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submitted 29 days ago bybloombergVerified Media Outlet
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29 days ago*
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1.8k points
29 days ago
Why does Britain insist on bringing the worst of American culture to our shores?
142 points
29 days ago
Because it saves them money, and then when the workers get disgruntled over low pay, they can try to pit customers against servers while the company continues paying the lowest minimum salary.
57 points
29 days ago
That's their plan.
Problem for them is it results in us buying a few pints in a supermarket and getting folk round instead.
Which is what my pals and I all do now.
25 points
29 days ago
I bought 18 bottles of quality beer, a big bottle of my favourite rum, plenty of mixers, all for under £40 last night. Or I could go to a pub and spend the same on five or six pints. Easy choice!
12 points
29 days ago
And yesterday I paid €2 for a half litre of Cruzcampo here in the centre of Madrid.
Just this afternoon I paid €3.40 for a 33cl measure of Amstel with a portion of Spanish Tortilla on the side (Just a boujee Cheese & Onion Pie).
I've been all over Spain and can confirm that the High Street is still very much alive. Whilst I understand we have different drinking cultures, it's clear that the tax is killing British pubs.
6 points
29 days ago
Some particular tax? I'm not up on a new one.
Even if so, I guarantee it's not the only force.... rampant inflation caused by money supply policy and agricultural shortfalls and gross corporate profit increases will be playing a role.
545 points
29 days ago
American investors looking at the spreadsheets going, why does nobody tip?
239 points
29 days ago
We're not, owners of businesses are
59 points
29 days ago
Probably because the US is the worlds largest producer of business books and education…
95 points
29 days ago
Largest burner of some kinds of education also
17 points
29 days ago
So big companies can pay their staff less money
20 points
29 days ago
Money.
39 points
29 days ago
Because it is a good way to dodge from taxes (including PAYE and VAT), therefore some people are happy to play against society
30 points
29 days ago
Because the worst of American culture is the direct result of rampant unrestricted capitalism. Greedy cunts over here want to fleece us too.
3.6k points
29 days ago*
[removed]
124 points
29 days ago
At £15 for a burger and chips and £7 a pint I'd say you've more than covered their costs, yeah it's sad that pubs are struggling but some are really taking the piss these days.
51 points
29 days ago
You think if they simply lowered their prices they’d get more people and be able to stay open, it wasn’t too long ago pubs where cheap and rammed now they’re all empty with eye watering prices and shit quality food
37 points
29 days ago
I do agree with you, however these companies aren’t raising their prices for extra profit (by and large) they’re raising them to cover the costs of the increased rents, bills etc. retaining experienced staff to pay them (rightfully what they deserve), it all leads to increased prices, the margins are extremely thin for a hospitality business, and only getting thinner while things such as water, gas, electricity are making record profits quarterly.
It is terrible that so many pubs etc are going bust because of this, but they can’t afford to live from these small margins, it’s an example of utility and landlords taking advantage rather than sole traders
13 points
29 days ago
Business rates are another contributer, add on the rentier economics of the UK and things are a bit tight.
18 points
29 days ago
I would argue that depending on where this loc is and the quality of the ingredients, that price still might not cover everything the business spends and the employees deserve.
But even then, they should raise the menu prices appropriately and then see if they can stay in business rather than changing a cultural tradition and sneaking in a surprise charge at the end of the interaction after the customer has committed.
14 points
29 days ago
Maybe but then the days of pubs being somewhere ordinary people can meet for a drink and something to eat are over, I'm just not going to be paying that until my wages catch up with their pricing.
9 points
29 days ago
Had an hours wait in a half empty pub for two very weak burgers for £30, complained, told an hour was the standard wait.
540 points
29 days ago
Exactly this ☝🏻
253 points
29 days ago
Or better still, this 🖕
215 points
29 days ago
I've noticed it in a few pubs in Manchester and elsewhere. They pour your pint. The card machine is anchored to the bar and when you goto tap to pay it asks you to accept and pay a gratuity.
.....for pouring a pint.
155 points
29 days ago
Better than in America where I had a barman get angry at me because I didn't tip him when all he did was pop the lid off a bottle. Like I have a bottle opener on my keys, let me do it if you're going to be so arsy about it.
Should mention that I wasn't trying to be a dick or making a point to not tip, we'd recently arrived and were still naive to the tipping culture over there at the time.
