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...

I think the new law treats service charges the same way as tips, doesn't it?

The thing that annoys me is that it’s become much more common recently (maybe since the change in law about tips going to servers and not being allowed to be kept by the company) BUT it arrives without anyone mentioning that it’s going to be there either them telling you or written on the menu) so unless you scan the bill properly you don’t necessarily see it’s on there.
iv been caught out twice looking at a receipt later to see it having not noticed it at the time after having left a cash tip! I don’t even go out that often so it must be much more common.

I tell you I won’t get caught out again! and actually I find the greediness and underhanded nature of it off putting so I’m less likely to go back somewhere that does it.

Restaurant’s that have done it for a long time I have noticed normally have it written on the menu even if it’s small next to the key for dietary requirements (or it’s casually mentioned) but it’s been there, now it just magically appears on the bill as an easy to miss line next to the vat and total section.

I use a private dog field near me as I have dog which I can’t let off the lead so it is great for us. I book it on line and now they have started to include a tip option that you have to opt of which I think is really bloody cheeky. It is not like they are there to serve me, I park up, close the gate and then leave when we are done. It is getting silly, too many American customs here now!!!

That looks and sounds like an American bill I saw online at the weekend where the practice of tipping is ridiculous.

In the UK, the service charge is the tip and is what the staff should now get legally....

Difference is, in US waitresses are not paid decent minimum wage and there are huge discrepancies in people's salaries depending on their job title (much bigger then UK). Eating out is also generally cheaper then here.
I'm not against tipping by the way, I just think the pressure to automatically tip every time just doesn't makes sense in UK.
I used to work as a waitress years ago and while less people tipped, those who did were often very generous.

If “Michelle the bar maid” on TikTok is representative, most people in America seem to start a tab for their evening of drinks, then pay for it all when they leave, at which point they’d leave a tip. So I suppose that would work. But here in the UK we pay at the time of ordering, and it would be a nightmare each time to pay for one drink, add a tip, then half an hour later pay for another drink, add a tip etc.

I always tip, but I find the whole thing rather strange. As someone said previously, historically it was a way of rich people giving some extra cash to someone who wasn’t being paid a decent amount. These days, especially with the increase in minimum wage, there could be a situation in which the customer actually earns less than the waiting staff, yet still tips them.

A restaurant I sometimes went to when I had a birthday or as a treat now charges 15% service charge, plus a cover charge of £1.75 in the evenings. I would most certainly not tip on top of that.
Prices have gone up, quality has gone down and service in that restaurant group has rapidly declined combined with far fewer staff. The last time I went, the service was so bad, I mentioned it to the person who came to take my payment. He immediately removed the service charge.

On the other hand, there is a small-ish chain of steak restaurants I regularly went to, they also charge 12.5% SC, but they've got plenty of cheerful and actually helpful staff who seem to enjoy what they are doing. When the bill was an odd amount, I would often round up to the nearest £5 or £10.

I remember buying $1 beers in a bar and being expected to tip $1 for each one every time. DH pointing out to the barman that they were then $2 beers was not well received.