PSA: How to not get scammed at restaurants (not another discussion on tipping culture)
**Edit: automatic gratuities are considered "controlled tips" by Restaurants Canada, which means they need to be explicitly on the bill and taxed at the source via GST. Controlled tips are considered pensionable and insurable earnings to the employee that collects them. Here is a link that explains the policy:** [**https://members.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Restaurants-Canada-Tipping-Toolkot-Compressed.pdf**](https://members.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Restaurants-Canada-Tipping-Toolkot-Compressed.pdf)
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Prelude: please **do not** comment with your personal opinions on tipping culture. We don't need more of that discussion.
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In the past year I have experienced several instances of my server seemingly intentionally trying to deceive me in order to maximize their tip. While I acknowledge that some of these could be the result of genuine mistakes, some of these "mistakes" could also be used as tactics of deceipt. I think it's important for people to understand the ways in which a server may scam you (let's call it what it is).
***I am not talking about company policies***. Companies can have whatever policies they want, that's their prerogative. I'm talking specifically about servers who act unethically or against company policy (or against the law).
Below are the deceptive tactics I have observed first-hand. I would love for others to explain how they have been taken advantage of in a restaurant setting or what to watch out for, especially if you have legitimate knowledge about the relevant laws or how restuarants/tipping works.
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* In my experience, the most prevelant deceptive tactics include auto gratuity/service fees. A lot of establishments have an 18% "service fee" applied to parties of 6 or more. Any time auto gratuity is applied it is a required charge and must therefore be on the bill. **If there is no auto gratuity charge on your bill, then there is no auto gratuity.** I had a recent experience where my server selected the 18% tip option on the terminal before passing it to me as "auto gratuity". This is a scam. [Here in an explanation of the policy](https://members.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Restaurants-Canada-Tipping-Toolkot-Compressed.pdf). * If you make a reservation for 8 people at an establishment that uses an auto gratuity on parties of 8 or more, and only 7 people show up, your server may attempt to maintain the auto gratuity. This may not even be against company policy, but you should absolutely point out that your party is below the 8-person limit. If necessary, ask for an explanation of the auto gratuity policy. * Check the auto gratuity policy beforehand or on the website. I had a recent experience where my server lied about the party size limit for auto gratuity. * When an auto gratuity is applied, I believe your server must verbally explain that your bill already includes a tip *before* you pay. When I was serving years ago, it needed to be mentioned before anything was even ordered so that the party could leave if they didn't agree with the policy. I don't know what the laws are regarding this, but if your server makes no verbal attempt to inform you of the auto gratuity charge, mention this to a manager and they may remove the charge. * **Do not pay your bill until you have looked at it**. I had a recent experience where an auto gratuity was incorrectly applied and the server did not hand out the bills before starting to get people paid up. He also did not mention that an auto gratuity was applied. I believe this was an attempt to sneak in the extra charge *and* get tipped on top of it. * Check that items advertised as on-special were in fact marked down to their special price. Again, **always review your bill carefully and do not pay it until you have checked.** If you notice an incorrect charge, kindly point this out to your server and give them a chance to fix the problem; genuine mistake do happen. Ideally, keep both your receipt of payment and the itemized bill the server brings you in case you pay before you realize something is incorrect.
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Please recognize that one bad server does not represent the entire establishment. Do not post a rant on Google Reviews or Yelp---these are places for complaints about the quality of the establishment, not unlawful behaviour of their staff. If you believe your server made a mistake or acted against company policy, even if it is a day or two later, raise the issue to a manager, and give them a chance to rectify the situation. Managers often want to uphold the integrity of their establishment and will often compensate you generously for the mistakes of their employees. Often it is difficult to observe and process deceptive tactics as they are occurring. Keep your bills and receipts, talk to a manager, and don't be an entitled prick.
Finally, servers are human beings that get disrespected daily. If you have never worked in customer service, it is not easy to understand how often people make you feel aggressively subjugated. Even if your server *seems* to be actively trying to scam you, this does not give you licence to disrespect anyone. Always assume mistakes are genuine rather than intentional and act reasonably and without anger when discussing issues.