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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think restaurants shouldn't be allowed to add service charges?

188 replies

Precipice · 07/03/2023 22:12

Prices are listed on the menu. Maybe the menu has a tiny tiny print somewhere about service charges being added (or maybe it even doesn't!). When it comes to the bill, there it is.

You're already paying for the service in the cost, just as you're paying for someone to prepare whatever you're ordering if it's being prepared, and for the fact that you're there in a restaurant at all.

AIBU to think that if restaurants want to charge you 10 percent more for everything, they should raise their actual prices by 10 percent openly?

OP posts:
Imthegingerbreadwoman · 11/03/2023 12:17

Above means more....

Maverickess · 11/03/2023 12:18

Maverickess · 11/03/2023 12:17

I assume the poster means they pay above minimum wage...... Judging by the rest of their post and that they say they put prices up to continue paying minimum wage 🤷🏼‍♀️

*Above minimum wage.

We need an edit button!

Imthegingerbreadwoman · 11/03/2023 12:19

No we used to pay minimum wage. We then started paying more than minimum wage. Then all the shit happened with Ukraine and proces went up. We put our prices up to continue to pay above minimum wage and we don't charge a service charge

PriamFarrl · 11/03/2023 12:20

Maverickess · 11/03/2023 12:17

I assume the poster means they pay above minimum wage...... Judging by the rest of their post and that they say they put prices up to continue paying minimum wage 🤷🏼‍♀️

The last bit says ‘And how do you know the staff are on minimum wage? Ours aren't!’ which implies that the staff aren’t on minimum wage.

PriamFarrl · 11/03/2023 12:21

My apologies. I see now. I read it that the staff aren’t even on minimum wage rather than they are on more than minimum wage.

JudgeJ · 11/03/2023 12:22

Kay286 · 07/03/2023 22:14

I live in canada and you get added tax 13%, plus min expectation of 20% tip so I’m used to it and don’t mind it, so I agree with tipping - servers are generally not paid well so I wouldn’t begrudge 10%

I love the North American acceptance of being ripped off by poor employers! The customer should not have to subsidise the employer by making up their employees wages. I still recall some American man proudly stating that if the service was bad he 'only tipped 10%'. what an idiot!

Imthegingerbreadwoman · 11/03/2023 12:26

Yeah I should have been a bit more clearer. Everyone assumes waiting staff are on minimum wage. It's not the case for all. We pay above. They get their tips. But people just assume.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 11/03/2023 12:51

Maybe restaurants should just add 20% to everything on the menu then to cover the staff costs.

The only problem with that is that if the service is terrible you can't take it off.

Not at all. Decent service should be expected as part of the price charged/paid, so if you get terrible service, you should be entitled to a proportion of your money back.

If you stayed in a hotel and found that the room was filthy, you wouldn't just accept it and not ask for money back, just because you paid an all-in price and weren't charged separately for the cleaning element.

Margins are so unbelievably tight in restaurants, I think 1 in 3 restaurants go under in their first year. It is unbelievably tricky to not make a loss on a quiet evening, it's not as easy as suggesting that 'a boss' should pay more, especially small independents.

If your margins are too tight to be sustainable, you have to increase your prices (or reduce unnecessary costs) to widen your margins. If people then stop coming, you obviously don't have a viable business anyway.

Global food prices have soared across the board, meaning that the supermarkets can no longer sell goods at the same prices as they did a year or two ago and continue to make a profit. However, they have reacted by increasing the stated prices of their goods, in order to maintain their margins - they haven't just kept the shelf prices the same but whacked on a 'service charge' at the checkout in order to get the extra money they need to take, but in a dishonest and deceitful way.

Maverickess · 11/03/2023 16:10

Not at all. Decent service should be expected as part of the price charged/paid, so if you get terrible service, you should be entitled to a proportion of your money back.

