NAME AND SHAME. Restaurant service charges

Cafelatte1

Thanks. A point in question.. went to Nobu for a very special occasion and were short £3.96 on the service charge. We were not allowed to leave the restaurant until we paid that outstanding amount as they claimed we had not paid the bill.

Last night at The Anthologist, we were short 90p on the service charge and the waitress told us that she would have to pay that herself if we did not pay it.

runningouts

Cafelatte1

Yes, the majority of the time a service charge is discretionary and it is up to you whether you want to pay it or not, though it is certainly unusual to refuse. Some restaurants may add a compulsory service charge, though even then you may refuse to pay it if you claim the service was not satisfactory.

But I would advise perhaps you ought to take enough money with you to cover the bill! I'm not a massive fan of the tipping culture but if I go for a meal then I understand it is expected and effectively makes a part of the waiter or waitresses' wage (management is the real winner in this culture as they are able to pay minimum wage for a job that deserves higher pay and yet keep staff due to the tips).

harriet_83

I worked for Bodeans, and my housemate works at The Diner. The Diner keeps ALL the service charge for the company and give none to the staff. Bodeans give us an extra £1 an hour wage from the service charge but we don't see the rest! On an average night I make £100 in service charge, so £8 of that goes to my wage, the company keeps the rest! So if you think your paying service charge therefor tipping your waiter/waitress... YOU'RE NOT! Ask to have it taken off. Large partys are a lot of work and constantly sending you back and forth meaning you have less time to check on your other tables. A £300 bill will have about £32 service charge added, that table then won't tip you because they think they've given you £30! They haven't! They have given it to the company, and all our hard work goes unnoticed. I feel I've done something wrong, especially when guests leave saying 'thank you so much, you were amazing!" but no tip...

I also know that TGI Friday keep 100% of cash and card tips for themselfs.
Maxwells, Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood keep 50% of service charge, with the rest going to the kitchen, bussers, bar etc

giraffe69

Cafelatte1 wrote: »

Thanks. A point in question.. went to Nobu for a very special occasion and were short £3.96 on the service charge. We were not allowed to leave the restaurant until we paid that outstanding amount as they claimed we had not paid the bill.

Good. In future leave and offer to leave your name and address if they want to chase you for it. If I could I would then have removed all of the service charge. Are they going to assault you to stop you leaving? call the police? I think not.

Might be wise, however to have something like a debit card as you seem to run your cash rather close to the margin.

shortchanged_2

I notice more and more restaurants are automatically adding this service charge to the bill and you ask to have it removed. I find this rather cheeky to be honest.

Frankie and Bennys do this and I was not very impressed because I feel it is almost blackmailing you into paying it because you look like a right royal tight ar*e if you ask to have it taken off.

Tips for me are totally discretionary in this country and you leave something if you feel you have had a good overall experience. Although I have to admit I would prefer a system that someone else mentioned in that the restaurants just add 10% or whatever to the price of the meals, pay the waiting staff/all staff more and then there is none of this shall I or not tip business.
And if you have a poor experience then you can discuss with the manager etc about a discount for a poor experience.

gunsandbanjos

harriet_83 wrote: »

I also know that TGI Friday keep 100% of cash and card tips for themselfs.
Maxwells, Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood keep 50% of service charge, with the rest going to the kitchen, bussers, bar etc

Do you mean the staff or the company at TGI get 100% of the tips?

jimmygabe

Do the following. The price of the food includes 20 per cent VAT. When the bill is presented with 12.5 per cent added, simply ask for the 20 per cent VAT to be temporarily deducted, then add 12.5 for service onto that sum i.e. 80 per cent of the food bill, then add the vat back in. This avoids paying 12.5 percent on the VAT element. A CAMPAIGN SHOULD BE RUN TO GET ALL CUSTOMERS TO DO THIS.....

willow222

is it permissable for the restaurant owner to use the service charge to pay for the further traing of there members of staff

Jew

How do you guys ask for the service charge to be taken off?

I'm looking for ideas on how to do without confrontation and any ensuing awkwardness.

I want to leave the restaurant feeling good, despite the bad service and negative energy when I asked that it be taken off when I pay by card.

I started a thread about that here, but feel free to answer anywhere.

DJ_Mike

I seldom ever tip in restaurants, because frankly most waiters/waitresses seldom go anywhere above the job they're expected to do - take your order, clear your table. They get paid a salary for that. If I'm going to tip, I expect a friendly, engaged service from someone who clearly knows how to apply themselves with gusto to the job they are doing. Then they are worthy of a bonus!