Caterer over an hour late, and then includes a 30% gratuity charge onto the bill--is that right or not?

First off, never have a verbal contract. Always get it in writing.

Second, caterers almost always include gratuity in with your bill, because quite frankly that is how they make a profit. However, 30% is ridiculous. My family owns a catering facility that I worked at for many years and we charged 20% at most. The facility is rather high end, and gratuity is needed to make ends meet. The only reason I can think of as to why the percentage was high is that since it was a small party, they needed a higher percent to cover costs. But not knowing their pricing, I can't tell you for sure.

Regardless of all this however, being an hour late is completely unacceptable, no matter how good the food is. But the bill is made up before the event happens, regardless of how things go, and since you don't have a written contract, there's not too much you can do about it.

I can tell you that this is not a common practice among caterers, and frankly they should have given you the bill before the wedding. I would say talk to the person you booked the service through, but don't be looking for too much to come of it. Good luck!

Does the contract state what a reasonable amount of time was? If the contract does Not state the 30% gratuity then absolutely I would NOT be paying that portion of the bill. If it does mention gratuity then you should not have tipped on site and that is just a loss you have to take. Be sure every communication with them is on paper.. ie in e-mail or you take notes of what was said and the timing of the conversation. I would definitely complain of them being an hour late. You have rights here.

If the servers were tipped on site, there should have been no gratuity on the bill regardless. The fact that they were quite late is bull and is not right. They should have lowered their pricing for you instead of adding 30% gratuity. PS. 30% is huge also, especially since you had such a small party. Where did you get this ridiculous company? I would never recommend them again.

For starters, you should NEVER have a verbal contract. In many states verbal contracts are not binding. They could have not shown up all together and you couldn't have done anything about it.

If they didn't offer a discount on the gratuity when they arrived after acknowledging that they were late, the odds of you getting anything back is not very good.

Read your contract. Does it give a window of time? If they came within the window, you are bound by your contract.

What proof do you have the servers were tipped on site?

If you can provide that proof, you may be able to deduct that amount from the gratuity charge.

However, in the first place, 30% is too dang high!!!!

I'd first ask them if there is a good enough reason why they had to add that to the bill, particularly when they were late. It's great that the food was enjoyable and fresh, but you expect that anyway. They can't expect to get away with adding another 30% to your bill, and being late, just because you were happy with the food they provided. You should check your contract however before taking this matter too far.

Did it state there was a 30% gratuity in your contract? If not sue them.