Service charge in restaurants - yes or no?

Digest

DullGreyGuy said:

Seeing as someone else dug up the thread...

There is one advantage of a discretionary service charge... it's free from VAT. So when the service charge is £10 were it to be just built into the price of the food as others have suggested it should be then you'd end up paying £12 on the bill 

Yes, great that this topic gets an airing. 

Must remember to tip the server in John Lewis  -  next time.

DullGreyGuy reply:- Usually the total bill which includes VAT is used to calculate the optional service charge, so the 12.5% service has VAT in it. As there is no VAT on the service the inflated optional service charge is kept by the restaurant. 

Royoftherovers2024

Ask yourself this, does the bloke grafting in a warehouse for NMW receive a tip, NO, so why should a waitress/waiter. If they are not happy with their wage, find a better paid job. Tipping is an absolute disgrace, I dine out and spend a few hundred every week at restaurants and don't see the need to tip. It's a stealth charge they often try to con you into but remember no such thing as compulsory, just ask for the tip to be taken off the bill if the restaurant have the cheek to automatically add it on.

Nellymoser

Digest said:

We are waiting for the Allocation of Tips Act 2023. 

The wait is over, the "Tips Act" came into force on October 1, 2024. Customers report some London restaurants have now started charging customers the 12.5% service charge twice. So best check your bill to see how many 'optional' service charges have been added before you pay.

https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/24688536.londoners-shocked-restaurants-add-second-service-charge/

TELLIT01

Tipping may have been relevant before the NMW was introduced as jobs in hospitality were apparently very poorly paid.  That is no longer the situation so there is no case to support tipping.  It's entirely possible that the staff are paid more than those tipping them.  I know of somebody in the hospitality sector who recently changed jobs and their wage increased by £5 per hour.  Clearly no longer on anything approaching NWM, even if they were before the move.

MrFrugalFever

I think we are very lucky here in the UK with our ability to accept or decline to pay a 'service charge' without incurring much objection or fuss. Go 3,000 miles west over the pond and it is a completely different experience. 'Gratuities' as it is called is not only expected but is considered rude and offensive if not paid to most staff. I believe tipping should be a free choice and if someone has gone above and beyond in their job role (whether that be restaurant or other industry) then tipping should be considered. 

There's an argument that low basic salary made up in tips (like a commission based role) will breed excellent customer service by nature of the fact that the staff member relies on said tips to survive. Thus improving standards and overall customer satisfaction.

Either way, I believe it should indeed be discretionary and you shouldn't be made to feel guilty for not doing so!

Murphybear

When I left school and was waiting to go to University I got a waitressing job in the restaurant of a department store.  It is not as easy as everyone thinks, it could go wrong very easily.  This was long before the NMW so we relied on tips.  My BFF also got a job there and we were known as “the twins” because we were the same age and both had specs and plaited hair. 

We were very popular, we were young and friendly and always sunny.  One day a lovely middle aged man came in and sat at my table.  He gave me a sealed envelope.  I opened it and went whooping around to the delight of the customers.  The man gave me a massive tip and left.  The supervisor came over and asked me if I were ok as she was concerned about the man, she said he was old enough to be my father.  Yes I said, he is  my father and the letter was from my first choice of University offering me a place.  . Somehow the story kept getting round to the customers for the rest of the day and I went home with a huge amount of tips.

It’s still one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever done.  My feet and legs were killing me when I got home that first day.

Saga  over.  I always tip when the service is good, I can see myself still as that 18 year old girl.  

Exodi

It's definitely becoming more common (or perhaps over time I'm eating at more upmarket restaurants where this is more common).

Nevertheless my biggest irritation has to be when going out to eat with a gift voucher - as an example let's say it entitles you to a three course meal and soft drinks.

You look at the wine menu, £6 a glass, seems reasonable to splurge here since you're not paying for the meal, you see the typical note about the 12.5% service charge, fine, it's relatively insignificant on two glasses of wine.

Bill arrives, you expect it to be £13.50 (2x £6 + 12.5%)... nope it's £23.50. Two glasses of £6 wine and a bill for £23.50. Why, you wonder? Well because after inspecting the receipt you realise the restaurant has applied the service charge to the entire meal.

In a way, I kind of understand the logic to this, but what irritates me, is that if a party was to have order nothing outside of their gift voucher, they would not be presented with a bill for just the discretionary service charge. Pretty counterproductive to dissuade any up-selling as the customer fears that any purchase will incur an additional £10 in discretionary service charge on their free meal.

Of course you can have it removed, I just loath being put in silly situations like this.

Phil_82

I get where you're coming from, and I agree that automatic service charges feel a bit sneaky, especially when they’re applied across the board, even for something as simple as a coffee. It definitely feels like restaurants are banking on people not questioning it out of awkwardness.

Personally, I prefer tipping voluntarily rather than having a charge imposed on me. If the service is great, I’m happy to leave a tip, but when it’s added automatically, it takes away that choice and just feels like another way to squeeze more money out of customers.

That said, I do think it’s important that service staff are paid fairly. If service charges actually went directly to them rather than being absorbed into restaurant profits, I might feel differently. But in many cases, it's not clear where that money ends up.

So yeah, I tend to remove the charge unless the service really stands out—then I’ll tip what I think is fair.

Olinda99

one trick is if you are eating out at a pub, get and pay for your first two drinks from thr bar and only then say you've come for dinner etc and are shown your table.

Don't sit at the table first and then order your first drinks

iMerc

I think it's completely wrong to add on a service charge. You should absolutely have a choice as to whether you would like to tip for good service, atmosphere, drinks and/or food. It's up to the restaurant themselves to pay their staff fairly not up to the person going in and keeping the business going. It makes my blood boil so I simply don't ever go back to a restaurant that does this!