Restaurateur and nightlife impresario Billy Dec (Rockit Ranch Productions)
I couldn't believe this story when I first heard it, but apparently it's managed to be kept under wraps for a couple of weeks.
An Ultimate Insider tells 312DD that nightlife/restaurant impresario Billy Dec (Rockit Bar & Grill, Sunda, Underground) stiffed two Sunda servers of a $1,000 tip the entire Blackhawks' team wanted to give them. The worst part of this story?! They are both single mothers.
The story goes that the Blackhawks' general manager treated the entire team as well as other staffers to dinner at the popular River North restaurant. The two servers took care of the 37-person party in a separate area of the venue. To show their gratitude, even though their meal was paid for by their boss, the guests all wanted to put in an extra $30, $40 because of their hard work.
"They wanted to tip them extra because they did so well and took care of all of them," said my source.
One guy took all the cash and decided to put the tip on his credit card, which would have totaled $1,000. When Dec found out about this, however, he refused to allow the transaction to go through and voided it. Even though the table insisted, he told them that the servers were already getting tipped 20 percent of the bill. In other words, they were not getting anything extra.
I am not understanding at all why Dec did this, but that $1,000 would have gone a long way for a couple of single mothers working as servers. I'm sure the 20 percent tip was good, but hey, if someone wants to pay EXTRA there is no excuse at ALL to block it!
I'd love to hear the reasoning behind these actions . . .
UPDATE: Here's the email I received from Arturo Gomez, president of Sunda's parent company Rockit Ranch Productions:
"Blackhawks organization called us earlier and gave us a credit card and said they wanted the entire Blackhawks tab taken care inclusive of tip. At the end of the meal the team came over to thank Billy and BIlly said it wasn't me....someone else called and took care of the bill. They immediately wanted to leave tip but Billy mentioned to them that the entire bill + tip was already taken care and to not worry about it. So they said ok and the party moved on to Underground. The staff member was upset because they felt they could have made more of than the 20% tip if Billy hadn't said anything. We made a promise to the Blackhawks organization that all would be handled exactly as they had requested and it was. That's all. We would never disallow our people from making money. After all that's why most of them are there."
wow...shamefull
ReplyDeleteHe probably did that because it's illegal. Gratuity was added to the bill which will go to the waitress. Since the entire meal was comped it would be considered discrimination for that transaction to go down. And they could be sued for it. Standard procedure
ReplyDeleteThe meal was NOT comped. Please read again. I wrote that the Blackhawks' general manager PAID for the meal for all 37 people, which means a 20 percent gratuity was included. They wanted to pay EXTRA tips.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing there is more to this story. Most likely was a reason behind his decision and now these two girls are going to be jobless for leaking to the press (oops 312 isn't press). I'd fire them too.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:05pm: I don't know the girls, and no they did not leak the story. And thanks for "the props." Who cares what you think about 312DD, especially when you're hiding behind a computer. :/
ReplyDeleteMaybe he just kept the money to buy some sweet new hats. Or maybe he's the daddy and thought they get enough.
ReplyDeleteSome managers won't let VIP guests tip extra for some reason. Maybe they feel like the guests are already doing the staff a favor by spending a large amount of money at their restaurant? I'm not sure. I've worked events where groups my company considered VIP (even though they weren't high-profile like the Blackhawks) were told not to leave extra tip. Completely unfair to the service staff who has worked hard for that money. Maybe someone in restaurant management can explain?
ReplyDeleteSo why didn't these dudes just leave the cash they had collected instead if leaving it in the credit card? Their would have been no way for Dec to block that! Even if it wasn't the full $1K, that would have been better than nothing!
ReplyDeletewow, that's messed up. I'd like to know the reasoning behind that one also, I'm sure there's got to be a good one. But, like anonymous said, they could have just given the girls the cash ???
ReplyDelete"He probably did that because it's illegal. Gratuity ....was added to the bill which will go to the waitress. Since the entire meal was comped it would be considered discrimination for that transaction to go down. And they could be sued for it. Standard procedure"
ReplyDeleteTell me wat is Illegal about this, and please be very specific.
On another note, did anyone ask Dec what his side of the story is?
Anon 9:41am: I would LOVE to hear Billy's side to this story, but considering that he was so against this extra tip, I seriously doubt we'll get it. And again, the meal WAS NOT comped, so I'm not sure where the other commenter got that information.
ReplyDeleteAnd finally, instead of retaliation against the servers, they should be rewarded with the tip they earned. They didn't tell me this story; it has been widely circulated in the industry for a couple of weeks until an "Ultimate Insider" gave me the scoop on what went down.
1. I have never heard of leaving a fat tip on a comped meal as illegal (meal was not comped anyway)
ReplyDelete2. I hope the guy who collected the cash and then got the tip voided had fun with all that cash :)
3. If meal was confirmed paid in full and extra was left for the service, then why even have an additional grat line?
4. Billy I hope you got a damn good explaination for this... cause I am positive you don't have problem getting tickets and have bought plenty of friends already
Yes, I'd like to hear what Billy has to say about it too. If it's true I don't get it. I'm not sure what explanation could justify negating a tip a customer made.
ReplyDeleteIf the table REALLY wanted the women to have the tip they would have left cash. It sounds like the ONLY thing Dec objected to was using a credit card. As a meeting planner I would never allow my group to pay for the same thing twice (in this case the tip) but if they wanted to pass the dough along in a more personal (cash from each person) then they are welcome to do it and I am no longer libel.
ReplyDeleteIf the group really wanted the women to have the tip they would have paid cash. It sounds like the only thing Dec objected to was putting it on the credit card. As a meeting planner I would never allow a client to pay twice for the same thing in this case the tip) but if they wanted to do it on their own, in a more personal way (cash tips from each person) that is out of my control and I don't have to explain the payment to the client.
