If Restaurant Adds 20% Mandatory Service Fee To Check, Would You Add Another 20% Tip?

[PamMo]

Agree. I would just like to know ahead of time if there are extra fees. We enjoy going out for special occasions with our family, and the bill can get up there. We tip generously because we have family in the restaurant business, but being hit with a couple hundred dollars in service fees would shock me.

 

["Roger"]

I, I saw that there was a $3 charge for using a credit card! She had never mentioned it, and it didn't say that anywhere--I was so annoyed that I went back to look for a sign or a note on the menu. Nothing!

Same thing happened to me last week (although at a more expensive restaurant). I noticed a $3 discrepancy between my bill and what I was suppose to sign for with my card. I had no idea what that was about. No warning, nothing. I was with some friends and wondered if I should make a fuss about it as they were anxious to head home so I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Apparently when my friends got home, they noticed the same discrepancy. They called the restaurant and found out what it was all about. The meal was good, but in the long run it left me with a bitter taste.

 

["Roger"]

Overall, this whole thread makes me long for Europe. They consider their waiters and waitresses to be professionals and the restaurants pay them in full. If you really thought that you got exceptional service, you can add a tip, but 5% would be considered appropriate. (They must love Americans who are unaware of this and leave a 20% tip.)

 

[GetawaysRus]

Let me say something a bit more controversial. I'll start with realtors, so you will understand what I'm thinking.

It wasn't that long ago that a typical home sale in my community would have been in the $500,000 range. Realtors want a 6% commission to list a home for sale. But now real estate prices have skyrocketed, and many homes in my area are in the $800,000 to 1 million range. Is the realtor working that much harder now to earn that larger commission? Is the commission on a home sale really worth the amount they are now asking?

If we switch to restaurants, it wasn't too long ago that 2 people could eat out for about $20-25 (without alcohol). Now it's more like $40-50 for a restaurant meal (no alcohol). At the same time, the minimum wage has risen.

I'm still tipping at least 15%, but am I getting service now that's really worth 15% of $40-50 compared to the service I used to get just a year or two ago for $20-25? Frankly, I think the level of restaurant service that we're getting these days is poorer than in the past. They bring us the meal and then shortly after slap the check on the table. The wait staff often doesn't return to see if we need anything, such as a drink refill. (I'm in California. Maybe it's different elsewhere in the US.)

In Europe, service staff are well paid, and it is customary to tip less. So should we be tipping less in the USA?

We're eating out far less often these days. The cost is getting ridiculous.

 

[Rolltydr]

I almost always tip 20-25%, regardless of the quality of the service. The service has to be awful for me not to do that. As mentioned above, the minumum wage for restaurant workers is embarrassing and the system should be changed. Having said that. If I see that a 15-20% “fee” has already been added, it does affect how much of a tip I leave. I usually add about 10% more just to try to make sure the wait staff is getting enough.

 

[Krteczech]

I do tip between 15-20%, always add on cc (not cash tip) but I always wonder if I an doing the right thing. Did the wait staff pick this job because “tips are great”? I wonder. Someone I met told me, her daughter graduated from college two years ago, but will keep waitressing because she makes much more. Is that what we are supporting? Good meal and good service should be a norm, a tip for cheerful and accommodating staff is well deserved. All European waiters are trained by trade or hospitality schools. It is their occupation and they do it with pride. They get tips, but they don’t live off tips. I never got tip for my work when I was employed part time at service industry/ grocery store, no benefits, minimum wage.

 

[PamMo]

Yes, I know some people in the restaurant business that make 6 figure incomes. They have university degrees and struggled with their decision to stay in the service industry because they make more money with tips. That is definitely not the norm.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I have no problem with tipping 20% BUT allow me to tip the server on my own, and let the server actually EARN and WORK for their 20%. DON'T shove it in front of me and expect me to subsidize substandard service.

Come on business owners, smarten up and get with the program! Good personalities and good service goes a long way toward leaving a great tip. At least in my book.



.

 

[PamMo]

I don’t think the issue is about tipping, it’s about the business tacking on a 20% service fee for health care and benefits, and then expecting patrons to add a tip to the server.

 

[dioxide45]

I don’t think the issue is about tipping, it’s about the business tacking on a 20% service fee for health care and benefits, and then expecting patrons to add a tip to the server.

And I suspect this is the problem and puts the server in an awkward position. They need to somehow explain why their employer decided to add costs of doing business as a service charge on the bill and still hope that the customer provides a tip in addition to that. This is akin to a restaurant adding a 10% fee for building rent.

If no one added an extra tip, one of two things would happen. The workers would revolt and quit and the restaurant would no longer be able to get or retain staff. They would be forced to include the costs of doing business into the cost of food and not add an extra "service charge". The second is that people are turned off by the whole thing and stop going back and the restaurant gets a bad reputation and finally goes under.

