Restaurant Service Charge

Under His Eye

Having insulted you, you tipped?

fritzelly

If I saw a service charge on the bill I certainly wouldn't be leaving a tip especially where the service wasn't up to scratch
Why the hell it's even tolerated in Ireland is beyond me, this isn't the US and everyone should be paid the minimum wage regardless and tips are a bonus
It's just false price advertising at the end of the day as it very rarely goes back to the serving staff (hell even the tips themselves especially when paid by card never lighten the hand of the staff).

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Can you 'legally' refuse to pay the service charge? Or is it at the discretion of the restaurant that they allow you to remove it from the bill?

I would never leave a tip in addition to a service charge. We only leave a tip where we feel the waiting staff deserved a tip.

If the service or food is not as expected, we always mention it to the restaurant manager before we leave the restaurant. The Irish love a good moan about poor service/food but they never seem to tell the people that can actually do something about it.

Edit: tipping in the US is a PITA. That fake overly nice service you get, just so they get a tip. Sometimes I'd like to scream 'oh just f**k off and have a good one yourself'

goat2

Under His Eye wrote: »

Real sneaky having a service charge and then a tip option on the payment machine.

I wonder, are they breaking the law, and do the staff get this service charge at the end at all, or part of it

goat2

Simona1986 wrote: »

I didn't want to particularly and the waiter was standing over me, having already insulted my oh and I didn't want to make a scene with the two of us our for a meal.
I was already intending on complaining to the restaurant about the waiter as a separate manner but wanted to get people's opinion on the mandatory service charge also.

I would find the owner of that restaurant, and voice my opinion on their employee, he would be a cause for them losing business, owner may not know what is going on while he not there

goat2

ArthurG wrote: »

Why on earth would you pay a tip on top of service charge?. Was the server pressurising you with threats of violence or was it the usual Irish 'I don't want to make a scene'.

I have worked in restaurants, and I don't think that this should be allowed, but I don't know the rules on pricing,
But while I did work in restaurants, if there were a service charge on menu, I would not have expected the customer to tip, that is just not right

ArthurG

Mr.S wrote: »

.....the waiter looking at you with puppy eyes and a smile.....

Except that’s not what happened according to the OP. This is a clear case of Irish ‘don’t make a scene, I’ll complain later’ mentality. The thing is you loose the upper hand by walking away and ignoring it in the moment, these things need to be dealt with immediately. Most Irish people need to get over their absurd fear of looking foolish for complaining, as the awful truth is no on gives a damn about them.

the_pen_turner

i have been googling the definition of it
'A service charge is an amount that is added to your bill in a restaurant to pay for the work of the person who comes and serves you. '

thats pure crap. surely paying the waiter and other costs associated with bringing the food to your table is part of the overheads of the business.
some places like chinesse resturants offer a take away servcie but tht is at a diferent rate than a sit down resturant

its blatant gouging . if its a genuine running cost then add it into the bill and let everyone see the actual charge at face value


you wouldnt pay a courior srvice extra to load and unload the package into the van . those costs are included in the delivery charge.





as for a tip . why would you tip anyway.

i would only tip if they went above and beyond what was expeded of them. doing their job is what they are paid for. bringing food over, taking orders, greating you and being pleasant etc is all part of the job.

Shelflife

The service charge to me is basically false advertising. Your meal is listed as €25 but you end up paying €27.50, your already overpriced bottle of wine is €30 now costs you €33. Total joke !

If I buy a €100 bottle of wine does it cost an extra €7 to bring that particular bottle to the table ?

Price up your menu to cover your costs properly!

I don’t tip unless the service is exceptional, I expect good service and good food as standard. I genuinely don’t understand why you tip a waiter for doing their job properly!

I work in a shop and I give a good service, I don’t expect a tip. My customers reward me by coming back again.

tringle

Huge arguement in a hotel restaurant a few years ago. Was a family birthday and 12 of us staying so 6 rooms. . We got a special room and dinner rate and had booked table for dinner. After the meal we got presented with a bill, we knew we had drinks but never occured to us that it would have service charge to and on cost of all food and drink. And it was a lot more than 10%.Well there was uproar, no one said when we booked a table of 12 it would have service charge. No one said meal included in room rate didnt include service. And to make it easy we had actually prebooked the menu so never saw a menu with prices or details of service.

whomitconcerns

Dario Small Mail wrote: »

Can you 'legally' refuse to pay the service charge? Or is it at the discretion of the restaurant that they allow you to remove it from the bill?

I would never leave a tip in addition to a service charge. We only leave a tip where we feel the waiting staff deserved a tip.

If the service or food is not as expected, we always mention it to the restaurant manager before we leave the restaurant. The Irish love a good moan about poor service/food but they never seem to tell the people that can actually do something about it.

