Restaurant Bill

It's simple, if a restaurant adds something to the bill I did not agree to beforehand I'll never eat there again.

The service charge is not a tip or gratuity, and is an added fee controlled by the restaurant that helps subsidize the staff wages so that management doesn't have to while still seeming to have reasonable prices on the menu. Also, management takes a cut as it subsidizes their wages too.

Edit: I get why this upsets some people, but the downvote button is not a disagree button. I merely restated the restaurant's explanation in plain language. I'm not agreeing with it...

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Paying for servers based off of the price of the food just doesn’t make sense to me. If I order a super expensive caviar and super expensive bottle of wine the staff would be paid more than another server with large party that only orders inexpensive drinks. The second server would be paid less for doing more work.

I think they should just be paid a decent wage for doing their job well despite what the customer decided to order.

On a side note if the server has to do something like prepare a salad table side or flambé a dessert they should get a bonus for doing that.

18% service charge and then still ask for tips? Fuck all of this, this is a scam and refuse to pay this shit.

Why have a service fee at all then?

Just raise the prices and use the extra income to pay the employees better if that's really your intention.

People won't get upset about the tip on top of it if you don't already have a "service charge" sectioned off in the receipt.

If the service charge is so they can pay the employees better, I guess they don't need a tip on top of that unless they went above and beyond their basic duties. Like what a tip should be for

Possibly illegal, depending on your local laws.

If it is legal, contact your congressman (local, state, national) because it sure as hell needs to be illegal.

Basically, they just raised their prices by 18% and blamed it on the greedy, useless employees. I don't know why businesses bother selflessly "creating jobs" if they are so much trouble. Shouldn't those be the first things to cut to make their business more efficient under capitalism? Stop doing charity work and run the business yourself.

Oh boy, the unlawfulness of USA. This would be clearly illegal in EU, as misleading pricing.
Even if stated there's an 18% extra fee, I'm pretty sure it would be illegal to state prices exclusively without it.
I would simply refuse to pay that fee if it was here, and report them to authorities.

I would simply not go to that restaurant anymore and very plainly let them know why. This is greed and I will not reward it.

Much like when I place a to go order and go pick up the order and the POS (point of sale not piece of shit if you’re wondering) system pops up that tip screen. You didn’t do anything worthy of a tip so I will not be tipping you. Now if for example when I get there they apply some discount I wasn’t aware of that makes my bill cheaper, I’ll tip for that. Throw in some extra cheese sauce, tip. Anything above and beyond, tip. Just ring me up and hand me my food, yeah no tip.

Increase the price of everything and pay a life supporting amount of money per hour of work. No tipping, no more service charge.

This service charge is literally the same but blaming the employees.

I don't return to restaurants that pull this bullshit. Raise your menu prices to provide a living wage or take a hit to your profits.

$16.25 for a kids size pasta dish?

Are restaurants just poorly managed, or is there another reason why they can't pay their employees a living wage when their markup is like 400-1000%?

Completely fuck this shit.

Straight up fees like that should not be legal, if they even are in that location.

They should instead just add 18% to every menu item since it applies to everything anyways.

As it is right now advertising their cannoli for $11.00 is a straight up lie since it's really $12.98. They simply don't because they want to hide the actual cost and make their menu appear to be cheaper so you cant walk out until after you've ordered and eaten.

Also if got a bill with an 18% service charge I would definitely not tip, since tips are supposed to adjust for the low wages anyways.

These prices are crazy. Lemonade costs as much as a beer. Drip coffee for $5. One cookie for $4. Over $15 for a kid's plate. Geeze.

I actually support phasing tips out for service fees, less dodgy and less influenced by cognitive biases from customers toward certain genders or ethnicities of staff.

Kids shells are $16 each? Fuck this place.

Add to the fact all the food in the restaurant is much higher in caloric intake, sodium and sugar than any meal you could prepare at home. You get to have some wonderful heart disease with a side of stress. Hardly worth going out to restaurants anymore.

The real crime here is $125 for bread and pasta..

Ok where is this so we can avoid it?

It does seem tipping is American culture? Never heard this accross SEA and China. Who in the world would put suggested tip in the bill?

You're taking my 18% to pay them living wages, they they don't need tips.

$11 canoli? $16.25 kids shells?

Screw that place

$18.25 for a kids meal, $6 for lemonade is ridiculous. Don't walk, run away!

So the patron not only pays for the food/service, but there's a separate fee to pay for ALL employees living wages??

If this trend continues the customers will end up making the food too!? Lol, I would talk to the manager for sure.

It's crazy how it's your job to pay the workers when you're not employing them. Just put the damn living wage into the price of the food, there, done. I'm going to a restaurant to eat stuff, not to haggle the worth of someone's work.

