A Woman in Conroe Says She Was Denied Service For Not Tipping Enough

A diner at a sushi restaurant in Conroe claims that she was turned away at the hostess booth after staff told her she hadn’t tipped enough on her previous visits.

ABC 13 Eyewitness News interviewed Chimene Lewis, who says that she visited the restaurant three times previously. But this time, staff kicked her out of the restaurant when she requested a table. “We asked for a booth and she said we’re not going to serve you because all the times that you’ve came, you have not tipped,” she says in the ABC 13 video (watch it here).

Lewis denies that: she says she tipped more than 20 percent the first two times she ate at Wasabi Bistro but did not tip the last time after she said the staff was rude to her.

“So no. I did not tip the last time. I usually do tip. That’s what I believe in but I did not tip the last time,” Lewis told ABC 13. “I used to be a waitress. I do understand the importance of tipping, which is why I always tip and leave a good tip.” She says in the video that she won’t return again. “I feel wronged,” she said. “There was no reason to say that, there was no reason to treat us this way.

The network interviewed the restaurant’s owner Alan Guo, who chalked the incident up to a “big misunderstanding.” Guo apologized to Lewis and told ABC 13 that it’s “no problem if you didn’t tip. That means we must have some problem, either the service or the food.”

• Woman claims Conroe restaurant denied her service for not tipping enough [ABC 13]
• The Definitive Guide to Tipping at Any Restaurant in America [E]