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?

It's something that has started since COVID.

Now I would expect a service charge - because no one tips.

Ironically we previously would often tip more. Now we don't tip as often.

I tip 10% so if that's what's included that's fine. I always check it's going to the staff.

If it 12.5% then I get a bit annoyed but CBA getting them to take it off so I can pay 10%

We went to gusto and DH asked them to take off the 12.5 so he could pay 10. It was embarrassing. It's our annual meal after the panto so I've just remembered and will book elsewhere that doesn't do this.

"I would just pay but not add another tip, obviously."

The service charge is the tip. You don't tip on top of a service charge.

All of the - presumably wealthy people - commenting rude comments about those who don't or can't tip, how incredibly snobby and rude! Just because an extra few quid is nothing to you doesn't mean it isn't to many other people.

The price should be the price, a menu is an itemised list of how much each thing costs. Sometimes you can afford to go out for a lasagna and a soft drink and other times you can afford to go out fir steak and cocktails, just because you can't afford to pay extra on top for nothing doesn't mean you don't deserve to enjoy a meal out.

How dare you say poorer people shouldn't be allowed to eat out by looking at a menu and totting up the cost without worrying about added extras?

The majority of people I know and love are on minimum wage or thereabouts and they absolutely can and should go to eat out if it's in their budget for the month. Who on earth do you think you are to say otherwise?

This middle class tipping of the little people reeks of power play and snobbery, as has been mentioned you don't tip other minimum wage workers so why just the waiters?

Also where is the logic that a person on minimum wage should give money to another person on minimum wage? Bunch of jokers.

I don’t tip- I don’t care either. We aren’t in America. I don’t get tipped. I don’t feel embarrassed asking to take it off. I have however found myself choosing restaurants that don’t add a tip .

One that really took the piss was six by Niko. We’d bought a gift experience with all the food and drink included and it was fully paid. They then presented a £20 tip on the full worth of the gift value 😂 it was mad

For tables of less than 4 people, I prefer to tip. I usually add 10% to the bill, more of service has been above and beyond.

i do agree with service charges for larger groups, especially at this time of year. It takes more effort and attention from the staff to serve larger groups and I don’t have an issue with paying for that.

I"m unsure if its legal to charge a service charge. If the restaurant does it will be paying VAT on it. Basically HMRC expect staff in restaurants to pay tax on tips soniften estimate it or you can have a tronc master paying the tax and keeping records. From the point of view of the staff member it helps if they need to get a mortgage etc. I know a local company who charge a service charge which they pay out regularly. However when staying there they were happy to have cash instead.

In my view that is very mean for good service (2.5%)

I always ask the server who gets the service charge or tip and generally give at least 10% for adequate service, more for good service.

I recall speaking to a waiter post covid and he said what tough times the lockdowns were as the payments they received were based on salary whereas much of his income was tips.

I think 10% is a bit stingy and 12.5% is a bit fussy. 15% for good service, 20% for exceptional.

If ordering with a big group and splitting the bill, it can be awkward to discuss.

A 12.5% standard service charge takes the debate out of it.

Good. You are a tight-fisted Scrooge

Tipping has been the norm in the UK for decades. Don't know why people insist on pretending it's a "recent American import".

You are mistaken, employees working in hospitality jobs have all the same rights as any other employee.

Although some people might be classed as "workers" rather than employees every employee has the same rights as any other employee and every worker has the same rights as any other worker regardless of which industry they are involved in.

I agree. It really annoys me.

You can't eat in a restaurant without being served so it's all part of the deal

At Gatwick, we went to a yosushi type place. I had to download their app to order the food and when ready, the chef handed it to be me directly. On the app, there was an option to add a service charge- no thanks. We sat ourselves, got our own cutlery/napkins and ordered our own food.

I can’t believe people whinge about tipping.

I would never, ever go to a restaurant or similar with precisely the right amount for the food/drink.

What if your child wants a different thing than you planned, or sees someone else’s ice cream and decides they want that, and you’re scuppered?

Because of bribery? Public service needs to be equal for all, ypu can't have rich parents tipping teachers for better treatment etc. Or jumping a queue in A&E. Nothing to do with how hard people work, but that's the reason it isn't allowed.

I agree with this. I normally choose to tip in cash and a set amount, not a percentage.

Ive always paid the service charge or tipped but I dont understand why there is a service charge in the first place.

I dont go to the cinema and pay extra to sit down, its all included in the price. If I go to a restaurant I expect to sit down and have someone serve me and it always used to priced accordingly.
I know im sounding out of touch here!

I hate and loathe automatic service charges in restaurants and often find that the service is much poorer when there's an automatic charge. As a result we tend to go to restaurants who don't impose the automatic charge, as a special treat, though they are increasingly few these days. Can't really afford to pay an extra £20 - £25 on top of an already expensive meal.
Nobody yet has mentioned Wetherspoons. Staff work hard, always seem to be very efficient, but nobody ever tips them. But then I expect that all the people on this thread who are in favour of high service charges would never darken the door of a Wetherspoons. Meals out are so expensive, why on earth should you automatically pay a sizeable amount of money on top of the bill for average service. It's a big scam and most people seem to accept it

YANBU! We were at a pub Christmas lunch. Absolutely inedible food. They admitted it was shipped in and microwaved. Disgusting.

Anyway we said no please can we remove service. Because it was poor service also imo. No one asked how the food was when everyone had not eaten. Drinks late. No condiments offered.

Apparently the 12.5% discretionary service charge was compulsory so instead they had to take some of the food off.

Outrageous. We should have just walked out immediately tbh on receipt of the starters. Don’t know what we were thinking!

I was put off tips when I realised my nephew who was a young trainee chef at the time, was working hard like the serving staff but it was only the customer facing team got tips. Some nights they went home with over £100 each, he got nothing. His girlfriend worked at a different place and staff had to pool all the tips and were made to hand them over. The restaurant boss used to sit at a vantage point in the restaurant and would watch what was happening. If anyone said they didnt have tips or pretended to have less than they were given were fired immediately!

You're making a couple of basic incorrect assumptions here. The person serving rarely gets the entire tip as a cash top-up and it is not tax-free.

In the recent past, in a well-run restaurant the tips usually went into a pool - a "Tronc" - to be shared between all of the staff, including the kitchen staff. The senior staff member would be entrusted with sharing the Tronc money out.

As cash payments were replaced by credit cards and electronic payments, the tips got added to the bill and the money went into the business bank account rather than into the staff Tronc. There are countless reports of this tip money never being shared out or passed on to the staff. Recent UK legislation (2024) made this illegal - employers are now supposed to share service charges with the staff, who are taxed on this extra income.

Some restaurants are now trying different ways to pocket some, or all, of the tips. Some places are allegedly taking an "admin fee" out of the tips pool. Some places are charging guests what they term a "cover charge" instead of a "service charge" and pocketing the entire amount.

Good service only gets 2.5% from you! (£5 on £200) wow tight.

Service charge is ridiculous and it really annoys me. Wait staff in the UK get paid to provide a service - if they do a really good job or they are working a holiday then they might get a tip.

Tipping culture is American and does not need to be brought here. The reason tipping is essential in America is because they have different labour laws.

Tipping is optional. Service charge should not be a thing. The price of service should be included in the cost of the meal.

Genuinely, why do they add it? They're paid to do their job, I will tip good service but it shouldn't be a given.