Is this restaurant taking the mick, or are we just naive?

[IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads]

DH had a £100 voucher for a local restaurant.

We went tonight and ate/drank £76 on food and drink.

They initially refused to give us change (fine, I wasn't expecting cash change), or a smaller voucher for what we hadn't spent/ annotation on the original voucher for what we had left.

They did finally give us cash change as a goodwill gesture since we were unaware (doesn't say anything on their website or on the voucher).

Is this normal? They've been paid £100 for the voucher, they were essentially planning on picketing £24 that they'd been paid.

Or should be have forced ourselves to have had another bottle of wine ?🤣

I've never had a restaurant voucher before, but a local bookshop just writes on their vouchers how much you have left to spend if you don't spend it all at once.

[clpsmum]

@Bumpinthenight

I had a voucher for the Wolsely in London. DH and I went for breakfast. We spent less than the voucher. The waitress was struggling to work out how to do change. In the end she gave up and encouraged us to have a couple of cocktails 😂🍹

Missing the point but cocktails for breakfast, you're everything I aspire to be haha 🍹🍹

[Solonomi]

@ReleasetheCrackHen

No tip?

There’s always flipping one isn’t there. Usually racing to get the most idiotic comment in there first. You missed winning by one comment, the shame.

[comfyshoes2022]

I would never expect to be given cash. A new voucher would be ideal and my expectation. But it is not unheard of ime for the policy be that you have to spend it all at once.

[DreamTheMoors]

@MrsMikeDrop

No. I agree that is dumb and that they should just be paid properly in the first place to save the hassle. It's really inefficient. I thought everyone knew that's the reason for tipping in the US. And yes I have visited a few times 😐

Oh that’s nice, @MrsMikeDrop.
Where did you visit?

[MrsMikeDrop]

@DreamTheMoors

Oh that’s nice, @MrsMikeDrop.
Where did you visit?

LA, NYC, Las Vegas 😀 would also quite like to check out New Orleans and Miami. Maybe even San Francisco. I also have quite alot of family there. That ok with you? 🤣

[BadLad]

@GoldAsGreen

You could have asked for another bottle of wine and taken it home with you?

In my eyes, the voucher is the gift. It's for you to enjoy food and drink up to the value of the voucher and if you don't spend the lot then the restaurant keeps the difference.

Doesn’t selling alcohol to take away require a different license from the one allowing it to be sold and consumed on the premises?

[Flatandhappy]

I would expect to have to use a restaurant voucher in one go, I think that is pretty common.

[DreamTheMoors]

@MrsMikeDrop

LA, NYC, Las Vegas 😀 would also quite like to check out New Orleans and Miami. Maybe even San Francisco. I also have quite alot of family there. That ok with you? 🤣

I think that’s great.
I’d skip Florida and head to New England.
Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut - much nicer than Florida. Beautiful in the summer.
NOLA is sooo much fun.

[WaltzingWaters]

@Zebrasinpyjamas

I would expect either a smaller voucher or some sort of credit for a future meal unless it told me VERY clearly otherwise. I think that's cheeky of them.

This. Not many would give cash change and I’m surprised they eventually did. But they should absolutely write on the voucher/give you another voucher for what you have left to spend on another visit.

[Zonder]

@Usernamen

If the bill was £76 it was £76. No need to tip. If the restaurant wants more they can add a service charge. There is absolutely no expectation/culture of tipping (outside of service charge) in the UK.

I have never heard this. Lived in the UK most of my life and always tip good service, as does every friend I've ever been out for dinner with.

However I would assume the Op tipped cash rather than using her voucher.

And I would definitely expect to have the unused amount back in the form of a voucher.

[Zonder]

@AlfietheSchnauzer

Greggs vouchers for Xmas?!?!?!?! God how joyless

My DD and her friends would be over the moon!

[Winnerturkeydinner]

I'd have bought a bottle of wine to take home.

