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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

The bloody service charge!

434 replies

Ilovemychocolate · 23/12/2025 08:55

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?

OP posts:
Bruisername · 23/12/2025 12:27

Tipping is not an American import

historically wait staff were paid a very low hourly rate and worked for tips to give themselves a living wage. As labour laws and minimum wage have improved the need for tips has fallen off

CranberryCandyCane · 23/12/2025 12:27

Twiglets1 · 23/12/2025 10:49

This is completely standard where I live (south east) and it's normally 12.5%. For the rare places that don't add it, we normally add at least 10% anyway, as long as the service & food has been decent.

It does seem to vary a bit place to place though. Went to the Cotswolds recently and was surprised to find that places were only adding 10% or one place had a 5% service charge which is unheard of where I live.

10% used to be the standard but lots of people on this thread are now expecting 12.5%. Soon that’s going to creep up to 15%. The thing is, prices in restaurants have gone up significantly. The service charge % shouldn’t need to increase too.

MummyWillow1 · 23/12/2025 12:29

Throwitaway12345 · 23/12/2025 12:03

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.

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Civil servants have to do mandatory bribery training - they cannot accept any gifts/benefits or they risk losing their job.

LoveItaly · 23/12/2025 12:29

I always tip 10% as a minimum, but if the service/food is very good will tip 15% going up to 20% for really excellent. I always check that staff get the tips, and if a service charge is already on the bill I just make up the difference to what I would have paid were it not there. I find that tips are always really appreciated, and I’m happy to pay a bit extra to show my appreciation.

TeaRoseTallulah · 23/12/2025 12:30

I much prefer service charge rather than tipping.

CandiedPrincess · 23/12/2025 12:31

I don't mind the service charge being added as long as it's clearly stated by staff or on the menu. I don't tip extra on top and as I never have cash, ever, it means the job is done for me.

It really grinds my gears when there is no service charge and no option to add a tip.

Kitfish · 23/12/2025 12:32

The last time I asked for the service charge to be removed (because of bad service), I was banned from the restaurant for doing it.

JDM625 · 23/12/2025 12:36

LittleBitofBread · 23/12/2025 11:26

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

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They didn't seem to understand what the word 'discretionary' meant- despite it being written on their menu. English wasn't their first language and the manager kept saying 'You no pay, you no go!'

After trying to explain several times about the very poor service and raw food, we all got up, left the correct money for the bill and walked to the door. The manager then threatened to call the police whilst blocking the door. I said YES, please call the police and see what they say! The woman stepped to the side to get the phone, DH managed to open the door and we just left. I emailed the restaurant afterwards and got no reply. I then left a truthful review on tripadvisor.

Shoxfordian · 23/12/2025 12:37

Yabu and tight op

LittleBitofBread · 23/12/2025 12:38

JDM625 · 23/12/2025 12:36

They didn't seem to understand what the word 'discretionary' meant- despite it being written on their menu. English wasn't their first language and the manager kept saying 'You no pay, you no go!'

After trying to explain several times about the very poor service and raw food, we all got up, left the correct money for the bill and walked to the door. The manager then threatened to call the police whilst blocking the door. I said YES, please call the police and see what they say! The woman stepped to the side to get the phone, DH managed to open the door and we just left. I emailed the restaurant afterwards and got no reply. I then left a truthful review on tripadvisor.

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Wow. I wonder if they're still in business?

NellieJean · 23/12/2025 12:39

Just another thread demonstrating what a mean, little country we live in.

sweetpickle2 · 23/12/2025 12:39

I think if you can afford to eat out twice in one day you can afford to pay the service charge.

However YANBU to ask them to remove it, you’re allowed to do that. Assuming you’re tipping anyway though why would you bother

Puzzledandpissedoff · 23/12/2025 12:43

ScaryM0nster · 23/12/2025 10:12

It usually says on the menus when they do that.

To me it’s unnecessarily demanding to make them
go back and take it off. You can tell beforehand, so when you ask for the bill ask for it to be removed then if you’re not intending to pay it.

I'm prettty sure it has to be stated on the menu - or at least be communicated clearly - if they're going to add a service charge, though some clipjoints put it in tiny writing somewhere you're not likely to look

Personally i'll pay (or tip, but not both) if the service i've paid for is good; otherwise it gets removed

Tammygirl12 · 23/12/2025 12:44

Megifer · 23/12/2025 09:34

Ive never paid service charge and would tip about £5 if the bill was say £200 and service was good.

