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

whydoineedone

Another American idea we could do without. I begrudge paying towards staffs’ wages when their employer should be paying a proper wage. Puts me off eating out. I only do so because I’m too embarrassed not to - it’s so expected. I’d like to see an end to it. 

SEVERED69

This is what you get for moving to London. Lap it up, poser

Ineedaservant

I used to occasionally go to a cafe on my lunch break, and always left a tip for the servers as they were always chatty and helpful.  One day one of them told me that the tips were always taken by the owner and it was a sackable offence to keep the tips themselves.  I never tipped again.  Now I always ask servers if they get the tip, if not I don't tip.

Gavin83

Ef79 said:

I always pay the service charge, or tip 20%. It’s basic manners.

jvector said:

"10% is the general rule or it used to be" - a long time ago! We try and tip 15% generally now. 

A question for you two, along with anyone else who insists tipping is the right thing to do. Do you tip everyone who provides a service? Do you tip hairdressers? Taxi drivers? Bus drivers? Checkout people at the supermarket? Pilots? Postman? Street cleaners? Solicitors? And so on and so on....

And if the answer is no then why not?

moggs119

I'm anti tipping. I don't like the pressure that it places on me. Who tips the supermarket operatives, nurses, receptionists, etc. Ban tipping, Pay the correct wages/salaries, and if prices have to be increased to achieve this then the punter pays, or doesn't eat out, take taxis, etc. Then I won't feel pressured.

MisterD21

No dilemma here.

You should NOT have to pay the service charge at all.
1. The staff are paid to do their job. Minimum wage = minimum effort. Even if wait staff were getting paid £30 per hour, the quality of the service would not change. They are paid to do a simple/straight forward job. No more, no less.
2. Tips or 'service charges' should ALWAYS be voluntary and not expected regardless of where you are.
3. People don't read receipts and pay the 'service charge' AND tip on top of that. If you're going to tip, it's generally about 10% which could mean that your meal is around £20 more expensive than you'd expected/budgeted for so ALWAYS read the receipt carefully.
4. The trolls of the internet will moan that the price of things have gone up so therefor service charges apply. You know what.. THIS is why the price of things are going up because people EXPECT you to pay the higher prices for things - THIS MUST STOP! If you want things to be a reasonable price, STOP/refuse to pay for excessively/overinflated priced products and services.

PuddingfaceTheFirst

As someone who works in an expensive London pub/restaurant, I personally dislike that the 12.5% service that is automatically on. I feel embarrassed as it means that the customer has to ASK for it to be removed. 

Tips/service should be given IF the person feels like it was earned through extra attention and only if they can afford it and actually wish to. 

The new laws coming into effect in the new year mean that bosses legally must give all tips to staff now. So that's will be an improvement on those who immorally used them to bulk up salaries. 

NBLondon

If the service charge is stated on the menu/ up front then that's part of the agreement when you order.  If you think the service was below standard - you can ask for it to be reduce or removed.  If this causes disagreement, that's a sign of a place you don't go back to.

If the charge is added automatically - I will, on principle, ask for it to be removed.   The worst case I saw was in a chain "gastropub" where you ordered and paid at the bar and they added the charge before the service took place.

A tip, on the other hand, I consider to be something to show my appreciation for service above expectations.  I prefer to tip in cash to the right individual but when there are multiple servers I'll ask quietly how it works and maybe add to the bill.

Which means I might ask for the charge to be removed if it was added without agreement but then tip in cash to the actual person providing good service.

Gavin83

PuddingfaceTheFirst said:

The new laws coming into effect in the new year mean that bosses legally must give all tips to staff now. So that's will be an improvement on those who immorally used them to bulk up salaries. 

I'm not aware of these laws. Do service charges get counted as tips for this purpose? Do they have to pay at least minimum wage on top of any tips their staff get?

If the answer to both the above is "yes" then I look forward to automatic service charges disappearing from the bill. There's literally no incentive for restaurants to carry on charging it and actually some disadvantages so I can see the practice disappearing quite quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if restaurants tell their customers not to tip at all.

Hyacinth21

Simple question,  Simple answer, yes you should