If you stayed in a hotel and found that the room was filthy, you wouldn't just accept it and not ask for money back, just because you paid an all-in price and weren't charged separately for the cleaning element

But, people here have said the issue for them is they don't like asking for the service charge to be removed, wouldn't asking for a proportion of the actual bill to be removed (because the prices on the menu are inclusive of service) make it a more uncomfortable encounter for them? I think what threads like these show really is that no one way is going to suit everyone, because everyone has a different stance on it.

If your margins are too tight to be sustainable, you have to increase your prices (or reduce unnecessary costs) to widen your margins. If people then stop coming, you obviously don't have a viable business anyway.

I agree, but, with it being a non necessity most of the time and therefore it's usually disposable income that's spent, at the moment people don't have as much disposable income and so although they may think the price is reasonable for what's on offer, they can't afford it, or can't justify spending it on leisure, so don't spend it anyway, and businesses can't afford to drop their prices to what people can afford or justify.

That unfortunately means less choice of where to go and when if less businesses become viable in this climate and close/don't open to start with.

Global food prices have soared across the board, meaning that the supermarkets can no longer sell goods at the same prices as they did a year or two ago and continue to make a profit. However, they have reacted by increasing the stated prices of their goods, in order to maintain their margins - they haven't just kept the shelf prices the same but whacked on a 'service charge' at the checkout in order to get the extra money they need to take, but in a dishonest and deceitful way.

But if you don't get the service you feel you should, at the check out or from staff on the shop floor, or if you don't interact with the staff at all, get your stuff and use the self checkout, do you expect and ask for money off? If there's nothing wrong with the items you are buying would you be asking for a 10% discount because you didn't get the service element of the price you're paying? People do sometimes get vouchers if they complain granted, but when the shelf cost is inclusive of staffing, you pay it regardless of the actual service you've had.

Abraxan · 11/03/2023 18:01

meemawsmoonpie · 07/03/2023 23:41

I'm a server. I get paid minimum wage.
I earn every damn tip I make. I run back and forth to tables with drinks, starters, more drinks, mains, desserts and many many free glasses of water. Im scrupulously thorough with orders for people with allergies. I sweep up after peoples children, I make a fuss of people on their birthdays, I make a fuss of their children when they're making it hard for parents to enjoy their food, I make the effort to chat to my customers and have a bit of banter with them, I listen to their problems sometimes. I get verbally abused and sometimes LIED about to my manager because people want something for nothing. I run around like a blue arsed fly after huge parties of people who all want to order and pay separately to avoid service charges. It takes me twenty minutes or more to finalise a bill for these kind of tables. If you don't agree with tipping that's your prerogative but I have regular customers who throw money at me because I take pride in my job and I care about their experience.

The point is that you shouldn't have to be relying on tips. The wage you get for your job should be high enough to live off, as standard.

The argument is used in the US all the time - wages see so low that tops are necessary and pretty much compulsory, hitting around 20% and more these days. That shouldn't be the case. Staff should be paid properly in the first place.

We've travelled East a lot more recently and topping isn't yet the norm, and in some countries it is simply not done. Instead staff are paid properly. That's how it should be.

Luckydip1 · 11/03/2023 18:04

For me service is the part beyond taking the order and bringing the right food to the table, it is the cheery attitude that enhances your experience without overshadowing it. I feel this is what the tip should be for and it should go directly to the server and no one else.

cptartapp · 11/03/2023 18:25

cocksstrideintheevening · 07/03/2023 22:19

It's not usually compulsory unless the table is over 6 or 8

It is in Hickory's.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 11/03/2023 19:26

bellotorino · 11/03/2023 06:52

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

Your posts come across as though you simply resent waiting staff earning more than minimum wage.

Not at all; why would I? I would be delighted if restaurateurs would pay their staff decent wages and I've said that clearly.

What is so difficult for a business to work out its costs - including staff wages - and price their menus accordingly? That is what happens across all other industries.

The tipping culture in the UK is out of control and it's insidious with customers being expected to top up waiting staff's wages when it's their employer's responsibility to pay properly.

I tip for excellent service but that's rare. Decent service is already paid for.

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