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Tipping and Service Charges in Cafes/Restaurants

I walked into a Cafe the other day and ordered a cup of tea. Fairly standard, teabag in a teapot jobby, nothing special. Advertised as £1.60 on the menu. Excellent.

I went to pay and was told I would have to pay a service charge of 12.5% on top of my bill...! :mad:

which soon made my tea an expensive £1.81

BlackFish was not to happy about that! Then, the waitress expected me to leave a tip :eek:

I thought, hang on a minute, why should I leave a tip just for a small pot of tea, a meal, then yes I can understand. But not for a small tea.

Consquently I left the establishment and made a mental note not to got there again.

So my question is, do you pay service charges/leave tips...? or do you ask for them to be removed from the bill??

*edit* left decimal place out of price

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

*Examboy*

I pay VAT, don't think I pay service charges.

I mostly tip, if the service is good.

Also, if you are a student then you could get some discount... :smile:

Reply 2

Ladipidoo

I don't leave any tips :awesome:

Reply 3

Cupcakee

I have friends who are waitresses, I am very jealous as in my job tips are really needed (One of my jobs I am paid a tiny £3.55 an hour). I do children's parties, the mums don't realise how little I am paid. My two friends that are waitresses are paid a lot better than me! Not including tips. However, I do have another job which is better pay during the summer holiday.

Normally I tip a very small amount

Reply 4

nolongerhearthemusic

Of course I pay service charges and tips.

Was the service charge not mentioned on the menu? How do you know she expected a tip? To be fair, it's not like that tip would be particularly large. 16p?

Reply 5

vander Beth

I always tip, but it's just part of culture in the US.

Reply 6

blackfish

nolongerhearthemusic

Of course I pay service charges and tips.

Was the service charge not mentioned on the menu? How do you know she expected a tip? To be fair, it's not like that tip would be particularly large. 16p?

No it wasn't, which is what really annoyed me. I might have been a bit more willing to tip though had the toilets actually been in a ~~reasonable~~ usable condition... :rolleyes:

Reply 7

Cj-Tj

I ask for compulsory charges to be removed. Ok if it says for over tables of 6 or 8, fair enough, for a table of 2? Not likely. However, when they have been removed, or if they arnt included in the first place I tend to tip between £3 and £5.

Reply 8

vander Beth

blackfish

No it wasn't, which is what really annoyed me. I might have been a bit more willing to tip though had the toilets actually been in a ~~reasonable~~ usable condition... :rolleyes:

Why? That's not the waitress's fault.

Reply 9

nolongerhearthemusic

blackfish

No it wasn't, which is what really annoyed me. I might have been a bit more willing to tip though had the toilets actually been in a ~~reasonable~~ usable condition... :rolleyes:

Yeah it's pretty stupid not to mention the service charge on the menu. I would have paid it and then made a complaint.

Reply 10

fox_the_fix

Not her fault for you neglecting to read the menu.
I wouldn't tip for a cup of tea, i would if it was a meal but otherwise no.

Reply 11

AP_89

In a Chinese restaurant in New York we were told our tip wasn't enough :s-smilie:

Reply 12

blackfish

vander Beth

Why? That's not the waitress's fault.

In theory not. But either way, it was the fault of the establishment!

Reply 13

refref

Heres a little something:

Some cafes/restaurants put this service charge on. Instead of this 'tip' going to the waiters/waitresses, it goes into their wage so that they STILL get paid minimum wage, so the cafe/restaurant will get all of the tip.

You can legally ask them to remove the service charge, then tip the waiter/waitress so then they will get the tip and not the restaurant. But if the waiter/waitress tells the customer they the restaurant is taking all of the service charge, they will be sacked.

There is a new law coming in next year to prevent this.

Reply 14

blackfish

fox_the_fix

Not her fault for you neglecting to read the menu.
I wouldn't tip for a cup of tea, i would if it was a meal but otherwise no.

I did read the menu... Nothing about a service charge was written in the menu!

Reply 15

Pocket Calculator

in canada, tipping is expected. i forgot to tip someone once, and the waiter ran after me, showering apologies on me. he thought i didn't leave a tip because he had offended me somehow!

Reply 16

steeler4life

I tip if its good service. I went to New York recently, and most of the places we went gave tipping suggestions on the bill! 12% for good service, 15% for great, and 20% for excellent service! There were 5 of us eating, so about $100-$140. Why should we be expected to pay an extra $20-$30 just for waiters/waitresses doing their jobs?
I know most only get minimum wage and need the tips, but a few pounds/dollars from each customer is enough.

Reply 17

izaldo

I always tip at restaurants and at bar if I get a big round in and/or the waitress is fit.

Oh and I always tip cabbies too if their banter is good on the ride home.

Reply 18

Rob_dob

I don't get this. So service charge is optional and you can ask for it to be removed? It just sounds like a trick by the restaurant to steal the waitor/ waitresses tip as I would only give a tip if there wasn't a service charge.

Also that's ridiculous you have to pay service charge and a tip on a hot drink, I would have none of that. You should use your discretion but really it should be meals only.

Reply 19

Hugh-Jackman

i usually pay before because i usually have pub meals rather than restraunt stuff. I tip, unless i've got an abnormal amount of money and i don't want to crack into a note.