Money Moral Dilemma: Should I refuse to pay the service charge when eating out?

MSE_Kelvin

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks...

I've just moved to London from the south-west of England. Restaurants are expensive and normally charge at least 12.5% for service. I visited a café where I was annoyed to be charged the 'dine in' rate of almost £2 more per item, and then charged extra for service too. I paid it to avoid coming across as rude, but I think people working in London earn enough not to expect additional money for service unless it's out of this world. Am I right?

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sammyjammy

If you are eating hot food the dine in price will always be higher than the takeaway price, its related to tax so not London centric.  As to service charge, its probably a suggested figure that is automatically added, you are perfectly within your rights to decline to pay it, I guess one would hope it would depend on the service you received, that's not London centric either.

mark_cycling00

The answer is no, you should pay the service charge. London restaurants have hideous costs to pay that SW places don't. It's not uncommon for a bar/restaurant to pay £200,000 in rates. Insurance is high and people keep smashing your windows. 

It's not like anyone is making money off this, it's just a way of attracting people in by having slightly lower menu prices on the web.

Tbh this is the least of your money worries if you've moved to London hehe 

Gavin83

No you shouldn’t have to tip. Service charges/tipping is a ridiculously outdated concept and I’ve yet to see a decent argument as to why this needs to exist.

I never tip anymore. Theres simply no justification for it. If the restaurant isn’t making enough money they should increase their prices rather than attempting to be sneaky with it. This is ignoring that service charges shouldn’t be going to the owners anyway, they should be shared among staff.

elsien

mark_cycling00 said:

The answer is no, you should pay the service charge. London restaurants have hideous costs to pay that SW places don't. It's not uncommon for a bar/restaurant to pay £200,000 in rates. Insurance is high and people keep smashing your windows. 

It's not like anyone is making money off this, it's just a way of attracting people in by having slightly lower menu prices on the web.

Tbh this is the least of your money worries if you've moved to London hehe 

Disagree completely. The purpose of the service charge is to acknowledge good service. I don’t care how high their rates or other expenses are; they should be factoring that into the cost of the meals, not adding it on as a not very well displayed extra.
Particularly when it’s not very clear to you until you’re already in and sitting down, which makes me less inclined to leave a tip as I find it dishonest. 
if you feel a service charge is warranted then pay it or pay whatever amount you feel is appropriate. If not, then don’t. 

tawmjk

I totally disagree with tipping and service charges, service charges are simply a way to discount the price on the menu by moving the costs elsewhere.

Tipping used to be a way of acknowledging unusually good service but when tips are expected or suggested, it's the way for a restaurant to guilt you into paying the staff extra as they don't pay them a fair wage.

k_k_k_katy

Tipping, service charges, should be at the discretion of those receiving the service, be entirely voluntary, and given for exceptional, not normal service.   Staff should be paid appropriately, meals/service etc priced accordingly, why would it be otherwise?  Anything else is ridiculous,  

cbrownln6

I've never paid a service charge for dining or drinking in. I avoid restaurants that have a mandatory charge and in the case of one hotel based at a major station in London; I had them remove the unadvertised charge because it wasn't advertised and the service was diabolical. Not what you want from a "top tier of the chain" hotel where the rooms cost (at the time) up to £3K a night.
Don't get me wrong; I'll tip when I think that it's warranted. I'll also tip cash so that it reduces the chances of "Head Office" taking an "admin fee" out of the staff tips.

gloriouslyhappy

It's discretionary. I have often declined to pay it and every time I've received poor service I remove it. Personally I hate the whole tipping business - just charge what it's worth and pay people a living wage. I remember going to a hairdresser in the States, and everyone had their handout - receptionist, shampooer, cutter, stylist - an absolute nightmare which we don't want over here, thank you!

ripongrammargirl

I get really angry about tips and service charges. I have worked in many places including restaurants, nursing homes, one to one care, nurseries, schools, hospitals and have never been given any tips or anything else. In one job I worked 127 hours a week for a whole year without any holidays (which were always cancelled citing “no staff”) or days off (always got call from manager- who never worked insane hours or any weekends) saying if I didn’t come in then I would be sacked. Zero appointments allowed for dentist, doctor, optician. It was a farce and highly illegal but in your 20s you don’t argue with people in “authority” (nowadays it’s the norm to do nowt and still get to keep the job) as I needed the job to pay my mortgage. Anyway, I never got any tips, overtime, extras for night shifts/weekends/bank holidays etc, gifts or bonuses for Christmas etc. I calculated a few years ago that I was earning 27p an hour with my meagre “wage” for a whole year before I told them what they could do with the job where I was physically abused by clients every day where I always worked alone with 3 clients without any support. So my basic answer is No to tips and service charges. Everyone gets a wage which is insanely high compared to what I used to earn, and now I am disabled “living” on benefits I couldn’t afford money for nothing (kudos to Dire Straits!)  even if I wanted to. Your money to do what you want with. Service charge/booking fees etc are all stealth taxes and need to be abolished especially as the money does not get to the actual people that deserve it. The fat cats keep getting fatter whilst the rest of us will never get the cream. Enough is enough. 

andykn

Whatever the rights and wrongs of service charges the staff certainly will be earning far less in real terms than their equivalents in the south west. They might be earning 50% more but pretty much all their expenses will be two or three times as much.