Service charges in restaurants

Aongus Von Bismarck

Cienciano wrote: »

Nice one, I'm meeting a girl there for a first date, must remember that :pac:

Nothing spells catch like a first date in TGIs, haggling over the service charge is sure to seal the deal.

desultory

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

It's consistently rated as one of the best restaurants in Germany... but yes I suspect it may not be for you.

You shouldn't have to pay someone off to be treated as well as others. It's a shame on your upbringing that you believe that's acceptable.

Mind that monocle doesn't fall into your perfectly paired glass of wine when you read that.

Collie D

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

Nothing spells catch like a first date in TGIs, haggling over the service charge is sure to seal the deal.

You really do sound like a poor specimen of a human in that post

Greenmachine

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

Nothing spells catch like a first date in TGIs, haggling over the service charge is sure to seal the deal.

Hilarious. Don't forget to ask her to pay her share of the bill and remind her that her main costed an extra €2.50

Imagaine the shame.

Aongus Von Bismarck

desultory wrote: »

You shouldn't have to pay someone off to be treated as well as others. It's a shame on your upbringing that you believe that's acceptable.

Mind that monocle doesn't fall into your perfectly paired glass of wine when you read that.

I don't wear a monocle, my eyesight is eagle-eyed.

I'm also not paying to be treated as well as others. I'm rewarding the staff for their high standards, and for treating me better than others.

Collie D wrote: »

You really do sound like a poor specimen of a human in that post

I'm a poor specimen of a human because I think haggling over the service charge at a glorified fast food joint is not making a good impression on a first date? Yes. Makes sense :rolleyes:

whomitconcerns

it does just get crazy though in some places...I remember a very well known chinese restaurant in city centre, when we were paying (9/10 people) there was a service charge of 40/50 euro or something. I was talking to the waitress when pushed she told us that that money all went to the owner, who was not even there.

So I said we were not happy to pay it, service was good but we felt it was unessesary, etc and to take it off the bill. She had to call the owner to get it waived...he was annoyed and spoke to me on the phone and was not happy to do this said it was a mandatory charge (it wasnt, it was a discretionary service charge)...blah blah blah...but eventually he agreed. We gave her the 40 quid and left....

murphyebass

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I don't wear a monocle, my eyesight is eagle-eyed.

I'm also not paying to be treated as well as others. I'm rewarding the staff for their high standards, and for treating me better than others.



I'm a poor specimen of a human because I think haggling over the service charge at a glorified fast food joint is not making a good impression on a first date? Yes. Makes sense :rolleyes:

First off thank you for your amusing posts. You wound people up quite well sir. I tip my brandy to you.

Second of all I do think your right about the service albeit in a tone in which i found funny and others found disturbing by their reaction.

anncoates

I usually ask the manager who gets the service charge before deciding on tipping because I've heard of the restaurant pocketing the service charge before.

miss no stars

anncoates wrote: »

I usually ask the manager who gets the service charge before deciding on tipping because I've heard of the restaurant pocketing the service charge before.

One place I worked in paid below the minimum wage. The service charged was divvied out among management, waiting staff, chefs and kitchen porters according to the hours we worked. Pretty much made up the wage to minimum wage.

Getting tips was very rare because of it, and again they were divvied up between everyone according to hours worked so usually got about 20c.

Which is why I ask 2 questions (of a waiter, not management). 1 - do the staff get the service charge and 2 - is the base pay at or above minimum wage?

It was really sneaky the way they did that. Just nasty of them, but reflected in their entire staff turning over every month.

Collie D

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I'm a poor specimen of a human because I think haggling over the service charge at a glorified fast food joint is not making a good impression on a first date? Yes. Makes sense :rolleyes:

No because you looked down on another poster for going to a restaurant you find unworthy. And his remark about service charge was obviously tongue in cheek.

Butterface

miss no stars wrote: »

One place I worked in paid below the minimum wage. The service charged was divvied out among management, waiting staff, chefs and kitchen porters according to the hours we worked. Pretty much made up the wage to minimum wage.

