Arizona Grill – Service Charge or Scam?
I am really fond of steaks at Arizona Grill and go there occasionally with my wife. Last time I was there, I was invited by a couple who were celebrating the engagement of their son so the group was almost of 25 people.
The food was really great as usual, however, trouble started when the bill arrived. The bill was printed as usual on the restaurant’s receipt but at the end, a 10% service charge was added to the total, after the taxes. It wouldn’t have been a problem as it is a restaurant’s privilege to add whatever charges they want to add, but the service charge was the only thing that was hand written on the otherwise computer printed bill.
When the host inquired about it, he was told that it’s long been a company policy to charge this 10% service charge. When we told them that we’ve been coming here for years and never had to pay this charge and if they have started charging this 10% then they should have announced it somewhere. To this we were shown the menu, at the back of which on the bottom right there was a tiny little sticker that said 10% service charge applicable and they also told us that they only charge it for big orders.
Not wanting to create a scene the host gave the waiter credit card for payment. When the receipt came back that 10% service charge was now charged under the tip section. This really set the alarm bells ringing as to the whole thing being a scam by the waiters/manager of this branch. We asked for the manager of the branch an explanation of this and he couldn’t give a satisfactory reply. We then asked him that we wanted to talk to the owner of the restaurant and were told that the owner isn’t there. We asked for his phone number and were told that the owner doesn’t live in Pakistan. We insisted on the phone number irrespective of where he lives but were told that they are not allowed to give out phone number of the owner. So we asked for the email address, but again we were told that they are not allowed to give that out either.
Finally we just left fuming. If this is a scam then the owners of Arizona Grill should look into this immediately and fire the people running it. If it’s a company policy then make it official by having it printed in the bill instead of writing on top of the bill by hand and by charging the total amount instead of putting the 10% in the “Tip†heading of the credit card receipt otherwise you are going to ruin your reputation.
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I’m actually surprised that you haven’t come across this earlier. I first came across the “service charge” in “Cafe Zouk” in Lahore, sometime last year. Then I saw it again at “Roasters” in ZamZama.
I understand that the charge is a forced tip. The guys at Zouk said we take this and then dont take normal tips. That way we can distribute the tips equally between waiters, shift managers, cooks, attendents etc. That sounds fine but the problem is in how they take the tip, you really shouldnt be forcing people. They used to do a similar thing in Pizza Hut Australia, but rather than forcing the customer to pay a tip, they used to have a jar on the counter. You put money in the jar and the management used to distribute it to the entire staff at night.
What arizona, zouk and roasters are doing it is legal, but they way they’re doing it is not. Its ok to ask for extra money only if the charges are well advertized in advance. Then it’s upto us if we want to pay the extra when we first place the order. If they’d pulled this trick in any advaced country they’d be in the courts right now.
My advice to everyone is to create a scene next time this happens. Create the scene, refuse to pay the bill and ask the management to call the cops so that they can take bill and the menu as proof. I’m 100% sure the management will back down. If not, take them to court and make sure the newspaper wala people know about it
I’m an economist by profession and it’s my opinion that one of the biggest reasons why we have runaway inflation and low quality is because there is no accountability and no consumer protection group of any standing. I was shocked to learn that there are actually govt run consumer protection committees in every city because i havent heard of them in 30 years. It turns out that these committees are full of geni-asses that provide protection at a charge – and only to their own customers… the firms that screw the public
I think the amount of tip should be left on the customer because it’s based on the level of service the customer gets from the waiter. If they know they are going to get the 10% anyway, then they will have no motivation to give you that extra level of service and there won’t be any motivation amongst the different waiters either. why work harder when at the end everyone is going to get the same amount.
This service charge is a regular feature at most restaurants when the dining party exceeds 10 people. Not a big deal considering if oen is going to spend Rs 20,000/- on food, a tip of Rs 2,000/- is reasonable. As per my information the acceptable rate for restaurant tips in europe and us is 10% of the bill, and since there isn’t any such generally accepted norm here for tipping, service charges are applied.
PS I don’t work in the food business