Restaurants. Automatically adding a percentge to the bill

earthstorm

pmduk wrote: »

The staff at the hotel bar I regularly use, get tipped a lot, however the bar manager insists on taking a share of their tips. It irks me as the manager never gets tipped because of her poor attitude to customers. Why should she benefit from others' good service.

yes It is wrong, but normally the tips jar is shared amongst all staff on duty which does include the manager.

bod1467

At my daughter's previous bar job they had a shared tips jar, the proceeds of which funded the Christmas night out.

At her current job she gets to keep her own tips.

BillLucas

The idea of tipping anywhere without anything being added to the bill is absolutely fine. It leaves each person the choice and if a tip is left it rewards the individual who gave you good service. However when a service charge is automatically added to the bill this is issue which I strongly disagree and should be stopped. In the past if good service is given I will leave a tip of up to 10% (depending on the total amount of he bill), but the idea of a twelve and half per cent service charge being added to your bill is totally out of order in my opinion and should be contested.

Magic_Moments

I concur and am against any service charge being levied at restaurants. I consider there sould be a law limiting this charge to 10% maximum of the bill but personally I feel this should exclude drinks which really pushes up the price.

System

Magic_Moments wrote: »

I concur and am against any service charge being levied at restaurants. I consider there sould be a law limiting this charge to 10% maximum of the bill but personally I feel this should exclude drinks which really pushes up the price.

A law really?

As long as they tell you up front I don't think they need to do anything else. You don't have to eat there.

Unless you pour and get the drinks yourself I don't see why they should be excluded from the 10%.

halibut2209

I don't understand why larger parties are charged more. That goes against the grain which suggests that ordering in bulk gets you a discount. Why single out large parties? Surely the rule should be fixed for all. Hotels charge extra for single people taking up the same room as a couple, so why do restaurants charge more for groups of people?

If you go somewhere which states that parties of 10 or more are charged 12% more than smaller parties, could you not go in groups of 9 and just sit together?

The whole thing is bizarre

System

It's because the level of service is higher for larger parties. All courses have to be ready at the same time. It takes more effort to ensure 12 main courses are all ready at the same time as opposed to just 2 main courses.

Also the waitress will be over more often as 12 diners will require more drink orders at more frequent intervals.

A table of 2 is easier for a waitress than a large table

halibut2209

True, but a table of 12 is easier than 6 tables of 2

[Deleted User]

I was in France recently visiting my son and his girlfriend (who is french) and I took them out for a meal on the first night. We went to a lovely little creperie tucked away from the main city centre bar area. The food was lovely and very good value but the girl who served us was incredibly rude - getting annoyed when we asked for the starter (a salad) to come out at the same time as the mains and arguing with my son's girlfriend when she asked for water glasses because she said we could use the glasses she had given us for the cider we ordered! The place wasn't busy - there were only 3 tables seated so she wasn't rushed off her feet.

When I went to pay the bill my son's girlfriend made a point of telling me that I should not leave a tip as the service was bad and in France they only tip for good service. It felt strange to me because I always tip even if the service isn't particularly good but I do think she was right - we paid the price of the food, a tip is a voluntary thank you for service over and above surely?

richardvc

halibut2209 wrote: »

I don't understand why larger parties are charged more. That goes against the grain which suggests that ordering in bulk gets you a discount. Why single out large parties? Surely the rule should be fixed for all. Hotels charge extra for single people taking up the same room as a couple, so why do restaurants charge more for groups of people?

If you go somewhere which states that parties of 10 or more are charged 12% more than smaller parties, could you not go in groups of 9 and just sit together?

The whole thing is bizarre

I agree wholeheartedly !

We had to pay a service charge when 12 of us went out - surely they would like to encourage large parties who eat more and drink more.

Adding roughly £25 to the bill for nothing more than carrying plates out has meant we will not be going back there.

Surely the amount of staff a restaurant has on is relative to how busy it is ? Yet again, we are having the mickey taken out of us in this country and getting nothing more in return.