Getting tips was very rare because of it, and again they were divvied up between everyone according to hours worked so usually got about 20c.

Which is why I ask 2 questions (of a waiter, not management). 1 - do the staff get the service charge and 2 - is the base pay at or above minimum wage?

It was really sneaky the way they did that. Just nasty of them, but reflected in their entire staff turning over every month.

Should it still be called "service charge" if it's being divvied out among every member of staff in the joint? Is it not specifically supposed to go to the person waiting your table? It's all very vague.

Despite my ambivalence about tipping, when I leave a tip I prefer to see it going into the pocket of the person who waited on me.

I worked in a hotel bar years ago and we kept our own tips. I was only a nipper, so I was always so grateful to get tipped.
It was a boon, rather than an expectation.

Hollister11

I leave a tip of €2. It's not up to me to supplement their wages.
If I get charged a service charge I pay half

anncoates

Butterface wrote: »

Should it still be called "service charge" if it's being divvied out among every member of staff in the joint? Is it not specifically supposed to go to the person waiting your table? It's all very vague. .

Deliberately phrased to suggest that it's a surcharge for service, hence people not tipping if it's charged. As pointed out above, there's nothing to stop employers taking it, essentially giving them a means to confiscate tips.

I was a waiter in a place years ago where the manager pocketed a share of the tips so myself and the other waiter only put about a third of our tips in the jar.

Collie D

anncoates wrote: »

Deliberately phrased to suggest that it's a surcharge for-service, hence people not tipping if it's charged. As pointed out abo0ve, there's nothing to stop employers taking it, essentially giving them a means to confiscate tips.

I always was a waiter in a place years ago where the manager pocketed a share of the tips so myself and the other waiter only put about a third of our tips in the jar.

Very shady practice. I generally leave a tip but if service charge is included I wouldn't. Would prefer it to go to waiting staff or wouldn't mind if kitchen staff got a cut but would be very disappointed if it was going into till to boost the bottom line. If that's the case the charge should be absorbed into cost on menu

anncoates

Collie D wrote: »

Very shady practice. I generally leave a tip but if service charge is included I wouldn't. Would prefer it to go to waiting staff or wouldn't mind if kitchen staff got a cut but would be very disappointed if it was going into till to boost the bottom line. If that's the case the charge should be absorbed into cost on menu

As another poster said, you're probably better off asking one of the waiting staff on the QT as the manager probably might not fess up if the service charge genuinely goes back to the staff.

BeerWolf

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Tipping is optional, sounds like this service charge is not

American culture brought to Ireland --- people in the US are paid HELL of a lot less than those here in the waiting business...

I'm guessing it's to see who tips, and those that don't when they come back another day they'll ensure to add some 'extra' ingredients...

djerk

Am working in a restaurant as a chef atm and we've had some disagreements amongst the staff over tips so I just had a quick trawl through the boards which landed me on this thread.

Basically the issue in my work place is that the new head chef wants to have the tips shared equally between all staff.. ie, chefs/waiters/waitresses and kitchen porters. His reason being that the entire service depends on everyone working together as a team, and therefore everybody deserves an equal share. In my last job as a chef in another establishment, I never saw tips at all and worked for minimum wage so i'm not really getting involved in the arguement, just hearing all sides objectively.

Some (not all) of the floor staff have argued that because they earn less money, that they deserve 100% of the tips. Other reasons being, they deal with the customers and complaints directly, the money was given to them for their service etc. Having said that, some were quite happy to share the tips with the whole kitchen. Others quipped that in the past many customers decided not to leave any tip at all after learning that it would be split with all the staff.. Which is also kind of bizarre to me, as the primary reason people go to a restaurant is to eat good food.. And obviously the floor staff have no hand in that and all the minute details involved in creating and presenting dishes.

Just out of curiosity.. (knowing how much tips each waiter/waitress received the past week or two) I worked out the average wage for a 36hr week, the gross pay ends up with the floor staff earning about 80 euro more than I do even though I earn 2.65 more ph. Having said that, I understand not every week will be as successful for tips and would more or less rely on how busy the place is at peak seasons etc.

