10% service charge

EycplUK

Service Charge ? Never paid and never will !
I`ll decide if the service is excellent/good/bad !
a service charge is not a compulsory addition to your bill and you are quite within your rights to ask for it to be removed !
Dont matter if its Joe`s Greasy Spoon or Ramseys Top Dog Restaurant , get it removed and make your own mind up as to the level of service and tip !
And , before you ask , i have had over 35 years in the catering trade from transport cafes upto 5 * restaurants , so yes i do know what i am talking about !

Andy_L

A_Name wrote: »

playing 'what can we put in the deep fryer today' (dark chocolate in beer batter is awesome)

thats sounds so good: but also so bad

SandC

anared wrote: »

Personally, being a former bartender/waitress I don't mind paying it. I sort of think if you can't afford to pay for the service, you can't afford to eat out. I normally leave a tip in cash as well as service charge if the service has been extremely good but I don't think you are any obligation to do this. The service charge is the tip. I think places do it because some people think it is acceptable to leave £5 or £10 on a bill of £200 for 6 people for example!!

Depends on the restaurant of course, but if I am in a party of 6 and the bill comes to £200 it means we've had a lot of wine/drinks which I know have a huge mark up. Therefore, I would not tip 10% on that bill. I'm not a fan of service charge, would prefer to leave cash.

Dr.Rock

If the service charge is included I'll pay it. If not I leave an appropriate tip.
Only once have I asked for my already included service charge to be removed, when I was out with a group from work. I got some funny looks from my colleagues but there was no way I was going to pay the restaurant even a penny for the appalling service I personally received.

TheSaint_2

It may have changed now, but about 10 years ago I went in to Pizza Hut with about 10 or so friends and a service charge was added to our bill.

At the time being a skint student I was not very happy about it, but looking back on it I think it is fair enough as they do have to put more effort in to make sure your food is served at the same time etc.

SandC

I was a waitress many years ago and it is harder work to deal with a large group. For one thing - if the management are doing things right, smaller bookings don't all tend to arrive at the same time for their meals so you can stagger your service. Plus with a big group it tends to be 10x noisier and trying to get orders out of people is more stressful. Also a little harder to serve as there are multiple conversations going on and they don't always notice you are trying to put a plate down in front of them.

Bettie

EycplUK wrote: »

Service Charge ? Never paid and never will !
I`ll decide if the service is excellent/good/bad !
a service charge is not a compulsory addition to your bill and you are quite within your rights to ask for it to be removed !
Dont matter if its Joe`s Greasy Spoon or Ramseys Top Dog Restaurant , get it removed and make your own mind up as to the level of service and tip !
And , before you ask , i have had over 35 years in the catering trade from transport cafes upto 5 * restaurants , so yes i do know what i am talking about !

I always thought the same as you and if requested it should be removed but it seems I was wrong and from what I now read as long as it's CLEARLY stated and the service is up to the required standard then under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 you have entered into a contract and must pay.
I doubt any restaurant would enforce it but seems they are within their rights to do so.

EB69

If service is included (and most of the restuarants I go to seem to charge a pretty standard 12.5% if they charge it at all) then I pay on card and dont leave a tip at all no matter what the service is like. I think if I'm expected to pay it good or bad, then they can get that and not a penny more. However if service is not included then I tend to leave a cash tip dependent on the service - its very rarely less than 12.5% (unless the service has been particularly poor and usually in that instance I will have complained) and frequently more.

I am against tipping personally, I think good service should come as standard, but in not tipping I am just penalising the waiter/waitress rather than the owners.