Should I refuse to pay service charge and leave cash tips?

A question about : Should I refuse to pay service charge and leave cash tips?

I regularly eat at a local restaurant, which always adds a 12.5% service charge to the bill. Service is good so I haven't minded paying it. However, I recently discovered that about 80% of that money doesn't even go to the staff who serve me, the restaurant keeps it. How can I get around this? Should I refuse to pay the service charge from now on and give cash tips to the waiter/waitresses?

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Best answers:

• Sounds like a good idea to decline the sneaky service charge - provided that it is not mandatory - and leave cash, if the staff is allowed to keep all the cash?
  That being said I personally think it is more fair that tips are divided between all the staff not just the waiters/waitresses.
• If it is a compulsory/mandatory service charge (you are told before ordering or it is written on the menu) then unless the service is poor you have to pay.
  If not and it is a suggested service charge, then yes I would ask for it to be removed and I would tip as I felt appropriate.
• I wouldn't pay it.
• I avoid paying that kind of charge and leave a tip for the waitress, it's up to her if she keeps it or shares it.
• Decline the service charge, leave the tip in cash.
• If it's a mandatory service charge, stop eating there!
  Here in the UK we really don't want to become another US with expected tips and automatic charges, all of which just depress wages and line owners pockets.
• I always request that the service charge is removed and always choose if and how much I pay as a tip. If I ate somewhere and they added a mandatory tip I would never eat there again and voice my displeasure upon leaving.
  I personally hate the idea of having to tip for somebody who is possible on a low wage. If they want to earn more they should get a better job, if they need qualification to do what they want they should go and do it, otherwise put up and shut up. I feel I should be paid more in my job but I certainly wouldn't request tips from anybody.
  Sometimes I feel guilted into leaving something but I rarely carry any cash at all, maybe a pound or something but if anything goes wrong with the meal I don't mind leaving nothing.
  I'm really put off going anywhere where the tip system is in full force such as America and just hate the idea of it full stop.
• I complained to the manager and never went there again.
  he was informed of this.
• A lot of people who serve the public are on low wages, but they don't get tips!
• why is this MMD in the "Money Saving Mums" section?
• I work in the service industry and you pay for the service so it should go to the person providing it. I happen to be very good at my job and shouldn't have to share it with others who aren't so good. I completely believe that tips should always be optional and my service is the same for tippers and non tippers.
• Always check whether a restaurent applies a compulsery service charge before you go. If they do - DON'T GO!! If everyone keeps paying the service charge, they will keep applying it.
  When booking a table ask about the service charge, if they say they apply a compulsory charge, tell them you don't want to eat there because of it, and at some point they may realise they are losing customers and stop charging it.
  Tipping for good service should always be voluntary and should be awarded to the person providing the good service.
• I resent additional charges like this, after all, I'm not billed for the electricity for cooking, or the washing up, so why should a service charge be included? The whole tip thing is a minefield, my hairdresser informed me people tip her, so now I feel uncomfortable because I don't - I've already paid a fair deal for the service - and am planning to go elsewhere. I do tip cab drivers if they help with luggage or shopping or hold the door open, not otherwise. Businesses should charge a fair price - and pay a fair wage - and not add on extras!
• Why tip in the first place. No one ever gave me a tip at work. Just because it becomes popular doesn't mean it has to be done. On some cruise ships to get a decent meal at a suitable time tips have to be paid up front. What a scam. I know this will upset some waiting staff but let's get real and pay them a decent wage in the first place.
• When I used to work in Catering (Restaurant) the bill stated: "Service Charge Included"
  That meant people paid or signed the bill but left no tips. They thought we were getting a percentage of the bill - which we didn't!
  No matter how hard we worked and tried to make the meal an enjoyable occasion, we rarely got tips.
  TAX: And yet our pay was taxed on the tips we didn't receive. We couldn't persuade the Tax Office that we didn't get as many tips as they were taxing us for.
  It felt very unfair.
  Some customers did make a big deal over it and asked to see the Hotel Manager. But they had no actual way of removing it. We were part of a Chain of Hotels.
  It was one way of making guests meals sound less expensive.
  In effect they were taxed on their food and we were taxed for serving it.
• I eat out about once a month and always tip the waiter personally. As far as I know the tip is shared between the staff. I would not eat somewhere that tries the money grab.
  In your case I would approach the owner and suggest that you are unhappy about their policy. If the response is positive, fine. If not, tell them you might reconsider whether to eat there again.
  Although not exactly the same experience, twice I have stopped using takeaways, which I had patronised about once a week for a long time.
  The first was when I got the wrong order 3 times but the shop did not apologise. Their response was "you don't have to use us". I never did thereafter.
  The second was when a lunchtime special ( discount) was withdrawn without warning. This was not sufficient to stop me going there, because I understand a business needs to make a profit. It was the take it or leave it manner, in which I was told about it, which made me stop.
  It takes time and hard work for restaurants earn customer loyalty. A moment of rudeness can wreck it and a lost customer is a lost income.
• Unfortunately many who serve your food have not had a College Certificate (such as City and Guilds) in Catering.
  Therefore, their wages are cheap.
  As was stood/walking for a solid 3 hours during lunch time having served for a solid 4 hours for breakfast - and inbetween cleaned up and re-set the dinning room, vacuumed and polished etc.
  I used to suffer back ache because of this 'cheap labour' and smiled and rushed to serve customers through it.
  I don't just tip chambermaids, waiters, bar men etc I also give annual tips to the refuse collectors and postman. It's my way of saying 'Thankyou' for hard work and being pleasant.
  If I have not received a good service I do not tip.
  But we are hardly paying a Kings ransom are we?
  And if better wages were paid to staff (which I actually agree with you on) then the price of the food would go up.
  I don't eat out as much as I used to, it's just too expensive. But if I do, I always leave a 'little something' by way of thanking them for making my meal an occasion.