Pubs charging service charge on drinks when you buy food as well.

JReacher1

SiliconChip said:

JReacher1 said:

A lot of pubs/bars now add 10% on any drinks you buy at the bar.  Seems to be quite common in city centres.

I don't drink in city centres so I can't comment on whether what you say is actually happening, but it would be of doubtful legality given that licensed premises are required to display the prices of the drinks that they sell. If a bar added 10% to the displayed price I'm sure you would be entitled to only pay the correct price, although of course they may well be relying on pished-up fools handing over their card without giving any thought to how much they're agreeing to pay!

It is perfectly legal to advertise an optional 10% service charge will be added to any drink order you make. Odd that you think this is at all doubtful legaility.  

Barkin

JReacher1 said:

If you don’t want to pay the 10% then people just need to take care to read the bill before paying. 

This ^^^

Do people really just flash a card without checking what they're paying for?
I certainly don't, and I've no qualms about politely asking for any service charge to be removed if I don't want to pay it. 

Grumpy_chap

DullGreyGuy said:

The whole process in the US is different, in some states the employer's minimum wage for waitresses/bar staff etc can be as low as $2.13 per hour (but has to be topped up to $7.25 if tips/service charges dont naturally do it). The cost of living in the US isnt so low that £5.70/hr is a realistic salary to be able to live on especially when you have limited public healthcare etc (2nd highest cause of bankruptcy).

Is there limited public healthcare in the US?
According to the source below, state spending is around US$11k per capita in USA and US$4.5k in UK:
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/154e8143-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/154e8143-en

Barkin

That's not just state (government) spending though. It includes spending by individuals on private health schemes etc. 

SiliconChip

JReacher1 said:

SiliconChip said:

JReacher1 said:

A lot of pubs/bars now add 10% on any drinks you buy at the bar.  Seems to be quite common in city centres.

I don't drink in city centres so I can't comment on whether what you say is actually happening, but it would be of doubtful legality given that licensed premises are required to display the prices of the drinks that they sell. If a bar added 10% to the displayed price I'm sure you would be entitled to only pay the correct price, although of course they may well be relying on pished-up fools handing over their card without giving any thought to how much they're agreeing to pay!

It is perfectly legal to advertise an optional 10% service charge will be added to any drink order you make. Odd that you think this is at all doubtful legaility.  

Why don't you read what I wrote? The relevant part is "If a bar added 10% to the displayed price I'm sure you would be entitled to only pay the correct price...". I've highlighted the important element, the clear corollary of that is that not being allowed to deduct the 10% would be illegal.

Chomeur

sheramber said:

I have never been in a pub for a meal when I was not given an itemised bill to check- always do- before paying.

Did you pay for the drinks at the bar before you decided to have a meal?

If not, then by adding the drinks to your meal bill they have become part of the meal.

Well, that's what happened here. They didn't give me any bill, and they added a bigger service charge on than was described on the menu. Clearly in future I need to ask for a bill before handing over my card. And I should probably make sure that I pay for drinks separately.