10% gratuity added to bill

[Byz]

AIBU to be annoyed by a 10% gratuity charge being automatically added to my bill at a restaurant?

Seafood restaurant in the North East, a little town, not a city.

For four of us our bill came to about £230 and a £23 tip was automatically added to the bill. It did state at the bottom of the menu an optional charge would be added but they didn't ask me before actually adding it.
When the waitress brought the bill over she reminded us about the gratuity and said she would remove it if we prefer but I think I should have been asked if I wanted it adding in the first place. It was quite embarrassing to ask for it to be removed. She was polite about it but did seem a bit surprised.

Food was good, service was good and I would have left £10 but it soured the evening a bit so I left nothing. I don't think tips should be expected in this country.

I've been eating out in the UK for 40 years. It's always been standard practice.

If you are concerned about that you can just ask your waiter/waitress how tips are dealt with.

I’m Northern and I always tip, as do all my family and friends.

Ah well

the chefs get paid more (well they did when I waitressed) and never shared in the tip pot.

I used to get pissed off because all tips went in a pot so even the lazy arsed who did the bare minimum got a share.

Full disclosure: I'm originally from the USA (have lived overseas 20 years now!) and have worked there waiting tables at Uni age.

Servers there are paid $2.13/hr under a law which allows for specifically that "tipped employees" can be paid far less than minimum wage. Sometimes this wage is higher in some states, or at certain times of the day, but generally that is the figure to keep in mind when tipping there because that is the amount employers are legally allowed to get away with.

Here in the UK? I assume they are paid minimum wage hence I'm surprised at how many people insist on there being a minimum amount to tip. Of course I DO tip at restaurants, but not usually more than 10% or so (Midlands) and it really does depend on the service. Whereas in the US I'd never lower a tip because I know that there is a real chance that not only would that server not make money, but in real terms could actually lose money depending on how they treat tipping out the bar etc on their end.

This happened to me once. The £25 service charge got added and the waitress told us that the staff didn’t get any of it. It all went into a fund in case anyone got sick? I asked them to remove it and gave the waitress cash 💰 (and asked her to share with other staff)….

Good for you, that's lovely of you. I wish more Brits did the same. I worked in NYC as a bartender and waitress while in uni. Many British tourists tip here as they would in the UK - little or nothing. They have a reputation for it.

I feel like a 10% tip is pretty standard unless service etc was poor so no wonder she was surprised. I understand its nice to decide yourself to give 10% rather than it being added for you but I guess the expectation is that you'll have been provided with a good service etc.

Reading all your replies I bet you are that type of twat who shouts at waitress because you didn't know chicken legs have a bone in it.
Yup.
"We were easy going table" is always a trouble

This type of gratuity is usually, if not always shared amonst all the staff from kp to manager.
They cannot just keep the service charge.

😂 I did wonder why you were calling the PP a PoS!!

This, if you can’t afford to tip, then don’t go out to a nice restaurant.

I think you should only tip if a server has gone above and beyond. If it's just expected then you can have poor service but still pay a lot of money

I tip 10% but have a £10 cap.

And the more you post the more I know you really are unpleasant.

Who gets tips?

23£ would be minimum wage for two hours for one waiting person.

Your posts reek of jealousy. What does ‘stupid, fancy shaking thing’ even mean?

I hope she ends up a millionaire and you end up a has-been eating at McDonalds that’s been dropped on the floor.

And yet at the time you considered the servicee to be good.

You are justifying your own stingy behaviour to yourself OP. You know in your heart that you have behaved badly and not you are trying to make yourself being better for being so mean.

Good luck with that.

We ask for it to be removed

If you can’t pay your staff a decent wage meaning they rely on tips don’t own a restaurant!

I get so annoyed when customers are the ones penalised for questioning tips when low wages and insecure work are the biggest problem facing service staff and that is an employers responsibility. Customers pay for the food, drinks and those prices ought to be enough for owners to to also cover wages of staff, if it doesn’t then their business model is failing.

Tips ought to be for great or exceptional service on top of wages not an expected additional payment to top up low wages. This is as relevant in the US (where I’m not) as in the UK.

Amble ?

as long as it’s stated on the menu that it will be added then I have no problem , unless service is poor 10% is standard tip these days

It's fine not to tip.

It's not fine making up stories for bad review, in what I assume will be an attempt on partial refund

£230 for 4 of you??! It's normal to tip 10%!

And if you can afford £230 for a meal for 4 then it's extremely tight to not leave a 10% tip!

I'm in the north east and intrigued as to what seafood restaurant you went to!

Wouldn't a restaurant prefer to have a customer who visits often but tips small Vs one who visits infrequently but tips larger ?

If you can't afford to tip then you shouldn't have eaten there.

I expect you could have afforded it, you were just being tight, petty and mean.

YABVU