I can understand the head chefs position because the entire service is reliant on how well each section of the work place functions, from the bottom to the top.. If the porters dont do their job, the chefs and the floor are screwed, if the chefs dont do their jobs the floor is screwed, if the floor dont do their jobs, the kitchen is screwed.. You can see what im getting at. For a smooth service, everyone needs to be on the ball and have the experience necessary to make that happen.

So anyway, im just wondering if any waiters/waitresses might have some input about what they might think is a fair system, or one that they were happy to work with. I read another thread that floor staff could keep 50% of the tips, and the rest would be shared equally at the end of the week.. That sounds fair enough to me.

Tipping.. Food for thought!

miss no stars

Yeah, share it equally is fairest. Won't happen though, if an amount is left in a tip, floor staff will pocket a decent chunk and then put what's left into the tips pool.

Ilyana 2.0

Sharing tips with the entirety of the staff is the fairest way to go, and I say that as a waitress. If I worked in a place where everyone got a cut it wouldn't bother me, as long as I got something!

However, I think that the main reason a customer leaves a tip tends to be down to the service they received i.e. how promptly they were given a table and a menu, how long they were waiting to order, how quickly they received their drinks and their food, the friendliness of the waiter, how willing/able they are to deal to awkward orders or allergies, their response if there's a problem etc. Now of course the chefs and porters play a role in all of that, but it's the waiters who have to deal with everything on the customer side of things. And it's the customer who leaves the tip.

I've sometimes only been given a tip because I told the customer that we don't pool them (we keep our own). It would be interesting to see if tips would diminish at all if they were shared amongst the entire staff.

djerk

Hmm yea.. It's a complicated one because while I totally agree with everything you said, it's also the role of what the job itself entails..and I dont mean to demean the position at all in saying that. My job can be a whole lot more stressful than waiting on people but I dont view it as any more or less important than anyone else's. Everyone's work together collectively, as I see it, is what creates the overall atmosphere. If the food wasn't good in the first place, or cooked perfectly to specification (in reference to the complicated orders you mentioned), the customers would be a whole lot less likely to leave a tip in the first place etc.

We will 'wait' and see what happens i guess

Pumpkinseeds

I put in my time waitressing back in the day. There shouldn't be a service charge, tips should be given if the customer feels that they received good service. Paying poor wages and hitting the customer with the charge isn't fair.

Ilyana 2.0

djerk wrote: »

Hmm yea.. It's a complicated one because while I totally agree with everything you said, it's also the role of what the job itself entails..and I dont mean to demean the position at all in saying that. My job can be a whole lot more stressful than waiting on people but I dont view it as any more or less important than anyone else's. Everyone's work together collectively, as I see it, is what creates the overall atmosphere. If the food wasn't good in the first place, or cooked perfectly to specification (in reference to the complicated orders you mentioned), the customers would be a whole lot less likely to leave a tip in the first place etc.

We will 'wait' and see what happens i guess

Oh yeah, everyone does as equally important a job, I didn't mean that waiters have a more 'vital' job or anything. If the chef cocks up, it's going to impact on the customer's decision to tip. The customer's experience doesn't rest on any one person's shoulders.

We all get pretty stressed, for different reasons. But getting tips definitely helps in that regard!

animaal

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

There shouldn't be a service charge, tips should be given if the customer feels that they received good service.

Yes, this. The pricing should be as clear as possible. If the menu says a meal costs €x, that's what it should cost. The airline industry was slapped on the wrist for adding charges to the bottom line. There should be similar regulation of other industries, including restaurants.

The "service charge" (if mandatory) should be included in the prices of the food.
The owners would be free to add a statement to the menu to the effect that a proportion of the takings is distributed among staff.

