The Weekly Gripe

Service charge at a restaurant

Tipping in restaurants

You must be joking....

Why do we tip or pay an extra service charge in restaurants - at all? You've paid for the food and the staff are paid by the restaurant, surely you should expect to get good service as part of the deal.



You shouldn’t have to pay a tip for the food, because you have already paid for it and the waiters and waitresses are paid by the restaurant to serve the food. Why the need for this extra service charge?

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Posted Comment Visitor
08-11-2009 Reasons To NEVER Work At Denny's... 1. If you work day shift they have WAY to many servers, so you don't make any tip. 2. It pays LESS than minimum wage. 3. You don't REALLY get a break, but they take half an hour out of your paycheck as if you do. 4. They are open 24/7/365,...moreAnti-Denny's
04-11-2009 This kind of attitude is ignorant and selfish! You aren't tipping for your food, you are tipping for the service that comes along with going out to eat at a restaurant. People in the service industry are generally paid very little hourly wages and rely on their tips to be financially stable. I...moreALS
02-11-2009 Tipping...I'm all for it if the waiting staff are pleasant (and I don't mean obsequious or overly deferential - I get embarrassed at that). What pisses me off is the rude sods who act like they're doing you a favour by asking you what your order is, slam your plates/glasses down and the...moreBukowski
13-10-2009 Is the service charge on a restaurant bill always optional? On Sunday, I left a cash tip on the table before going to pay. I was told I could not remove the service charge from the bill, because it was not optional. Can this be right? I didn't have time to slug it out, but I would like to b...moreprincesspatrice
30-9-2009 It seems that many comments are made by those who have never worked in restaurants. In the past I have worked in Reataurants in Britain and American and the latter has a tipping culture and, while Britsih Reautants have vastly imporved, the service is wholly more consitent across all levels of eat...moreDainamo
28-9-2009 Some "waiters" - let's call them serving staff- especially those who work in third world ethnic eating establishments, very popular in this country, these staff are probably illegal immigrants. They are probably paid less than minimum wage. Tips, whether they are added as service ...moreWhere your tip goes
28-9-2009 The waiter at a restaurant doesn't directly see any of the "service charge" stated in small print on the bill. This charge gets pooled by the restaurant, and goes toward paying the staffs wages. You could refuse to pay this, and ask for this to be deducted from your bill. Whether you ...moreAnders
27-9-2009 Has anybody else out there realised that "campaign to stop Tipping" is obviously MikeP?Noyoulistentome
27-9-2009 Would someone please provide real documentary scientifically controlled evidence that tipping produces better service. It doesn't exist. Tipping is part of the black economy where employers use it as an excuse to exploit weakly unionised labour. And if they are foreign to rip them off altoge...moreCampaign to Stop Tipping
27-9-2009 "The restaurant is not a charity, but a business. Its owners must behave as if they are running a business." Fine in theory, but they don't, they pay low wages and rely on customers to make up the shortfall with tips. Is that such a bad thing? It does help to ensure that the ser...moreMikeP
27-9-2009 I don't despise ordinary working people. I despise beggars. People who tout for tips -taxi-drivers, waiters, hairdressers, porters - these people are behaving like beggars and will get short-shrift from me. Why don't they flog me a copy of the Big Issue while they are at it? The restaur...moreCampaign to Stop Tipping
26-9-2009 I agree no tipping, then the owners will have to pay a fair wage to each server.ian



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