Tastecard / View Card / Toptable - Service Charge Saints & Sinners

sheer_vanilla

sorry to hear about that lyster.. you should let taste card know, surely they'll talk to the restaurant about it. hopefully amex does something about it? good luck. i, for one, will avoid the restaurant like the plague so thanks for the heads up. this ''optional SC' business is getting out of hand and i really wish there were clearer 'rules' defining it. ideally taste card looks into this as it can ruin many a night out.

coolsteel

Fire and Stone London 12.5% optional SC after discount
Belushi's London no SC :T

Surreystarlet

Lyster - I'm sorry to hear of your service charge problem - it sounds an almost exact replica of the situation I found myself in in Birt Eddine a couple of weeks ago.....though at least they didn't hold you hostage in the restaurant!!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3034480

Do please phone Taste about this. They were concerned when I phoned them, and despite them saying they had to remain impartial and that they weren't going to remove the restaurant straight away, the restaurant no longer features on the site I also contacted trading standards who said they were going to investigate....

It is unacceptable to force people to either pay their full service charge (which could be any amount!!) or say you aren't allowed the Taste discount. A service charge is optional, unless the menu states otherwise.

Good luck with Amex on recovering some of the money back - do let us know how you get on.

sheer_vanilla

Me Love Sushi, All London branches - No SC

sheer_vanilla

coolsteel wrote: »

Fire and Stone London 12.5% optional SC after discount

strangely, i got charged a 12.5% on the FULL bill amount before discount at fire & stone westfield. are you sure it's on the bill after discount? was it westfield?

coolsteel

sheer_vanilla wrote: »

strangely, i got charged a 12.5% on the FULL bill amount before discount at fire & stone westfield. are you sure it's on the bill after discount? was it westfield?

I will check, and it was Covent Garden.

Surreystarlet

Just used my taste card at Cirrik in Richmond. Charged 10% service charge on discounted bill Food was excellent and staff lovely - highly recommended!!

Altarf

lyster101 wrote: »

Firstly, as ordering through Taste London, they decided to base the service charge on the pre-discount amount. This would have been circa 20%. As the service itself was shocking, and in addition to the poor food in general I refused to pay the service charge. However, short of cash I had to pay by credit card and there was no option to pay without this charge and they refused - 3 times - my objections and that I could either pay the Tastecard discount plus the service charge or the full amount without service charge. Clearly this devious business offsets the discount with their 'optional' service charge, regardless of how they treat their customers. I felt intimidated and helpless

There is a very simple solution to this.

You tell the manager that -

1. The booking was made with a Taste card, and accepted by the restaurant, so there is no question of them now retracting their acceptance of the card.
2. You did not feel the service was acceptable, and that you are not paying the 'optional' service charge.
3. Either they are willing to accept the payment for the meals at the Taste card price without the service charge, or you will leave your name and address for them to contact you when they have considered the matter / taken advice and find that you are correct.
4. If the manager mentions calling the police, firstly it is not a crime to leave a restaurant without paying the bill provided that you are not attempting to avoid payment, it is a civil matter (i.e. doing a runner is a crime, disputing the bill is not). You are not attempting to avoid payment, you are happy to pay what is due, but the restaurant is refusing to accept payment and you will be leaving your name address. If the restaurant continues with their threats, beat them to it, by calling the police first.

I have only ever had to get to the end of stage 4 once, and that was in Pizza Hut many years ago, when the manager offered a discount when I complained about the food when it was served, but then retracted the offer when the bill was presented. The following day I made Pizza Hut's head office aware of what had occurred, and a couple day's later received a cheque refunding what I had paid. The cheque was from the restaurant manager's personal bank account...

Quentin

Maybe change step 2:

Simply say you do not wish to pay the charge, it's optional and you are opting out.

This saves you getting into further argument about why the service was "unacceptable".

Altarf

Quentin wrote: »

Maybe change step 2:
Simply say you do not wish to pay the charge, it's optional and you are opting out.
This saves you getting into further argument about why the service was "unacceptable".

A fully reasonable approach for those who disagree with the concept of 'optional' service charges.

My response was aimed at lyster101 who didn't seem to object to service charges per se, but that the service charge that was being asked for was excessive to the service that was provided.

Personally I have mixed opinions about service charges. On one hand it seems a bit cheeky to know that a restaurant is going to charge a service charge if it is clearly shown on the menu, you receive satisfactory service, and then only at the end say you don't want to pay. On the other hand, even if the service charge is shown on the menu, the restaurant is being deceptive by not just including it in the prices.

However I think that a restaurant strays way over the boundary when it charges for imaginary parts of the bill that are not being charged for, such as with the Taste card problems. Any restaurant that does that would get zero 'optional' service charge from me, just for trying to rip me off. The same goes for any restaurant that charges a service charge and then presents me with a credit card machine requesting I choose whether to pay a tip or not.