The king of the jungle shares thoughts on controlling televisions in bars and restaurants.
He tells where you can get an affordable TV control system for your sports bar. Bar and restaurant owners take a minute and listen to what the king has to say about controlling your multiple TV systems, TV walls and other audio video equipment with one pad or touch screen from Sports Bar TV Systems.
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To Add Gratuity or Not...
This is the age-old question of every server who takes care of any table of eight or more (or five or more in some restaurants; pick your poison.) On the one hand, it’s a guaranteed 18% of the pre-tax total. On the other hand, many servers give 25% tip service, and subsequently earn that percentage. It’s a roll of the dice either way: server kismet, waiter chicken, waitress roulette.
BUT – what about a two-top getting slapped with a gratuity?
Huh?
Yep.
This actually happened last night as I ate sushi and enjoyed hot sake with my dining companion in San Francisco. Granted, we probably wouldn’t have gone to this particular restaurant if we didn’t have a Groupon.
Wait, a Groupon, you say? Ahh… now it begins to make sense.
Your restaurant's servers should always alert guests when gratuity is included in the bill.
So, two well-dressed, well-mannered guests had a gratuity added to their bill because they informed their server they would be using a Groupon. Would our server have added it had we not informed her we would be enjoying a discounted (if somewhat sketchy) meal?
My guess is… no.
Adding this gratuity was protecting the server against the accidentally (or intentionally) extra-frugal guest using the coupon, and tipping on the discounted amount… the bane of servers in restaurant break rooms everywhere.
As a former server, I understand why she did it. I know the sinking feeling a server gets in the pit of their stomach when a table presents a coupon. Oh, crap, their inner monologue laments. I’m getting a smaller tip. I get it. I really do. I’ve even said that very same thing to myself. Here’s a somewhat-spirited discussion on Zagat’s blog about tipping on the original amount of a discounted guest check.
But here’s the thing – what our server did was sneaky and somewhat deceptive… and against most restaurants’ policies. And she didn’t inform us that she did it. In fact, I was in the process of writing in a slightly larger tip (based, of course, on the original total) than the gratuity she added when I noticed the “Service Charge” line on the receipt. Roll those dice!
Was she a good server? Yes. Friendly? Yes. Helpful? Yes! Would I have tipped more than the added gratuity? Absolutely! It’s not even the fact that she didn’t tell us about the gratuity… it’s more the fact that I was going to tip her more because I’ve been there, I understand the job, and she did her job well. Right up 'til the end. I felt… somewhat insulted.
So, she got her guaranteed 18%… and a slightly irritated guest that will probably not come back. Roll those dice – she almost got over 20% and a probable repeat customer!
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SportsBar-TV Systems Has the Easiest to use TouchScreen Controls Available!
Every TV in your establishment is displayed in it's exact location on the floorplan of our Crestron TouchScreen control system.
Attendants can easily change content to any TV by simply touching the location of the screen they want to control.