To tip or not to tip...your views wanted

[Michael Browne]

Restaurants could be stopped from adding a discretionary service charge to bills under Government plans to remind consumers that they do not have to tip when eating out.

 

Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, is today launching a consultation on tipping amid concerns that restaurants are confusing customers by not being transparent about the charges and who actually receives any tips.

 

One option under consideration is to prevent restaurants “from suggesting any specific discretionary payments” to make it an “opt-in decision” for customers.

 

Under the proposals in the consultation, restaurants could be forced to make it clear that customers do not have to pay the discretionary service charge.

 

However, one plan being considered is abolishing the service charge entirely.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/01/restaurants-to-be-banned-from-adding-discretionary-charge-to-bil/

 

 

Give Your Views Here:

 

Online Survey

[BazzaS]

Restaurants could be stopped from adding a discretionary service charge to bills under Government plans to remind consumers that they do not have to tip when eating out.

 

Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, is today launching a consultation on tipping amid concerns that restaurants are confusing customers by not being transparent about the charges and who actually receives any tips.

 

One option under consideration is to prevent restaurants “from suggesting any specific discretionary payments” to make it an “opt-in decision” for customers.

 

Under the proposals in the consultation, restaurants could be forced to make it clear that customers do not have to pay the discretionary service charge.

 

However, one plan being considered is abolishing the service charge entirely.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/01/restaurants-to-be-banned-from-adding-discretionary-charge-to-bil/

 

 

Give Your Views Here:

 

Online Survey

 

I tip 15% as a matter of routine, unless

A) They add a tip of 15% or less, where they get only what they have added, (so, if they decide for me it is 10%, that is reason enough for me to agree!) or

B) The service didn't deserve a tip, where I won't add one (or, if they have added it I'll ask for it to be removed, explaining why).

 

I ask the wait staff if they get the tip or if it goes to the company if I pay by card. If it all goes to the company (

[Tryst]

A tip should never be a mandatory charge at all, it's a discretionary amount offered by the customer for good service. I was given a bill once that contained a "service charge". As the service I was given was absolutely appalling, I refused to pay that portion of the bill. They made a big fuss about it but I told them it was either that or nothing at all and they caved in because they knew it was really unenforceable.

 

If any establishment makes a service charge, the customer should be told how much BEFORE ordering, that gives them the opportunity to leave. Most places don't because they know the customer would leave straight away. However, unless you have been told there is a service charge before you order, you are not legally obliged to pay it as far as I'm aware.

 

Most places have a kitty that all the days tips are put into and is shared out amongst the staff working for that day. Some cafes I've been to, I have tipped well because their service was excellent and I knew all of the staff would benefit from it. Majority of places now have a tips pot near the till so you can put your tip in it when you pay the bill instead of leaving it on the table.

 

When it boils down to it, it's not for me to make up your employees wages if you refuse to pay them a decent wage, they can earn tips with good service AT MY DISCRETION.

[hanc]

I, personally, do not believe that a "service charge" should automatically be added to your bill.

 

Tips or gratuities are a purely voluntary payment and should not be expected or coerced.

 

The paying customer should not be put in a position where the feel that these charges are legitimate and need to be paid.

They should also not be put in the potentially awkward position of having to ask for them be removed if they disagree with it.

 

Why tip at all ?

These people do a job of work for which they receive a wage.

This wage is already included in the price you are paying.

 

In what other industry is there such an expectation to receive such a payment for job that you are already paid for ? Why is it so prevalent in the catering industry ?

 

The checkout assistants in my local supermarkets perform and provide a good service, do they expect and receive tips for doing their job ?

Do you tip the bus driver, postman (or woman), refuse collector, child's school teacher, call center operator ?

Probably not.

Why not, they all provide you with a service ?

 

Like those who work in catering, they all receive a wage which is collected from you via some form of billing.

 

All in all, I do not think tips should be expected or added.

[citizenB]

I am more than happy to tip for "excellent" service, because good service is the minimum I would expect.

 

 

When I was in Canada a few years ago, I felt very embarrassed at the hotel. Every half hour or so, staff would tap on the room door asking if you wanted bottled water, beds turned down, any thing else.. and I got the impression that they actually expected to be tipped for this "non" service !

[hanc]

I am more than happy to tip for "excellent" service, because good service is the minimum I would expect.

 

 

When I was in Canada a few years ago, I felt very embarrassed at the hotel. Every half hour or so, staff would tap on the room door asking if you wanted bottled water, beds turned down, any thing else.. and I got the impression that they actually expected to be tipped for this "non" service !

 

 

Exactly !

 

It is this expectation to receive these gratuitous payments that lead to these people who are only carrying out their job role often acting in a manor in attempt to extort such payments.

 

As you say, it is the standard expectation that can lead to the awkward moments or feeling pressured into making them.

[Captain Moonshine]

I agree with Hanc.