That’s truly abysmal. It doesn’t sound like you are a regular £200 meal person though fortunately. Fucking hell some people are incredibly tight. I’m shocked you think this okay

saraclara · 23/12/2025 12:46

DinoLil · 23/12/2025 09:31

Urgh, drives me mad! I went on a works Christmas do a few years back, everyone had left a tip. There was just me and one colleague left at the end because we were having a good old gossip, everyone else had gone. We were presented with a service charge of £70! Really ruined a great night out and we never went back. The two of us had to point out that everyone had tipped and paid well over the bill amount (there were a few of us) and we weren't going to pay £70. The manager came out and argued with us, said we had to pay. We didn't, we just got up and left.

If everyone had left a reasonable tip, surely it would have covered the service charge?
I don't understand what happened here.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 23/12/2025 12:52

Another2Cats · 23/12/2025 11:49

"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.

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You're right of course, but don't bother mentioning that in some of the more grasping places - and don't bother asking staff who gets the tips because there's just too much potential for a sob story if they perceive they've found a mug

As a PP said, some owners do try ways of keeping tips from the staff, but to my mind that's a matter between the staff and them. I don't insert myself into other people's employment issues anywhere else and am certainly not going to do it when out for a meal

CloudSky · 23/12/2025 12:54

MaybeNotNo · 23/12/2025 10:10

Not really.

Why should they tip at all. The server will be paid at the very least minimum wage. Why tip there? Do you tip the cashier at Next when youre shopping, or the customer service agent on the phone when you call them about your electricity bill?

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God, this. What is wrong with people that they can’t fathom this?

You don’t deserve to just be given people’s money for nothing. You’re paid a wage, no one owes you more money! In the UK there’s a minimum wage for a reason.

I bet a lot of waiting staff in fancy restaurants and hotels are paid far more than a cashier at Tesco, but the cashier doesn’t receive (or expect) a tip!

Taxi drivers tend to earn more than bus drivers, but they expect you to hand over yet more cash, while the poor bus driver gets nothing.

It’s absolutely backwards and nonsensical. The cost of the goods on the menu need to cover all overheads. Simple as that.

HepzibahGreen · 23/12/2025 12:55

Im with you OP. DH is in the restaurant biz and always asks them to remove it. He reckons they are not even legally allowed to add it but I cba to google to see if that’s true.
We always tip well when it’s deserved but would like to decide for ourselves, and it to actually go to the server not the restaurant owner!

tokennamechange · 23/12/2025 12:55

berlinbaby2025 · 23/12/2025 10:08

When eating out alone, I tell them to take it off, always met by a look of slight disgust. Sometimes I tip. The establishments need to properly pay their staff.

Thing is they are "properly paid" in that they will be on at least minimum wage so the same as many cleaners, teaching assistants, supermarket staff, HCA, carers, delivery drivers...all of which work jobs as hard or harder than delivering some food to a table, so I really don't get the moral outrage if people don't tip some jobs while never considering tipping others.

The whole point is it should be a reward for above average service not an expectation.

Vaguelyclassical · 23/12/2025 12:57

MaybeNotNo · 23/12/2025 10:06

So why dont you tip 12.5% as a rule then?

Your post makes no sense

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If one lives in a country where service is not usually included in the bill but where 15%-20% is the voluntary norm, the post makes total sense!

FanofLeaves · 23/12/2025 12:57

I was In a pub off the Portobello road the other day and I ordered a gin and tonic at the bar. It was even more than I expected to pay so I questioned it, and the bloke said there was a 12.5 service charge added on! I got him to take it off, but he was most put out, asking if I’d felt I hadn’t been served! I said you don’t get tip for the customer standing at the bar and waiting for their drink 🤦🏻‍♀️

I can only assume they just get tourists this way who either think it’s standard or don’t question it.

Megifer · 23/12/2025 12:58

Tammygirl12 · 23/12/2025 12:44

That’s truly abysmal. It doesn’t sound like you are a regular £200 meal person though fortunately. Fucking hell some people are incredibly tight. I’m shocked you think this okay

Edited
Show quote history

No i go out at least once a month

Puzzledandpissedoff · 23/12/2025 12:58

You don’t deserve to just be given people’s money for nothing. You’re paid a wage, no one owes you more money! In the UK there’s a minimum wage for a reason

For all the talk about the US, there's a minimum wage for wait staff there too now, @CloudSky, though it varies by state

Rightly or wrongly however the habit of tipping everything that moves has stuck, and I doubt the staff mind

thisoldcity · 23/12/2025 12:59

I'd just like to say at this point that not all waiting staff are paid double or triple time on Christmas day - if they are salaried staff and that's their usual work day, they might well just be paid their usual rate at some hotels and restaurants.

Brickiscool · 23/12/2025 13:02

Are you really bad at mental arithmetic? You don't need to make a big deal and send it back. You can quietly take it off and tell them what you are paying.

Plus it almost always says on the menu that an optional service charge has been added. So it can't come as a suprise