Watch the video below of the damage done to Le Chateau A Pape after the fire was put out.

I’ve found a video on YouTube of the fire itself at Le Chateau A Pape. You can watch it below. Pretty amazing footage!

It was a pretty big fire and it was hard for the firefighters to get under control with the high winds and extremely cold temperatures caused problems with some of their equipment and tired out firefighters quicker. What a shame to see it gone! Moncton just lost a great fine dining restaurant.

Mandatory

• Required or commanded by authority; obligatory

Gratuity

• (Business / Commerce) a gift or reward, usually of money, for services rendered; tip
•  something given without claim or obligation
• a relatively small amount of money given for services rendered (as by a waiter)

Now that we have that cleared up this Mandatory Gratuity or Tip that the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem PA wants is just wrong. A tip is a tip and not required by anyone to do so especially after getting such poor service. To pay a tip of 18% for not getting exceptional service is not ethical. John Wagner and Leslie Pope paid for what they were suppose to and correct me if I am wrong but isn’t it their choice to leave a tip or not? This story is ridiculous! They paid their $73 bill and the restaurant manager should have intervened and made this go away. Instead the waiter took their money and called the police and charged them for theft.

Watch this YouTube Video of Couple Arrested For Not Leaving a Tip!

I’ve wrote a few articles about tipping restaurants lately and this one just blows me away. The consumer is yet again being used to pay for the businesses employees wages. I say eliminate the tips all together now, pay your employee an appropriate wage or why not just charge the 18% gratuity in the price of the food already. This pub is demanding it anyways! I think after hearing of this story of John Wagner and Leslie Pope being being arrested for not leaving a tip is going to send strong messages to consumers looking to dine out. I for one have a bad taste in my mouth over this unfortunate incident and will not look at tipping the same way anymore at all. We are being taken for granted. I think John Wagner and Leslie Pope did the right thing as I think restaurants, pubs and other establishments need to go look up the definition for gratuity or tip. No one and I repeat no one should be forced to leave a tip!

Way to go John and Leslie and I commend you for standing up for yourselves even though it resulted in this long drawn out escapade and being handcuffed and put in the back of the police car. You may be going to court in December but no judge will give jail time for this. The police officer in this video even said nothing will come from it in court. This was a total waste of police time that should have been handled at the pub. No one is required to leave a tip, period.

Here is a quote that I pulled off YouTube concerning this couple being arrested for not leaving a tip:

“Sorry but as a Lawyer, no where is a tip mandatory. You pay for the food, & pay the taxes for it & that’s it.  Nothing else. If you choose to give a tip or not that’s your business weather the service was good or not. Mandatory Gratuity or forcing someone to give or take more money out of their pockets would be considered ‘being hustled’. People should know that no one but no one is obligated to pay any tips if they don’t want to.”

There you have it! Next time you go to a restaurant, pub or anywheres in fact, you do not have to leave a tip as it is not mandatory. John Wagner and Leslie Pope you have nothing to worry about. The only one that should be worrying about anything is the Lehigh Pub – Irish Pub & Grille as I would expect their business to drop. I would not go to any restaurant that expected and demanded me to leave a tip. A tip is out of generosity and is ethical but no where is is required or mandatory. For something that could have been easily resolved, instead Lehigh Pub just hurt their bottom line. A couple being arrested for not leaving a tip, what next?

What do you think of this couple being arrested for not leaving a tip? Should John Wagner and Leslie Pope have paid for the tip regardless? Isn’t a tip a goodwill gesture of appreciation towards the service someone receives? What would you have done and do you think tipping has got out of control? How do you feel going into a restaurant knowing that you are expected to leave a tip regardless and that the business owners are paying their staff minimum wage because you the customers are expected to be paying their wages too? I know if I went somewhere and this happened to me I would be calling the police myself and get arrested too for not leaving a tip as no one will force me into paying a tip as it’s not required to do so. No one needs to leave a tip if they don’t want to and I hope that you all know that and don’t be pressured into doing so. If you want to then go ahead but don’t be forced if the service was not there. What do you think and would you have refused too knowing that you may be arrested for not leaving a tip?

What do you all think? Should tipping be really programmed in Interac Machines? That is literally asking people if they want to leave a tip when tipping is a gesture of appreciation and act of giving. I know what some will say is that we live in a debit card, and credit card world. We all use plastic in today’s world but if you think about it we all have some cash on them if we really look. Especially women, maybe not so much for the men but women have purses that carry everything in it. I’m sure people can find money for a tip to leave if they choose.

