Wednesday 14 September 2011

Service charge to charge or not to charge, they just charge it anyway!

I often dine out and I don't feel that you should tip if the quality of the food is bad, the food service was slow, the waiters are unhelpful or rude or if I didn't enjoy my dining out experience.

I won't name and shame places, that I have not paid service charge but you can imagine its a little awkward when you tell them that their restaurant sucked. If a customer does not want to pay service charge then they shouldn't challenge it in front of the eyes of all the diners in the restaurant. After the bill is paid and the diners are about to leave with their coats, then the restauranteur should ask is there anyway we could improve your meal? That's the polite way of getting feedback, if the person is grumpy general then they will complain, if there was a legitimate reason they will mention it. If they want to be stingy and save £18 then they will just say it was OK. Word of mouth goes a long way.

A restaurant faux par I have noticed when restaurants have a voucher deal they increase the service charge for all diners. One restaurant increased service charge from 12.5% to 20%. How do I know this I eat at the restaurant then I get my voucher deal email. Go on the website to see how good the set menu deal is. Read the terms and conditions, pedantic but you should know what you are buying these days. If there is no service charge included I look at the restaurant website and their menu. To see whether it's better to use the deal or go there normally. Or eat at a new restaurant I haven't tried. Yes these are my thought processes when I book a table.

I think that the service charge is now averaging 12.5% but in London you pay up to 25%. The big who ha about whether the waiters and waitress receive the tips, well I really hope they receive it for the level of service they give. But from a business perspective if you have lots of outgoing food wastage & no dinners then you are seriously in trouble. Skimming of tips so you can still run or you can make a better gross profit. You might think that is really cheeky. Same concept is happening in recruitment market some companies just pay staff the Bare minimum to keep afloat or cut staff down leave the people remaining to do 2 roles.

When I have eaten at amazing restaurants I use to be able to write the gratuity. One particular exceptional restaurant I left £50 tip dinner party of two meal was £80 plus my tip I think that works out as 62% tip. The oyster were fresh, the menu was inventive, the waiter was polite had good knowledge of menu, they did not hassle us , poured the wine correctly by twisting at the bottle so it doesn't drip, the wine had a cork not screw cap, the wine was reasonably price and tasted good with depth, they don't fill my glass until it is empty, or even better they leave me to pour the wine, the attention to detailed quality of food, the food is cooked with passion with every leaves you wanting more, a good cocktail as aperitif, the dessert has to rich and with lots of choice, the decor and ambience should be inviting, seating area should not be tightly packed n I hate sitting on a table near the toilet.

If a restaurant gets it right they really do get it right and they will override the recession, be busy and receive a good gratuity. I don't think that it should be automatically added to the bill. People should be able to pay the amount of gratuity they feel the service deserves. Being in a recession most people tend to not want to pay tips. If people are dining out they have the capacity to decide where to go and what their budget is. But shouldn't it be in the choice of the diners to pay gratuity based upon the emphasis of discretionary?

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