Am i tight for refusing to pay service charge (in London)?

Question

I went out for a meal with 4 friends earlier and when the bill came i said i had no prob leaving a tip but i was refusing to pay the service charge cos 1) they had none of the special offers advertised, 2) they had no soft drinks available and 3) they had no ice to go with the water and (warm) white wine they served.

Was i right? We still left a tip of around 10% but i made sure i said to the waitress that the change was a tip and not the service charge, though i came away feeling that my arguing the point left me looking tight???

Answer 1

I wouldn't have tipped full stop If I got c**p service like that.

Answer 2

I believe that if you are not satisfied in a restaurant you should ask to see the manager.  Any decent reastaurant wants happy customers and if your complaint is anywhere near reasonable they will do what they can to make you happy.  But get to it early in the meal so there is an opportunity to make it right.  And don't stiff the server unless the service is poor because nothing else is really under his or her control.

Answer 3

service charge is not mandatory and tipping is a disgusting thing that keeps wages down in some jobs, only mean employers gain from this practice

Answer 4

The only similar experience I have had was in a restaurant in Brighton.  I was on my own, the food was OK, etc but when it came to paying my bill the waitress stood over me with her chip and pin machine, and said in a loud voice 'Would you like to add a service charge?'  I was embarrassed and said yes, so she said (in a loud voice) 'How much?' I gave 10%.  I have never been back there.  A service charge is NOT mandatory.

Answer 5

as  a waitress i agree you should pay the service charged only if you got the service that was offered you didnt you were right not to pay fair play for tipping the waitress anyway because she cant be blamed for wats not in stock.

Answer 6

errr...service charge is usually included in the bill and is part of the bill. I know....and I've been involved in the London restaurant scene (meaning the staff side...not as a customer) so I pretty much know how it works. Many bosses will not let you leave the restaurant if you refuse and consider it not paying the bill in full. I'm afraid it's not optional and in my opinion you were lucky they let you get away with it...but what I imagine really happened is that the money you left as a "tip" was used to pay the rest of the bill (with the service charge). So all you did was send a poor waiter/waitress out of pocket and without a tip. Don't be so naive in thinking waiters/esses have any say as to the bill and tips...it all goes to the cashier/manager to decide and they work for the boss.

I know of a case where a couple refused to pay the service charge and were not allowed to leave the restaurant and the boss locked the door...the police arrived and basically the customers and boss both got into trouble. But don't think of starting a fad by not paying service charge for "poor" service...eventually you wont be welcome in any restaurant or they will spit in your food...simple as that.

Yes service charge is a bit of a con...but what isn't in today's society? Petrol should cost 50p per litre yet we pay £1.25...why don't you refuse to pay the extortionate tax levied by the government next time you're at the petrol station...see what happens? Why stop at restaurants?

Come on....you know how it works...

OK...THIS IS FOR THE IDIOTS WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO READ. THE ORIGINAL POSTER DID NOT TIP THE WAITER. WHAT HAPPENED IS SHE PAID THE SERVICE CHARGE AND LEFT WITHOUT LEAVING A TIP. BECAUSE YOU DUMB ANIMALS...THE WAITER/RESS HAS NO SAY ON WHERE THE MONEY GOES. SO WHEN THE MANAGER/CASHIER SEES MONEY MISSING FROM THE BILL, THEY WILL ENQUIRE AND GET THE MONEY LEFT TO THE WAITER/RESS AS A "TIP" TO COVER FOR THE BILL. FIRST THE BILL GETS PAID AND THEN THE TIPS...WHICH MOST OF YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TIPS WORK...THEY MOSTLY GO INTO POT AND GET DIVIDED AT THE END OF THE SHIFT OR WEEK, DEPENDING. SO THAT MONEY WENT TO PAY FOR THE BILL AND SHE LEFT WITHOUT LEAVING A TIP...THAT IS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. THAT IS WHY I ADVISE AGAINST THIS...AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE SERVICE CHARGE THEY CAN ALWAYS TAKE IT OFF AND JUST PUT UP THE PRICES ON THE MENU...

I advise against not paying service charge...

c**p...Jenkin...no wonder you eat at a restaurant alone. Of course service charge is mandatory...it bloody well is. You take a weird waitress at a dodgy Brighton restaurant as an example of what is legislation and mandAtory? HOW ABSURD!!

Answer 7

No , good for you. I probably would do the same but afraid we are in the minority.  I wouldn't even have left a tip unless I could be assured it was going in to the waiter or waitress's pocket IF they had served you well as it wasn't their fault all this happened but the managements.  It would be interesting (thoughI know a bit much) to see what would happen in a legal situation as if you defined 'service charge' surely it must be for the service of the establishment. How can they charge for something they didn't give?  I don't care what the 'poor' waiter has said in answer to you. He seems to be 'tugging at your heart strings' but lets face it there are loads of jobs for waiters/waitresses and if they work in a bad establishment like the one you experienced and had to give their tips for someone who didn't pay the service charge as he seems to have stated then all he has to do is move on.  The job isn't exactly rocket science where position are very rare.

Answer 8

I think you did the right thing why pay the service charge if you didn't get the service actually they should be fined for no ice and sounds like the refrigeration is  inadequate...REPORT THEM

Answer 9

Good for you

I have only just realised that the service charge is added to wages to reach the legal minimum. The direct tip does not

not only is the "service charge"  ripping you off it also ripos the staff off. I am concious that each and every time I go out for a meal or a drink Iam being overcharged or ripped of in some way. I don't know how but i/we are. This particular scam is a good one becaaaaause if you stand by your rihts you look mean and that is the whole idea.

Answer 10

I'm glad you didn't punish the server for the poor performance of the restaurant.  After all, the server cannot make the ice, cannot produce the soft drinks but I would think they have some control over the temperature of the wines.  (After all, they can put it in a cooler area).

Don't worry about how you looked.  I'm sure that if things were this bad then you weren't alone in not paying the service charge.  You're nicer than me.  I would have given up on the place after the third blunder and left them with the bill up to that point.

Answer 11

I don't know what low life dive Melon worked in, but it is not mandatory to pay a service charge. Originally you paid for the food/drink you had and you left a tip for the waiter/waitress depending what service they gave. There was no service charge.

Later it became fashionable to include a service charge of say 15% which replaced the tip (cheek) and it looked obligatory on the bill, which it is not.

You did the right thing exactly and you left not because you were lucky to escape but because they knew the service charge was not able to be enforced.