Philippe,
I apologize for misspelling your name in prior post! See you in 10 months...

And if this poster actually read my post, they would see that this is done in MANY establishments in the US as well, my workplace for one! So to condemn Capt. Oliver's for doing what other places do as well is to make a rash judgement with blinders on.

What makes my US workplace bad is that tipping is not even the norm. Some Members do tip the waitstaff but under the table and usually only to the ones that have worked there for many years. At least at Oliver's the waitstaff does share in the remains of the s/c that is collected so the more customers, the better for them! And this does not mean that a person shouldn't leave an extra something for good service.

By not going to the restaurant, you are actually hurting the waitstaff as much, if not more, than the restaurant, which actually defeats your reasoning for not going. But if you are that concerned and still don't understand the reasoning behind Philippe's explanation, then don't go...but if you do go, then leave an added 5% if the service is good like what has been recommended. Being that the waitstaff gets paid a higher than normal salary because of the s/c that is included, that additional 5% would be appreciated and no one gets hurt.

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Life is not a child's game of follow the Leader. Instead, life is more about finding one's own purpose in life....your life's plan, and then making a positive difference on earth.

Lizz,
I don't remember you from your last visit since we have so many guest everyday including on Saturday, but I do remember you very well through your posting and your insistance to me to fire one of my employees because you felt uneased by the look she gave you.. how could I forget.
But if your desription is correct today about your march 21st visit and where you were sat I have a pretty clear idea of who were your waitress...
The service charge is unfortunatly listed on one ligne as a tax because we are using an american POS program which do not have th possiblity to include a service charge as %, but only a "tax %". However, bellow that ligne it is specifically clarified that "the 15% Tax ligne is IN FACT A 15% SERVICE CHARGE" litterally as I just wrote it. this should be enough in my opinion to explain to the guest that the tax is not a tax but the service charge.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2009 07:30AM by Tabba Khady.

Linda
what Philippe described is exactly what is done in every restaurant on the french side and many on the Dutch side, except in many restaurants the staff don't get any part of that 15% service charge in any manner..
I guess you won't have many restaurants to eat at if this offends you so much.,

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I truly don't understand why people have such a hard time understanding that every culture is not exactly like the US! Waitstaff in other countries do NOT depend on their tips as their main source of income, and therefore tipping is completely different there. It is incumbent upon us to learn the customs of the countries that we visit. To penalize an establishment because you don't understand the culture under which it operates is simply ignorant.

To Lizz and the original poster... I inquired and I know exactly where you were sat, at which table and who was your waiter... I questioned my waitress about serving ice cream at a table during the buffet on the 21st of march, she remembered to which table and that you were 3 people at the table. I also knows that she is not the one who gave you the false info, and knows who did it. I checked in the reservation book, and if I am correct your reservation was made under a name starting with a "H" and ending with an "N" and you were staying at Paradise Bungalow in Orient...

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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Philippe,

You are correct on all your assumptions. Our waitress was not the one that gave us the incorrect information, as a matter of fact, she went above and beyond to serve the ice cream due to allergies. I cannot remember the waiters name though but he did clear plates off our table on a couple of occasions.

Read this......

www.englishversion.tabba-khady.net/custom7.html

Hope this works.

Beach Bum, it is my website, I am the one who wrote that page but it concern the French side not the Dutch side.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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I am not very observant.....:-) By the way, your article was very helpful !

That's allright..LOL That's also the reason why I know pretty well that particular topic.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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You are correct about all except for one detail. I NEVER suggested you fire the employee last year, I just pointed out how uncomfortable she made the guests in our party feel.

It appears you have corrected that detail, as I stated above. Service was much much better several weeks ago.

perhaps the poster did not realize how well your staff is paid--here in the states a waitress is usually paid a "shift pay" and relies on tips--obviously on the Island they are given a living wage so they depend less on tips. Thanks for the explantion. One other qu3estion Phillippe (sp)--what time does the buffet start on saturdays and do you recommend a reservation for this time of year?

Phillipe,

I agree with you that it is of much concern when the businessman literally has to reach in his pocket to pay staff. The cost of the wages should be built into the cost of doing business. If you feel that you need to pay your staff a higher wage than is required by law, then the cost should be built into the food and drink, not hidden in a service charge. Many people feel that term service charge is another term for a gratuity, and that it goes to the employee as a tip for good service; therefore, creating the acronym "tips - to insure prompt service".

Please be aware that I am quite aware of how restaurants and other eating establishments work. In the states, most service staff receives pay much lower than minimum wage and are expected to work hard to make up the difference between their low wage and a decent living - using "tips" to make up the difference. The server that does a poor job normally (and rightfully) recieves a lower income for the month, due to not receiving a high percentage of tips. The server who works hard and excels, should receive a comfortable or even outstanding monthly income. This is his reward for being a hard worker and a good server.

Frankly, If your way is working for you and your staff is comfortable with their wages, that is great. Please, though, do not hide their pay inside the term "service charge" or only show to the Antilles Tax Office that they are only making minimum wage.

Linda,
I beleive it is not your place to dictate to anyone outside your country or your business on how we should pay our employees. What is made and is legal in you country is different of what is made and legal in my country.
Also, I find it extremly rude that you are making some assumption about "hiding" to the tax office which assumptions are VERY unappropriate and unacceptable due to your lack of knowledge of our book and filing, and also since I am not aware how you could know what is or should be filled to the Antilles tax departement.
After being a master in labour laws, you seems to be a master in tax filing too... But since you approached the subject should I assume that yourself have some personal knowledge in matters of hiding to the IRS? See .. assumptions are easy to be made!!!
With all evidence you are debating a topic in which you may have some knowledge at "home", but which knowledge" has zero value down here due to the differences of system.
"Many people feel that term service charge is another term for a gratuity, and that it goes to the employee as a tip for good service"...??? a TIP is not a Service Charge. If "many" people had a little bit more of cultural kowledge they wouldn't be confused betwen a TIP, which is a Gratuity (since it is not mandatory and let to the customer choice), and a service charge which can be mandatory by law...
"therefore, creating the acronym "tips - to insure prompt service". ... This is wrong... :
The word originates from the 16th century verb tip, which meant "to give, hand, pass" and "to tap", possibly being derived from the Low German word tippen, meaning "to tap."The modern German term for a tip is the unrelated Trinkgeld, literally "drink money." also called "pourboire" in French, which means also "for drink"...
The word "tip" is often inaccurately claimed to be an acronym for terms such as "to insure prompt service", "to insure proper service", "to improve performance", and "to insure promptness". However, this etymology contradicts the Oxford English Dictionary and is probably an example of a backronym. Moreover, most of these backronyms incorrectly require the word "insure" instead of the correct "ensure".

I, as many other restaurant are abiding by the law, our laws, not yours, and yes the governement, the employers, the workers, and vast majority of our visitors are comfortable with it.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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