Oops69

I'm loathe to say this but we need legislation for all this confusion , IT DOES MY HEAD IN, I have booked a table for sixteen in a very nice restaurant in a months time, In addition to a prepaid deposit a month in advance, I'm told there is a 15 percent service charge included in the bill, should I tip on top of this ???, the bill is going to come to in excess of 2000€ including service charge , restaurants need to let us know who exactly and explicitly any extras go to , this ambiguity is really annoying and I have visions of a Scroogy boss pocketing most of the tips at the end of the night , I have often handed a waiter a tip on the sly in case the maître'd or boss has his eagle eye out, when I get a feeling about a place.

A Dub in Glasgo

I never leave a tip if a mandatory service charge is in play

miss no stars

Oops69 wrote: »

I'm loathe to say this but we need legislation for all this confusion , IT DOES MY HEAD IN, I have booked a table for sixteen in a very nice restaurant in a months time, In addition to a prepaid deposit a month in advance, I'm told there is a 15 percent service charge included in the bill, should I tip on top of this ???, the bill is going to come to in excess of 2000€ including service charge , restaurants need to let us know who exactly and explicitly any extras go to , this ambiguity is really annoying and I have visions of a Scroogy boss pocketing most of the tips at the end of the night , I have often handed a waiter a tip on the sly in case the maître'd or boss has his eagle eye out, when I get a feeling about a place.

This happens.

It's up to you whether you tip. If I could afford a tip on top of the service charge, I'd actually ask the waiting staff if they see the service charge and make my decision on that.

Frynge

I'm involved in the running of several restaurants and hotels and across the board we have several different ways of diving up the tips.

In one hotel all tips are pooled and when it reaches about €1100 all the staff will select a night to go out which would usually be decided amongst themselves. On that night the night porter will come in early and get a €100 cut from it. The owner will usually arrange for a round of drinks for all the staff wherever They go to. Even though their are people who don't drink they still go out for the night and don't expect anything extra. The staff all came up with this method a couple of years ago and we have a very low turnover of staff here.

Another hotel has all tips pooled and on the 1st of every month the tips safe is opened by the GM with two members of staff. All coins go trough the counter and swaped out for notes. All tips are then divided amongst the staff on a points system that works in relation to hours worked and position.

Another hotel has all tips pooled but because it is in a very seasonal location the tips are divided every Sunday by the duty manager and another member of staff. Again it is points system based on hours and position held.

Some of the restaurants have the tips pooled and divided on the night.

Another one of the restaurants divides the tips up when the the tips safe is full and beacuase it is a consistent level of staffing with pretty much everybody doing for the most part the same hours each week they are divided the same way each time. If a member of staff leaves they are include in the next count and when a new member of staff starts they are not included until the second count.

We also have a bookies where the tellers will get tips every now and again and they are spit evenly when they will each get €20 even though some of them might only work 1 day and others are full time.

Across the company there are a few rules and once they are obeyed then for the most part it is up to a unanimous decision from the staff as to how to split them.

Some of the restaurants do delivery and if the driver gets a tip he keeps it and even though he might help out on the floor they are excluded from the pooled tips.

Management and head chefs and head office staff are all excluded from all and any tips. The number one reason for this is they are all very well paid as it is and another reason I will detail below.

Some of these tips systems have been in place for over thirty years and if it ain't broken don't fix it.

I personally think tips should only go to the wait staff or more specifically who ever receives the tips, my view is certainly not shared throughout the company.

One place I worked in previously had what I consider the best system and that is the owner took all the tips every night. BUT to make up for it we were paid €14 an hour back in 2005.

Our HR department has to deal with the recurring issue of grievances been submitted by members of staff about their colleagues taking the tips. Unfortunately when they are submitted in writing we have no choice but to take it very seriously and act on it.

Their have been a number of staff let go over the years for taking the tips that were not ment for them, including managers and in one case a night porter who developed a methods of removing the coins from the tip safe. Too often there are complaints and rumour about people stealing tips so no member of staff is ever to put money into their pocket while on the floor. Staff have been spoken too about this even when they are paying back their colleague for a taxi ride the night before. When tips safes are being opened there has to be at least two members of staff and when counted by hand it has to be done in view of a camera.