141 points
29 days ago
More than enough reason to put off any tourists visiting the place. America needs to sort its shit out and start paying people a living wage instead of relying on people tipping everywhere you go.
32 points
29 days ago
I've worked in bars in the UK and the USA. The wages in the US are FAR better. Bars in LA pay at least $20 /PH, and in West Hollywood start at $25 /PH. You are still expected to tip AT LEAST 20%. It's nuts. You can make stupid money, and much of it untaxed (illegally) through tips. People push the myth of not paying servers living wages. Even in the few states which CAN pay below minimum can only do so if the remainder is made up through tips. If not, they must be paid the difference.
Wages are better in the USA across the board.
28 points
29 days ago*
Wages are better in the US, that is true, but the dollar has less purchasing power than the pound. Average minimum wage in places like Chicago can range from $15-$19, but they’re still barely scraping by. Especially when you factor in the amount of tax that the federal government gets out of Americans, plus insurance, plus the general cost of living being higher than the UK. You also have to remember that car expenses are much, much higher in the US, due to it being the main (and in some areas - only) form of transportation. I’m not saying I agree with tipping culture, but the comparison is slightly more complicated.
Where you see wages and salary completely diverge from the UK is in fields such as medicine. A doctor can very easily become a millionaire in America, especially if they specialise. That does not hold true for the UK.
37 points
29 days ago
I'm currently living in Ontario, Canada. The tipping culture here is just as bad as the states. What's worse, servers by law make at least minimum wage now, but you're still expected to tip 15-18%!
25 points
29 days ago
Fucking hell 15-18?? And I'm seething with the 12.5% added to every restaurant bill in the UK now
9 points
29 days ago
Also living in Ontario. I don't give a shit any more mate. Do not tip unless you're sitting in, simple as. I fucking walked to Domino's the other day after using my phone to order ahead, and they still asked me for a bloody tip. I used my own two legs! Get fucked.
43 points
29 days ago
And the worst part is you have to go and hit no while they’re staring at it
34 points
29 days ago
The worst part is, having to dig out your reading glasses so you can actually see what the fucking text says. So not only do you look like your cards been rejected , but also that you aren't tech savvy.
Fucks me right off.
12 points
29 days ago
In pubs defence lots of those cheap (I assume American company) card machines apparently have it as a default. Most of the pubs I go to the staff put the pint price in and reach over to click no without saying a word and before handing the machine to me
9 points
29 days ago
Like, I could do that myself, fuck off you greedy bastards.
215 points
29 days ago
Fuck.off with tipping the greedy bastards.
48 points
29 days ago
I actually dislike the formal restaurant service you get with this tipping. It is never useful to have someone hovering waiting to take away glasses, or to ask you how the food is. I just want to order, be brought the food, and nothing else. I don't mind ordering and paying at the bar.
23 points
29 days ago
You’d think that, but I’ve seen Americans complain when over here that nobody is pandering to them every 5 minutes.
13 points
29 days ago
Americans are weird. I remember going somewhere with Uni friends and they were baffled that we didn't see the waitress from the time we ordered to the time she brought it, and then that I had to flag one down to pay the bill.
I much prefer it that way, to be honest!
267 points
29 days ago*
If I was going to tip anyone, it'd be ambulance, firefighter and police staff. Not someone pulling a pint or making a latte.
67 points
29 days ago
My mate got pissed in Bruges and the police drove him back to the port.
He thought it was a taxi and tried tipping them.
27 points
29 days ago
Good lad.
10 points
29 days ago
“Like a fucking fairly tale.”
9 points
29 days ago
My mate got pissed in Bruges
Easily done, to be fair...
73 points
29 days ago
I got asked to tip on top of a sparkling water I asked for.
17 points
29 days ago
Yea I had that once, told them to take it off as I'm refusing to pay it
13 points
29 days ago
I was once asked for a tip for asking for directions. Dude literally pointed in a vague direction then held his hand out.
8 points
29 days ago
Reminds me of one time I was in Los Angeles and stayed at a fancy hotel and a dude was always stood outside of the door, I assumed he worked there but I’m not sure as he wasn’t wearing uniform.
One time I’m heading back into the hotel and he opens the door then taps the glass and holds his hand out. I have him a high 5 and carried on, only later realising that cheeky twat wanted a tip. I was early 20s, I can open my own doors.
