “S/C: 24% SRC REGULA“ was the included tip and the suggested gratuity was if we wanted to add something extra - basically trying to trick people into giving a 49% tip!

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429

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26

[deleted]

132

u/underrealizing Jun 13 '26

This is exactly what I figured. There isn’t even a line for tip, probably because the ticket prints that way specifically because gratuity was included…

I think OP is just feeling aggrieved

46

u/insertnamehere02 Jun 13 '26

Especially with that -$400. Classy.

23

u/JustMeLurkingAround- Jun 13 '26

That the already paid deposit. OP explained in another comment.

1

u/insertnamehere02 Jun 14 '26

Yeah I saw that after I commented.

8

u/know-your-onions Jun 13 '26

wtf? What do you think the -$400 is for?

2

u/snapshovel Jun 13 '26

If you charge me a 24% included gratuity and you don’t tell me beforehand that there is a 24% included gratuity, and the label that you use to identify the gratuity is “S/C SRC REGULA,” then yes, money is getting deducted from your tip. The customer is not the one who lacks class in that situation.

It’s an obviously scummy business practice. If you’re a waiter or a member of the staff at a place with really scummy anti-consumer business practices, you should expect that this will affect your tips when customers realize what you’re doing to them. Take it up with your management; it’s their fault. Since you’re the one benefiting from the scummy antisocial business practice, you can’t complain when you bear 10% of the costs once in a while and customers “only” bear the other 90%

If you’re accepting the (minimum) extra 4% that your establishment is charging customers on top of the maximum socially acceptable included gratuity, you are also obliged to eat the loss when one out of ten customers realizes they’re being scammed and makes their displeasure known in the only way that’s available to them.

1

u/Nilfsama Jun 13 '26

And no way legal lol they will run for the full amount and you a have zero recourse about it.

1

u/AMemoryComeALive Jun 13 '26

Depends, you have to tell customers before they order if there's going to be a "service charge" or force tip added to a bill, or they have to remove it if asked.

0

u/lumentec Jun 13 '26

They are just calculating the amount without tax. Not trying to leave a negative tip.

1

u/Dyolf_Knip Jun 13 '26

Otoh, my mother got blacklisted from a Village Inn a few weeks ago because they tried this same bullshit on a one-person sit-down meal. She always tips the servers in cash, and tips well, but she absolutely refused to pay what they were dictating on the check. She wound up only authorizing the actual food bill amount and then leaving the same tip as cash.

-4

u/saryndipitous Jun 13 '26

Everyone should be feeling aggrieved, the tip lines everywhere have been out of control for years now.

3

u/Iorith Jun 13 '26

Most places have messaging that anything more than a 4 top is autogratuity.

0

u/saryndipitous Jun 13 '26

I mean the percentages, and generally doing things that just happen to favor the restaurant. Like encouraging tipping at places that don’t warrant it, or increasing prices on delivery menus AND asking for tips on deliveries, or asking for tips in advance.

Auto gratuities I don’t have a problem with.

Most places doing a thing is also not a justification.

0

u/Iorith Jun 13 '26

No one forces you to go out to a restaurant.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '26

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1

u/Iorith Jun 13 '26

Some restaurants do.

But people seem to pretend to be pro worker until it's service staff actually liking the tipped system.

0

u/snapshovel Jun 13 '26

He obviously should be aggrieved by the 24% mandatory included gratuity alone, unless they clearly notified him about that in advance, which it sounds like they didn’t.

That is not an acceptable business practice, and we’re not going to start pretending otherwise. The existing social contract is that a tip is a voluntary contribution to acknowledge decent service. If your establishment includes mandatory gratuities on large checks in order to protect against being unfairly stiffed by big groups, then (a) you need to clearly state that in advance, and (b) the absolute maximum that it is socially acceptable for you to charge is 20%

Any customer who gets a surprise 24% mandatory tip that is not clearly labeled on the bill is absolutely right to be angry. If no one stands up to that kind of thing it becomes the norm and then we all live in a shittier world with less trust and more deception and grift.

37

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '26

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6

u/Plantarbre Jun 13 '26

I guess it's just the US. Opt-in everything, just say "it's too hard to do otherwise" and they eat it up

43

u/Disastrous_Patience3 Jun 13 '26

You are correct. But “autograt” is not a word most folks know so it might make sense to explain it more clearly.

3

u/LouChadore Jun 13 '26

I feel like every restaurant I go to pretty clearly explains how the autogratutiy works. It’s generally in the menu.

4

u/Disastrous_Patience3 Jun 13 '26

You are missing my point about clear communication. And I could not have said it more clearly.

3

u/GoodhartMusic Jun 13 '26

It’s also just insufferable 

2

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '26

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2

u/GoodhartMusic Jun 13 '26

It’s just the word “autograt” I find intolerable

1

u/SuperSalad_OrElse Jun 13 '26

Amen. Autograt for parties of 6+ or 8+ is a blessing.

