To find it hard to leave tips in restaurants these days?

They have to bring you a bill before they offer the machine. How else will you know what you're paying and how will they know if you're paying in cash or not? Then you can check if there is a service charge, which you can ask.tobe removed, or ask to add a tip. If you say nothing then presume the machine is asking you for the total at the bottom of the bill.

Personally I hate tipping and I hate service charges.

I much prefer it when prices are clearly laid out, no tips are expected and serving and kitchen staff are paid properly for the job they do. Tipping has led to jars for tips in pubs and coffee shops which is just rude.

Where I live (not UK), you add tip on the machine. When they hand over the machine it is already showing tip options. All this should go under the servers name so they know who got how much tip. My ex worked in the industry and I know that every restaurant is different. Some let a server keep their own tip. Some pool tip and then give percentages to kitchen, bartender and the rest to servers, but in some instances, owners kept the tip for themselves. 😩

If l know I'm going to a restaurant for a meal l always take some cash.. usually a fiver.. that l think covers the tip for a £40 meal for two.

That's correct that legally they have to pass it on, however, as with many laws, they are often broken! Many establishments break this law day in day out.

Always tip cash if you're a tipper. Then give it directly to the person you wish to have it.

Lots of places won't pass on tips left via card.

Are you checking if service charge was already added?

When they hand over the machine like that its usually already added. That is your tip. The staff get that money, even if it's on card, or a fixed percentage added to the bill.

I suspect if you pay extra on the card the servers wont see the tip

Literally not legal. Tips and service charges are required to be split among workers. This includes those paid on card. Business owner is not allowed to keep it.

the server will just hold out the card machine for you to tap contactless with the amount already on, with no mention of a tip, and no way to add it yourself as you can’t see the screen / are not holding the card reader.

You have a voice don't you?

FFS sake woman. Speak up and ask for an itemised bill and then you can add a tip.
Then they will bring out the card machine.

When they give you the bill, have a look and see if service is on there. If not, just say ‘please can you put it through as £xx’. Easy, and they are used to doing it.

I make sure I take cash, but personally I hope tipping culture dies out and people just get paid a fair wage.

I suspect if you pay extra on the card the servers wont see the tip

Same as others have said.
I went for a meal with 2 friends last week. The bill came to about £93. We each paid separately. We confirmed with the waitress that the staff got the whole tip, and each asked to pay £35 on our cards.
If servers tell me they only get a percentage of the tip on the card machine, then I leave cash instead.

I ask if a tip is included and if not I ask them to amend the bill to include

We always ask them to 'make it out to £....' (cost on our bill plus around 10%) .

I work out what I want to pay and say to make the amount to that

When you ask for the bill, just ask if service is included. If not then tell them to add whatever amount you want to the bill if you're using a card or leave cash on the table or at the till if you have cash.

I don't find it hard to tip in cash.

Not true any more, We have implemented the TRONC legislation that came in force Oct 2024. Any tips paid using card are split 60% front of house 30% Kitchen & 10% Housekeeping split depending on your hours. We all had a ballot as to how the split should be done and all agreed it.
https://www.theaccessgroup.com/en-gb/blog/hos-tips-and-tronc/

If there’s a service charge now times are hard
I don’t tip anymore
no service charge then if the service is good I leave cash
in some circumstances I put it Ito the servers hand
having worked in the industry and have a son who works nights in a pub , the manager takes the drinks ( money ) they are given for a Christmas party!!!!
which consists of a couple of drinks in the pub and a bloody pizza

I ask the server if they get to keep their tips. Quite often, they can keep cash tips but anything on the card reader gets kept by the owner.

That's illegal in the uk.

The employment (allocation of tips) act 2023 means all tips and service charges have to be allocated to workers.

You can tip on the machine & staff will share the tip between them.

I just say "can you make it £??" so they round it up to add a tip. Nobody's refused so far! They have all just said Thank you.

I often eat out with two different groups, and We all do it. It's an attempt to ensure the tip goes to the servers and we hope the cook

Is there a particular reason why you rhink serving staff deserve additional pay any more so that the cashier or shelf stacker in a supermarket or any other low waged workers who don't receive tips?

It enables employers to offer wages that are too low.

I prefer to leave cash but like you rarely have it.

I usually just ask them to round the bill up to x amount when they come over with the card machine

I don't actually think tips are expected in places that do it that way with the amount on screen. The service charge has usually already been included.

Its not like the US, where staff are paid very low wages and can even be taxed assuming they've earned a minimum amount more in tips regardless of whether they have