ReplyDeleteBrian Campbell tried to use his card to add extra tip, Billy told him "no" as he was signing. Punk move from Billy to keep getting free tickets to Hawk games.
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of 312DD, as she is away from her computer and unable to post...
ReplyDeleteThe following is the explanation given by RRP's Arturo Gomez:
"Blackhawks Organization called us earlier and gave us a credit card and said they wanted the entire blackhawks tab taken care inclusive of tip. At the end of the meal the team came over to thank billy and billy said it wasn't me....someone else called and took care of the bill. They immediately wanted to leave tip but billy mentioned to them that the entire bill + tip was already taken care and to not worry about it. So they said ok and the party moved on to underground. The staff member was upset because they felt they could have made more of than the 20% tip if billy hadn't said anything. We made a promise to the blawkhawks organization that all would be handled exactly as they had requested and it was. That's all. We would never disallow our people from making money. After all that's why most of them are there. Thanks."
See, there's ALWAYS two sides to the story! Makes all the sense in the world! Just another case of greedy servers blaming management for things that they don't fully understand. Billy did the right thing. End of story. I'm actually a little surprised you would post "rumors" on the blog.
ReplyDeleteThat's a cute spin but where did the $1000 number come from? Thin air?
ReplyDeleteWhere there is smoke there is fire.
If he wanted to make it go away the better option would be to man up and pay his employees the $1000 out of his pocket.
When is the rest of Chicago going to be over this starfucker?
To the last poster...
ReplyDeleteThe $1000 was probably the amount of money the Blackhawks players intended to tip, until they found out that everything was taken care of. I'm sure once they found out that the tip was already covered, their wallets were quickly put away. I don't think they ever intended to "double tip" the servers. They probably assumed the tip wasn't covered, so they offered the $1000. Once they learned it was covered, I am quite sure they said "ok cool" and moved on.
I'm sorry but isn't it common sense when the party is 6 or more tip is included?
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, celebs tip big all the time what makes hockey players different?
I wish people would quit making excuses for this man.
Sounds to me like the $1000 number came out of thin air.
ReplyDeleteHow would the server even know that they were going to tip $1000 unless there was a stack of cash in front of them, or if they had actually seen the credit card receipt that was authorized for a tip?
It sounds like rumors and hearsay from a disgruntled employee to me...
Billy has time to tweet and facebook and blog every ten seconds, yet he sends Arturo to defend him? Billy should man up and stop only trying to hug the limelight and ignore the criticism.
ReplyDeleteBilly is notoriously terrible to his waitstaff. I worked for RRP for a long time; Billy in particular didn't know the names of most of the staff, implemented programs to get people in the door that left the servers working harder for less money, and didn't tip bartenders because he believed that his presence alone was making them money. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteEven Arturo's excuse (yes, it is an excuse) doesn't really hold up. An obviously extra gratuity should be accepted graciously, not dismissed by ownership in a false display of humility...although false displays of humility- and twittering in 14 year old girl language about d-list celebs that no cares about- are Billy's forte.
Given that the Hawks organization was hosting the event and had sent over a cc auth,inclusive of tip, I imagine they would have been furious to learn one of their guests was allowed to tip additionally. I have to side with the RR management on this one. There is absolutely NO reason why they couldn't have discreetly given the servers the cash and called it a day. It was the credit card issue indeed, and the fact that they were guests and no bill, in any way shape or form was to be presented to them is really the point here.
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to teach Brian Campbell about the Hundred Dollar handshake. And my guess is that the ladies in question are in fact now unemployed single mothers.
why would they be "furious to learn" one of their guests tipped additionally??? This happens all the time and is rather customary....People can tip and do tip additionally all the time and is not frowned upon but rather the opposite.
ReplyDeleteIf the additional tip went on the player's credit card who pocketed the 1K it then has nothing to do with the Blackhawks org...... As an owner you stand behind your staff and allow them this windfall...... doing the opposite is quite a "motivator".....
ReplyDeleteThe fact that more than a few of you believe that the two mothers/servers are now unemployed as retaliation for having been a part of this (which Diva herself has explained is not the case, but even if it were – what we can’t speak to the truth anymore in this country…oh, that’s right, “Patriot” Act) speaks volumes about your impressions of Dec's character. So although you think you're defending him somehow, you are in fact indicting him with your misplaced hero worship.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you why Billy dec didnt want the hawks to tip $1000 on the credit card. Because he would have to pay 15% employee payroll taxes on that $1000. With FUTA, SUTA, Social Security. medicare and unemployment taxes thats a $150 he did not wanna cough up to the state and federal government. Restaurant owners hate customers that tip a boat load on credit card cause it costs them money. so there you go!
ReplyDeleteYeah, f that, right?! Why would someone with as much money as Billy Dec want to actually pay taxes and support the people less fortunate than he with unemployment benefits, or medical coverage, or any of those other taxes? Taxes, we don't need no stinking taxes let those worthless working class folks find their own way like Billy did!
ReplyDeleteC'mon. This isn't surprising. Dec has a long history of fellating any c-list celebrity that walks in the door. It's no surprise that he's screw his own employees out of a tip to try and buddy up to a table of Blackhawks. The man--like his establishments--is all flash and pose and zero substance and quality.
ReplyDeletetake it from me- working for any of these guys is a horrible experience
ReplyDeletethey dont care about anyone who works there, esp interns ( I know because I was one of them and basically was told to pass out flyers for 15 hours a week with NO PAY). they did not even say hello to me when passing me at the 2x2 round seating arrangement I sat at with 8 other "interns"