Essex Junction Grand Buffet — Restaurant in Essex Junction

Subject: Formal Complaint – Unauthorized Gratuity Charge on July 20, 2025

Dear Management of Grand Buffet,

I am writing to formally file a complaint regarding my visit to your restaurant on July 20, 2025, at approximately 6:03 PM, as shown on the attached receipt. Upon entry, I saw that the clearly posted dine-in price for an Adult Buffet was $16.99. I also confirmed that I would not be ordering any drinks and specifically asked your staff not to include any gratuity in my bill. Despite this, I was charged a total of $21.75, which indicates that gratuity (approximately 18%) and tax were added to my bill without my consent and without being itemized or transparently presented on the receipt. Although there is a small printed note at the bottom of the menu board stating that “an 18% gratuity will be added,” this message is not prominently visible, and it was never mentioned verbally by staff. More importantly, I had explicitly stated that I did not want gratuity included — and that choice should have been respected.

I would like to emphasize that gratuity is a voluntary tip, and under normal business practice in the United States, it is the customer’s decision whether or not to leave a tip — especially in buffet-style restaurants. Automatically adding a tip, even after a clear objection, is misleading, unethical, and potentially unlawful under consumer protection guidelines.

I am requesting:

A formal explanation of why gratuity was added after I declined it. A refund of the unauthorized gratuity portion. That your restaurant clearly and verbally informs customers about any automatic gratuity in the future. That gratuity remains optional unless required for large parties and clearly disclosed before payment.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I hope your team takes this seriously and ensures more transparent and respectful practices going forward.

Sincerely, Customer on...

We (2) went on a Friday evening, July 25, 2025, at about 8:15 with closing at 9:00 p.m.. We were immediated seated upon entrance to the restaurant and ordered 2 water drinks. The meal was adequate and tasty. However upon receiving the bill we noticed a "mandatory" gratuity of 18%, which upon previous visits to this restaurant this was not the case. I asked the cashier about this mandatory 18% gratuity, where she immediately got defensive and snooty about it and said "that's the policy and you have to pay it!". She then pointed to a sign at the entrance located on a podium of sorts, which was barely legible where it was located. I told the cashier that I wanted the option to pay a gratuity, and she replied if you don't pay the bill as is she would call the police. I said "go ahead"! Yes I decided to challenge this "new " policy (I have no idea how long it had been in place). The Essex Police did show up shortly after and I politely introduced myself and explained my position on this issue. They stated they understood how I felt about it , but I had to pay the bill as is. They also said I had the option of not coming back to this restaurance based on their gratuity policy. I was also informed that was the second complaint that day about their gratuity policy. I pain the bill, and made sure the cashier knew that they lost a regular customer; she shrugged and said "that's...

Usually I have no problems with grand buffet I have frequented them on many occasions and have always been satisfied however on this occasion I was with my S.O. who has a shellfish allergy and while we always are cautious and expect some degree of cross contamination with shellfish and prepare for such an event just in case this time it was different. Cross contamination from customers who don't have knowledge of restaurant and health department practices are one thing BUT when the restaurants own kitchen staff are using utensils from shellfish to fill other food items and then putting it back into the shellfish there is a real problem. All the while not wearing gloves and reaching across multiple dishes. This concern was brought up to staff where I felt was just brushed off. This kind of allergy has the very real potential to send someone to the hospital or even kill them and that just wasn't a chance we were willing to take after seeing that so we took our leave and unfortunately due to those circumstances will not...