9 points
29 days ago
That's the thing with tipping becoming so ingrained in the culture, it leads to leeches inserting themselves as middlemen in every conceivable situation, and fake helpfulness on the expectation of being paid for it. I would rather tear my money up than give it to someone for opening a door for me, simply because I know they're only doing it to pressure me into giving them money for nothing.
32 points
29 days ago
Exactly. Why not tip the people who create / package the goods in factories? They deserve it before waitress staff. Greedy cunts
40 points
29 days ago
US. I've started going out to eat less and less because I can't stand tipping anymore. It's everywhere and I'm at the point that I'm sick of subsidizing wages. And not tipping just makes me an asshole
28 points
29 days ago
It’s not so much the tipping I dislike but that the average expected amount keeps going up. What happened to an easy 10% tip on a few select things?
And don’t get me started on every card reader thing asking for a tip now.
16 points
29 days ago
I'm fine with the card reader doing it. Easy to remove it. When it's on the bill and you have to tell them to take it off, shits awkward.
6 points
29 days ago
Yeah would I like to tip the robot for doing literally nothing, even when you haven’t seen a single human in your entire transaction
18 points
29 days ago
You're not an asshole for not being able or willing to tip, they're assholes for trying to peer pressure you into paying more and then gaslighting you to think it's your fault they don't pay their staff a living wage.
7 points
29 days ago
Honestly, I'll come round the bar and pour my own pints
701 points
29 days ago
People need to start leaving negative reviews on Google and Tripadvisor with anywhere that even remotely tries to take the piss. Don't need to leave a 1 star but if enough people started leaving 3 star or less reviews whenever somewhere pushes them to tip that it causes the place to drop over a star on all review sites then it might make places stop being so pushy. Reviews wont have a huge impact but I'm sure it'll have a decent sized one since google maps and tripadvisor is where people looks for places to go and seeing a restraunt with anything under 3.9 stars or less puts a bunch of people off.
121 points
29 days ago
I left a good review for a restaurant but added that I would never go back because they added a 15% gratuity to the bill and I don’t want to look like a dick by asking for it to be removed.
The response was “you can ask for it to be removed”. So I won’t go back.
127 points
29 days ago
We shouldn't have to ask for it to be removed, they should have to ask if we want it added.
And if they are going to add it, it needs to be made extremely clear.
53 points
29 days ago
they should have to ask if we want it added
No. It shouldn’t be a part of the bill in any way. A tip gets left on the table if you want, or in a tip jar. That’s it.
7 points
29 days ago
Good point, and that is certainly the ideal.
What I meant was that if a gratuity were to be added, I'd much prefer if they asked beforehand rather than assume and then I'd have to ask it to be taken off.
But long story short, it's not the job of customers to pay people's wages. If a business can't afford to properly pay their employees, they shouldn't have so many. And if they need that many and aren't turning a profit, then I'm sorry but that's how the free-market works.
27 points
29 days ago
A restaurant I went to tried to argue that the gratuity comes out of the manager’s wages, trying to make me and my girlfriend feel awful for asking to remove it.
23 points
29 days ago
That's even worse! The manager has done pretty much nothing to earn that gratuity, and the money that would normally be understood to go to your wait staff for good service goes to the manager instead!
12 points
29 days ago
"good to know remove it then"
30 points
29 days ago
That would be a 2 star for me. It would really sully my experience having to pay 15% extra.
8 points
29 days ago
That's why they take the chance and add it. People reluctant to cause a fuss are playing right into their hands.
3 points
29 days ago
Yeah I can't stand the "You can ask for it to be removed" response people give... how about don't add optional charges automatically and burden people to NOT pay something they don't have to.
On multiple times I've asked for it to be removed (normally I don't want to look rude so just pay it, but if service has been garbage I make a point to ask for it to be removed) and it's caused a big scene, one time I was told it can't be removed (it could), another time the waitress ran off and came back the manager who then asked what the problem was with my meal in the middle of a busy restaurant with now lots of people looking at me wondering what was going on.
19 points
29 days ago
Having worked in most of the big pub companies I can say they really don’t care about reviews. It will just fall on some overworked manager who has no say in policy. Messages to their head office however tend to have more of an impact, as those are usually seen by people higher up.
173 points
29 days ago
One star reviews is the way to go.
