Raffles

I am fine with adding a service charge, it saves messing about over what to give.

Although I admit I did feel annoyed recently when somewhere I go a lot kicked theirs up from 12.5% to 13.5%, which is slowly becoming the norm in London.

What is worse, I find, is establishments which do not add a service charge and only charge your credit card for the exact bill! You then need to find cash - in real coins and notes - to leave a tip, which can be tricky if you don't have much cash, or small notes, on you!

Swiss Tony

A few years ago, a restaurant group decided to stop applying this automatically - D&D I think. There was a good article in the Standard about it, but when they went to other restaurants for comment, they basically said they couldn't afford NOT to add the charge, which tells a story on its own.

There haven't been many occasions when I've refused to pay it, but the consequences were varied, from gracious apologies to being chased out the restaurant by the waiter.

Morland

D&D made a big song and dance about this in 2009 when they got rid of service charges... however at some point in the last couple of years they have quietly brought them back. I guess they weren't getting enough as discretionary service.

Captain Schmidt

As someone who lived 15+ years in London, still has a flat there, still visits regularly and who eats out when in town, I would agree with this comment. I cannot recall ever seeing a cover charge in a London restaurant (though I will from now on look a little more carefully at the bill). As others have commented there are plenty of "service charges" of 10%, 12.5% etc but the Americans here need to understand that this is in lieu of a tip.

Sunny 1

To clarify, being an "American" we have a different tipping culture than other countries. We are accustomed to paying 20% as a tip, sometimes a little more if the service was extraordinary. However, our waiters are not paid a "typical" minimum wage either. So, when the establishment adds 12.5% for service, that's actually "saving" us money.. Well, on second thought, maybe not considering the VAT is higher than our taxes. I guess it all works out in the end. Thank you all VERY much for educating us Americans about not adding any more $ on top of the added service charge.

lhrsfo

Not sure of the origin of some of the posters in this thread, but I generally find the charges in London to be reasonably exclusive compared with those in the US. 12.5% is about the norm for tipping, so I don't really object if it's included. Cover charges are still uncommon, although one does see them sometimes when the breads / olives etc. are particularly good - and we have to remember that restaurateurs have lost the revenue stream from mineral water, by and large.

This compares with the San Francisco, where they add tax at c9%, a "healthy SF charge of 2.5% and expect a tip of approaching 20%. So the final bill is around 30% higher than what is printed, rather than around 13% higher.

N1120A

Automatic service charging really bothers me. Its one thing where the whole thing is seamlessly incorporated into the pricing, but adding a service charge automatically is inappropriate. I get it when you have 6 or more tables, because of the extra work involved, but its completely wrong when you have a normal 2 or 4 top. Tipping is supposed to reward service.

Accustomed to 20%? Who brainwashed you into that Sunny? 15% is the normal level, though increases in sales taxes has skewed that a bit. 20% is exceptional service.

Also, not every state allows their waitstaff to be ripped off by restaurant owners by defaulting to the pittance of a federal minimum.

Yeah, they should always leave a spot for it.

The problem I have with this "understanding" is that the service charges are incorporated into the total price in places like Germany and France, where waitstaff are essentially paid a commission on their sales, in addition to their normal wages. I don't see why they can't do this in the UK, where base level wages for waitstaff are actually pretty reasonable (bartenders are another story - they are often paid crap and some places don't allow them to be tipped).

stifle

You are perfectly within your rights to request a discretionary service charge be taken off the bill, and leave your own tip (or nothing, if appropriate) in lieu. It's courteous, but not at all necessary, to briefly speak to the manager if you've decided not to leave a tip.

Sunny 1

N1120A be nice. "Accustomed to 20%? Who brainwashed you into that Sunny? 15% is the normal level, though increases in sales taxes has skewed that a bit. 20% is exceptional service. " When dining out, which is not often, we frequent the same places and get to know the staff and tip as we feel appropriate.

Captain Schmidt

Personally I think that the service charge that is added in the UK only slightly less irritating than than the US tip culture. If tipping was there to genuinely reward service maybe, but that is clearly no longer the case in the United States. It is effectively just as mandatory as the British service charge, only difference being the US "mandatory" tip is at a higher percentage than the average British service charge.

In either case though I find it tedious that on both sides of the Atlantic this industry cannot sort its act out, pay people a proper wage, abolish tips and then let the market decide whether or not "service" is any good. If it isn't, restaurants will fail.

jedikiah

In the UK the discretionary service charge is now largely a VAT avoidance dodge.

jib71

How useless it is to offer an incentive for good service at the end of a meal.
The best thing would be to have a side table on which diners could place (or write) a tip at the start of the meal and make deductions and additions during the meal - providing real time feedback to the wait staff and enabling them to adjust service appropriately. Ideally, you'd want the kitchen to have visibility of the tip table too, so that they can also determine who's worth trying hard for.

stifle

They sorted that out mightily fast in Ireland by making service charges (discretionary or not) carry VAT.

jedikiah

Does that apply to cash tips as well ...

stifle

No it doesn't. Cash tips are considered a gift from the customer to the server, and are not even liable for income tax unless more than €3000 is paid from a particular customer to a particular server in one tax year.

[This refers to Ireland, in case someone is tempted to quote it out of context.]