A New Lawsuit Tackles Restaurants That Trick People Into Double Tipping, by MEL's Tracy Moore, describes how Cheesecake Factory patrons have been scammed out of hard-earned cash by the restaurant chain.
Moore writes:
Moore writes:
Until now, you may have believed that the biggest pain in the ass in a group dining situation was figuring out how to split the bill. Will you piss off the server by asking to split it four ways? Can you placate the group cheapskate who doesn't want to cover the booze? Turns out while you were sweating the small stuff, the Cheesecake Factory may have been making off with your money in a massive tip heist. According to a class-action lawsuit filed in California, the irritatingly upbeat chain restaurant with 16 billion different menu items may have been deliberately misleading customers on the suggested tip portion of the bill.
Here's what the lawsuit claims [PDF]: At the Cheesecake Factory, as at many other restaurants, the bottom of your bill comes with a handy list of suggested tipping amounts calculated for you at 15, 18, 20 or 22 percent of the bill. The trouble is, when two or more people split the bill, the new bill each person gets doesn't update that suggested gratuity amount to reflect the new amount. Instead, the bill still suggests 15, 18, 20 or 22 percent of the combined total bill. So when it's time to now figure out your own tipping amount, what's suggested claims to still be those percentages, but really it's 30, 36, 40 or 44 percent of the bill.