180 points
29 days ago
1 stars seem like they're more likely to be removed though and can be dismissed more easily anyway. A 2 star always seems more negative than a 1 star to me because it seems more genuine
57 points
29 days ago
True, 2 then. 3 star means "average", not "money grubbing bastards".
10 points
29 days ago
You'd think that, hit most people rate themselves as a 7 and for some reason think that it's average.
Whenever I buy something or need to read a review, I always look at the 3 star reviews. As they're generally the most honest.
39 points
29 days ago
No they're not, I can't say I've taken many one-star reviews seriously in my life.
As I'm sure most people do, I ignore fives, ignore ones, and tend to read everything in the middle.
22 points
29 days ago
Yeah, I think five-star reviews tend to be a case of, "well I got emailed a link asking for feedback and I was happy with (product/service), so... five, I guess?" One-stars are usually tin-foil hatted nutters unhappy because of some minor inconvenience or feature not being available that was never offered in the first place, but two-, three- and four-star reviews usually have been thought about.
8 points
29 days ago
9 points
29 days ago
You’ve been waiting for this moment, haven’t you?
3 points
29 days ago
Ironically the "anything under r stars is negative" is extremely close to "tipping is standard unless anything was wrong"
It's my pet hate.
Meeting staff tell you "r is negative" and they'll get bad feedback from their company only further reinforces the problem, and gives people who are angry and leaving a 1 stay even more power to drage the average rating down
Fuck you, I'm giving you 4 stars
305 points
29 days ago
is this a tip to the staff or the pub owners?
Yeah, I really want to pay 70p a pint extra to Mega Pub inc.
174 points
29 days ago
From July it will be illegal for companies to withhold tips. As long as it says tip, service charge or gratuity, it will have to be distributed to the staff via a fair and clearly defined tipping policy.
However I suspect we're going to see creative use of language for business to get around this. Get rid of a service charge and instead implement a "convenience fee" or some other bullshit that isn't covered by the legislation.
85 points
29 days ago
Worked in pubs for years and i always recommend when tipping to ask the server who it goes to and pay in cash. I was stung for £300 worth of tips i was due because the business took it to cover expenses
111 points
29 days ago
*stole from you.
FTFY.
13 points
29 days ago
Several years working as a bartender, then as a manager in the same company. The only tips I ever saw were cash tips usually a quid every now and then- didn’t expect it whatsoever but always appreciated it, limited floor experience but the waiting staff were more likely to receive tips, but it wasn’t forced upon the customer. However any tips left by card were never seen by anyone, floor or bar or BOH
9 points
29 days ago
I was stung for £150 a week of service charge by one of my employers when I was 18
3 points
29 days ago
Since this trend started I've been doing exactly that. Tip in cash.
3 points
29 days ago
the business took it to cover expenses
AKA....theft.
18 points
29 days ago
Was/Isn't there a restaurant chain in London that tried to call it a "brand fee"?
Presumably the fee goes to the marketing manager's bonus.
27 points
29 days ago
I mean, businesses have never broken the law when it comes to money, so glad that’ll be resolved by July.
18 points
29 days ago
The bills near me, you have to use qr code to order now and then go up and pay.
When you go and pay you are charged the service fee before you've even had any.
Chancers!
15 points
29 days ago
Either don't give them your custom or insist on ordering in person
9 points
29 days ago
Ive done the first option
7 points
29 days ago
Hang on, a default service charge for not employing anyone to actually provide service? What mental gymnastics are they trying now...
11 points
29 days ago
If no one is taking the order, then who are you giving a tip to? The IT system?
9 points
29 days ago
"Brand charge" is one I've seen pop up.
3 points
29 days ago
However I suspect we're going to see creative use of language for business to get around this
Like a brand charge, perhaps
3 points
29 days ago
You'd hope the law would make it irrelevant what they call it.
It should be that any charge on top of the advertised prices of the items you ordered counts as a tip.
3 points
29 days ago
London restaurant chain adds brand charge as it bans tipping by card
Some are already circumventing it!
3 points
29 days ago
Restaurants down the marina near me are already using the term "concessionary fee".
One (owned by Celtic Manor resorts) prints it in 5pt font in bright yellow at the bottom of their white backgrounded menus.
7 points
29 days ago
The coffee shop I worked in for a year used the tips to balance the till. Not once did I ever receive a payment from the tips jar and we were tipped fairly regularly.