With all these different ways of tips being divided up it creates a night mare for senior management unless the basic rules are followed. We are aware that the different systems will always leave some one with the short end of the stick but the majority of staff are happy with the current set ups.

Just my two cents.

Xenji

I worked in a hotel before that included a service charge and not a cent of that went to the waiting staff.

Frynge

I should also ad that we have no service charge in any of our sites and have no intentions to ever have them.

Also when it comes to spitting bills if it is over 8 we make sure they all come to the till together and if it is over 15 people we look for €100 extra from the first person which is returned after everyone has paid. We have been caught out too many times when big groups want the bill split and we facilitated them only to be left with 1, 2, 3 and even 4 walk outs.

Aongus Von Bismarck

Frynge wrote: »

I should also ad that we have no service charge in any of our sites and have no intentions to ever have them.

Also when it comes to spitting bills if it is over 8 we make sure they all come to the till together and if it is over 15 people we look for €100 extra from the first person which is returned after everyone has paid. We have been caught out too many times when big groups want the bill split and we facilitated them only to be left with 1, 2, 3 and even 4 walk outs.

An increasing number of restaurants are displaying signs say they don't split bills. Cannot say I blame them. As well as the issue of walkouts (which shocks me), there is something rather mean and petty about a group of people trying to work out who had the extra glass of wine or the scallops for starters. It should be a relaxed and convivial evening, not one overshadowed by the need to work out exactly what your bill cost.

Hootanany

Frynge wrote: »

I should also ad that we have no service charge in any of our sites and have no intentions to ever have them.

Also when it comes to spitting bills if it is over 8 we make sure they all come to the till together and if it is over 15 people we look for €100 extra from the first person which is returned after everyone has paid. We have been caught out too many times when big groups want the bill split and we facilitated them only to be left with 1, 2, 3 and even 4 walk outs.

Thats a bit rich.
Do you understand they are paying your company for a service.
Your company is there to serve patrons not herd them like sheep.
Not intended as a personal swipe by all means just the policy.

pickarooney

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

It's consistently rated as one of the best restaurants in Germany... but yes I suspect it may not be for you.

And it doesn't even have its own sommelier? Having the waiter double-jobbing like that is outrageous.

GarIT

It's strange that I know some doctors, accountants, lawyers, programmers yet the richest guy I know is a waiter in a top restaurant, he gets 50k+ per year just in tips, and that is untaxed. Even back when he was working in a small local restaurant we worked out he was on over €20 per hour including tips.

While I'm here I might as well ask, does anyone know if you are supposed to pay tax on tips?

Edit:
He also has this story that he was waiting on a table in his second week there and some group spent 10k altogether mostly on expensive old alcohol, and at the end the guy still gives the 20% no problem, 2k for a couple of hours work, it's mad, he says the same thing happens every couple of months, he didn't get to keep it cause it's divided but he still gets his share of others big tips too.

When I'm in a restaurant I be brave and say I wont tip, but as soon as the bill comes I chicken out and just tip.

osarusan

Yes of course you are.

Every single bit of income is supposed to be declared, even if it's a DVD you sold for a euro in a car boot sale.

I've no idea how/if that is actually followed up on though.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

An awful lot of the time a service charge is just the management pretty much stealing tips. The staff never see a cent of it and obviously people aren't going to tip on top of it.

Tips being split is fine, I can't see how people have a problem with that. KPs have a really hard job, the floor staff rely on them doing that job properly, they're probably being paid the same rate as the floor staff, they deserve the frikkin tips!

Most places I've worked tips were either spilt after closing or used for staff nights out.

paulbok

Oops69 wrote: »

I'm loathe to say this but we need legislation for all this confusion , IT DOES MY HEAD IN, I have booked a table for sixteen in a very nice restaurant in a months time, In addition to a prepaid deposit a month in advance, I'm told there is a 15 percent service charge included in the bill, should I tip on top of this ???, the bill is going to come to in excess of 2000€ including service charge , restaurants need to let us know who exactly and explicitly any extras go to , this ambiguity is really annoying and I have visions of a Scroogy boss pocketing most of the tips at the end of the night , I have often handed a waiter a tip on the sly in case the maître'd or boss has his eagle eye out, when I get a feeling about a place.

