Not to pay service charge at restaurant

[ThesecondLEM]

So we went out last night, had a lovely meal, great service. Pricey, but we knew this. 12.5% discretionary service charge added to bill, which of course we paid happily.

DP prefers to be given the choice to tip, I think it makes it easier.

It then occurred to me that when handing over a tip for good service I'm reasonably confident the staff receive this (hopefully tax free) to boost their wages. I'm wondering if this happens when the service is automatically added as part of the bill. Especially in larger/chain resturants if it just goes into the profits?

I'm not interested in boosting company profits, I'm wanting to say thank you to staff for their hard work. Saying that, might someone who works in a restaurant where tips are extra?

We’re generous tippers but we usually do it with the non payer providing a cash tip so we remove the service charge and hand 10% of the bill in cash to the waiter.

Now that we have minimum wage, I'm getting to the point where I think tipping is unnecessary.
Especially as eating out has become very expensive. My friend and I had one drink each and a small main each last month it was £70. Who wants to pay £8.00 extra?

Restaurants wonder why numbers are down, I was too polite to remove it, but I think I will going forward.

If revenue isn't enough to cover costs, like any other business restaurants should raise the price of their products. Not add a 'service charge'. Should hairdressers, opticians etc also add a 'service charge'?
Why is not tipping a problem? You're charged a price for the food and drinks. You pay the price. the end. Again, like for any other service.
I'm quite annoyed to see all this taking hold in the UK. It seems to be the norm nowadays even though we have minimum wage here. And eating out is already expensive.
It's duplicitous to display a price then charge extra on top of it.
I always ask for the service charge to be removed.

I’m in the US so tipping wait staff is the norm. MW for tipped employees is $9 per hour (versus $16 for non tipped) where I live. National MW is much lower.

Service charges are generally added for parties of 6 or more.

I always leave a cash tip. And waiters always have to “tip out” the bartender and the bus boy (clears the table) but not the cooks or management. I’ve never heard of any pooling of tips, I’m sure that would never fly here.

Tips are supposed to be declared for tax, there are no “tax free” tips, but of course, cash offers the opportunity for some fudging of numbers.

If you can get a wait job in a high end steak house near me, you could easily make $600-$700 in a shift, so I can see where those people would prefer tipping. In a diner you might make 10% of that and still work very hard.

Personally I’d prefer people to be paid properly, including contributions to a state retirement and proper healthcare, but then businesses say they’d have to raise their prices too much.

But genuinely, why worry about it? Presumably you wouldn't go into any other place of work and involve yourself relative pay/benefits at the time, so how are eateries different?

You're overthinking my comment. Service charges in the UK don't equate to relative pay & benefits. That's part of an employment contract agreed & signed by the two parties. Tips are an entirely separate issue & discretionary.

I don't 'involve' myself. Worry is maybe the wrong word. I don't lie awake at night. But I have worked in the area & know that sometimes the split is unfair with the people who have actually done all the hard graft getting significantly less than others who did very little instead of a fair / even split.

I long for the time that we move to being a tip-free society. Just pay people a wage for doing a job and leave it at that. Tipping is such a silly practice.
As for service charge - also silly. If I'm going to eat in a restaurant it should be expected that I am served. That's why I'm willing to pay £20 or so for a main course that would cost a fraction of that price if I made it at home, why I'm paying similar for a bottle of wine I could buy cheaper in a shop. The higher price of what I'm ordering should include the fact that it is served to me and I'm not wandering into the restaurant kitchen to help myself.

@NorthernGirlie
That's appalling! Would you be prepared to name and shame them, given that you are anonymous on MN?
This makes me so angry, especially as bar/waiting on staff are often students who may be too afraid to speak up.

The best part is that restaurants which have app ordering still include the service charge. What service??
Our 'nice' local pub has no service charge, is amazing, staff friendly, knowledgeable and always down for a chat I leave a top because I want to. I resent it being an expectation for no apparent reason.

OnTheRoll · Yesterday 14:11

ComfortableAtLastTookLongEnough ·Yesterday 14:06

The waiting staff couldn’t do their part of the job without the chef’s, commis’s, KP’s, the meeters and greeters, so I think the one pot system works well, so long as it is not including management, who are generally well paid.

They all already receive their wages, no?

As do waiting staff. Why should the people who do the hard work in the kitchen be overlooked?

I've just "googled" to check that my memory of reading about a service charge issue was correct........
In 2016, famous chef Michel Roux jr., owner of Le Gavroche in London, at first denied, then admitted, that none of his staff received any of the 13% service charge.
This was discovered after it was found he had paid some of/all of (?) his chefs below the minimum wage.
His argument was that the restaurant needed the service charge as part of its revenue.
The article I read doesn't say whether the system was changed or remained the same.

@NorthernGirlie

Is the chain also a drink? That's absolutely shocking re tips.