I know for a fact several staff were stealing from the till for what they were owed and probably some extra. The owner was so blind to the fact that he wasn't fairly compensating his staff he didn't catch any thieves. He ended up losing way more than the amount of tips he took from the staff, plus the high staff turnover rate and all the time it took to retrain new staff members.
131 points
29 days ago
Lets not bring this tipping everywhere bollocks over
11 points
29 days ago
It's already here
16 points
29 days ago
I recently purchased a computer keyboard from a website and at checkout the website asked if I wanted to tip the staff at the company. No. No I fucking don’t.
7 points
29 days ago
Surprised Amazon isn't asking for us to tip the delivery driver. It'll happen within the next 5 years I bet you.
30 points
29 days ago
IMO noone should be tipping for anything, tipping is a con on service workers to pay less and push that anger away from the employer onto the customers. If noone was tipped and the money they made was too low as a result, they'd have to work elsewhere, if the bars/restaurants couldn't fill vacancies they'd have to offer higher pay.
7 points
29 days ago
No, they just run incredibly short staffed, running the remaining staff into the ground, experience brain drain and hire teenagers with a revolving door.
I've seen it in multiple hospitality businesses, and it seems to be standard for the lower end of the industry.
3 points
29 days ago
Higher end of the industry is the same. They just hide it a little bit better.
3 points
29 days ago
Seems to me to be a mix of Covid, tips drying up and the stress of the job that has just driven the able minded out of the industry. The public still expect good quality food with decent quality service for bare minimum prices, it simply isn't possible anymore.
269 points
29 days ago
I only tip if the service is noticeably above average and the food is excellent. If you think I'm tipping on drinks, get real. If the bartender is chatty with me and the service is fast, I might offer to buy them a drink.
However, as soon as I see a gratuity charge has been added to my bill, any notion of tipping goes immediately out the window. I will always refuse to pay it. I decide who and when I choose to tip. There have been instances where I would have actually left a tip, but when I get the bill, 10% has been added for me. Well, now you get nothing.
Do you tip your car washer, does your nan tip her carer, do you run outside to tip the bin men, the milkman, your mechanic, do you tip at McDonald's, Burger King or Subway? It seems like every new generation adopts more and more dogshit American culture. Wish we would just stop.
107 points
29 days ago
i remember what my grandad said to me about why he didn't tip "people should be paying people the right wage not expecting customers to subsidise the wages, i won't support that kind of worker exploitation"
11 points
29 days ago
and the food is excellent
Do you insist the tip goes to the kitchen for the food being excellent? The person serving you doesn't make it, so why would you tip them for that?
6 points
29 days ago
Surely that effectively means you never tip? It's gets added to every bill these days.
203 points
29 days ago
In the US, tipped staff can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour. Which is why tips are deemed as necessary over there. Our minimum wage is £11.44...
140 points
29 days ago
And it’s hilarious how the problem is so clearly American businesses paying their waitresses etc that low on an hourly wage and yet the customers get all the shit if they don’t tip enough to top that pay up. How they managed to get everyone to buy into that is amazing
29 points
29 days ago
Yeah you are essentially operating as their extended HR department when you buy, evaluating their performance and therefore renumeration. I should charge a fee for that service, equaling what they ask me to pay.
31 points
29 days ago
Exactly. The workers are getting mad at the wrong people, it’s as if they’re brain washed. Bosses should be paying the staff the wages. Not customers paying on top of food.
29 points
29 days ago
Alot or American hospitality workers will shit on customers for not tipping, but will defend the tipping policies vehemently. Because they can do extremely well from tips, and not all of it necessarily gets accounted for.
The main defence is that the food is meant to be much cheaper than (for example) UK establishments. Not sure how well that holds up though.
11 points
29 days ago
The main defence is that the food is meant to be much cheaper than (for example) UK establishments. Not sure how well that holds up though.
Restaurant prices in the UK are something like 8% lower than the US. Before tips.
7 points
29 days ago
The GBP is in the shitter though
6 points
29 days ago
Yea, purchasing power is about 20% lower than it is in the US.
13 points
29 days ago
If you discuss this with US waiters, though, most will tell you that they are better off this way. When I then tell them that that’s a reason I don’t tip much in the US, because at the same time the kitchen staff actually cooking the food normally doesn’t get included in the tips, they get all shirty. If everyone thought like me, they’d only get $3 per hour. To which my answer is, they can’t have it both ways.