Paying for your food wine etc + service charge + tip would mean you are in effect paying three times for the thrill of eating there

osarusan

Only place I ever worked in with tips, they were pooled and split, with each waiter getting the same, and all kitchen staff counted as one person, then divided between them.

rubadub

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

I don't get the point of service charges. Surely the more people eating means more money spent?

I figured the group thing is to ensure a % tip from each customer. So if a couple leave a tip of €10 which they think is reasonable, the problem is if they leave €10 if it was 20 of them.

I hate the practise, employers are paying min wage and the tip is supposed to supplement the wages. I heard some places in the US have a no tip policy, and state on teh menu that they pay staff reasonable wages and so they do not expect a tip.

Where it totally falls down is at 12.5% a waiter is getting paid €62.50 to open a €500 bottle of wine, vs €3.12 to open a €25 bottle. Is it really that much extra work :mad:

Just include it in your prices like everyone else, or have a fixed charge if you insist.

Or conversely, if its such a brilliant idea why not do it on other overheads. Why not have meal €10, service charge 12.5%, light & heat 10%, lease of building 10%, water charges 5%, decorations 3% etc.

I would love to have the balls to call over the manager or owner (not waiter) and say "see this €500 bottle of wine, if get it and open it myself will you let me off the service charge", if they say no just say "ok, I won't bother so" no doubt they would be missing out on a huge markup. If they say yes then ask to look at the bottle and then say no thanks!

y0ssar1an22 wrote: »

you dont tip the postman for delivering your mail

my father does actually tip the postman, just at christmas, the postman does go well out of his way to help him. Some will tip depending on what is being delivered, €10 pizza yes, €2000 TV no. You hear of some takeaway delivery drivers getting below min wage, but not all of them do. This is in effect encouraging nixers and tax evasion, its surprising its not illegal, like countries where tipping government officials is illegal as its so open to be a form of bribery.

Also the below min wage thing in the US is gone now. They used to be able to pay certain jobs below min wage as tips were so common, e.g. waiters. There is a new law saying if your tips do not put you above min wage then the employer must pay you more. Of course I have seen blogs with waiters moaning about people being ignorant about the fact they get paid below normal min wage, when really they are the ignorant ones, or are hoping others still are.

Oops69

Oops69 wrote: »

I'm loathe to say this but we need legislation for all this confusion , IT DOES MY HEAD IN, I have booked a table for sixteen in a very nice restaurant in a months time, In addition to a prepaid deposit a month in advance, I'm told there is a 15 percent service charge included in the bill, should I tip on top of this ???, the bill is going to come to in excess of 2000€ including service charge , restaurants need to let us know who exactly and explicitly any extras go to , this ambiguity is really annoying and I have visions of a Scroogy boss pocketing most of the tips at the end of the night , I have often handed a waiter a tip on the sly in case the maître'd or boss has his eagle eye out, when I get a feeling about a place.

Why don't you send them a polite professional email asking for clarifications re the services charge, not questioning the services charge but clarifying if the service charge is give to the staff you are engaging them for a services so remember you are in charge.

If are felling a bit stressed about this, look around your friends and family and see do you know anyone who is employed as a PA and is use to booking restaurant and hotels etc, they know well how to handle restaurant and hotels in a business like fashion and know how to get a good deals.

Bob24

Does anyone know if restaurants pay taxes for the amount displayed as "service charge" on a bill?

I somehow suspect this is a way for the to hide some of their profit from the taxman ... which I wouldn't be impressed with! (relying on customers paying tips definitely works to dodge VAT / company tax for the employer and income tax / PRSI for the employee, but at least it is optional - if they were to do the same with service charges I would have a bit of a problem with it).

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Frynge

Hootanany wrote: »

Thats a bit rich.
Do you understand they are paying your company for a service.
Your company is there to serve patrons not herd them like sheep.
Not intended as a personal swipe by all means just the policy.

