Service Charge plus tip??

[nomorechoco]

Is this a thing now? I don't get out much so maybe I'm out of step but 3 times in the last month I've been given the bill including service charge and then been asked for a tip too. Today it was an online payment, 12.5% service plus a tip option for the waiter of either 3, 5 or 10%. No option to not give a tip. At the weekend it was 14.5% service plus tip requested! Surely, the service charge is the tip? AIBU to not add the tip? I did as I hate for waiting staff to miss out but think they should get the service charge...

Yanbu if a bill includes a service charge then that is the tip as far as I am concerned. It's cheeky of them but they lose out from me as if they don't add a service charge they'll more from me - I would otherwise tip 15% for good service.

That's cheeky. If there is a service charge included I don't expect to tip. Unless teh service was brilliant in which case I will tip too. But I always assumed it was one or the other. And, as my Austrlian sister in law says, "Why do you tip at all - isn't there a minimum wage in the UK?" I still tip, but it's a fair point.

I mean it's defined to be gratuitous, so no obligation to add it! I never do. More bizarrely am I misunderstanding something, or did they charge you an extra fee because it was Sunday?

they lose out from me as if they don't add a service charge they'll more from me - I would otherwise tip 15% for good service.

Don't worry, 15% is rapidly becoming the norm, it will be twenty within a couple of years!

What the hell is a 'Sunday Checkout Fee'? I wouldn't ever return to such an establishment if faced with this fee. Just build the 69p into the prices.

If there's a service charge I don't tip. If they have no option for not tipping then I will tell them to take it off and either give the wait staff cash or nothing.

Bloody ridiculous how they count on people being too embarrassed to say no. They are forcing you into it and a lot of people say anything less than tipping 10% is not okay.

So with service charge that is 22%. And PP is right. Staff in the UK do get a minimum wage. It isn't the same as America.

It is making going out something barely anyone can afford which will end up affecting these businesses in the long run.

Service charge is ridiculous, just add it to the price of the food ffs.

Don't get me started on service charges!
I went to place where you literally serve yourself and there was still service charge added to the bill.
It's extremely bad practice.
Tipping made sense when restaurant customers tended to be wealthy people and waiters were underpaid. It was also meant to encourage and reward better service.

It's completely different now when you're expected to tip same amount regardless if you're happy with the experience and even if you earn less then a waitress.

I’ve seen lots of food delivery services where I’ve paid a service charge for the restaurant, a fee for the delivery and an optional tip for the driver. I don’t mind that, because I’d tip anyway, but I’d be put off using any company that has a service charge and requires an extra tip.

In fact, I always tip, but being told that a tip isn’t optional would probably make me cancel my order and take to their social media to ask why I’m expected to pay so many random charges on top of the actual price. It’s outrageously cheeky.

Service charge is now separate to tips because they just changed the law to waiters need to keep 100% of their tips.

So to avoid losing money restaurants are now separating them out and calling it a "service charge" that they keep for themselves.

I'm assuming you live in London since mandatory service charges for small parties and 12.5% instead of 10% tips haven't really made it up here (yet?).

Are you booking a hotel/restaurant and they’re asking for a tip in advance? It annoys me that they do that on Deliveroo for the rider too - he hasn’t even arrived yet so how can I say the service was good? I agree that the “service” charge should be for the person who “serves” you and should therefore be the tip. If not, who gets it and why?

Another example of stealth increases - Cineworld now charge a booking fee 95pp on a ticket, in addition to advertised price

Sunday is the payment platform some restaurant groups are using. It’s a fucking cheek they automatically slap on their own service charge to the customer. Very shady as they’re not open about it and you don’t get a choice if you pay online or via a linked app.

“Sunday” is a payment processing app.
It’s a fee for use of the app

sundayapp.com/en-gb/

Had to pay a mandatory tip at a restaurant recently where the "service" was as minimal as they could get away with - it was extremely clear they would much rather you did everything via the (barely functional) QR code rather than trouble the waiters to actually interact with you. I think that might have been on top of a service charge too as we were a big group. I gave them 1p.

It seems like the service charge is just a charge to get the food to you. The tip is to reward anything beyond it being slung on your doorstep from a moving moped, or dumped in your lap in a restaurant.

(Then there's a fee for it being a Sunday, or indeed a Monday, for them preparing the bill, for them accepting payment ... )

And people wonder why we don't go out more.

I usually ask for the service charge to be removed if it's over 10% unless it's exceptional circumstances (eg big group) I never add a tip if there's a service charge!

But but shout out for excellent service and not adding charges - my wedding venue didn't add anything and when I asked to add a tip they said not to worry as it was their pleasure (I dropped an envelope with a cash tip the following day) one of the waiters lives across the road and has since thanked me as she was able to afford a hair cut, such a sweet young lady.

I always try and leave cash for tips if I can. I hate being told exactly how much to tip. I always leave at least 10%, but often more if the service was good.

It’s all very American isn’t it, this expectation of tips. When I was a waitress in the 80s a tip was a bonus, and was by no means given by everyone. We certainly wouldn’t have been indignant if we weren’t tipped. In America they tip bar staff too don’t they. Madness!

In America they tip bar staff too don’t they. Madness!

To be fair once you accept that tipping people providing a service is the right thing to do then it's difficult to see why you'd tip waiters but not bar staff, sales assistants, nurses, bus drivers ...

That would make sense if they've just changed the law. I used to like to leave a cash tip so the waiting staff got it but never have cash on me any more. I actually think it's out of order and service charge should go to waiting staff or split between kitchen and waiting staff not into the till and, yes, it will make it prohibitively expensive for some. And, yes, London and Bucks i've noticed this

A service charge that is added to the bill is treated the same way as voluntary tips under the new law - it goes to the employees.

@RadioBamboo - this description is brilliant!

@SabrinaThwaite That's good but then what's the tip for?

Maybe if you feel that your waiter has gone above and beyond? Who knows.

But it should be completely voluntary if the service charge has already been applied.

It can be sneaky though when you go to pay and the service charge has been added and then give you the option to add a tip - I wonder if they think you haven’t noticed the service charge.