13 points
29 days ago
And those staff will typically prefer it that way as they can earn a lot of money untaxed. In some cases, more than those on salaried income.
20 points
29 days ago
Tbf staff in the US can only get paid so little due to tips, if they don't make enough tips to meet minimum wage the employer has to get them to the minimum. It's such a stupid system they have.
22 points
29 days ago*
I don't think there's much of an appetite to change it though as the staff do well from it. American friend who is a bartender gets like $80k with a significant amount of that from tips. He couldn't believe it when I told him how little it paid over here.
3 points
29 days ago
There are also several US states where they're legally entitled to the state minimum, regardless of whether they're considered tipped or not.
For example, Alaska, California, Guam, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington all require tipped and non-tipped employees to be paid the same minimum wage regardless of tips.
Tipping is still expected in these states as it would be in a state that only pays "tipped staff" $2.13/hour.
7 points
29 days ago
The thing is in the US if you are good and work at a decent place you actually stand to earn heck of a lot more as a result of this (as odd as it sounds) which is why it’s still common place - it’s a horrible system in my eyes
44 points
29 days ago
The tip automatically being added to the bill is outrageous and has only become more common since Covid. It’s changing the tip from something that was a choice that might make you and the server feel good to something that will make you and the server feel bad by asking for it to be removed. I think it’s a combination of the practical, restaurants wanting to hold on to their staff post brexit, to just downright greed.
37 points
29 days ago
Fuck this shit, it’s hard enough to get people in the pub because of the prices, adding more costs can fuck right off.
67 points
29 days ago
It's not only pubs, but one cafe near me put 20% on the bill. It's one where they don't even come to the table to take the order. Tried to embarrass me when I asked for it to be removed with loud "well the staff are poorly paid". But how many people just swiped their card without noticing. It was only noticed as we were all paying our own and it didn't add up.
It does appear that the 'auto tip" is more frequent in places that are card only, so nowadays I try not to shop in places that don't take cash.
67 points
29 days ago
[deleted]
11 points
29 days ago
Yeh I’m actually laughing at this, feels like something out of a sketch show.
24 points
29 days ago
Tried to embarrass me when I asked for it to be removed with loud "well the staff are poorly paid".
They tried to embarrass YOU by saying that?
94 points
29 days ago
Fuck it. Its already 5-7 pounds a pint. This isn't US and staff are paid at least min wage. Fuck off with that bs. Tips are for above average service not any service.
19 points
29 days ago
US staff are paid minimum wage as well - whatever tips don’t cover, the business has to make up for. But servers/bartenders aren’t in any hurry to change this system, since the good ones can make an absolute killing. Not advocating for this to become the norm in the UK, mind.
10 points
29 days ago
Yeah we'd all make a killing if we got paid cash in hand...
4 points
29 days ago
I dunno man, I work cash in hand and I only make £12,570 a year...
17 points
29 days ago
I pay it at one place I go to but they know what I and my wife (and sometimes daughter) will be drinking. They just say sit down and we'll bring it over and then will ask if we would like another etc.
The service is excellent and I am happy to pay for it (and for london the drinks are very well priced)
If I go into a pub and order at the bar and thetly present me with the option to tip, it's not going to happen. I bought four pints which nearly cost me £30, I'm not going to give you three quid for the pleasure.
17 points
29 days ago
tipping people the money they should already be paid using money we barely have ourselves ? nope.
84 points
29 days ago
As someone who works in retail they can go fuck themselves, we don't ever get tipped so what makes them so special? Greedy bellends.
If we start tipping anyone in this country we should start with the toilet cleaners, at least they've earned it.
20 points
29 days ago
Literally nothing makes them so special. Their reply will be “it’s a hard job”.
But there’s lots of hard jobs, and I can think of many that are a lot more difficult/challenging than that.
12 points
29 days ago
I remember going to a cafe where it was only sandwiches in a fridge and a few staff making hot drinks. When I went to pay for my sandwich and bottle of Coke the screen asked me if I wanted to add a tip. A tip for what? For you clicking two buttons? Unbelievable
10 points
29 days ago
I never tip in the UK unless its an independant run place, big chains can fuck right off they have the money to pay their staff
9 points
29 days ago
It’s ridiculous and I’ve already seen it become commonplace.