Edit: tipping in the US is a PITA. That fake overly nice service you get, just so they get a tip. Sometimes I'd like to scream 'oh just f**k off and have a good one yourself'

It's generally an 'optional' service charge. In which case remove away!

Toots

ArthurG wrote: »

Why on earth would you pay a tip on top of service charge?. Was the server pressurising you with threats of violence or was it the usual Irish 'I don't want to make a scene'.

My local Cafe Mao used to always do this. First time it happened, I’d seen that there was a service charge on the menu, but my husband didn’t see it, and he paid the bill. When I asked him why he gave a tip, he hadn’t realised that service was included, and the waiter had handed him the pin pad on the gratuity screen.

Second time, I got the pin pad, again handed over on the gratuity screen, opted not to pay the gratuity, only to have the waiter then ask was everything not ok with the meal. I told him that everything was fine, but that since service was already being charged, I wasn’t going to be adding a tip on top of it, and it was a bit cheeky to be expecting one. Made sure to say it loud enough so the surrounding tables could hear and hopefully save someone else from being either tricked or pressured into tipping on top of the service charge.

goat2

whomitconcerns wrote: »

It's generally an 'optional' service charge. In which case remove away!

I have not seen Optional printed next to service charge on any munu

whomitconcerns

goat2 wrote: »

I have not seen Optional printed next to service charge on any munu

Well attached is a link to the ivy's menu. Look to the bottom right.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://theivydublin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/04/1.3_TIMG_-AllDay_autumn_2017_07.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjR-OG4_frfAhXHUBUIHd8hCvYQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2evwZI22tgx5VxQCTJpJYk

awec

The American-esque tipping culture is creeping in here more and more and it really needs to go away.

goat2

whomitconcerns wrote: »

Well attached is a link to the ivy's menu. Look to the bottom right.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://theivydublin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/04/1.3_TIMG_-AllDay_autumn_2017_07.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjR-OG4_frfAhXHUBUIHd8hCvYQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2evwZI22tgx5VxQCTJpJYk

Then it is either that or leaving on table, that is if food and service is good, if not, then nothing

slave1

For me it's simple, plenty of restaurant choices out there and a service charge is a joke for a small number, I'd just get up and leave.

c6ysaphjvqw41k

Normally I will round the bill up, so if its €47 I would just leave €50. I don't go out of my way to tip, unless the service is amazing or we have a huge party and it was a lot of work for them. If somewhere has a service charge I never have asked for it to be removed, I'll just pay it and that will be that. Never heard something as ridiculous as what the OP described though. Normally I've just seen a straight 10% extra added on.

My husband is from the NY area of the US and the norm for most places is 18-20%. We both think this is ridiculous when they are just doing their job and most of the time annoy us, just leave me alone to eat my food stop coming over to me. Really think they should just be paid properly to begin with, why should I have to pay the workers on top of my food. We went out for food once with his sister and the service was fine so we left 15%. His sister added on to it saying we HAD to give 20%.

We went out for dinner with his mother a few months ago and the service and the food was actually terrible. It was cold, all arrived separately, tasted bad, they forgot stuff etc. Never got knives/forks etc. We both said we wouldn't tip because the service was terrible. His mother still wanted to give 20%. We eventually talked her down to 15% which I still think was ridiculous.

We had a family meal that same trip for 40 of us which cost my in laws $1200. There was 6 people serving us and she gave them $50 each of a tip, so it was an extra $300 dollars. I couldn't get over that. If that was in Ireland my dad probably would have given an extra €100-€150 between them all and I would think that was being generous.

Rochelle

I'm curious why anyone tips at all in Ireland?

The staff are (presumably) on a minimum wage, the same as the checkout person in the supermarket or the clothes shop assistant, you'd never dream of tipping them?

The argument that the waiter has been attending to you for a couple of hours v the checkout operator for just minutes doesn't stack up as each gets paid accordingly per the amount of time attending you, if you see what I mean.

I live in a country where the poor feckers get paid appalling badly, with no minimum wage so I will always tip (not that I eat out much), but I can't fathom the logic in Ireland.

goat2

Rochelle wrote: »

I'm curious why anyone tips at all in Ireland?

The staff are (presumably) on a minimum wage, the same as the checkout person in the supermarket or the clothes shop assistant, you'd never dream of tipping them?

The argument that the waiter has been attending to you for a couple of hours v the checkout operator for just minutes doesn't stack up as each gets paid accordingly per the amount of time attending you, if you see what I mean.

I live in a country where the poor feckers get paid appalling badly, with no minimum wage so I will always tip (not that I eat out much), but I can't fathom the logic in Ireland.

I have worked in restaurants, and always with the understanding, that tips are not essential to be given, we are supposed to be employed by the company restaurant, and be paid by the restaurant owner for work done, not depending on good will, it is a job not a good will centre