 

I think that the very idea of tipping is outdated and degrading. People should be paid a decent wage for doing their job, and should always do it to the best of their ability. It is often because the management know waiting staff and some others get tips that they often don't pay their staff properly. I was once a coach driver, when coach drivers got tips, and that was the excuse used by my boss for not paying me a decent wage.

 

Tipping is degrading because it harks back to the "master and servant" era, and I don't expect anyone to be my "servant", I just expect them to do their job and get paid properly for doing it.

 

Tips or a service charge should definitely not be added automatically to bills.

[jas88]

I have mixed feelings on that. On the one hand, I do object when a restaurant adds the tip themselves: if the menu says £10, the bill should say £10 too, anything else would be dishonest advertising on their part. (I ate in one a few months ago which did this - something like 15% added at the end of the bill with a message like "if you don't want to pay this bit you can take it up with the manager". Not acceptable IMO.)

 

On the other, I feel waiting staff do generally make an effort to provide a good service; the possibility of a tip encourages this, and I like the ability to tip as a way to reward that. Take that away and we have no way to reward good service.

 

My take? Ban automatic "tips", since those aren't really tips at all - if they want a service charge, it should be included in the listed price. Require any sum paid in tips - whether cash, card or bartered in livestock - to go to the waiting staff, not the company or anything else. Don't ban the practice, though, it's a valuable feedback mechanism.

[MrHat]

I prefer the american system. 18% is about average and 25% for exceptional service is the top end.

 

Service is not built into the price, the tip goes to the server, and you get much better service in my experience.

 

Tips should be an incentive for top service. I dislike our 'system' of adding service automatically to bills.

[pmailkeey]

1. I think employees' contracts should explain tipping arrangements.

2. Tipping arrangements should be printed on menus.

 

Pricing should be for consumables & nothing further should be added (e.g. service charge).

 

I rarely tip. If I do, it's usually in the form of not accepting my change.

 

My most significant 'tip' was to the lifeguards at a pool - having witnessed them pull a man out of the pool and revive him.

 

Mike.

[pmailkeey]

A tip should never be a mandatory charge at all, it's a discretionary amount offered by the customer for good service. I was given a bill once that contained a "service charge". As the service I was given was absolutely appalling, I refused to pay that portion of the bill. They made a big fuss about it but I told them it was either that or nothing at all and they caved in because they knew it was really unenforceable.

 

Who's a big softie

 

Service charge (that you didn't get) on the bill ? So the bill's wrong - and in such cases, you don't have to pay it - until they've sorted it out.

[pmailkeey]

I have mixed feelings on that. On the one hand, I do object when a restaurant adds the tip themselves: if the menu says £10, the bill should say £10 too, anything else would be dishonest advertising on their part. (I ate in one a few months ago which did this - something like 15% added at the end of the bill with a message like "if you don't want to pay this bit you can take it up with the manager". Not acceptable IMO.)

Tear the bottom off the bill, write on your address and tell them to post you a correct bill.

 

On the other, I feel waiting staff do generally make an effort to provide a good service; the possibility of a tip encourages this, and I like the ability to tip as a way to reward that. Take that away and we have no way to reward good service.

I've known places where staff refuse tips cos it's not company policy.

 

My take? Ban automatic "tips", since those aren't really tips at all - if they want a service charge, it should be included in the listed price. Require any sum paid in tips - whether cash, card or bartered in livestock - to go to the waiting staff, not the company or anything else. Don't ban the practice, though, it's a valuable feedback mechanism.

 

And there's the other problem - why give it the waiting staff when the cook should get it ? I'm more likely to tip for the fantastickness of the food than how swishly it was delivered to the table.

[Captain Moonshine]

And there's the other problem - why give it the waiting staff when the cook should get it ? I'm more likely to tip for the fantastickness of the food than how swishly it was delivered to the table.

 

This is yet more reason why I say let's do away with this archaic practice all together. People should do their job and get a reasonable wage for doing it. We don't tip most of the people who give us service, so why do we tip any? They are just doing their job.

 

I also don't like the idea that bosses can use tips as an argument against paying decent wages. Good service from someone in a service industry should be expected, poor service should be complained about.

[Deadyankee]

Won't restaurants have to the minimum living wage too? If so, people who choose to do that job will be paid fair wage and won't rely on tips anyway.

[king12345]

I only tip if I received good service.

Many times I waited to get a couple of pound change just to make a point of not leaving a tip.

Chefs are paid more than waiting staff because most times they don't get tips.

There's a local pub in old Windsor where they love me because of the good tips, but they only get it because they're good and food is excellent.

[hanc]

And there's the other problem - why give it the waiting staff when the cook should get it ? I'm more likely to tip for the fantastickness of the food than how swishly it was delivered to the table.

 

This is another dimension of the discriminatory and inequitable tipping process.

Why should the chef get it ?

Why not the dishwasher ? What about the potato peeler ?

[pmailkeey]

Well, if the toilets were mind-blowingly impressive, it wouldn't go to the cook but the cleaner. We have the choice of who to award/reward if they've exceeded expectations. If everything is top notch then why not the management ?