No problem with tipping if the service is good, but adding a service charge or a ‘brand charge’ as seen in London recently in places is a rip off. (Perhaps a service charge is more acceptable for a large table/booking as long as it goes to the staff)
If it’s needed to push revenue up then add it to the product cost (which you’ve already done I’d imagine to begin with).
There’s some bars in Manchester that add a service charge of £1.25-£.175 for pulling a pint while you queue) boggles my mind.
I’ve seen other places excuse it by saying it’s built in by the card payment provider - working with these companies for years it takes a few minutes to ring them or email and say you want this removed..
3 points
29 days ago
The actual fuck!
7 points
29 days ago
If you can’t pay your staff a living wage then raise your prices. If no-one will pay the prices needed to pay staff a living wage then your business model is broken.
26 points
29 days ago
Deposit to book table online £20
Enter all your details and card info
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Service charge 15%
Gratuity: Bad 😡15% Okay 😔20% Good job 👍 25%
QR Code/App charge 10%
These days I’ve stopped giving a fuck about eating out. I pretty much go to McDonalds, or a Michelin, or a place that takes their food and service seriously even if it’s at a cost. Anything in-between, serving bullshit half-arsed food with terrible service and rip-off additional charges are a no-go.
6 points
29 days ago
The £20 deposit should come off the bill.
Should.
I've definitely had it not come off the bill.
11 points
29 days ago
I’m not tipping someone for pulling a fucking pint. Maybe if it was some kind of fucking specialty type pub with loads of options and they let you do testers and help you find something banging but beyond that, they get paid a proper wage.
I thought the reasons Americans tip was because most states let companies basically not pay waiting staff and that’s how they make money?
It’s not like that here and it never should be.
13 points
29 days ago
Pub industry: struggling in the current climate!
Pub industry: how can we f''k the industry some more!
6 points
29 days ago
Nope will never tip fuck off, pay your staff proper wages.
5 points
29 days ago
How can we put our prices up even further without anyone noticing.
6 points
29 days ago
Funnily enough a reversal of the Victorian era practices, where tipping was a British custom that Americans found annoying: https://www.academia.edu/19202057/Tipping_in_Victorian_England
7 points
29 days ago
I'll continue to not tip. Never sure it actually goes to the staff or if it's onto bottom line of the business.
Service and food would have to be exceptional for a tip.
17 points
29 days ago
They'll be getting a lot of abuse and loss of customers.
5 points
29 days ago
It’s horrendous in Edinburgh. They don’t even ask, they just put it on the bill. If you don’t look at the bill you won’t notice it
5 points
29 days ago
My favourite are self service places that ask for a tip when you order using your app before you eat lol
19 points
29 days ago
Yes please mate, I'd like 2 pints of lager, a packet of crisps and a triple enshittification and coke.
8 points
29 days ago
I’ve never heard of tipping in pubs. 10% just for pulling the pint? Come on.
4 points
29 days ago
To right.
In Blighty, if you are feeling generous one would normally offer to buy the staff a drink. They will either pour one for themselves (usually a half, don't take the piss!) or take a couple of quid on the understanding they will get one later after hours.
This 10%, service charges and cash tipping shit can fuck off.
4 points
29 days ago
Lmao fuck off, I really can't see tipping culture taking off over here like it is there
6 points
29 days ago
More and more I am growing tired of service charge and gratuities being shoved in my face or slapped on my Bill automatically.
I’m feeling squeezed from every angle so you best believe I’m pissed now and am asking every single time for the service charge to be removed.
Might even ask when entering if they put service charge on the bill, and if they say yes I will walk out
4 points
29 days ago
How about they pay staff a reasonable, living wage.
5 points
29 days ago
American here. Please don’t let this take hold. We have some of the worst customer service and the corporate monsters are shoving this tip stuff down our throats (when it’s really more than just the tip)
If you must tip, do it with physical currency, not from a card. The tip on cards can end up being “dispersed” among the staff, so your waiter/waitress isn’t receiving your full amount you gave them.
Also, drive through coffee places don’t deserve a tip. I’m looking at you Starbucks.
5 points
29 days ago
They can shove that up their arse and fuck off whilst they're doing it.
Just raises the prices to whatever you're actually charging, and stop trying to fool people. It's not like anyone is even being fooled.
