Restaurants: How to avoid paying the 10%+ serivce charge: Save £££'s every year!

shays_mum

The restaurants can charge the money, because most people pay it! - pure cheekiness .
I sense this is just another step in the direction of becoming like our american cousins as mentioned by mutton geoff.
It needs more people like us to change things & stop the madness!!, everyone who works would love to be tipped, but at the end of the day waitressing is a job like any other & should be treated as such.
I am a f/t carer for a disabled person & would love to be tipped all the time, but it ain't gonna happen!, anyways am waffling :xmassign:

dag_2

I don't know where you lot are going for your meals out, but what about the restaurants and cafés where you're expected to pay upfront at the servery? And what about the ones that have all-you-can-eat buffet deals? These very rarely seem to impose gratuity charges.

My experience is that the only restaurants that impose such charges are the ones that are going down the pan anyway, because they hardly have any customers. Restaurants and cafés with a livelier atmosphere that get repeat customers tend to be more straight with you - and they get their repeat customers for a reason.

elisebutt65

They do this in Belgo. I went last month with my brother, his GF and our kids. It's good that the kids eat free but 3 main courses + drinks came to over £50!!! with the service charge. - An extra £8.00!!!

I made a point of scribbling out the service charge and altering the total and then handed the waiter 10% in cash.

When i used to do payroll for a pub/restaurant we used to put all the tips via C/cards through so the staff got taxed on it - it was all proportioned out carefully so all members of staff apart from managers got a %, even the chefs and pot washers.

If there were any cash tips, they got put into a pot and divided up at the end of the night.

Staff definitley preferred cash as it didn't go through the payroll then.

Smiley_Mum

Watched The F Word presented by Gordon Ramsay earlier on. They did a poll in conjunction with online pollsters www.yougov.com. What would be the one thing you would ban if you ran your own restaurant and the thing that came up was double tipping. They wish to name and shame restaurants that have such a practice. If service is good at a restaurant then surely it is down to the individual paying the bill how much service charge they wish to leave, not the restaurant. Why should diners be pressured into tipping, should they receive poor service. I for one wouldn't be happy about it. I don't see hairdressers having a surcharge on their bills for haircuts etc etc. If they did and you had a bad hair cut, would you tip twice?

mr_fishbulb

inmypocketnottheirs wrote:

A close friend of mine is a general manager of a well known fast food chain. According to him, any tips paid via credit/debit card or cheque do not get passed on to staff, only cash tips.

Who tips staff at a fast food joint?

Moglex

I wonder how these resturaunts would feel if you wandered into the kitchens and helped yourself to an extra 10% of the food you'd ordered

bj-sailaway

Moglex wrote:

I wonder how these resturaunts would feel if you wandered into the kitchens and helped yourself to an extra 10% of the food you'd ordered

LOL, I love this idea!!!

I used to be a waitress in a Beefeater, firstly some of the waitresses don't get a wage, they work for tips only, so please do tip them if they are good to you, secondly, never pay the added service charge - delete it and tip in cash - then the restaurant don't get their grubby hands on it - even if they do pass some on to the waitress, it'll be part of it, then taxed - so they'll get next to nothing compared to what you've been charged.

AP

dag wrote:

And what about the ones that have all-you-can-eat buffet deals? These very rarely seem to impose gratuity charges.

You are wrong there. Try Wokmania in Sheffield, they impose a 10% gratuity on the bill without even saying so on the menu within the restaurant, or on the menu displayed outside the restaurant. I believe this is illegal and probably a matter for Trading Standards to look at.

See my review on this restaurant at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/greedycow/food/restaurants/wokmania.shtml

elisebutt65

alexjohnson wrote:

I see what you're saying, but generally, why shouldn't people pay tax? I do, and I want the police to come when I dial 999..

She is paying tax in her wages - but why should she pay tax on her tips?

alexjohnson wrote:

.50% of restaurants fail: these are not cash cows.

This has nothing to do with tipping or gratuities. If the management is relying on tips to keep then going that that is terrible management. Restaurants that serve good food and have good service don't fail if the management know what they are doing.

alexjohnson wrote:

As to whether the waiter/ress gets it or not: that's his/her problem, not mine, and if the system's not fair, they should strike or quit. .

And how are they supposed to go on strike - heard of any good unions for waitresses/waiters lately? Or anyone in the service industry? That's cos there aren't any and if there are then most management won't take you on if you let them know you're in one.

You also don't need to second guess what their salary is as it's usually minimum pay, which is why most of them need their tips to survive.

jsknight100

I am personally opposed to tips of any kind. I don't understand the reason for them. Why should we tip in resturants & hairdressors & not couriers or people who work in retail?

I do believe that all people who are working should get a decent wage!