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Woman Called Poor Tipper Procures Lawyer (North Carolina)
wxii12.--WINSTON-SALEM ^ | T February 24, 2010

Posted on 02/26/2010 7:48:42 AM PST by dennisw

WINSTON-SALEM -- A woman who a local restaurant manager refused to serve claiming she is a habitually poor tipper told WXII Wednesday she is in the process of consulting an attorney.

Monica Covington was recently banned from the Kanpai Japanese Steak and Seafood House on Stratford Road after manager Michael Lam said servers and chefs refused to serve her because of her less-than-expected tipping history at the establishment.

Covington, who started a boycott petition against the restaurant, said the restaurant slandered her in the WXII report, which has set off a firestorm of opinions surrounding the issue of tipping.

"At this point, I am securing an attorney to address the slander against my name and character," Covington said in a statement to WXII. "I have always left a good tip at Kanpai Restaurant , even when I was given poor and less than honorable service."

Covington said her spat with the restaurant began in 2008 when she was told she would have to pay an 18 percent gratuity to dine.

"Yes, because we can't keep continuing to serve her anymore because the servers and chefs are not willing to serve her," Lam said Tuesday when asked if he refused Covington service.

On Wednesday, Lam said his establishment has never tacked an 18 percent gratuity on to her bill without her knowledge.

So far, 300 people have signed Covington's petition. Supporters of Lam's restaurant have also started an online petition.


TOPICS: Food; Local News
KEYWORDS: mrpink; notacityinchina; tipping; tips
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To: dennisw

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ISUPPORTKANPAI/
Petition Site
I Support Kanpai, Shame on Monica Covington


21 posted on 02/26/2010 7:58:20 AM PST by libertarian27 (Land of the FEE, home of the SHAMED)
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To: papasmurf

Yes, sadly you are right. Not racist, just an observation. I had an entire section filled by a group/family or something of all black people. They were there for 2 1/2 hours and pitched a FIT when finding out that gratuity was added to a group their size. So they argued with the manager for seperate checks so gratuity wouldn’t be included and then left me zero dollars for a tip. I had no tables except theirs for three hours and with my hourly wage I made a total of $6.60. I was praying the stereotype I had heard of wasn’t true, but the other waitresses were giving me sympathetic looks the whole time.

I quit that night because I felt like my manager should have agreed to give them seperate checks, but since they were obviously together, the group policy should have applied. He was intimidated by them though, I could tell. So I told him to shove it and left.


22 posted on 02/26/2010 7:58:37 AM PST by autumnraine (You can't fix stupid, but you can vote it out!)
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To: dennisw

It seems like all I am reading this morning is news about ‘poor, unfortunate victims’ who just out of the blue have terrible things happen to them. And are going to sue.

Turns my stomach. The Land of ME.


23 posted on 02/26/2010 7:58:40 AM PST by bboop (We don't need no stinkin' VAT)
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To: dennisw

The restaurant has a right not to serve her.
But if the service is so bad, why does this lady return? I bet she’s some sort of nut.


24 posted on 02/26/2010 7:59:11 AM PST by goseminoles
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To: dennisw

Here’s a related article—different person/restaurant:

I Was Banned For Not Tipping
Thu 07 Jan 2010
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2423167/posts


25 posted on 02/26/2010 7:59:22 AM PST by beaversmom
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To: duckman

UGH!!! I used to like the slimy “drop” in my egg drop soup... until your post! LOL


26 posted on 02/26/2010 7:59:33 AM PST by autumnraine (You can't fix stupid, but you can vote it out!)
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To: dennisw

Here’s an idea. How about the restaurant pay their waitstaff enough so tipping isn’t expected. I’ve been to places that specifically state NOT to tip and the service, surprise!, is much better.


27 posted on 02/26/2010 7:59:54 AM PST by bgill (The framers of the US Constitution established an entire federal government in 18 pages.)
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To: dennisw
I just want to know who decides on the "standards" for tipping. In the 70's it was typically 10%. Somewhere in the 80's it went to 15%... even though prices had also gone up. In the 90's, the "expected" rate started to creep up again... now we're at this 18-20% level. It's getting pretty nasty when you already have an expensive meal, often a special restaurant or service industry tax, PLUS 20% for your servers (whether they earned it or not).