In the UK we tend not to tip if there's a service charge.

I would have not paid the 18% fee and let them explain it to the cops when they arrived. I guarantee that’s not posted anywhere that they do that- so…

False advertising.

The OP should have shared the restaurant, what a dick head of an owner

Germany:

Price indication regulation (Preisangabenverordnung)

All prices stated on the menu must include any applicable surcharges. In other words, the price of the meal is also the final price. The quantity served must also be stated for drinks.

The Ticketmaster economy

If this was my post, I'd be circling the whole receipt.

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In many jurisdictions it’s not legal to charge this fee unless it’s advertised when ordering such as on the menu or posted signage.

fuck tipping culture. Why I never dine in anywhere, unless its a one off social event.

When will people have had enough and demand change? I stopped going to restaurants entirely due to bs charges like this & tipping culture.

I would, however, happily eat at an establishment with higher prices if they paid thier employees well & had accurate menu pricing.

Image Transcription: Text and Image

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A receipt from a restaurant. A white circle was marked up on the photo and inside reads the text

18% Service Charge (18.00%)

$17.22

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The full receipt text shown is as follows.

Ordered: 11/11/23 6:31 PM

GARLIC BREAD $4.90

2 KIDS SHELLS $32.50

FUSILLI $20.75

CANNOLI $11.00

LEMONADE $6.00

DRIP COFFEE $4.50

2 DRAFT BEER $12.00

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE $4.00

18% Service Charge (18.00%)

$17.22

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Subtotal $112.87

Tax $10.73

Total $123.60

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Cash -$123.60

Amount Due $0.00

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Suggested Tip:

8%: (Tip $7.65 Total $131.25)

10%: (Tip $9.56 Total $133.16)

12%: (Tip $11.48 Total $135.08)

15%: (Tip $14.35 Total $137.95)

Tip percentages are based on the check price before discounts and taxes.

The service charge is not a tip or gratuity, and is an added fee controlled by the restaurant that helps facilitate a higher living base wage for all of our employees. Please scan the QR code at the top of the receipt for additional information, or speak with a manager.

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I’ve been to a couple places in Denver that do this and obviously it’s bullshit. Just raise the prices! Not 18%, though, they’re 5% and started when everyone felt bad for restaurant workers during Covid. At both of them they had a disclaimer “if you disagree with this charge, we will gladly remove it”… as if that’s a comfortable thing to do to save $4.

Capitalists when 10% taxes vs capitalists when 18% fee

Refuse to pay the service charge, offer the amount minus the charge.

This why even today, cash is king. With cash you can just leave the amount and they can take it or leave it.

I've seen this at restaurants serving more than a given number of people. Did you attend a dinner with a large group?

What kind of time warp is this though where tipping recs start at 8%. I never see that anymore.

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Look, it's me never returning

Besides from a extra fee (which would be illegal in my country), who tf could afford 32$+18%+taxes for two bowls of pasta? At my local italian restaurant you get 2 bowls spagethi for 20€ (including taxes)

Hey, Restaurant Bill. What did you kill, Restaurant Bill?

Need a tip at the bottom - it's a LOT of hard work to process those mandatory service charges!

Are they charging tax on the service charge too?

Because reprinting the menu is too expensive. 😢

Many restaurants clearly state "we add gratuity of x% to tables of 5 or more". Or something similar. It's an asshole move not to share this until you get the bill, but if they tell you ahead of time, I think it's fair.

I'm honestly surprised the percentage options they offer are so low. In NYC they start at 20%, and usually go 20% 25% 30%. I've even seen them start at 22%

Do you know how much garlic bread I can make for $5? A bunch, and fucking good too!

Shit on their bathroom bro

I recently learned you can have this charge removed.

While I absolutely hate this, I will note the suggested tip is lower than what is usually asked for.

It would be better to have two tip lines on the receipt; one for front staff, one for back staff.

Edit: I'm just going to put a PS here as people seem to me missing my point (and the first 5 words). I'm not recommending this practice. I was suggesting an improvement on a shitty thing. My initial point is that: I'm honestly surprised that they DIDN'T have the audacity to recommend no less than a 15% tip.

Anyone who wants to rant about how Lemmy is all tankies and fringe leftists oughta come see what happens when underpaid workers have the gall to so much as stink eye a customer who doesn't tip.

In below cost of living income jobs tipping isn't a reward for good service, it's the "not a callous fuckface" tax for people who actually care about making sure their fellow workers don't fucking starve over their bosses' greed.

Got a problem with it, call a congressman, otherwise, stop using service work if you're not willing to pay the actual full price for the service.

Its probably some socialist country. Anyway I'm not entirely against it but it seems pretty high

I don’t see how paying your workers is infuriating