'Discretionary' service charge in restaurants

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bogwarrior

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I've been to a few restaurants recently and have seen the following on the menu 'your bill will include a discretionary 10% service charge'. A lot of places do this if you're dining with a large group, but recently i've noticed it applying when you're dining as a couple.

Is this considered to be a tip though? I assume it is and never bother leaving a tip afterwards (for me, tipping is purely optional - with 10% my upper limit for outstanding service). Does anyone know if the staff get this 'discretionary service charge' or does the restaurant owner just pocket it?
 
I think you need to ask to know for sure if the service charge goes directly to the staff. Strictly if it's discretionary then you can refuse to pay it.
 
I have to say I don't think I have ever seen the word 'discretionary' mentioned when the 10% is stated on the menu-which restaurants/where have you seen it?
 
I don't pay tip/service-charge as part of the bill when paying by credit card. I give cash to the waiter/waitress. If (s)he decides to pool it afterwards, it is their choice.
 
I have to say the expectation of service staff in Dublin/Ireland that they are automatically entitled to a tip of at least 10% really annoys me - not that I bother paying it if not satisfied with the service.

Tipping originated in the US as a means of a) rewarding exceptional service, and b) supplementing the very meagre earnings of wait staff. With our generous minimum wage, wait staff here do not need to supplement their earnings by means of a (what is fast becoming a socially mandatory) tip, for often incredibly shoddy service.
 
I've come across it a few times in the UK - Scotland in particular.
I'm also pretty sure the I saw it in l'Ecrvian in Dublin last year - there was a service charge, I can't be 100% sure if it stated 'discretionary'.

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1083792003

like some previous posters , I also like to tip with cash and not with my credit card. And that is if I tip at all, it all depends on the service.
 
I have noticed that 10% service charge varies with table size, some restaurants stating for parties of >6 and others >8. I wonder if this is will be abused by not actually charging the customers and at the end of the trading day deducting 10% of their sales registered?
 
I'm never confident that the waiting staff get the tip if it's paid on the credit card, so I never pay it there either. I also think that restaurants have a cheek adding the service charge. I mean that is the point of going to a restaurant to eat - that the meal is served up to you!!! I give a tip when I feel that the service was good and not just the least you'd expect
 
Cafe Rouge (UK Branches not sure aboutthe ex-dublin one - I never went to the chain again) had it on their receipt - After payment of a bill for 2 coffees/cakes and having the money ready to pay what i expected it to be. I went up - they charged me more at the till and as I walked away inspecting the recipt i noticed the words "A 10% discretionary service charge has been included in your bill".

I felt like going back and asking for it back. But didn't and never went near the chain again.

I dont believe you should be rewarded extra for doing your job. I believe in rewarding those that have done extra over their job (efficient/pleasant service)
 
With regard to tipping on cc, the standard practice for the waiter to go back to the cc machine and reenter card number and transaction number. From this point they can then re-enter the new amount, place the reciept in the till and remove the cash as a tip. I am not sure if this will inspire confidence, but most floor staff should be aware of this.
I also agree that tipping should not be automatic (and I have worked as both waiter and barman during college years).
 
Hi Amygdala, do you mean that the cc transaction can be altered without a new signature or the cc owner re-entering their PIN??? I really hope that's not the case, or I will become a totally cash person
 
Yes,defintely without a new signature. Every cc machine has this function. To access the "tipping out" function you need to known a merchant pin no., cc no. and transaction no. The latter two are on the receipt. I am not sure about chip and pin, but I do not see why not, as this is usually done when then establishment is closing up, which means even if the customer is diligent enough to keep their cc receipt, it will not be the correct one.
 
ClubMan said:
Whyever not!?
Click to expand...

It was two coffee's and two muffins - the 10% service charge was something like 90 pence. I thought the hassle wasnt worth it and overall they lost my business. If it had been dinner I would have been demanded it back. Sometimes its not worth fighting the little battles but look towards the war!
 

I would be on to the ODCA like a shot. It shouldn't be up to look for your money back. they displayed a price and then charged you more. They should be prosecuted for theft.

Have a look at the attached.


[broken link removed]



Restaurants
The Retail Prices (Food in Catering Establishments) Display Order, 1984 requires every person who sells by retail, food intended for consumption on the premises, to display a comprehensive price list in the manner specified in the order.
What Prices must be displayed?
  • The price charged for each food on sale at the premises, which is covered by the Order, must be displayed.
  • Where there is a range of certain foods on sale, only the highest and lowest prices charged need be displayed. The foods in question are: Soups, ice creams, cakes, pastry, sandwiches or sandwich rolls or similar foods made mainly from flour, carbonated or aerated waters, whether coloured or not and whether flavoured or not, or fruit juices or similar beverages (Article 3(3)).
  • Where different prices are charged at different times or days, these different prices must be specified, together with the items to which they relate.
What about Charges ?
If there is a;
  • minimum charge,
  • a service charge*,
  • a cover charge,
  • a charge for entertainment or
  • any similar charge, the amount of such charge must be specified, and what the charge relates to must be indicated. * If the service charge is included in the price of the food, the fact that it is included must be indicated.
 
Sunnyboy said:
I would be on to the ODCA like a shot. It shouldn't be up to look for your money back. they displayed a price and then charged you more. They should be prosecuted for theft.
Click to expand...
The incident occured in the UK, as did those which prompted the OP to post, so the ODCA isn't going to have any interest.
 
Amygdala said:
Yes,defintely without a new signature. Every cc machine has this function. To access the "tipping out" function you need to known a merchant pin no., cc no. and transaction no.
Click to expand...

I don't see why a new signature would be needed anyway. Normally when you pay a tip by credit card isn't there a space to write the tip on the receipt and sign it? Surely going back into the system afterwards to change the transaction is just matching up the amount in the system with what has been signed for as the customer has already manually amended the orginally printed receipt to include the tip they want to leave.
 
I know that in Milano Galway that the staff can take the tip if it is given via credit card - because I asked if they actually received it.

Marion
 
Lemongrass in Howth is the same - the guy I asked told me that the computer tots up what should have been paid for menu items etc. and any balance is shared among the staff as tips which seems fair to me. I don't mind a service charge being added on as I would tip anyway but what really bugs me is when a service charge is added on but the cc signature slip still leaves the 'gratuity' line blank as if thy expect more. I was in a restaurant (unsurprisingly not in Ireland) recently where the server had already written 'included' in the blank gratuity space before giving it to me - v v unusual - I almost left more in cash I was so surprised!
 
Yes, that's my experience too - I always assumed that the waiting staff did not get the tip when added to my credit card bill, but a waitress friend recently informed me that she can "cash out" this tip later.

But just to be sure - I always ask the waiting staff.
 
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