Service charge in restaurants - yes or no?

Mutton_Geoff

I dislike those places that charge service and then hand you the credit card machine with the option "leave tip?" already primed. Many years ago, the Evening Standard used to run a name & shame list of London restaurants that did this.

pogofish

Did you somehow miss all the other Service charge/tipping threads?

There is a crying case for a sticky on this  subject..! 

Adamhoward20

I made a decision a few months ago to leave £0 tip or service charge if it is automatically added onto the bill. I had a few occasions where they added a service charge onto the bill, then handed me the card machine with the screen to add a tip. Talk about doubt dipping. 

prettyandfluffy

I don't pay a service charge that's added to the bill because a) I want to choose whether or not to tip, and b) I want any tip I leave to go to the right person.  If service is very good or exceptional I leave a cash tip.  When I was a teenager I lived in a seaside town and did seasonal work, I really appreciated the tips that were left.

saajan_12

Strongly disagree with service charges 
- essentially an anti-competitive / hidden cost of dining out. Meanwhile other industries are moving away from extra costs in the fine print (eg card charges, tenancy fees etc). If your dish is £10 + 15% service, just be transparent about the fact that you're automatically billing £11.50 

- being served the food is inherently part of dining out, its not like you're paying cost price for ingredients / seat space  / kitchen usage and then service could be on top. 

- the process of being automatically charged yet 'optional' means those too polite to question it will end up paying, and those more comfortable with saying no or complaining won't. 

- removes scope for actually optional tipping for great service (or if both service charge + tip are requested then leaves a bad taste). So your outstanding servers lose out. 

DullGreyGuy

prettyandfluffy said:

I don't pay a service charge that's added to the bill because a) I want to choose whether or not to tip, and b) I want any tip I leave to go to the right person.  If service is very good or exceptional I leave a cash tip.  When I was a teenager I lived in a seaside town and did seasonal work, I really appreciated the tips that were left.

Many places redistribute cash tips in the same way as card tips so unless your server is dishonest and telling their peers/boss that you didn't leave anything then the probability is that you aren't achieving the "right person gets it" 


As a general concept I dislike the automatic service charge and get particularly annoyed when they try to double dip with a service charge and the card machine asking for a tip. Ok it guarantees it goes to the staff but just pay your people better and put the prices in the menu up. I can then decide if to give extra to people that I've liked dealing with. 

RobM99

One local self-service buffet charges for service. Hang on, I should pay that to myself!

DullGreyGuy

RobM99 said:

One local self-service buffet charges for service. Hang on, I should pay that to myself!

Were the drinks self service? Did you have to take the dirty plates and put them in the dishwasher? Were you bringing the food out from the kitchen to the buffet station yourself?

A friends little place does buffet once a month and with their setup, they basically need the same number of staff as other days.

gocurlygirl

Sad to say this,but one restaurant my niece worked at kept all the tips and service charges given.I do tip staff, and ask them to share it in some cases, but resent service charges.I did work as a waitress as a student, and really appreciated any tips given. 

[Deleted User]

I dislike service charge. It is always discretionary/optional so never pay it. There is no such thing as compulsory. If the restaurant make it awkward or are rude, then it's a place to swerve in future.

Some restaurants I go to include it already on the bill, I then ask them to remove it.

 A pint of coke for £4:50 is already expensive, if that's on a food bill it's going to be over £5 a pint for coke, it's ridiculous already priced at £4:50 so I'm certainly not happy paying anymore.

Good service should be a given.

A restaurant should pay their staff a fair wage, I am not here to top that wage up for the employer so that they can continue to underpay.

Another way of looking at it, there are plenty of minimum wage jobs in this country that do not have an opportunity to receive tips, why is hospitality staff any different. I worked in hospitality myself in the past and never expected any tips, I signed up for the job based on the contracted wage.

If I go out with family, the bill us regularly £130, if you add another £13-£20(based on 10%/12.5%) it's a lot of extra money to pay.

The hospitality trade should be grateful that I am spending money contributing in small part to keeping the place open.