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?

If there is a service charge already added I don’t tip.

Well yes that is what I’m saying!

Customers need to do their research.

Of course they can opt out of the service charge and not give a tip.

But no point in lecturing everyone.

I don’t like service charges so avoid those places.

She's paying for her steak so can have it cooked any way she likes, including cremated / burnt to a crisp or even one step away from revival.

Mr. Pink : I don't tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I'll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it's for the birds. As far as I'm concerned, they're just doing their job.

Mr. White: You don't have any idea what you're talking about. These people bust their ass. This is a hard job.

Mr. Pink: So is working at McDonald's, but you don't feel the need to tip them, do ya? Well why not? They're serving you food. But no, society says don't tip these guys over here, but tip these guys over here. That's bullshit!

Because when I waitressed and in any other job I worked for my hourly rate, I knew what I was getting from my wage each month. Obviously if someone leaves a tip it’s generous of them to do so but I don’t understand why people feel like they have to tip especially when the reason is ‘low wage’. Someone wouldn’t go do their food shop and then leave the cashier a fiver for doing their job would they just because they’re on minimum wage

You said restaurants are free to run their business how they like and if I don't like it I should not go there.

But you are also saying if I choose to follow their rules and treat an optional service charge as, well, optional, then I also shouldn't go there?

This makes no sense to me.

Same - I always tip in a restaurant

I hate the concept of tipping. I would much rather pay higher amounts for the food and for the staff to get a decent wage

TBH I doubt it would make any difference even if they paid them 10 times as much @Jewel1968; instead of "Ooooo they don't get much" we'd then probably get "How would you like to be on your feet all day" or whatever

As we've seen, instead of just leaving it to the individual there's a lot of judgement creeps in with this subject - almost an "I'm better than you" because some make a different choice, and I can't see that changing any time soon

The point with the service charge is that, in a good place, they share this out among all the staff, including those who have been working behind the scenes to give you a good evening. That's better than an individual tip.

I always ask if the service charge all goes to the staff, and if it does, I pay it. If not, I tip the servers myself unless the service has been awful, but that way, the behind the scenes staff don't get anything.

I’m saying you have the choice to go or don’t go, pay the service charge or don’t pay it, but don’t expect the restaurant to care about your custom.

You are the type of customer restaurants don’t want.

Ah, I was right the first time. I don't agree with you and I rescind the apology.

Just as you are making daft assumptions I can too. You are the sort of person that the restaurants would rather just keep quiet rather than blather on, telling all and sundry what they should be doing.

To keep going at all, restaurants need customers. They'd rather have the footfall and paying customers who will pay for what they've had, not make a mess, and leave. Any day of the week. If we follow your very poor advice and not go then they will close.

Don't expect me to care about their loss if their views are in any way in accord with yours.

I’m not making assumptions, leading restaurants have said that if you’re a customer who skimps on starters and doesn’t want to pay a service charge then don’t come. Stay home.

No one expects you to care about restaurants.

I did not expect an apology, it’s ok to disagree!

They're NOT leading restaurateurs who've said that at all. They are the pretentious men-chefs who are all about appearances. They expect customers to spend a lot and are whining because that's not happening. Expect them to be closed down very soon - and good riddance.

If you're going to say these things as fact, Manara then it's useful to provide the source.
https://www.businessinsider.com/restaurant-hits-out-at-diners-who-spend-little-2024-11#:~:text=A%20London%20chef%20sparked%20online,diners%20who%20might%20spend%20more.

Great movie!

I don’t get paid tips for my job and I don’t see my job as superior in any way, so no, by principle, I refuse to tip most of the time. Unless I’m with people I love and I don’t want to embarrass them, so I don’t make a fuss.

He is a restaurant owner!

It isn’t a thing in the UK because workers have minimum wages etc. but more and more check y businesses added the service charge to bill. One has to ask to be taken off, which is harder to do.

Still not making sense. As you say I can choose to go or not go, but either way, what the restaurant cares about has no effect on me.

If a restaurant wants to pick and choose it's customers based on how much they spend, they should invent a mechanism to communicate exactly how much money they require for a customer to be able to eat there. They could call it ... a menu.

I'm in a restaurant now.

I showed myself to a table, scanned the QR code, ordered and paid on line without a single worker doing anything. I was asked to leave a tip.
What for? As of now I have received no service let alone good service.

Yes, the menu which says whether a service charge will be applied or not.

I have only seen one person refuse to pay the service charge (my Australian friend) because it was bad service.

So it’s accepted practice to pay the service charge. Which is why it’s better to do the research beforehand.

I am on minimum wage and receive no tips at my job. Why should I tip another minimum wage worker for doing their job?

Every restaurant or pub I've ever worked in, the tips were pooled and shared between everyone, including the pot washers.

I voted YABU but YAB particularly U in a group situation because the likelihood is that someone else in the group will feel obliged to put their hand in their pocket and cover the tip you didn't want to leave.

Could you please explain a little more about your stand on this subject.

which jobs do we think “deserve” a tip and which jobs don’t?

do you tip the person who serves you at the local supermarket, the bus driver?

I don’t understand the culture of giving certain professions extra money on top of what we’ve already been charged but others not.

If a restaurant doesn't want customers who don't pay a service charge, then they should make it mandatory (i.e. put all the prices up) and stop whining.

But how many customers refuse to pay the service charge?

What did you do in the end in your pub dilemma? Did you pay it?