OK, I've talked to Alan, the manager of the restaurant.

Esmeralda was VERY organized (as much as she could be with the sudden onslaught of separate checks). A couple of things to note:

• Jazz Kitchen does NOT add a mandatory gratuity for large parties unless asked in advance. It is their policy to NOT do that.
• There were a few people that asked for separate checks in ADVANCE and were accommodated without issue.
• Esmeralda returned each jacket with all of the change (with no tip taken out) and any credit card slips that were a part of that bill. According to Alan, the "change" was removed from the jacket as "change" and not kept in the jacket as a tip.
• The actual bill for food and drink was covered in full but the remainder left over in cash or tips on credit cards amounted to about 2% of the total.
• Deciding on separate check AFTER the meal was completed was the primary factor that resulted in this disaster.

Alan made the following suggestions for the future:

• We stick to ONLY one check whenever possible
• We have ONE person in charge of the party so that if any questions arise (such as splitting out the check) the server knows who to talk to and our party members know who too talk to if someone need to leave early.
• We stay somewhat organized until everyone is done eating. (Our running about apparently didn't help the situation either.)
• We give the server our AP for discount purposes BEFORE we get the bill.

We also can add on a set gratuity amount too the total bill if we choose and request. We can add a minimum percentage and, if an individual feels it is necessary, they can add more. But, at least the server will not be stiffed in any way. This is something we should ask for before we get the bill.

I promised him that, if I was there, I would try and keep things organized so our group would minimize the impact we had on the restaurant and their staff.

Why do I always get blamed for these things?

I mean, it is a very logical assumption, but still...


:)

Okay, that made me laugh heartily, which is a bad thing to do at work because then I have to explain why I was laughing.

My rule of thumb is that all servers get 20%, regardless of location and regardless of alcohol vs. not (and you probably won't find me ordering a $500 bottle of wine). Bad service gets less and when exceptional, I give more. I also tend to round up.

Also, I tip post-tax, but that is just me. I accept that other's opinions vary on this.

Is it safe to post my address here?

A couple points of contention, the server did offer us separate checks at the beginning and we agreed. She said that each person would basically be assigned a separate number and we could tell her what the groupings were at the end (which is why she asked whose bill your garlic bread should go on). That never happened.

On the second, we told her before the bills were presented that we would have a premium AP discount for each bill.

That may have added to the confusion. When she brought the "joke" check, I recall someone bringing up the AP discount. Her response was a bit of hand-waving and something about "it'll come later" or something like that, I didn't really catch what she said. But when she came back, none of the split checks had the AP discount applied. I wonder if there was a loss of communication there, with her thinking about the check splitting she was about to do, and therefor not actually listening to the question about AP discount, assuming the check-split was what the question was about.

ETA: Yeah, what NM said. She did mention check splitting when taking our orders, but never came back to ask HOW we wanted the check split before handing us the split checks.

?

no.

That's interesting about requesting an automatic gratuity. I think that's a great idea for large parties, seriously. We can always add more.

Did people really ask for a separate check AFTER the meal was completed? WTF? Ok, yeah, recipe for FAIL.


As I wrote before, we actually remembered to give Esmeralda our AP BEFORE the bill was prepared, and seriously, she outright refused, despite repeated requests, to figure in our discount until AFTER our bill was printed. Another WTF?

I call shenanigans about change being left in the folder on bills paid by cash and credit combo. Despite the amount I wrote on the check to charge my card, the restaurant took all the cash - which included tips by those paying in cash - and then charged my lone card the difference up to the amount on the bill. So I had to put my entire party's tip on my card, since the cash tips had been used to pay the bill.

In theory, this should have worked out evenly. But I was unhappy with the tip under this procedure, and padded it afterwards with an additional $15 in cash. So the folder I left on the table at my end as the last thing I checked right before leaving had my credit card slip and a cash stippend sufficient to pay our tab with a 25% gratuity.



It was very pleasant to have the illusion of sitting as one group by all being at one, long table ... but now I seriously wish my party had just stayed at our original table.

Frankly, I'm glad I left before this all came out in the wash. Dinner was a delightful experience, and this has sullied it ... thankfully after the fact for most of us.

Aaah ok that really clears matters up. :rolleyes: ;)

No, that's not what happened. At least not in our neck of the woods. When taking our orders, she said she'd split the check, but that she'd come back later to identify who wanted their checks together for the split. She never did that step and instead, after bringing the "joke" check, came out with several checks split based on.....errr.....nothing seemingly remotely logical.

Yeah, that the waitress wouldn't apply the discount until AFTER the fact made no sense. That had me scratching my head as well.
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For me, the bottom line is that we will never know what caused the snafu. Probably a myriad of factors - a perfect storm if you will. I don't believe (or at least I don't want to believe) that there were any intentional shenanigans going on. And if there was, then that person(s) will have to deal with their own Karmic retribution.