To not leave a tip on principle

[MyNeatLimeCat]

Had a pub meal with a group, main courses (burgers, curries etc) cost £20. An 'optional' service charge is listed on the bill.

£2 or £4 isn't going to break the bank. But I just don't want to support the system, on principle.

I don't want to cause group drama either. What should I do in this situation?

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can I just ask - have you ever worked as a waitress?

I'm with you OP.
Difference is, I always tip.
I don't like any form of tipping though, people should just be paid properly, tipping feels a bit like throwing money to the poor and I'm uncomfortable with it. Apparently tipping isn't a thing in Japan.
The system isn't the servers fault though, so I still tip.

When we were in the US on holiday dd wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. The bill was over $200 and an 18% tip was automatically added with the option for more if the service was good.
The service was fine but a $40 tip for a 90 minute meal seemed ridiculously high to me.
It’s time the US paid staff properly (and provided decent healthcare too).

I was poisoned by a restaurant recently (fed an allergen after requesting the alternative version and double checking it wasn't there). Didn't realise till after I'd got home and was very unwell for days so had already paid and tipped.

Restaurant admitted the error and offered us a free meal and took extra care the second time around. Then got pushy about another tip for being 'extra careful' on our 'free meal'. Absolutely put me off and I won't be going back.

That said, I would often tip more than the optional service charge before it started being added on as standard but now just pay the charge. I don't really agree with it, I want tipping to be a choice not something you feel awkward removing.

You could have died!!

I tend to leave a generous tip if the service has been exceptional, a bog standard tip if the service was just ok.

I’m not minted, by the way, I just know what it’s like to work long, hard demanding shifts for low pay so I feel a bit of solidarity with waiting staff.

A time comes to mind when a very large group of us were out for Sunday lunch - (the service was excellent) anyway one of the kids wandered off and in the drama of finding him and leaving we forgot to tip. I went back the next day, found our waitress and made sure she was properly tipped- she couldn’t believe it, but it made her day. And I didn’t regret forking out the extra cash.

Treat other people the way you would like to be treated.

The incident where they served you an allergen should be reported to the council. That’s extremely dangerous and they need to be held accountable.

I always ask for the service charge to be removed.

I think it is so cheeky to just add extra money. I wouldn't be able to charge a customer £14.99 in New Look and add on £1.49 for myself.

If i'm part of a big group dining out, then yes I would tip.

If it's just me and DH we don't, unless it was genuinely amazing service or the food was outstanding.

In the UK tips are unnecessary and should be entirely by choice because all staff will receive minimum wage.

In a group there is definite social pressure to tip.

I don't buy the argument that serving food and cleaning up after it is a much harder job than care work, retail work, hospitality work or the myriad other minimum wage jobs in our society (which are growing by the day).

Long hours on your feet - that's entirely common in loads of jobs. Dealing with obnoxious members of the public - likewise.

Many people in waiting jobs get fed whilst at work - which is not an 'extra' available in other jobs.

I prefer not to eat out these days - this is part of it - and it seems to be expected even if the service is basic or even poor.

I always tip, but tips in central London are creeping towards 15 per cent in some places so I will reduce the tip if the service isn't exceptional.
To be honest, when I have had good food with good service I would find it off if I was with a companion who didn't tip.

Tips were not pooled where I worked.

Er, yes, basically. Mr pink was right.

By all means don't leave a tip on principle OP but it's a normal thing now and has been for years, including in pubs serving food.

You'll be making a choice to stand out as someone who is awkward and tight. I don't think anyone is going to think you're particularly principled. I can think of better issues to take a stand on.

I don't too unless there is some actual service and it's good. Normally these days, in a pub, you can the menu, go to the bar to order food and drinks - the only thing the waiting staff do is actually bring your meal and clear the table at the end. How is that service? That's called doing your job!

Oh shut up, OP. A group setting is not the time for all these supposed “principles” - you’re just making your friends pay more to cover your share. Don’t be so stingy!

Service was fine. The waitress took the order, delivered food and drinks, took away the plates.

I would say they did their job well, and deserve to be paid their full hourly rate. Just like the driver who delivered the food to the pub, the fisherman who caught the fish and the farmer who grew the potatoes. Not sure why carrying the plates deserves special treatment.

It's fine.
The definition of leaving a tip for myself was always "if they do something exceptional for you as a customer".
When this very rarely happens, I leave an (extremely) generous tip.
Otherwise, I don't tip at all, these people get paid for their (reluctant) job.

If the menu had shown a price of £22 instead of £20, I would have paid it without hesitation. Money is not the issue.

If the pub/restaurant needs to charge an extra 10% to be a viable business, they should just set the prices accordingly.

It is optional...

Optional, with a healthy dose of guilt tripping and social pressure.

Self imposed pressure.
If it means that much to you, just say I don't want to tip.

That's not what I'm reading in the majority of replies here. People would pay it for me, think less of me, not invite me out again, etc.

I would pay the optional service charge assuming the service had been pretty decent. I would opt not to pay it if the service had been truly dreadful though.