Miffed at having to tip in bars?

[HermitageWay]

I live in a popular, busy city. Prices seem to be shooting up everywhere lately, a large glass of wine near me is now around £10. Fine, it’s the way things are going, but what’s really annoying me is that bars have started adding service charges to drinks.

A few weeks ago I was out with a friend, ordered a bottle of wine (£40 on the menu), and offered to pay. That’s all we had, no food. When the bill came, it was £44, they’d added a 10% service charge! For literally handing us a bottle of wine. She didn’t even pour it!

Am I being a total moan, or does that feel a bit cheeky to anyone else? For context, I’m in the UK, not the US!

Just go to a normal pub

I would have refused to pay it

“Having to” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

That said, if I get table service, I think it’s fine to tip, food or no food.

It sounds a bit fancier than a normal bar

My local pub adds service charge to drinks ordered and collected from the bar. It's an absolute piss take.

£4 is not exactly a lot for table service. I’d rather pay it than stand at the bar.

You’re tipping for the table service and I don’t get why you’re saying ‘literally handing us a bottle of wine’ because isn’t that what waiters do… You order stuff and then they hand it to you. No different to if you’d had food because you’re tipping the waitress for taking the order and giving you the stuff; the tip wouldn’t normally go to the chef. If you don’t want table service and prefer something more casual/cheaper then go for a conventional pub where you order at the bar next time. And I think there’s definitely a wider debate to be had about tipping in general but I don’t think you can object to it for drinks yet be ok with it for food. It doesn’t make much sense to me as the waitress does the exact same job regardless.

(edited for typo)

Ask for it to be removed. I'm not keen on tipping without table service. It's not compulsory.

Irs awful isn't it. How has wine got to £10 for a glass. Why is it soo much more expensive than beer ? And a service charge is silly. We were in Liverpool recently and most fancy bars were charging a service charge.

Did you pay it? I would have asked for it to be removed.

My gen Z nieces always ask for the service charge to be removed.

I don’t think tipping for drinks is the same as tipping for food with drinks. When you’re just ordering a bottle of wine, the service is minimal - the waitress asked what we wanted, told the barman, and brought it over. There were no check-backs, clearing plates, or managing timings like there would be with food. I would argue there is more effort and involvement with food.

As for the venue, yes it was right in the centre of town and quite a ‘trendy’ spot. Not overly fancy but it didn’t let you order at the bar, so table service was the only option. Maybe I will stick to good old pubs in the future!!

@nomas that’s really interesting about Gen Z taking it off! I actually ended up paying it, but only because my friend and I were arguing over who was paying the bill and I just quickly tapped my card. It was only afterwards I realised they’d added it!

I would have asked for it to be removed

Tipping for a bottle to come to the table is crazy. It’s like zero effort. Really. Walk to fridge, grab bottle, open if cork, two glasses walk over. Like you good still annoying but at least that has something to it. Even less effort if it’s the type of place you can order on an app.

Next time you’re in Sainsbury’s and someone goes out back for something must remember to leave a tip. Since the huge effort to fetch one item.

Wee must not import American tipping culture here. We must pay staff appropriately instead.

I always refuse to pay tips for drinks. A sit down restaurant meal is fine though.

That’s disgraceful!

I agree. Please let’s not have the begging bowl out for what should be normal service.

I’ve never seen tips in bars or pubs where you order at the bar or on an app, I’m guessing this was a fairly upmarket bar as wine in pubs isn’t generally £40 a bottle (it’s £20 in my local, good wine too, owner gets it from France direct)

I wouldn't know - I don't go out any more as it feels as though I'm being pickpocketed.

Everyone gets minimum wage in this country, there is no need to tip bar staff anymore than someone behind the counter in a corner shop.

i Had this at a normal (well, a bit hipster) pub in Hackney in London ages ago. Bought two pints at the bar. When I tapped my card on the machine held out to me, it didn’t go through. Apparently the next step was a ‘choose how much to tip’ option.

Which I had absolutely no hope of reading, as the info was so tiny.
Generation gap keenly felt all round.

A tip for pulling two pints! (I did not.)

I’m really surprised that the consensus is against paying a few extra quid as a tip. And I’m a supposedly miserly Scot!

I always tip in bars/pubs. Either by paying the service charge or if it’s not a place that adds one, telling the bar person to take one for themselves when I’m getting a round in.

My DS was recently in London - admittedly they were at a trendy cocktail place, and you expect to pay more but ……they were charged £5 per drink service charge - so cocktail was £20 !! When it came to the table the cocktail was a a pre made drink in a bottle - so not even made to order. Needless to say they didn’t stay long!

There should be more emoticons available: shocked, angry, outraged.

I like to tip but I do it for selfish reasons, usually because it makes me feel good in the moment to tip for good service. When it’s imposed I feel I’m taken for a mug. That’s the difference. A ready-made cocktail would be in that category.

I’m finding the fake distinction when it comes to table service for food and for drink a bit odd.

Ordering food is pretty effortless too. You tell them what you want, someone else cooks it, they carry it to your table.

The effort is exactly the same, the only thing that differs is what they’re carrying to your table.

You’re paying £40 for a bottle of wine and complaining about £4? I wouldn’t have paid £40 in the first place.