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

69yearold

Who do I complain to about staff obviously not getting minimum wage without tips.

Overthinkerperry

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 

I agree with some things you have mentioned but do not think that if a restaurant will have potential damage, that should come from customers pocket as it may or may not happen.

Finally, service charge is supposed to be for staff, it would be almost illegal if owners were to take this pot of cash away and get repairs done.

smipx013

If I see a restaraunt like this I walk to the next one.  If I sit in and eat and did not realise then I ask for it to be removed. If they refuse then I refuse to pay until they do remove it. Simples. If, once removed, I feel the service was good from my server then I will leave a tip but..... if its got to that stage then most likely the tip will be something along the lines of "don't try to rip me off - I am already supporting you by eating out in your restaurant when money is tight for all of us".  I think it should be illegal not to incorporate the service charge into the item prices - just like it is illegal to display a price ex-VAT unless it is a business-to-business transaction (as it is assumed "most" of the businesses can claim back the VAT - which is itself rubbish if you are a small trader but you know the game so you account for it. 

Eatsruns

You: London is really expensive
Also you: restaurant staff in London can afford to live in London and I shouldn't pay service charge like I do elsewhere

Not sure how you made that cognitive leap.

GraceCourt

sammyjammy said:

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.

"Dine in" is subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) but the law requires that VAT must be included in prices displayed on food menus.  Takeaway food is not subject to VAT... in McDonalds (for example) this is why you are always asked at the ordering point whether you are eating-in or taking-away.

abzie87

I wouldn’t pay it! I don’t tip unless I’m in a country where tips are relied upon! In the UK you get paid at least minimum wage for waitressing. Many much much harder and more dangerous jobs are also minimum wage or not far off! This means people working in hospitality take home way more than others doing a similarly skilled job and that’s without even doing a good job! (Service in this country is generally shockingly poor) … No matter how hard I worked, the closest we could expect to a tip was the odd box of chocolates from the patients relatives at Christmas … and I was working with violent adults and teenagers, for not much more than minimum wage … which deserves the bigger tip??? 

I also totally agree with the comments about it being deceitful too! I have sometimes paid services changers etc. in the past, as the people I’m with would be too embarrassed if I “made a fuss” but I sure as hell won’t go back somewhere that sneakily adds on extra charges, on principle! - clearly display inclusive prices on the menus! Simple! 

abzie87

andykn said:

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.

Maybe I need to move further west 🤔 … some costs are marginally higher in London: accommodation and going out, but that’s it! The wages are higher to reflect this, but there’s also much higher costs in the south in general and wages don’t reflect this! Minimum wage is the same, NHS pay is the same but accommodation is often double down south (compared to further North) … at least in London people often get extra wages (20% for NHS). 

LACEY174

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 

Completely disagree! A Tip or service charge should be based on great service, otherwise you could be just paying extra for bang average.

I will always tip good service, but I’ve refused a service charge for table of 10 when it was slow and they were lacking in attention.

Benthebadger

Each person's income is not the problem of another person apparently so do restaurants care if their customers are also on minimum wages, making  eating out  an unaffordable treat if they are then having to pay service charges and/or tips? I think not. They should just be glad of the custom. I tip if something has merited it but I absolutely don't feel obliged to.

Pollycat

I recently ate lunch at a city centre restaurant (not London).
The food was superb and the service was excellent.
When they brought the bill, they had added 10% service charge.
The server asked if I was OK with the charge and I said yes, as it was the amount I was going to tip anyway.

If I ate somewhere and wasn't happy with the food or service, I would ask for the service charge to be removed.