The result? I typically avoid the sit-down restaurants.

28 posted on 02/26/2010 8:00:44 AM PST by alancarp (Calling all states: Reduce the cost of doing business and jobs will flock to your doors.)
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To: dennisw

“Yes, because we can’t keep continuing to serve her anymore because the servers and chefs are not willing to serve her,”

If I own a resturant... and one of my employees refuses to serve a customer, they’re fired.


29 posted on 02/26/2010 8:01:23 AM PST by envisio
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To: dennisw

Tipper Gore?

Remember it was reveled prior to the 2000 election, Al and Tipper, on an income of millions gave almost NOTHING to charity.

And with carbon futures crashing, maybe they don’t have anything left.


30 posted on 02/26/2010 8:01:58 AM PST by cookcounty (Let us not speak of the honor of men. Rather, let us bind them with the Constitution. --Jefferson)
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To: Mr Fuji

I completely missed the part about the chef.


31 posted on 02/26/2010 8:02:17 AM PST by svcw (If you are going to quote the Bible know what you are quoting.)
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To: dennisw

Sign petition here.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ISUPPORTKANPAI/


32 posted on 02/26/2010 8:02:29 AM PST by Leisler (What 'free market', where is it?)
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To: alancarp

yeah, its ridiculous.


33 posted on 02/26/2010 8:03:28 AM PST by envisio
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To: autumnraine

Sorry. Love Asian food but ‘Drops’ have always been a turn off for me.


34 posted on 02/26/2010 8:05:43 AM PST by duckman (My Grandma Isn't Shovel Ready!)
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To: envisio

Depending upon the reason, maybe but you’re going to be cook, server and host/hostess with that attitude. The customer may always be right but a good manager support his staff when the situation calls for it.


35 posted on 02/26/2010 8:06:36 AM PST by j.argese
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To: dennisw

A woman I knew, who waited tables at a very nice, very expensive restaurant in Washington D.C., told me that she regularly spat in the cappuccinos of diners who were rude or who had under-tipped on previous visits. This practice brought her great joy.

She said she wasn’t the only server who did such a thing.

It’s always a good idea to treat the waitstaff politely and to tip at least 15%.


36 posted on 02/26/2010 8:06:40 AM PST by fullchroma (Obama: GET OUT OF MY DOCTOR'S OFFICE!)
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To: dennisw

That place is just down the road from my office. My kids have eaten there, but I never have. You’d think if this lady really liked the food, and she must, going there often enough to be singled out as a bad tipper, that she’d “give some props” to the staff, as they say.


37 posted on 02/26/2010 8:09:19 AM PST by NCLaw441
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To: svcw; Mr Fuji

In this case at a Japanese steak house, imagine a hibachi table setup where the chef cooks and puts on a bit of a show at the same time and is the primary server. Not the same as if it were the kitchen staff joining in.


38 posted on 02/26/2010 8:09:57 AM PST by NonValueAdded ("Roll back Pelosi" Rush Limbaugh, 2/12/10)
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To: dennisw
Used to be a group of women who went in to a place I know for lunch. They they drove the server crazy with their orders and demands, and at the end they bickered over who owed how much and then they left little if any tip. Finally, the owner told them they were welcome come back, they could have one check but it would have a 15% tip added to it. They could figure out how to break it up among themselves.

Ironically, they kept coming.

39 posted on 02/26/2010 8:10:03 AM PST by Ditto (Directions for Clean Government: If they are in, vote them out. Rinse and repeat.)
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To: autumnraine; beaversmom

I wasn’t going to post this but...my wife and I used to own 4 Pizza restaurants. We had several customers that our drivers, even the one AA delivery guy, would not deliver to. You can guess which customers those were, right?

Finally, after getting yelled at and threatened by two of those customers, I paid the drivers out of pocket. But, I took them off of my mailing list, which is where I gave the discount coupons. Soon afterward, they no longer called us. I guess they drove to Caesar’s. {yuk}


40 posted on 02/26/2010 8:10:28 AM PST by papasmurf (sudo apt-get install U-S-Constitution)
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