NAME AND SHAME. Restaurant service charges

fannyvart

chris-w wrote: »

the pearl of the orient,
these stories seem quite tame to the reality our restaurant charges a 10% service charge and the staff don't get a penny!!!!!
and even when a cash tip is left........ 30% is taken by the company 20% is taken by the management and the 50% that's left is split between all the staff including chef's.
and when staff do finally receive the couple of pence that's left, they have to declare it and pay tax on it!!!!
i would never ever pay a service charge on my bill and when i pay a cash tip i put it in there pocket myself and tell them that it is for them and them only!!
but even then it is not guaranteed that they will get to keep it. believe me most restaurants operate a similar policy and are ruthless in the pursuit to squeeze every last penny they can from you which includes outright stealing tips from the staff.

Damn! I ate there last week and left a fiver tip for an extremely helpful young man.

Not eating there again if that's their policy! :mad:

Markol

I have never been so embarrassed in all my life! I have a Spanish friend that came over to the UK and after being treated in Barcelona I decided to take her to London to see the sights and we ended up in the Butlers Wharf Chop House by the Tower of London for something to eat. We went there as the Evening Standard was running a promotion to eat 3 courses for 15 pounds. I thought this was good . However we were put in the restuarant where there was not the same deal but the Evening standard was supposedly doing a 3 course meal for £25 each. However all vegetables were extra at £3.75 each including satue potatoes and after an hour and a half we only ate the poor starter. After prompting the waiter we finally finished the small portions two and a half hours after we sat down only to be confronted with a bill that made me fall off my chair! They had charged us £4 for water, £4 for a small fruit juice and £2.90 for half a lager. Then on top of this they had added 12.5% service charge. I paid.
Had I not been with my Spanish friend I would have told them the food was poor, cold, small portioned and extremely expensive and the service rubbish plus I feel they robbed me.

Beware -if a deal looks too good to be true it probably is and it certainly was here.

brettcta

we ate in a rather swish restaurant in edinburgh about 3 years ago (i can't remember the name, bloody nice though) and i nearly fell off my chair when i got the bill..

25% optional service charge. for 2 people! i was a bit naive at the time (being 20), but eyed the 'optional', queried it and had it taken off. i asked where the 25% goes and most of it went straight to the owners to cover admin costs and the free staff meals. they were basically asking customers to pay for their staff to eat on long shifts.

they shut down about a year after.

shammyjack

Supermarkets, cafes, pubs etc do not have service charges nor are tips expected. Restaurants are no different in my book and I will not pay service charges or tip.

suzannesuzanne

shammyjack wrote: »

Supermarkets, cafes, pubs etc do not have service charges nor are tips expected. Restaurants are no different in my book and I will not pay service charges or tip.

Totally agree shammyjack! In the UK waiters get paid (at the very least) a national minimum salary to do a job, just like a supermarket employee does. I bet no one is tipping a check-out chick! Strange and unnecessary adoption of American culture I think.

Azari

suzannesuzanne wrote: »

Strange and unnecessary adoption of American culture I think.

I think you'll find that American culture followed European in tipping waiters and others in service industries.

paulew

Went for dinner with friends at Simurgh near Covent garden. When we asked for the bill I saw there was a service charge included of 12.5%! When I asked them to take it off because we wanted to pay our own tip, I was informed that they could not do this and there's a note on the menu about it, which of course you would need to be Sherlock Holmes to find, given the dark lighting in the restaurant!

This is wrong, misleading and dishonest to say the least!
What is the saying about bad news travelling twice as fast!?

jojo2004

Have skipped a few pages here, so apols if I've missed this point:

Service charge/tip is for SERVICE. Not for the KP putting the dishwasher on at the right temperature, not for the sous-chef putting the garnish in the right place, or the chef cooking the steak right - these things are their JOBS. Service is extra - it's smiling, making sure the customer is comfortable, happy and provided for, and doesn't have to wait or feel uncomfortable. It's about anticipating needs, being unobtrusively helpful, and enhancing the experience in the dining room. These are things the Waiter/Waitress does. Not anyone else. Hence the tips/service charge should go to them. Any behind the scenes staff who want to work front of house and smile all day at awful customers, feel free. The tips aren't worth it. Can you tell how much I used to love being a waitress?!:rotfl:

Abbafan1972

Jimmy's Spices used to add on a service charge (don't know if they still do, as I haven't been there for ages). The last time, I told them to take it off, as I didn't want to pay it.

I certainly don't believe in paying a service charge in restaurants where you get your own food, such as Toby Carvery, Buffet Island & Jimmy's Spices, to name but a few!

punkpink

If you eat in a Harvester, do not tip using the card machine, the staff only recieve 10% (i think) of the overall tip you leave, they take the rest to cover the charges for using a card etc.

I always leave tips in cash on the table with the money to pay the bill, but i will only tip somebody if they have made the experience better. If somebody grumpy serves me then i will happily leave no tip in the hope that they will get the message that being pleasant isn't compulsory but it helps

I am quite a regular at my local harvester, and i 'know' some of the staff quite well, if i have a good meal then i will easily leave a fiver for the server, if however i have to wait for ages, i will proportion this down to something i feel comfortable with.

I also agree with an earlier comment, if you cannot afford to tip you should not be eating there in the first place, there are plenty of cheaper places to eat if you really want to eat out, and plenty of places that do not expect a tip.

I think a tip gives the staff some indication of how much you enjoyed/disliked their service style. Higher tips for those that make your meal enjoyable will make those that make your meal terrible re think perhaps.