Are restaurants free to levy 'service charges' to all diners?

Question

This is why I ask- my mate went out to a restaurant in London on the weekend, meal cost about £75, of which about £12.50 was for service, five people were dining I think he said, and they didn't state clearly they were making the charge, just took his card to the till, and he found out they'd put the extra on by studying the receipt later on... what do you reckon? Is it his fault, or bad practice on the restaurant's part

Answer 1

Its bad practise- they should state if they are adding a service charge, and you dont have to legally pay it-you can deduct the amount if u dont think the sevice was worth it!

Answer 2

Usually it says this sort of thing in small writing on the bottom of the Menu or on the bottom of the bill when you get it...very bad practice....depends if the meal was good or not...if good then you would probably have left a tip anyway.

Answer 3

The law requires restaurants and pubs in the UK to state on their menus if they are levying a service charge, and what % that is. It is not compulsory for the customer to pay it, however. If you have had poor service or a poor meal then tell the restaurant to remove the charge, and, more importantly, tell them why  so that they have a chance to rectify matters. As a last resort, if they still refuse to remove the charge you are entitled to report them to Trading Standards, but this is a last resort.

Answer 4

If there is a service charge do not tip. It should always be on the menu as well but I don't expect the staff to bring this to your attention, its not the done thing.

Answer 5

Actually you have to pay a SERVICE CHARGE, if it says GRAUTITY, then you can lower it if you feel the service is poor.

Answer 6

I own a restaurant and on my menu it states that a %10 service charge will be applied to parties of 7 or more. It is discretionary and can be removed. The problem that diners don't understand is that you need more staff for bigger parties. If I had lots of groups of 2 and 4 all night it would be fantastic but the larger the group, the more staff I need. I have removed the charge on many occasions for people and asked why and they had no problems with the food or service, they just wanted as cheap a meal as possible. If I make 10% profit per meal, that soon disappears after wages etc

Answer 7

some resteraunts do put extra on but have to put it on the menu somewhere if they do, usually this is TINY

in france they are entitled to add a service charge but i don't think it's compulsary in britain

Answer 8

in the states, the general rule is for parties of five or more, they charge you a service charge. when this occurs, i only tip for exemplary service.