When More is actually less!!!

Yesterday me and some of my friends decided that we'd celebrate the end of this semester by going out for lunch and also treat our professor who has been so nice to us. We decided to head out this Thai place in Allen, TX. The ambiance was great, food was good, and the service was comfortable also. There was one catch with the place though, the restaurant levied an auto-gratuity of 18% on groups of 5 and over. What this means is that whether one likes it or not the restaurant will charge you 18% over and above your check amount. It is like deciding the tip amount for you, even if the service were shoddy and you didn't enjoy the meal you will end up forking out an extra 18%. I was completely surprised to see this concept of auto-gratuity.

I have heard of businesses providing a discount when there is a large order. Because of the volume of business they offer a small discount so the consumer feels better, but this is completely opposite, the more business you give the more you pay. I guess this can happen only in a capitalist economy driven by businesses, such as the US. It is possible for the restaurant owners to pay less for its wait staff because they will charge the customers extra if they come in groups... even a family of five will be slapped with an 18% auto-gratuity...

I think this is an unethical practice.