 

[Superchief]

It's funny you say that. We went to a new fancy pizza place near us a few months ago. We ordered our (expensive for pizza) personal pizzas, and they were excellent. Really good.

I went up to pay the bill. The clerk typed up our bill on her screen, then turned the iPad to me to sign for my credit card. I added a tip, and I was thinking the bill seemed a bit high, but I took my receipt and we left. Then, looking at the paper receipt (the clerk asked if I wanted it), I saw that there was a $3 charge for using a credit card! She had never mentioned it, and it didn't say that anywhere--I was so annoyed that I went back to look for a sign or a note on the menu. Nothing! This is on, like, a $25 check.

Now it's months later and my husband refuses to go back because HE'S so annoyed about the $3 charge.

I agree with your husband. I would not go to a restaurant that adds hidden fees for credit card usage or for a 'service fee'. Well managed restaurants don't need to add these types of fees if they provide quality food and service at a fair price. We also frequently eat carryout to avoid the high wine markup, especially when we can enjoy the meal on our balcony overlooking the ocean or a golf course. In Ohio, there is no sales tax on carryout food so that adds another 8% savings.

 

[dioxide45]

I agree with your husband. I would not go to a restaurant that adds hidden fees for credit card usage or for a 'service fee'. Well managed restaurants don't need to add these types of fees if they provide quality food and service at a fair price. We also frequently eat carryout to avoid the high wine markup, especially when we can enjoy the meal on our balcony overlooking the ocean or a golf course. In Ohio, there is no sales tax on carryout food so that adds another 8% savings.

Something I started to notice recently for some carry out is an added fee to cover the extra packaging. I do miss that about living in Ohio, no tax on carryout or drive through food.

 

[kanerf]

40% tip, I don't think so.

 

[jackio]

We went out to dinner tonight (party of 6) and there was a notice on the front door that the restaurant provides a 3.5% discount for cash. The fee for credit cards was apparently built in to the menu prices, but they would give the discount for cash payment. We all paid by credit, knowing we could have avoided the fee.


I was a server in high school, at Friendly's. No one wanted to work breakfast because the amount of work was more back and forth, with coffee refills, etc, and the tips were lower because breakfast prices were so much cheaper than lunch or dinner. The servers felt they did more work for less pay.

 

[PamMo]

I didn’t last a month as a waitress in a Hilton hotel restaurant as a freshman in college. Room service was way too creepy and I was just awful all around. It was the hardest job I’ve ever had, so I have great respect for good servers!

 

[PcflEZFlng]

Starting a few years or so ago, even before the pandemic, we've been making far fewer visits to restaurants for sit-down meals, opting for takeout instead. It just makes much more financial and time sense to us. We can enjoy the same food by ordering it and paying for it online, having it be ready when arriving at the restaurant, and enjoying it at home with our own beverages. We still add a 20% tip to the bill, but there are no beverage charges, and also no delivery fees, and no delivery tips.

 

[MULTIZ321]

My late older brother lived in Minneapolis after he was discharged from the Army. One year when I went for a visit. he took me and his wife out to dinner at a fancy restaurant that had the dining room on the first floor and entertainment upstairs on the second floor. He was a firm believer in tipping commensurate with the type of service we received and the quality of the food. That particular evening the service was lousy and the food wasn't very tasty - He paid the bill and left a penny tip after which we went upstairs to enjoy the entertainment.The venue was crowded and we were seated at a table upfront near the stage. After a short time our waitress came upstairs carrying a silver tray up above her shoulder with the penny on the tray. She walked over to our table and placed the tray down in front of my broter and said in a loud voice - you forgot your change sir! What an embarrassing moment.

Richard

 

[DrQ]

If that 20% is not published on the menu or at the entrance, I would challenge it as an illegal charge.

That is just a bait and switch to keep competitive with other restaurants when they publish the menu prices.

 

[beejaybee]

That 20% service charge to cover health insurance seems specious to me. It might be a good idea to check with the restaurant management about that policy and voice displeasure if that is the case.
During the height of Covid, there were a few businesses that refused cash payments. Seems that that practice is now reversed. I do prefer being offered a cash discount vs. a credit card surcharge!

 

[AJCts411]

No, go somewhere else. Tips are given for good service, and up to the customers experience. Mandatory for xyz IMO is a predatory business owner/practice, under paying staff, and advertising/listing/publishing inaccurate/deceptive low prices. So why go there?

 

[pierrepierre]

If it was policy for the restaurant, ask management "WHY"? Maybe people were walking out not tipping....if you really do not agree with the policy, go to a different restaurant.

 

[dioxide45]

if you really do not agree with the policy, go to a different restaurant.

Hard to do after you have already eaten the food.

 

[pierrepierre]

NEXT TIME, avoid the establishment

 

[Brett]

my wife likes to tip in cash so I carry some cash but otherwise everything is paid by CC

 

[mrsstats]

No I would not.