Yes I more than understand that the company is there to provide a service and we provide that service to a very high standard. But at the same time we have had so many groups in over the years where people will literally just get up and leave when the bill arrives to a table. We have tried to help people out in the past for them to just leave us high and dry.

On a side note, a lot of irish people are not aware of dutching a bill. Which is a fancy way of saying you want the bill split evenly. E.g. "Can we get the bill Dutch 7"

pickarooney

Frynge wrote: »

Yes I more than understand that the company is there to provide a service and we provide that service to a very high standard. But at the same time we have had so many groups in over the years where people will literally just get up and leave when the bill arrives to a table. We have tried to help people out in the past for them to just leave us high and dry.

On a side note, a lot of irish people are not aware of dutching a bill. Which is a fancy way of saying you want the bill split evenly. E.g. "Can we get the bill Dutch 7"

That's weird. Any time I ate in a restaurant with Dutch people everyone calculated his own contribution to the nearest cent and then left about a 15c tip.

Frynge

pickarooney wrote: »

That's weird. Any time I ate in a restaurant with Dutch people everyone calculated his own contribution to the nearest cent and then left about a 15c tip.

No idea where the term comes from but any of the till systems I've worked with over the years have an option of Dutch bill where you enter a number and the bill is divided by that number.

Aongus Von Bismarck

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

An increasing number of restaurants are displaying signs say they don't split bills. Cannot say I blame them. As well as the issue of walkouts (which shocks me), there is something rather mean and petty about a group of people trying to work out who had the extra glass of wine or the scallops for starters. It should be a relaxed and convivial evening, not one overshadowed by the need to work out exactly what your bill cost.

It's not really relaxed if your friend orders steak and wine and you're having pasta and something cheaper to drink, e.g.
especially if money is a problem
I am usually the one ordering steak and dessert and it would be unfair to expect people to split that evenly for me!

The_Captain

People in Ireland tipping waiters, Jesus wept

eviltimeban

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

there is something rather mean and petty about a group of people trying to work out who had the extra glass of wine or the scallops for starters. It should be a relaxed and convivial evening, not one overshadowed by the need to work out exactly what your bill cost.

While I agree, that doesn't always work. A table of four, maybe; but I've been out in situations in larger groups where certain members of the group have ordered the fillet steak (let's say €35) and others have ordered either a salad or vegetarian dish (at least €10 cheaper). Some have had multiple rounds of beers delivered, while others at the table are happy to just have one or two glasses of wine.

The bill comes and it is split evenly - everyone pays the same. But that's not a fair way of doing it as the person who ate the salad pays the same as the person who ate the steak and drank all the beers. I once paid about €80 for a very average dinner, I purposely didn't order the fillet steak but unbeknownst to me others at the table did.

Anyway, you can't have it both ways. I've become less and less inclined to want to tip these days, especially as levels of service have gone down, but I do it mostly out of guilt and pressure from others. Recently I had a meal out, table was booked for 8.45 but we weren't seated till 9.15, one or two items on the menu weren't available, and while the meal was nice, the service wasn't spectacular (we had to ask for water more than once and I was left waiting for something that was forgotten).

Still, I tipped; not a lot (about 10%) but I tipped. I didn't want to, but I would've got dirty looks if I hadn't. I know, I know, I shouldn't worry about that, but its just one of those things.

Slideways

GarIT wrote: »

It's strange that I know some doctors, accountants, lawyers, programmers yet the richest guy I know is a waiter in a top restaurant, he gets 50k+ per year just in tips, and that is untaxed. Even back when he was working in a small local restaurant we worked out he was on over €20 per hour including tips.

Total bollocks. A doctor or lawyer on less than a waiter? You're having a laugh

daviecronin

OP, Its an American thing they're trying to bring in now like a mandatory tip! Fecking awful sher

bnagrrl

A restaurant I like adds a service charge of 12.5% to the bill whether it's 2 people or 10 people. I don't leave an additional tip.