Confirming Whether 18% Service Charge = Tip (Miami, Miami Beach: spring break, how much, school)

[Marc Middleton]

Originally Posted by WisdomJ

This is what I was always told. Every place I have been to in Miami and Miami Beach has the service charge. I assumed it was an automatic tip and I would just sign and go. In the end, it was a savings for me since I typically tip 20% or more. But if this doesn't go to the servers at all, that could be a problem. I would hate to have them remove it at every resto just so I can ensure the tip will go where it needs to!

If I found out a restaurant wasn't giving their employees the 18% Grat, I would stop going there.
Since my wife & I came from the industry, we don't take kindly to that.

Most restaurants in Miami Beach (especially along Ocean Drive/Collins) include the 18% and its listed on the bill. Most hotel restaurants and bars (even the nice ones like the Delano and Eden Roc) include it and list it on the bill. The servers are supposed to get it all (or it goes into a pool and is shared with all servers).

My restaurant at Doral Marriott (pre-trump) had lobbied about adding it since so many foreigners would come and stiff the servers. We had a stamp that would say 'gratuity' not included in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Marriott didn't go for the Automatic Grat. The benefit was the servers got that money at the end of their shift (credit card or room charge tip). If its an auto-grat, it goes on their pay check and gets taxed.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by elchevere

I have always been told the 18% service charge at Miami/MB restaurants was a tip, though I usually add a few more bucks since I typically tip at 20%--as long as the service does not suck.

Within the past 2 weeks, when I asked, I was told by 2 separate servers at different restaurants that the 18% does not go to them....were they trying to scam me or is there any merit to their claims?...I was always under the impression that waiters/waitresses gave a portion of their tips to the busboys, etc. anyways so this sounds like a scam to me and waiters/waitresses won't be getting a dime more than 18% at these particular establishments in the future, if true...yes/no?

I worked at multiple restaurants on South Beach, as a server, and the full 15% - 18% went to us just like any tip. Of course, there is tip share like any restaurant, but that's irrelevant. It's nice to add a few more bucks, but yes, the service charge is treated as a tip, period. Don't let them scam you.

And yes, adding automatic gratuity on South Beach and even Bayside is very common. Corporate restaurants do it, too. It was out of necessity as the international tourists were stiffing all the waiters. And if that 18% doesn't go to the waiter, then that's too bad for the waiter - but we all know it does go to the waiter, if it didn't they would get stiffed left and right and quit within half a shift! As a restaurant owner myself and former server for years, if there is an 18% service charge, I consider that 18% gratuity. I'll almost always add more but consider that 18% a starting point.

Again, to be clear, that service charge goes to the server. If it didn't they would all quit, as 95% of customers wouldn't tip them because of the charge.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by elchevere

I have always been told the 18% service charge at Miami/MB restaurants was a tip, though I usually add a few more bucks since I typically tip at 20%--as long as the service does not suck.

Within the past 2 weeks, when I asked, I was told by 2 separate servers at different restaurants that the 18% does not go to them....were they trying to scam me or is there any merit to their claims?...I was always under the impression that waiters/waitresses gave a portion of their tips to the busboys, etc. anyways so this sounds like a scam to me and waiters/waitresses won't be getting a dime more than 18% at these particular establishments in the future, if true...yes/no?

I had a waitress tell me that a couple of weeks ago at a North Beach restaurant. The reason I questioned it initially was because the menu stated that there was an 18% service charge, and when I received the bill, the 18% was on there, but when I received the credit card receipt, the total was all on one line under the heading "Pre-Tip Amount" and then there was a blank line titled "Tip." Like, WTF, right? So I called her over and asked about it. She told me that the service charge doesn't go to her, but gets shared among the front and back room staff.

I told her that I understood why restaurants add an automatic charge given all the tourists who may not be familiar with our tipping culture, but that this was just out-and-out deception to try to extract even more money from people and that she knew damn well that it is not a custom in the U.S. to tip 15%-20% on top of an 18% service charge. I just crossed out the "pre-tip" wording on the bill and then on the "tip" line I wrote "included." I looked for a manager to complain to before I left, but there didn't seem to be one around.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

I had a waitress tell me that a couple of weeks ago at a North Beach restaurant. The reason I questioned it initially was because the menu stated that there was an 18% service charge, and when I received the bill, the 18% was on there, but when I received the credit card receipt, the total was all on one line under the heading "Pre-Tip Amount" and then there was a blank line titled "Tip." Like, WTF, right? So I called her over and asked about it. She told me that the service charge doesn't go to her, but gets shared among the front and back room staff.

I told her that I understood why restaurants add an automatic charge given all the tourists who may not be familiar with our tipping culture, but that this was just out-and-out deception to try to extract even more money from people and that she knew damn well that it is not a custom in the U.S. to tip 15%-20% on top of an 18% service charge. I just crossed out the "pre-tip" wording on the bill and then on the "tip" line I wrote "included." I looked for a manager to complain to before I left, but there didn't seem to be one around.

One of the best parts of working on South Beach was the double-grat.... we actually figured out a trick to print the receipts so it looked like you are saying.... Then we would throw away the original that showed the service charge. Customer just saw the total + tip line and we would get double tip quite often. Don't judge me, I was younger! But I can tell you that is certainly a scam and now that I'm older, I'm glad you caught it. In your case, it sounds like the restaurant is fully in on it. They may very well distribute some of those tips to the back of the house (illegally), which keeps labor costs down, and then hope the double tips make up for the stolen service charge so the waiters are happy. Very shady.

[elchevere]

This happened at Cantina La Veinte...because they have a nightly mariachi band I figured there might be a modicum of truth to her story so I threw in a few extra bucks on top of what I normally would add to the 18%...no more--and no more on top of the 18% I ordinarily have given in the past.

[angelscorpio]

Miami is the no man's land full of scammers.

[projectmaximus]

Wow some shady business going on! There's a semi-popular bar here in Jax Beach where my friend recently posted a photo of his party's three receipts from lunch. All three of them were overcharged...you can literally see the line items for what they ordered but then the total, before tax, blatantly doesn't add up properly. Each receipt was overcharged between 50 cents and 2 dollars. Server played ignorant, apologized and fixed the error.

I had only been there a couple times but always late night and drunk so if they did that to me I would have no clue. In fact, most places I go I probably don't take the time to add up my bill precisely, so if it's within a dollar or two I won't notice. This place could be scamming an extra few thousand dollars per week.

In Sobe you're dealing with much larger numbers probably even easier to cheat customers.

[himain]

It's gratuity for all the foreign tourists who don't know how to tip..

[rnc2mbfl]

In the 16+ years that I've lived on the beach, it's been my experience that automatic gratuities have fallen off more bills than have been added onto them. Certainly there are still restaurants that still assess but it's not all of them. The wise shopper checks each bill carefully before adding additional tip money to that already billed.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

In the 16+ years that I've lived on the beach, it's been my experience that automatic gratuities have fallen off more bills than have been added onto them. Certainly there are still restaurants that still assess but it's not all of them. The wise shopper checks each bill carefully before adding additional tip money to that already billed.

That's interesting because I haven't been to one that doesn't. But that's besides the point, because that's not what this thread's about. It's about a new phenomenon of adding an 18% service charge and still expecting another 15%-20% added onto that as a gratuity.