I hate the new trend of places putting the tip/service charge on the bill without asking, the second I see it, I ask for it to be taken off and they don't get anything.
Had that in a pub on George Square ,Glasgow (Browns)recently. £6.80 a pint for Aspall Cider and nice though it was on a lovely sunny day(I had a couple) I couldn't believe the cheeky bastards added 10%,I was even further perturbed when they added £2.40 onto Godzillas £24 bottle of plonk. Needless to say,the next time I went into Glasgow I went to Wetherspoons at the other side of the square...
It's not the waiting staff's fault though, is it, HT2 - certain they prefer cash in hand. I usually cross it off and leave a ten for whoever did the waiting.
I don’t mind tipping for great service, but that’s my choice to do so, putting it on automatically is cheeky as ****!! I’ve seen some places add a service charge to the bill & then the staff want a tip on top….**** off!!
No it's not, but Its the principle of it, the second I see it in aren't leaving anything. Places have even started to ask why I'm asking for it to be taken off, so hopefully they get the message and stop
Half the price Chazz,so is the wine.I've been in the Admiral a good few times,decent enough for me Some Wetherspoons are a bit samey but the 'Counting House' on George Square has a cracking seated area on the Square,lovely on a nice day and you've got the same view onto the Square as the more expensive pubs.
The USA is getting terrible for tipping as well, it used to be approx 10/12% but now the expectation seems to be 20% and as you say it seems to be on top of service charge etc.... I really hate it
You're right. And it's on everything now - can't buy a coffee in a coffee chain without being promoted to pay 25% extra.
I remember a friend of mine who was at Talksport at the time, now Talk TV, took me to Mahiki. The tosser asked for the bill and then asked me to settle up so he could make a quick call outside. I nearly cried when I saw it! He was in hysterics by the time I got outside to him. There was another place we went once, had these giant fluorescent skulls filled with a cocktail for sharing with about 8 people with big straws coming out of it. That was about £60 for 2 x gin and tonics in there I remember too.
I recently had a frighteningly expensive cafe lunch in the centre of Bruges, I was actually going to leave a tip because I had some cash and I was leaving later that day so no real use for it, then the cheeky ****er asked if I would be adding a tip to my card with the payment. Needless to say he got **** all, price of the bastard food and drink was enough for all the staff to have a €100k salary anyway.
Bit tough on the other waiters, working just as hard, but to stingy tables! Hospitality's a tough business to make a living out of these days and it's usually the serving staff who are at the back of the queue when remuneration's being handed out. SW3's experience of service charge as well as a tip is getting more common and it's reprehensible imo, the customer can't know who's getting what. My daughter was waitressing recently, the restaurant didn't have a service charge but all tips, both cash and card, were shared out equally between floor and kitchen staff. She said it worked well. Personally I'm happy with a service charge on the bill if the service has been ok, but I'm equally happy to have it taken off if it hasn't.
Independents ask for a service charge in new York/Brooklyn as well... Pay on a touch screen in most places and have to opt out a 20% service charge... For making a takeaway coffee.
Tbf, I don't mind at all that the 'gratuity' is added as an option when paying the bill. Takes the hassle and awkwardness out of it all I trust that, as per now the law, it means the gratuity I'm giving is shared among staff, which to my mind is only right. It isn't just the waiter/ress who has made the occasion, it's the chefs, cleaners, washers, everyone. I'd rather have 10% option presented automatically than have the option to leave a tip or not on the table not knowing who actually gets it in their pocket - sometimes in the past i fear it hasn't actually been the waitress serving me who's ended up pocketing it, not that they should get it all anyway. It should be the whole team. It's easy enough to have it taken off if the experience has been crap, which really isn't that often that it's that bad. BUT, what I don't like is the way I've seen the options creep up at some places from 10% to options of 10%, 12.5%, 15%, 20%. That's getting silly, and can make you feel awkward at 'only' tipping 10%. I haven't come across it in coffee places, and I go in them a LOT!
If they are going to automatically add 10% to the bill then share it out between all the staff, why not increase the prices on the menu and increase the staffs pay. When I was an employee often doing jobs the customer would be charged thousands of pounds for it was a sunny day in hell when any customer dropped me a tip.
In some ways it would be great if tipping just didn't exist at all (as in some countries). I suppose that if it's added to the prices (in restaurants etc) then it's no longer optional dependent on the experience being satisfactory or better than satisfactory. My kids don't tip (generational thing to a degree) and say why should I when I'm paying for the meal, and as you allude to that they themselves don't get tipped for doing their job etc. It became a bit different when one of them went waitressing for a short period, and found out that it can be very hard, challenging work on very low pay!!
