The bloody service charge!

[Ilovemychocolate]

Went out to eat twice yesterday…we are in Bath for a festive visit.
Both times our bill came with service charge added.
Both times I sent it back and requested they remove the service charge.
Now I know it’s Christmas, but adding the service charge, without informing the customer it’s completely their choice to pay it, is a year round practise.
I am not against tipping, but it infuriates me when it’s automatically added to my bill with the expectation I will pay it!
An I unreasonable to ask the restaurant to remove it every time?

I think the price should cover everything anyway. What is 'service charge' supposed to be for? You can't eat in a restaurant without being served so it's all part of the deal. It's like 'booking fees'. Surely the cost of administering a booking is factored into the price. I'm against tipping anyway because it's often unfair on staff behind the scenes, it encourages employers to pay badly and it enables dishonest people to dodge income tax. (How many actually declare their tips?)

It’s easier. Takes the stress out of working out how much to tip.
If service has been bad, I ask for it to be removed.

NO! It is not the bare minimum.

10% is not the bare minimum. The bare minimum is the base amount on the bill.

£5 is just an added bonus taking their salary to £17.50 an hour for that hour but potentially much more if more than one table is tipping them.

If a waitress has 5 tables over 2 hours, and each table spends £100 (likely much more), that's £500 for the 2 hours. At 10% that's £50 extra in tips.

But it isn't the customers fault you can't live off minimum wage.

If you need to earn £14.50 an hour, go and get a £30k a year job.

People in care homes are working harder than a waitress. As are HCA or cleaners in the NHS.

I think I'm somewhere between the OP and others on this thread saying you should tip. I have always tipped but I am also getting annoyed at the discretionary service charge being added on when I think the service is getting worse. Surely a tip should be for "good" service or above - not doing the bare minimum?

I eat out a lot and I am getting more irritated at places where they add on 12.5%-15% or more (I'm in London) and literally all they do is take the order and bring it. I'm often having to flag someone down more than once to, say, order another drink, or chase up a sauce that I requested when my meal arrived, or to say we'd like to see dessert menus etc. Noone has come to check if everything is ok with my food or if we'd like anything else etc. And then the service charge as mentioned is added. I feel like nothing "bad" has happened enough to take it off but if we are supposed to be viewing it as a "tip for good service" surely you have to do more than just take an order and deliver the food? This is the grey area that irritates me.. I would not have tipped in these circumstances but it also does not feel "bad" enough to warrant taking it off and that awkward conversation! I don't think it should be included automatically, but I have no issue with tipping for good service (although, again, I think 10% or slightly over if we want to make it a round figure is fine).

On a related note, I was looking at Gaucho's festive set menu the other day and considering it - 3 courses for £55..then I noticed in the small print below saying "a COMPULSORY 13% service charge will be added to your bill".. that shocked me and immediately made me decide to go elsewhere!

This isn’t America!

So what happened? I presume they didn't actually barricade you in?

Because I want to. I don’t think it ‘obscene’ and also, from my experience as a waitress, we used to split tips with the kitchen. With that in mind, 25% on a good dining experience seems fair to me.

Depends. I would normally tip 10%. Sent one back the other day for a work lunch. They had added 25%!

Because in many restaurants the tip is shared. It doesn't all go to an individual, so the people washing up will get a (small) share as well. If you've got a bill for £200 I'd say it's quite likely you were there for over an hour. So your fiver for an hours work drops to maybe £1.50 an hour bonus for being run off your feet the week before Christmas. It hardly seems worth it.

Why though? They have already spent a huge amount of money in the restaurant. The restaurant is making a profit on that. If you go to a clothes shop and spend £200, maybe the shop assistant has helped pick it out, check for a different size in the back and brought it to you, smiled and then took it to the till so you could pay. Would you then tip her £40 on top?? Surely being a waiter, that is your job? You are not doing the customer a favour? Or if your car has work being done, they charge you £200 you give them a 15%-20% tip on top? I don't know anyone who does that.
I don't go out anymore as can't afford it now, but the whole tipping in restaurants and hardly anywhere else is so odd. USA have this weird set up with their waiting staff but we don't have that here. And calculated on how much you spend, they have already spent £200! Charge the price you want for the food and drinks, and don't expect people to top it up by adding "service charge".

The people working in care homes are welcome to come work in a restaurant too 🤷‍♀️

It isn't the customers 'fault' I need to earn 30k a year. That's my business, and why I chose a job where I can easily have a pre tax income of 30k. Some of that comes from tips.

All I ask is that people who don't want to tip, don't give me abuse over a service charge that is decided by a head office many miles away.

Public sector workers will never and should never be tipped, so I'm really not sure why the NHS is relevant here.

Everyone who says “they don’t mind” are just encouraging more places to do this. I never used to mind leaving a few quid for good service but it’s got ridiculous now, having to wait for a bill, then wait for it again whilst they take off extra voluntary charges.
This seems to be an American import but we don’t have the same system as there. Staff here are paid at least minimum wage and have the NHS etc. are other places going to start adding on service charges everywhere? Till staff, retail, care home workers, cleaners etc?

I'm just not taking part in this awful imported American custom. They are paid a fair wage for the job here and I don't get extra tips for just doing my job that im paid for. If someone wants to tip then that is their choice and it shouldn't be forced upon people

I always just ask for without the service charge when I ask for the bill. The restaurant is just trying to embarrass you into paying the service charge and it bloody annoys me.

From a hospitality perspective service charge added to bill with new laws goes directly to all staff, not an added profit margin. It’s also a lot fairer than handing a server £20 cash as service charges/gratuities are not taxed and get shared by hours worked from the potwashers, to chefs, to bartenders and hosts as well as servers.

You’re not run off your feet by that one table though. If you are busy it’s likely that lots of tables will be tipping, and it all adds up.

It is completely free money just for doing your job that you’re already paid for. It is untaxed, and won’t affect a top up benefits claim. That sounds like something to be thankful for, not something to complain about when it’s too small.

When I was a waitress working for minimum wage, I didn’t understand tipping. I’m being paid a wage to do my job, so how come on a Saturday night I’m coming out with an extra £50 cash on top when I’m already being paid and other people doing their job don’t? I wasn’t complaining but I found it bizarre and still do. I think it’s an Americanism that’s got out of control.

I wonder if it can be equated with people who get regular bonuses?

We rarely eat out. The last time was six months ago, so I’m probably not up to speed with what is expected these days.

Did you pay your share of the bill excluding tip? Or did you not pay anything?

if they were demanding you pay your share plus £70 of tip then that’s out of order.

It is taxable

and the service charge doesn’t necessarily go to the staff. The law change was that tips and SC cannot be used to pay staff so they reach minimum wage

Tipping anyone can fuck right off. Never have and never will.
Don't care what others think of me for saying that.

So you would tip £40 in a chain for 4 people?? and £50 for a meal for 2? Really - if its an up market restaurant then they are probably paid more anyway.

Its archaic to tip in this day and age

My understanding has always been that most hospitality jobs differ from other minimum wage jobs in that there is no sick pay or holiday pay, so tips make a big difference.

Public sector workers will never and should never be tipped, so I'm really not sure why the NHS is relevant here

Please explain the logic behind your thought process. Many public sector workers earn the same as waiting staff for doing a much more important job that is also physically demanding, anti social hours etc and if they don't do it to a good standard people may die.

I can't live off minimum wage, and we have to do a lot more work than other minimum wage jobs (I know, I've worked plenty).

Really - you do more work than a carer in a nursing home? Its not a race to the bottom. If you want to be paid more, then study and get a job which pays more, don't 'guilt' people into giving you more money