NAME AND SHAME. Restaurant service charges

brightonman123

thought usual s/c was 10%, but disagree on principal as restaurants are designed for serving customers- they dont expect people to come in and cook their own food now, do they?

also re the splits, do the kitchen staff get any? I do hope so, as they also do a lot of hard, low paid work (been there, done that, kept the t shirt!)

i wou;s do any tips in cash, and ask to share with all staff.

management should be making wnough profit from general food (and definately drink!) sales..

vnsandeep

We are charging 5% Service Charge in country club from two years But I didnt get any service charge till now

Clara2141

My partner works for a large chain restaurant - one that serves Pizza - and they have a "keep your tips" policy for front of house staff and pay those working in the kitchen (whether it be washing the dishes or making the pizza) a higher rate of pay. Works well there and everyone is happy.

I do tip when I eat out - mainly as I used to be a waitress and know what that £1.50 tip means to the staff, however I respect the right not to if that is someone's choice and don't tip if the service is bad or it's a store where I have to "serve myself"....

spuds_2

D'oh. Just realised this an ancient thread dredged up by a new member. Welcome to MSE, Vsandeep. For what it's worth, I don't like it when they add a service charge either.

For those who have read a bit of the thread - crikey, that Reen had a bit of attitude, didn't she? I post this knowing that she hasn't posted on MSE for ages and hopefully won't be reading.

loopdaloop

reen wrote: »

but people refuse to pay service way too often just because they are cheap. the number of people who order their steak medium-rare and then complain that it's pink on the inside, send it back and then refuse to pay the service (on the entire bill) is rediculous. it's not the waiter's fault that you're too stupid to know what you're ordering. why should he get in trouble over it?

.

I disagree with this totally. When a service charge is put on your bill It includes 'all the service' and the chefs are part of this. If the food comes out crap and one person is left waiting around whilst everyone else has to eat than that's all part of the service. Also, I am always astonished at how many places can't cook steaks! What is the matter with them.

In fact I would much prefer to tip the chefs than the waiting staff who bring something to you, They're the skilled ones. In this country where people get the minimum wage or plus it is not necessary, however I would consider in other places.

I agree with someone who previously said 'How do restaurants expert to make money without having people to bring things to themselves?'

I visited 'fine burger company' the other day, prevously you'd order, pay at the bar and sit down to have it brought to you.

Now they do 'table service' :rolleyes: then you go up and pay at the counter! at which point they add 12.5% Service charge!

Which is not even mentioned on the menu nor does it say discretionary or optional! for having someone bring you burgers of what are really poor quality. The hygiene in that place was terrible, never again.

qetu1357

kr15snw wrote: »

Looking at the other side of this I felt terrible embarassed on Saturday when going out for a meal for a friends birthday (there were 3 of us who knew each other, the rest were here friends from work who we hadnt met before).

It was an all you can eat place. You pay £18.95 each then go the buffet pick your meat, pick your veg and theyll cook it in whatever sauce you want. Its gooood.

Its also free corkage so we brought our own wine so we didnt need to pay for drinks.

The bill came and obviously it was just under £200 (there were 10 of us). Last few times Ive been there we tend to pay £20 and the left over money (£20 - 18.95) goes as the tip. So me and my 3 mates chuck in £20 and the one collecting it counts and says 'well theres only so much left to pay, great lets put ours in'. When we explained about we had included a tip, they told us we were silly and refused to tip as they never do.

So they paid their exact amount to the penny and 4 of us gave an extra £1.05.

I honestly felt embarassed that they were so tight...

We used to have a "friend" who would never pay her part of the service charge so we had to pay ours and hers rather that create a scene either with the restuarant or her

marleyboy

I only ever tip the waiter in cash, instructing them it is for their pocket ONLY, any service charge on the bill, I will go to the trouble of scribbling out for them, as far as I am concerned I have paid for the service with the food, Tips go for the courtesy of service.

I think its appalling that this goes on. Its time we built a list of each restaurant that does this, name and shame them.

Mochii

I think the worst experience of this, was when they charged us £1 each service fee (i think since in the bill they never told us what the service charge % is and there was 5 of us and the service charge came up to a total of £5) in an eat all you can in chinatown in london. Not only the food was bad and cold but the place is also not that clean and the staff were not so friendly. Im not going back to that resto ever again.

hehe 1st post xD

KILL_BILL

Mochii wrote: »

I think the worst experience of this, was when they charged us £1 each service fee (i think since in the bill they never told us what the service charge % is and there was 5 of us and the service charge came up to a total of £5) in an eat all you can in chinatown in london. Not only the food was bad and cold but the place is also not that clean and the staff were not so friendly. Im not going back to that resto ever again.

hehe 1st post xD

i know the ones u mean

they put them out under those heat lamps which are suppose to keep them hot but in fact just ensure that samonella grows becuse they just keep the food lukewarm - if the food aint hot dont eat it otherwise you will get food poisoning

londonuk2008

how many times , thought these look good and within half an hour of finishing wishing I hadnt.....never understand how Westminister council let them carry on!