June 6 I invited my nephews, my mother-in-law and my wife and kids out to dinner, to celebrate my nephews birthday; At the Fisherman's Quarters II restaurant, in Asheville North Carolina.
We have eaten there several times over the past couple of years. During which we had only encountered one occasion where we had disagreed about a policy stating that you could not carry a soft drink in from the outside. They did not have any signs or anything to inform anyone of this great and holy rule.
But they soon informed me that my opinion did not matter to them and if I was not happy about it then that was just too bad. I agreed and said I would be happy to find a differant place to take my family out to eat.
But some friends wanted us to go back to the Fisherman's Quarters II in Asheville N.C. With them and we thought we would give it another chance. The evening went well and we left feeling better about the restaurant.
So when my family wanted to revisit the Fisherman's Quarters II restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina again, I thought we might all have a nice meal and enjoy my nephews birthday.
We placed our order and recieved our food on the table, but that was about the last time we saw our waiter, everyone was trying to swallow their food with empty tea glasses. Usually you do see your server a few times during your meal, since most servers earn tips from their customers by taking care of their needs during the meal. Another server noticed that everyone was sucking on the ice in their empty glasses to try and moisten their mouth enough to swallow their food.
My wife finally spotted our server at another table and got him to come by long enough for her to order an extra order of slaw.
But with a empty glass I went and found someone to finally give me a little more tea.
We at last saw our waiter again long enough to hand me the bill.
I checked the prices of our food and that all added up fine, but he decided that his poor and rare service was worth 15% of a $50.00 food check, and had written an extra $7.00 addition onto our bill. We had visited there just a few weeks ago and have in the past where there were several members in our party, but we had never had a server tell us how much to tip them, and they never needed to if we received any kind of service from them.
I tried to talk with the owner but they refused to come out and talk with me. The checkout girl said she would take care of it herself. I informed her that I had no problem paying for the food we ordered, but I would not give $7.00 to a waiter who did nothing more than carry our food from the kitchen to our table.
She said that I had no choice in the matter and if I did not pay the extra $7.00, then she would call the police and have me arrested. I told her I would pay for my food and nothing more.
Finally my wife and family were becoming so embarrassed that I had no choice but to give her the $7.00.
I really feel as though I was ripped off, and the sad thing is the girl at the checkout said they have this problem all the time and often have to call the police. I think the customers are the ones who need the police, after all we are the ones that are having our money taken away from us without our consent.
I suggested that if they had servers that did something to earn a tip from their customers, then maybe they would not have to force a tip out of them. I am sure that they already know that they are going to get an unearned 15% so they could care less if the needs of the customers are met.
I think it is sad that people think they can treat you anyway they want, and smile at you like oh well, there's nothing you can do about it.
Tommy
Asheville, North Carolina
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