NAME AND SHAME. Restaurant service charges

poet123

IvanOpinion wrote: »

On land I make my mind up on the day. I generally will tip something (maybe £1 per person), simply because I know there may be elements behind the scene. On one occasion I just could not get the bill (we had been waiting for nearly 45 minutes and had reminded the girl several times) so eventually we ended up phoning the front desk and asking if they would deliver it to our table - the waitress did not get a tip that day - I actually felt like deducting 10% from the bill for wasting my time.

I have in the past refused to pay for a meal and walked out of a restaurant in the middle of our main course ... closely followed by the manager ... I explained to him what I had seen and I was more than willing to discuss it in a loud voice in the middle of his restaurant if he wanted - he decided this was probably not in his best interests... and let us go.

At sea - the question never arises - you are treated like royalty. If you don't like something you just order a replacement, if you can't make your mind up you order both, if you want 4 portions of lobster then order it .. nothing is too much trouble for your waiter.

Ivan

I agree, but I have real issues with the US way of tipping onboard ships, but also in general. I feel that it demeans staff to be paid so little, that they should be paid a decent living wage and that tips should be perks for a job really well done. I feel that by going along with that system we collude with employers to allow this to continue when really they need stronger labour laws and help to enforce this.

Pulpdiction

This thread has been referenced on a BBC news article - good works guys and gals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19438088

It raises some other good points too around charging for things in general.

pollypenny

Oh, tipping! The flipping US drives me mad! But lovely DIL paid her way through uni with waitressing, so she is very strict on tipping and thinks we are just being tight.

redfragglebiker

Why do I always get flashbacks to the beginning of Reservoir Dogs when I read this thread?!?

For the record I will only tip if I have received good service. DOesn't have to be exceptional, just good. I have no problems removing the "discretionary" service charge from a bill I wish to pay by card if the service has been rubbish though.

I;ve worked in the service industry myself and I would not expect a tip if I;d done a rubbish job of looking after someone. We used to split out tips so we kept 60% and the other 40% went into a jar to get shared out between the chefs and back of house staff.

Takeaway_Addict

redfragglebiker wrote: »

Why do I always get flashbacks to the beginning of Reservoir Dogs when I read this thread?!?

For the record I will only tip if I have received good service. DOesn't have to be exceptional, just good. I have no problems removing the "discretionary" service charge from a bill I wish to pay by card if the service has been rubbish though.

I;ve worked in the service industry myself and I would not expect a tip if I;d done a rubbish job of looking after someone. We used to split out tips so we kept 60% and the other 40% went into a jar to get shared out between the chefs and back of house staff.

Mr Green is right, why do we tip restaurants but not Mcdonalds staff? Both serve food to us in a supposedly clean environment but just at differant price points.

Lets just ban tipping

catmiaow

IvanOpinion wrote: »

As an example. Our holiday of choice is a cruise (can be as cheap as any other holiday so I am stilla good MSEr) where, particularly on the American lines, many of the staff work for tips - in some cases they are actually paid about £1 per 14 hour day (no that is not a misprint .. it is £1 per day). The 'recommended' amount to tip varies from line to line but works out at about $10 per person per day (£50 per person per week). I simply budget this into the cost. Your waiters, water boy and cabin steward ensure you service that is second to none in order to get these tips and generally they deserve every penny. I have seen one cabin steward in tears because people had 'stiffed' her - knowing the service they provide and the hard work they put in this really !!!!es me off. Anyhows, I digress .... on some lines tips can be added to your on board account while on others the tips are put in envelopes and handed to the relevant people. All tips are then handed into a central 'pool' where, utilising a very complicated formula the money is shared out (close records are kept of who has and who has not tipped). This ensures all the non-salaried staff on the ship get a share. You may want to tip your cabin-steward ... but what about his/her assistant, what about those that do the laundry, what about the non-salaried maintenance men that all work behind the scenes. And as above the waiter is heavily supported by staff in the kitchens doing dishes, decorating plates, peeling potatoes and other vegetables and making large scale decorative food displays (you ain't seen nothing until you see the mid-night chocaholics buffet - I challenge anybody NOT to get their fill of chocolate).

If it makes you feel better then give the tip to your server but remember it is possibly going to be 'pooled' and if not, then do you leave extra for those people working behind the scenes.

Things are not always as clear-cut as they may appear.

Ivan

This makes me mad, we paid nearly 5k for our honeymoon cruise, that was just for us two, the ship was full. They make a ton of money and it annoys me they don't pay their staff properly. The workers were mainly from the philippines. To be honest they were friendly enough, but a lot of them didn't understand English, would just walk into your cabin without knocking and didn't clean the cabins properly. I don't mind tipping occasionally for good service but I don't like being told you have too, especially when you have already forked out a lot.

robinson79

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Mr Green is right, why do we tip restaurants but not Mcdonalds staff? Both serve food to us in a supposedly clean environment but just at differant price points.

So going up to the counter and placing your order is the same as being waited on for an hour or so at a table?

hayday75

Went to las iguana at westfield Stratford city ,they charge the 12.5 percent service charge .
It definitely put me off a second visit lol

Altarf

robinson79 wrote: »

So going up to the counter and placing your order is the same as being waited on for an hour or so at a table?

In the majority of restaurants, yes.

The waiter is paid to bring the menus, take the orders, and bring the food, so unless they have done something above and beyond that for you, then what have they done to deserve you paying them a bonus?

davec1960

jimmygabe wrote: »

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.....

This won't make any difference to the amount paid
eg Total food bill is £120 (£100 before vat)
12.5% service charge is £15
Total £135

Using your method
Use pre vat total of £100
Service charge of 12.5% is £12.50
Total before vat is £112.50
Vat on £112.50 is £22.50
Total £135