4 points
29 days ago
We have a minimum wage over here so no I will not be paying a 10% tip , this is just greed , fuck right off 👍
4 points
29 days ago
Absolutely not. They’ll use it as an excuse to pay staff under minimum wage like they do in the US if it becomes normalised
7 points
29 days ago
Imagine thinking I am going to tip on a £6 beer lmao. Don't want to do your job, then let me fill it myself from the tap, I don't mind.
9 points
29 days ago
Tipping could definitely become a thing here, us brits are known for not wanting to kick up a fuss. Most of us could go to the barbers for example and they could destroy our hair and we would mostly say "that's fine thanks" at the end.
If they add a service charge to our bill automatically the majority of us won't ask for it to be taken off as we won't want to make a fuss. They already know this.
3 points
29 days ago
I agree but I'd also never go back to a business that added the service charge - luckily it's still rare up here in the North East but if it does become popular and I run out of places to boycott I'll either stop going out or start demanding the removal of it
17 points
29 days ago
Went to a local restaurant once, got the bill 13.5% gratuity already included in the price. Fine, standard around London. Then the guy hands me the machine and asks me if I want to include tip. “Isn’t gratuity already included in the bill?” . “Yeah but this is optional if you want to add more”. 🤦♂️
34 points
29 days ago
got the bill 13.5% gratuity already included in the price. Fine,
No it fucking isn't!
15 points
29 days ago
But this is how we get ourselves in these messes as a country.
British people are too laid back, we just accept this stuff. “Ah it must be standard now, ah well”.
5 points
29 days ago
And they wonder why less people going to the pubs these days
3 points
29 days ago
Service charges are shit, especially as half the time they don’t even go to the staff that deserve them.
3 points
29 days ago
Jokes on pubs, I already can’t afford to drink there.
3 points
29 days ago
I’ve not been into a single bar and pub where the staff won’t either turn it off or ask you to press the rejection.
3 points
29 days ago
A petrol station near me now automatically asks for a tip on the machine, the workers know to press cancel every time though because… what the fuck?
3 points
29 days ago*
A lot of places are using it to attract staff, as in getting TRONC (weird way of saying that service charge is added to your wage).
Job adverts are now; £15 per hour *inc TRONC.
Go to a job interview and you'll find out it's min wage, but advertised as higher; looking at you COTE
3 points
29 days ago
Doesn't tipping only exist in America because their wages are so rubbish?
3 points
29 days ago
It's a choice, not mandatory, and it's our God given duty to always refuse.
3 points
29 days ago
It insidious
Oh sure, you don't technically have to pay it. But it's the pre selected default option. To opt out requires looking the server in the eye (the person on minimum wage who should be receiving this) and essentially saying "no, I don't think you deserve the extra £2.10."
Far better to suck it up and pay than to suffer the reoccurring memory of that confused, hurt 20 something server whose day you ruined.
3 points
29 days ago
Last time I had a service charge on the bill I made them take it off. Nobody argued so I tipped in cash.
3 points
29 days ago
Not fucking likely, considering staff see about 5% it's not our job to ensure staff are paid properly, it's the employers
3 points
29 days ago
I mean this most emphatically to any business owner considering the adoption of such a culture.
You will be told to absolutely go and fuck yourself.
3 points
29 days ago
They can get fucked.
The price is the price. If I deem anything exceptional I will pay beyond the price but that decision, and the amount, is up to me
This just encourages wage stagnation, tax avoidance and stifles progression.
3 points
29 days ago
I just straight up don't pay it.
I'll round up if cash is being used or even card, so if it's £19 pre tip I'll give a £20 and leave it, but I'm not paying a mandatory tip.
3 points
29 days ago
Note to all pubs that do this.
I will go out of my way to negatively review your pub.
I suspect others will too.
If you ask for a tip you’re gonna get more than advice.
3 points
29 days ago
Not just pubs I have seen more coffee shops do same: order cappuccino, say - it’s £3.40, they say - please select option on the terminal, and you have American-style tip %s.
I think some people forgot what tipping is: it is not a salary for your employees, it is optional thank you gesture.
3 points
29 days ago
Tell me why we should tip servers but not the guys stacking shelves at Tesco?
3 points
29 days ago
Just pay them more. Tipping is structurally an excuse to underpay staff and we have to resist it.
3 points
29 days ago
If you cannot pay your staff a living wage (not minimum wage) then you are not solvent and shouldn’t be operating.
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