Today, parents are often criticized for letting their children run wild. Gone are the days when respect and politeness were the usual; now, tact is a foreign form. In an effort to combat the shenanigans of their local kids, one diner enacted a policy that drew headlines around the world.
The Wayne Hills Diner is a popular after-school hangout that has been around for years.
Located on the Hamburg Turnpike, children around Wayne, New Jersey, often gather at the diner to sip on milkshakes and hang out with their friends.
Last year, however, one preteen was startled when she found a mysterious charge on her bill.
Melissa Desch, the 11-year-old’s mother, told ABC News:
“My daughter looked down at her bill and realized that there is a charge for a tip, an 18-percent charge per child.”
Desch and her family were frequent customers at the diner, and the mother had never witnessed such a charge. Looking to rectify the mistake, Desch contacted the diner’s management. Their response, however, wasn’t what she had anticipated.
“He said that’s policy because the kids run out and he feels they don’t tip well, and they don’t know how to tip was the explanation.”
According to the restaurant’s management, local kids had been coming in groups of 20 to 30 kids, buying very little, staying for hours, and leaving without a tip.
“My employees need to get paid,” said the owner.
“They don’t work for free.”
Desch, however, isn’t willing to accept the reasoning. To her, this is a blatant act of age discrimination.
She claims the restaurant is targeting the students of Schulyer-Colfax Middle School, and her daughter has brought home piles of receipts showing diner staff tacking on extra gratuity for tables full of students. But Desch says that’s not the worst part:
“Then on the bottom, it says something about please leave a gratuity and they’ve already charged them a gratuity.”
“I was angry because I had been there the week before and I had been there with a group of five, some kids and some children, and I was not charged the gratuity.”
After the story went viral, the diner hired a lawyer in case any lawsuits arose from the practice.
In a statement, the lawyer revealed the diner’s menu clearly states: “Management reserves the right to add 18 percent gratuity”— a common practice when it comes to large parties in the dining industry.
For their part, the diner denies having any grudge against their younger patrons. “We love the kids,” the manager said. “They’ve been coming for years. We’re a family-owned business.” Overall, they believe the whole thing is just “too much publicity for nothing.”
According to Desch, her family and many others in the community will no longer be frequenting the establishment.
“There are enough parents that are willing to not let their kids go back there, and if it’s the same group she’s [Desch’s daughter] always hanging out with, it could be 20-30 kids,” the mother told ABC News.
“I’m never going to go back, not after this.”
What do you think about this “unattended kid tax”? Was the restaurant owner justified in his actions, or is this just a blatant case of age discrimination, like the mother said?
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