[Christy135]

Restaurant vouchers are a one transaction deal.
At most I would expect to be able to use the smaller amount next time.

Never have I heard of cash being refunded.

[Talia99]

@Winnerturkeydinner

I'd have bought a bottle of wine to take home.

The OP says not allowed because of the terms of the alcohol licence.

[Peony654]

I would never expect cash (they’d be giving away their takings!), but they should have given you another voucher for the balance.

[Usernamen]

@XiCi

There is a UK tipping culture in that virtually everybody leaves one unless the service has been dreadful. I don't think I've ever eaten out with anyone that hasn't left a tip at a restaurant

It depends what you mean by tipping culture. Nearly every restaurant I’ve been to will add a service charge which is like a tip. It is not left up to the customer to decide how much to tip. The fact there has to be an automatic service charge added to the bill demonstrates that there’s no tipping culture!


We do not tip for services in this country - for example when you order a drink at a bar in the US, it is customary to tip the bar staff a few dollars (depending on the size of the order). I have not once seen that happen in London, and I’ve been to hundreds of bars over the years.

[Usernamen]

@Zonder

I have never heard this. Lived in the UK most of my life and always tip good service, as does every friend I've ever been out for dinner with.

However I would assume the Op tipped cash rather than using her voucher.

And I would definitely expect to have the unused amount back in the form of a voucher.

So you would tip on top of the service charge?

I have literally never seen this, living in London and frequenting restaurants on a very regular basis.

I guess we move in different circles!

[cushioncovers]

This used to be a common thing years ago that places didn't give 'change' from a voucher, you had to spend the full voucher amount or you lost the difference.

[IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads]

Thanks all. Sounds like we weren't being that daft. Just for clarity:

I didn't expect cash.
I did expect a smaller voucher, or annotation on the original.
There was nothing on the voucher/website/menu to indicate that vouchers could only be used in their entirety.
I've never had a restaurant voucher before. Other vouchers I have had, have generally allowed you to keep the outstanding credit if you don't use it all at once.
We couldn't take home a bottle of wine, as the restaurant is not licensed for selling alcohol for off premises consumption.
They did, after a bit of discussion, give us cash change (their idea) as a goodwill gesture.
We'd had 3 courses, wine, water, coffee. I'm not sure we could have spent it all at once!

[LadyWithLapdog]

As pp said, if this was given as a raffle ticket for the local school Summer fair, I wouldn’t expect to keep the balance. Otherwise, yes, a new voucher for the remainder.

I don’t usually tip on top of the service charge. I do tip at the hairdresser’s.

[00100001]

@ReleasetheCrackHen

No tip?

No need to tip though, is there?

[honeypancake]

I think it was difficult for them to give change , how would they account for it? I would totally expect the voucher to be used in full and would have ordered accordingly. That said, they should have put these terms on the voucher so all the terms are transparent. A new voucher for the remainder could have also worked.

[LadyWithLapdog]

The thing with the service charge is that it’s not passed on to the staff. It’s another payment to the restaurant.

We sometimes go to one that doesn’t automatically add the service charge. We leave cash as tip. It goes in a pot for the staff that day and gets shared out amongst them (and also with the kitchen staff). I like that more.

[Usernamen]

@LadyWithLapdog

The thing with the service charge is that it’s not passed on to the staff. It’s another payment to the restaurant.

We sometimes go to one that doesn’t automatically add the service charge. We leave cash as tip. It goes in a pot for the staff that day and gets shared out amongst them (and also with the kitchen staff). I like that more.

The service charge has to be added because you can’t rely on customers to tip like you can in countries with a tipping culture. Restaurants don’t want to take the risk.


I agree with what you’re saying - I wish it could be guaranteed it was going to staff. I suspect most restaurants just treat it as extra revenue.

[LadyWithLapdog]

@Usernamen oh, I agree. DS would tell of tables of 10 or 20 not leaving any tip, or leaving £2 to take the piss. Conversely, large tips from people you’d least expect (quiet, undemanding).