SEPARATE CHECKS
We’re always happy to provide separate checks. All you have to do is ask up-front and stay in your damn seat. If people in your group insist on playing a game of musical chairs, then a single check will be brought to the table when it’s time to cash-out, no matter how y’all requested your checks be handled. In that case, you’d better figure out how to use that calculator on your cell phone.
ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF PAYMENT
We accept Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Discover credit cards as payment. We also accept Vortex Gift Cards, Vortex Fun Bucks Prize Cards, and of course cash. Cash is great. Your server will collect your payment, and complete the transaction for you.
● UNACCEPTABLE FORMS OF PAYMENT
We do NOT accept Diner’s Club credit cards, Traveler’s Checks, personal checks, PayPal, Bitcoin (or other crypto-currencies), Apple Pay or any third party pre-paid gift cards, even if those cards have the logos of the credit cards that we DO accept printed right on them. Sorry.
TIP OR DIE
Tipping for service is the currently accepted custom in this country, and at this bar. It also happens to be how our servers and bartenders make their living. If you think tipping is a scam, then you should probably stay home, microwave yourself a TV dinner, and binge-watch your favorite reality show. Because if you can’t afford to tip, then you can’t afford to eat at a full-service restaurant. That’s real life. Providing excellent service is always a top priority. If you’re ever unhappy with your service, notify the manager immediately. After all, we can’t solve a problem that we don’t know about.
PRINTED TIPPING GUIDE
In major cities across the U.S. the customary tip at full-service restaurants is 20% of the bill. As a convenience to our customers, our computer system is programmed to include a “Tipping Guide” at the bottom of every guest check, based on the check total, before tax. This guide calculates, and displays, an 18% tip, a 20% tip and a 25% tip. The purpose of this display is to illustrate a range of tips that may be considered by the guest. To clarify, this guide is not an attempt by us to require, or negotiate, any specific tip amount. Tipping is voluntary, and the customer always maintains the unrestricted right to determine the ultimate amount of their tip.
● ALTERED GUEST CHECKS
If a customer’s bill is altered by request (such as to split the check for multiple guests), the calculations of the initial Tipping Guide may or may not automatically adjust. Therefore, it is the customer’s ultimate responsibility to do some basic math with their own brain (or the calculator on their phone), to determine the amount of tip that they wish to leave.
ADDED GRATUITY
We never add a built-in gratuity to our checks because we expect our clientele to be better than that, and we expect our servers to provide the best possible service at all times. Besides, people who make a habit of not tipping, or tipping poorly, will eventually be banned from The Vortex for being dirty rotten scoundrels.
DEBIT CARD CHARGES
If you pay your bill using a debit card, you may notice a pending charge different than the amount you signed for. We get contacted about this situation all the time. Please understand, this is due to banking policy, not any Vortex policy, so we have absolutely no control over this situation. Due to the fact that most diners leave a standard (20%) tip, many banks will automatically authorize debit cards for more than the requested amount to assure overdraft protection. In the event that you approve more (or less than 20%), you may see more than one pending charge on your account. After three (3) banking business days, only your approved total should remain. Unless a server has made a clerical error, the final amount that clears your account will always be the amount you approved in the restaurant according to your signed receipt.
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
In the event of an internet failure, power outage, or any other technical difficulty beyond our control, all limitations on forms of payment listed above shall still apply. Credit card payments will be physically “imprinted” and processed just like in the olden days. If for any reason you do not want to have your card imprinted, then cash payment will be the only option available for settling your bill.
● THEFT OF SERVICES
Any time you dine at a restaurant you are legally required to pay your bill, regardless of extenuating circumstances. Failure to do so is legally considered “theft of services.” This offense may lead to misdemeanor criminal charges, punishable by fines and/or possible jail time. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
