Discretionary tipping in the UK
#16
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: back to my roots in Scotland!
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Posts: 47,843
Originally Posted by serioustraveler
At the end of the day a Service charge IN ADDITION to Gratuity is immoral because you're disguising the price of a meal twice, if they want to add a mandatory service charge have it factored into the price of the food.
Gratuity IS optional, a service charge is not optional, therefore there is absolutely no reasonable argument to be made that the service charge can't be factored into the price of the food.
Gratuity IS optional, a service charge is not optional, therefore there is absolutely no reasonable argument to be made that the service charge can't be factored into the price of the food.

I do dislike where restaurants here don't make it obvious there is a service charge - and I don't like it at 12.5% when tipping is 10% or less
#17
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 129
But in the UK - the context of this thread - services charges of the type being discussed here are not mandatory, they are - as the thread has highlighted - discretionary. In the days when a restaurant could pocket that money and not pass it onto the waitress, I'd often check to see if they got it or not - if they didn't, I'd ask for it to be removed and then pay in cash. In that situation, staff were always very happy to oblige 
I do dislike where restaurants here don't make it obvious there is a service charge - and I don't like it at 12.5% when tipping is 10% or less

I do dislike where restaurants here don't make it obvious there is a service charge - and I don't like it at 12.5% when tipping is 10% or less

I'm a big believer that nothing should be opt out and you should always have to opt in for things like service charges, because if it's opt out often people won't know they can actually get it removed.
#19
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Join Date: Jan 2004
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