Rip-off Britain: Part 1 - Service charges in restaurants

Has anyone noticed how restaurants automatically assume that we will pay service charge irrespective of whether we have received any meaningful attention from their minimum-wage waitress who has a look on her face that says she would very much prefer to be elsewhere?

I am tired of the way they automatically add service charge to bills. Whilst most people are resigned to the fact that restaurants will add on this ‘discretionary charge’, I am making a stand because I want to tip based on the standard of service I have received. Why should we be pressured into an additional service charge? On many occasions, people are being forced to double tip, meaning the practice is adding another 8-10% on the bill without many of us realising will add up if we are not careful.

I have always left a tip at the end of my meals at restaurants but when paying by card, I am finding waiters and waitresses asking for me to confirm both the amount and the amount of gratuity I wish to add. Having done that, many people then leave a tip on the table for waiting staff.

I have spoken to many waiters and waitresses in restaurants who have said that tips no longer go to them but the boss direct. As a result, many waiters and waitresses miss out on our generosity. I consider myself capable of judging how much is appropriate to leave and I should not have to compensate for people who don’t tip. Next time you find yourself paying by card at a restaurant, insist on paying the bill by card and then tip, if you so wish, by cash.