Another suggestion on that defence of why Interac Machines are programmed to ask if they want to leave a tip there should be a button on their cash register for tips that customers want to leave. If people truly want to leave a tip they will ask is there a place where I can leave a tip. Then they can punch it in manually and how much included with the bill when customers pay by debit card. I know it’s easier to have it programmed in the Interac Machines itself but tipping should never be asked and that’s what is being done by having it on their Interac Machines at Restaurants.

If you really want to get technical about it when we all pay at restaurants using a credit cards their is a spot on your slip saying tip and then you can write in what you want to leave for one. Yet again we are being asked to leave a tip by asking and bringing it to our attention in the form of writing making some people feel obligated to leave one. I am not saying at all don’t leave tips at restaurants as I do and its ethical to do so but I am just bringing aware that we are now being asked discreetly and a form of soliciting through writing and now through Interac Machines. Tipping should be left up to the customer and their should be no influence or reminder for us to leave a tip as yet again it’s an act of giving and it’s not required to do so. Myself I would leave a tip regardless if they removed it from their Interac Machines and their credit card slips. I always have some cash on me, and at least it would be my own gesture instead of it almost being implied that I need to leave a tip.

What do you think? Should they really be asking us if we really want to leave a tip on those Interac Machines? What about the credit card slips? Lets hear your thoughts?

Lets look up the definition of tipping from Wikipedia:

A tip (also called a gratuity) is a voluntary extra payment made to certain service sector workers in addition to the advertised price of the transaction. Such payments and their size are a matter of social custom. Tipping varies among cultures and by service industry. Though by definition a tip is never legally required, and its amount is at the discretion of the patron being served, in some circumstances failing to give an adequate tip when one is expected may be considered very miserly, a violation of etiquette, or unethical. In some other cultures or situations, giving a tip is not expected and offering one would be considered condescending or demeaning. In some circumstances (such as tipping government workers), tipping is illegal.

Now that we have that all cleared up, tipping someone is voluntary and not required. When should we tip someone really? In my opinion tipping someone should be when we are sitting inside a restaurant and they are serving us or catering to our needs, then yes a tip would be ethical. But in today’s world you have Tim Hortons asking for tips, Pizza shops when you go for take out, Dairy Queen and have seen a few Subways. What’s next? Some even have it programmed right into their Interac Machines asking if we want to give a tip. I’ve even been asked where’s my tip on 2 separate occasions, one picking up Chinese Food at a restaurant to go and one time at a bar. I find that very rude when people actually say , “where’s my tip?” Pretty soon we’ll be asked for a tip when going to buy our groceries just for a cashier to ring them through. Some of you may know what I am talking about. I tip when I want to tip at some of these above locations as mentioned, I always tip 20-25% of the bill or slightly more whenever our family goes inside to eat at a real restaurant when the recommended tip people leave is 15%. Next we’ll be asked for tipping at McDonalds too.

Where should we be tipping? Should we actually be tipping people at Tim Hortons for simply doing their job? You can if you want but if you don’t I’ve seen many circumstances where the employees attitude changes as the EXPECT a tip now. They are basically programmed to receive one and if you don’t you see it in their face. Here’s a tip from me to you, go to a couple of Tim Hortons and buy the exact same thing, you may notice that your cost will be different. I have went to the Tim Hortons in Shediac two days in a row, buy the exact same thing and the cost was different. Yes, maybe she rang it in wrong but I got what I had ordered. Some people, and nothing against the establishment take their own tips by telling the customer a different cost. We as consumers don’t even think most of the time and just pay what they ask if it sounds reasonable. If she came back and said that would be $20 for your coffee then sure we would say that’s wrong but if the employee adds 10 cents, will you really know the difference? You may if you only buy a coffee but if you buy several things you won’t think twice. Just something for you to think about.

One other last comment I have about tipping people at restaurants. Tipping should be done on a voluntary basis and never asked, or suggested. I believe that all restaurants should take down the TIP JARS, saying “Leave a Tip” that is soliciting and no different then asking. I also don’t think they should really have it on their Interac machines either ” Leave A Tip?” They are literally asking for one! That is something I don’t agree with.

So bottom line, do you get annoyed seeing tip jars everywhere? Do you actually think that at Tim Hortons you should leave tips? Where do we draw the line on tipping people. In my opinion we should only tip people if we are sitting inside a restaurant where they are catering to our needs, then a tip is ethical but not required. What do you think and where should we draw the line at tipping people? Whose going to want tips next? Should we really be tipping people at drive-throughs? Money, money, money! It’s all about the money! Let’s hear your thoughts on when and where we should be leaving tips?