A friend had dinner at a London restaurant recently. The menu said that a 12% service charge was included in the bill, but the waiter said that this went to the management, not the servers. Is this likely?

Yes, of course, that's what service charges are for. That doesn't mean you should be paying the servers extra, though, as that means the mgt. gets paid that amount so they can then give better pay and benefits to the servers. I don't ever fall for that nonsense, but it's up to you. Most of the London restaurants I've been in did NOT list any service charge added to the bill, so I did tip there. I did not when it was added. If the server doesn't like that, too bad, they should take it up with the boss where they work. It doesn't make any sense to tip the same amt. in two restaurants where one includes service and one does not.

It seems to me that in the past couple of years, more and more medium to upscale restaurants in London are adding that 12% or so to the bill automatically. There is often a printed disclaimer about "not required" or some such thing, but it would take a pretty bold person to demand that it be removed unless the dining experience had been particularly horrid.

Whether the service charge goes to the staff, or is kept by the management, is entirely up to the restaurant owners.

It has become increasingly common for restaurants to start adding this 12.5%, presumably to make sure they get a tip from tight-fisted customers. Bit cheeky really, considering a 10% tip has always been the norm.

Remember that this service charge is NOT compulsory. You are perfectly at liberty to request that this charge be removed from the bill if
(a) you are dissatisfied with the service (something I HAVE done in the past when service has been a stinker), or
(b) you would prefer to leave cash on the table as a tip for the waiter - something many people do.

So how dirty are the looks you'll get if you do remove the added service charge and leave it or more in cash instead?

On our bill last week we had the following:
"optional 12% service fee added"

Now of course we decided to be dumb americans and ask why it said optional when it was included in the bill already. Wouldn't optional have the total and then the optional amount and you could pay either - I guess with cash you could, but when paying by CC or otherwise it would require asking for the "optional" charge to be removed. I just wish the menu would state 12% service charge added automatically or raise the prices of everything by 12%

Hi J,

If you pay the service charge, it goes to the owner.

If you put a tip on your CC, it goes to the owner.

If you want to leave the waiter something to show that you were pleased with the service, decline the optional service charge and leave cash on the table.

Patrick, you are the last person I can imagine would be the least bit worried/concerned/etc., etc., about any dirty looks...and I am the second one!

Joe18 - My husband and I experienced this in Edinburgh in August. When the waiter brought the tab and I saw the 10% 'service' charge I said to the waiter, "Oh, you have already added the gratuity". He replied that no his gratuity was not included, the 10% was for the nice linen tablecloths, flowers, etc. I looked at him in disbelief. My husband and I signed the bill. No gratuity was left on the table. If a restaurant does not already include these items in their markup they are headed for 'out of business'! On a side note we were treated so rudely from entering the establishment to leaving it I really didn't care what they thought. By the way just another note about this service charge becoming 'common'. That will only happen if people are fools enough to pay it. Most of us, thankfully, are not!

My English BF has told me that no tip is required if a service charge is included. I prefer to have it removed and leave the tip in cash.

12% is a bit cheeky since the customary tip is 10%.

not only is the service charge optional but if the service stinks you can legally deduct an amount from the bill.

Tips are not necessary unless the service is outstanding although in London very common and increasingly so outside. When I tip someone in a restraunt my friends tease me and say it's a habit I picked up in London.

"...the 10% was for the nice linen tablecloths, flowers, etc."

That's an interesting approach, isn't it? Quite an imaginative departure from the dreary old-fashioned business process of arriving at an inclusive price by adding a profit margin to total product cost (wages, furnishings and consumables included).

What's the point of adding a surcharge to cover services that aren't in practice optional? Or is the diner given the option of declining nice linen in favour of not-so-nice linen?

Is the service charge usually mentioned on the menu or is it sprung on the diner when the bill arrives?

It really does vary from restaurant to restaurant. In some, the servers get their share of the service charge whilst in others the management keep the lot. I guess if you want to know, you'll have to ask in each place what the procedure is.

And there’s often the sneaky little trick of sticking the service charge on the bill and leaving the tip bit empty on the credit card slip. The cheeky monkeys do this pretty regularly.

"And there’s often the sneaky little trick of sticking the service charge on the bill and leaving the tip bit empty on the credit card slip"


In many cases, the restaurant don't get to choose how the setup on the card machine works, it's produce by the bank in a default 'restaurant' setting which they can't override, and which includes the 'gratuity' section (or, with chip-and-pin ones, often an option before you enter your pin, which the server may cancel before you see it).

It's really very simple...

As far as I'm concerned if there is a service charge put on, I don't tip extra. I don't really care if that is what is expected or not....my attitude about tipping in restaurants when I'm on the road is the following (and I don't say it is what everybody should do, it is what I do)....

If it says service is included, I never tip. And so what if they make dirty comments behind my back, chances are I'm not going back to the same restaurant the next day. Sticks and stone may hurt my bones but words they never hurt.