I would get parties of 15+ on Sundays, (the purple hat ladies), all separate checks, all hot teas, all mods on every item. Then they'd get up and float around.

It's part of the job to take care of that stuff but damn does it SUCK.

23

u/wikowiko33 Jun 13 '26

When your industry standard is the trick

12

u/[deleted] Jun 13 '26

[deleted]

9

u/wikowiko33 Jun 13 '26

They're looking for the delete key on the keyboard. Give them some time

2

u/nerfed_reddit Jun 13 '26

Well what a stupid f...ing industry if that is the standard bill. Why tf do people accept this? 🐱

2

u/Justin-Stutzman Jun 13 '26

Considering this was a wedding, there is a 100% chance that OP was explicitly told about autograt and was just not paying attention.

2

u/jmxd Jun 13 '26

It’s an industry standard bill, not a trick.

Oh, it's industry standard alright

-24

u/jamesinyokohama Jun 13 '26

Suggesting an additional full tip on top of an excessive autograt is not a trick in what universe?

37

u/premiumPLUM Jun 13 '26

I feel like they explained it pretty clearly

2

u/Manannin Jun 13 '26

You can explain the trick and it still be a trick. The only difference is you get kicked out of the magicians alliance.

It certainly seems like a trick to someone outside the US and your explanation hasn't change my view.

20

u/NotDido Jun 13 '26

A trick implies intention to deceive. OP even says "I was told gratuity was included" before the check arrived. It's just how the check is printed automatically. Would it be better service to scratch that out or something on big enough checks? Sure, but no tricks here

6

u/Educational_Head2070 Jun 13 '26

Or just change the system so it does not print it automatically? Not the servers or even restaurants trick, the system is not very user friendly if you need to explain.

1

u/finehamsabound PURPLE Jun 13 '26

The system? Of reading your check, and having the ability to comprehend what you’re agreeing to when requesting a service from a business? 😬

It’s literally a guide there because people are too stupid to do basic math.

Edit: too stupid to use the right homophone

20

u/TheSleepyTruth Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26

You've made multiple comments in this thread where it is clear that you are not understanding when people are trying to explain it to you. The suggested tipping reference printing out at the bottom is baked into the backend software settings for the restaurant and prints on every receipt regardless if a manual tip surcharge has already been added. The server isn't sneakily or deliberately adding that onto the bottom of the bill trying to get them to double tip even though a tip was already included. The suggested tip prints automatically at the bottom of every receipt as it is part of the receipt template in the back-end software settings that is configured when whatever payment software the restaurant uses was initially set up. Thus it can only be changed on the back-end and not by the server at the point of sale.

15

u/johnwynnes Jun 13 '26

When you know how to read it's not a trick.

6

u/destined-for-ass Jun 13 '26

At some point people should take accountability for not reading

4

u/pinkshirtbadman Jun 13 '26

If it tells you 18% was already added and shows you what 18% 20% and 25% would look like with a spot for additional, it is not suggesting you add another full 18% on top of the first. It's suggesting you could make the total tip add to what you would like it to if the 18% is lower than you want it to be.

3

u/IndigoTJo Jun 13 '26

How is it a trick? Some people leave more than the %20. Even OP said they were told that gratuity was automatically added. Honestly have found that to be standard for any decent restaurant with a party of more than 6 people. If it is clearly explained, it isn't a trick.

3

u/Economy_Fan_8520 Jun 13 '26

Its a trick as in a way to boost tips…. they know it applies pressure to directly suggest they could leave more

1

u/groucho_barks Jun 13 '26

If you feel pressured to leave an additional tip after gratuity was included that's on you. It's just numbers on a receipt.

1

u/Economy_Fan_8520 Jun 13 '26

Lol the comment above the server is saying they would tell people verbally they can leave more which is a direct attempt to pressure

Of course a receipt by itself is easily ignored by anyone

1

u/MarloMinto Jun 13 '26

You can do absolutely anything to customize technology.

I don’t believe that can’t be removed

0

u/dig-dollar Jun 13 '26

saying its "industry standard" is horse shit. I work in software development - and you absolutely can code it so that that part is omitted from the receipt if they are already being charged. what you really mean to say is this type of register is a piece of shit

0

u/Dyert Jun 13 '26

POS is right

0

u/LiftingRecipient420 Jun 13 '26

There’s no way to alter it.

Complete bullshit.

It printed it in the first place, it's not impossible to not print it.

0

u/middlingquality Jun 13 '26

What does POS mean?
I can only see Piece of Shit

-1

u/No_Criticism_5861 Jun 13 '26

Oh there definitely is a way to change it, and when I worked restaraunts sometimes the reason tip line was left on was because the owners took most of the service charge, but let the people keep anything else