Taylor Dayton
Google
I had an issue with the service and the way my bill was handled. First off, they don’t take Apple Pay so you need to have a physical credit card with you. Second off,
the waiter manually typed my credit card number on his iPad, away from my field of view, which was a little odd, and asked for my email to send a receipt. He later brought my burger (fine, good size, with lettuce and tomato, but no condiments) and French fries (floppy, not fresh, slightly warm.)
The issue came when I was trying to close out my bill and he tried to get me to just leave. He said that my tab would close automatically and I would receive the bill by email. Feeling suspicious, I asked to “close it now” and he begrudgingly walked over to his iPad while I followed, and he tapped a button on the screen. I got the receipt by email a moment later and saw that he had added an 18% tip to my bill without my permission and without telling me. Nowhere on the menu or at the restaurant was it written that a tip would be automatically included. I dined alone, so it wasn’t a group-size premium.
This waiter arguably did not deserve a tip, as he did little work and was solely transactional. But still, if I had chosen myself, I would have selected a 20% tip like I always do (whether the waiter deserves it or not.) I am bothered, not because I was charged for a tip, but because I was unaware that it was happening.