waitress taking advantage of old peple (me :)

"Really not much I can do. If I'm ever in there again, instead of stiffing her, I will try to make a point of requesting some othere server."

Ouch!  Yea, that sounds like about all you can do.  Not a good way to get repeat business.

Umm, yeah . . .  not much sympathy. 

Yeah, she really should have told you.... But maybe next time bring these?

funny you mention I should have been training.. I have trained with some of these guys and tried to get a workout with them before going out but they didn't want to go to a gym and the heat prevented any outdoor activity. MOF, my main rapport with these guys came about because we bumped into each other running in Central Park one night and have hit it off since then.

According to the OP,

Maybe it's just me, but I think that exclamation fulfilled her fiduciary responsibilities to the OP.

Crappy situation i agree, but honestly I think the onus is on you.  

Auto gratuity on 5 people is a bit strange, but I guess not totally out of the realm of possibility... it was NYC.  Did you not have a call phone?  I use mine all the time to give me a bit of light when needed (reading menus, bills, etc.) in dark places.  Also, when you asked for the "total amount" did you not question, at least in your own mind, that it was a bit high?  Since the auto gratuity was nearly 20% I'd think that would add to the bill enough that I might just think "hmmm... that seems a bit high, let me take a closer look"

This is a place you visit regularly?  Talk with the manager about your experience.  You've already demonstrated the "10-1" rule (the one that says 1 bad experience can counteract 10 good ones).  Granted, you haven't said the name of the establishment, but if you're sharing this story with friends, they probably know what place you're talking about.  No, you can't expect them to reverse the additional tip.  

In the future, LOOK OVER THE BILL!!  Don't worry that it's dark (I have a flashlight app on my IPhone).  In fact, you can excuse yourself, find the server and take care of the bill privately, or, again, if you're there frequently, make arrangements with the establishment to settle up the next day (or authorize a standard 18% gratuity on every bill regardless of service quality). 

I travel for work and we're instructed to treat the expense like a personal expense.  If I wouldn't spend my own $$ for it, I shouldn't get it.  I did this even without that instruction.  I have a hard time justifying $10 for a slice of cheesecake after dinner. 

That could have been construed as "wow, thanks for the 25% tip" which he left.  If he had only left say 5% (+ the 18%) then I'd expect nothing to be said.  But 25% on top of 18%?  That's a lot.

I'm not saying she's responsible to notify him but it would have been the nice thing to do.  In the end I agree, it's the bill payer's responsibility.

the waitress has zero fiduciary responsibility to me, and like I already wrote, it's ultimately my fault.  But you can never convince me that "wow, thanks"  should have clued me in that there was an 18.5% tip already in the bill from a little pub. 

not sure if the sympathy comment was tongue in cheek, but I don't remember asking for sympathy. I'm just recounting an experience I had, like many people on COJ do. 

I disagree when you say I can't expect them to reverse the tip. I won't ask them to, but I believe if I went there and told a manager with half a brain he would reverse the tip in a nano second.

As to the expenses, I agree. I am very responsible with my expenses which is why I grabbed my mangager at 7am this morning. However, this account pays us over $1M /year in fees and we do a lot of drinking with our clients and our management realizes the booze can cause some unwanted results (within reason). I am the first person in my office to castigate my colleagues when I think they are wasting company money which is why I told my boss and my team what happened. I have nothing to hide and I thought it would be good to share so it doesn't happen again.  However, I think you're comparing your business trips where it doesn't sound like you're dining with a client- in that situation I would only drink a beer or two. When I'm with a client who pays me $100k/month,  they may order $600 bottles of wine, so I can't "treat the expense like a personal expense".

I like the flashlight app for the phone. I'll see if I can download one for my blackberry. 

Don Draper?

not sure. I think the real lesson is I need to get much, much, MUCH better reading glasses.

If you think to go somewhere else, you are completely misreading the situation.

Next time you go to this place, that waitress will knock over the elderly to serve you and give you the best service you've ever seen.

You, my friend, have just accidentally bought what is termed "VIP status."  You are a high-roller now.

And you can officially start referring to the people at this pub as "your peeps."

sounds to me like someone showing off the expense account to buddies and was not worried about the cost of the evening...

If anyone was taken advantage of, sounds like the company expense account was IMO

Yeah, I feel your pain. I resisted carrying reading glasses with me into restaurants too.

Any mistakes in the house's favor are my job to catch.  However, I had the opposite experience once.  I missed the automatic gratuity at Chez Panisse once and put on 20% or so on top of it.  Alice Waters, yes the Alice Waters, stopped me as I was going out and said the waiter had seen it and taken it off the bill.  That's a really nice restaurant and great wait staff.

TW

It's NYC, home of the 3 card monty.

Sucks, but you got the short end of the stick.

Ask yourself which side of the Karmic spreadsheet you'd like to be on.

     Over 30 years working in rest' s part time and now full time . She should have told you the tip was on the check already. Also i know some rests put the tip on for large parties. Is it right yes and no. But if you fell the service was not good  have them take if off.Their is law stating that you have to leave a tip.