Went to a restaurant in LA today and when I got the check I noticed that it was a bit higher than it should be. Then I noticed this 18% service charge. So… We, as customers, need to help pay for their servers instead of the owners paying their servers a living wage. And on top of that they have suggested tip. I called bs on this. I will bet you that the servers do not see a dime of this 18% service charge. [deleted a word so it wasn’t a grammatical horror to read]
So it’s a mandatory tip, and it’s also suggested you voluntarily leave a secondary tip.
Tip culture in America is so aggressive.
This is bonkers. Just include it in the price… I would definitely refuse it and have done it one time, when it was not clearly stated in the menu that service will be added. The waiter claimed it is “a standard fee”. No, it’s not and should never be.
Demand they give the service charge to the server. I’ve done this with a manager recently and he was so embarrassed when it was brought to public attention he promised he would. Then I said, it was simply disgraceful to see an attempt to double dip with a mandatory charge a server wouldn’t see. But I’m a large man, so might not be easy for everyone.
Those prices are about what I’d expect to pay at a restaurant here in Finland too, maybe a little more here but somehow they’re able to pay a living wage to the staff from that without extra “service charge” or tips.
You can also afford to buy a house. Finland best country
I’m sure it’s like every other country where a house out in the country is cheap but Helsinki is unaffordable.
It’s the same here in Germany except for the cheap house in the country part.
Yeah don’t let that dude fool you, there are not really any first world countries where house in the country is cheap
In canada, I make good money but will never afford a house except butt fuck nowhere Saskatchewan or Manitoba
My wife and I are actually hoping to permenantly relocate to Finland after many years of pondering. I am in IT so even Helsinki is affordable but we want to live in Vaasa
Oh, please help me on this.
I’m Italian and going on a trip to the western US in less than two weeks, and still haven’t understood how to behave wrt tipping/service charge.
In my previous trips to the US, before this nonsense was automatically added to the bill, I would tip between 15 and 20% depending on my level of satisfaction with the waiting staff.
What should I do now, when visiting places auto-charging a service fee?
Any advice is appreciated, thanks!
If they’re auto-charging it, don’t tip any extra on top. Check every receipt because in many places you’ll see they automatically add gratuity. This place is definitely shady for adding it as a “service fee” and then still putting suggested tip amount afterwards. I would say do not feel guilty and do not think twice. Service fee implies that it paid for the service.
Thanks!
With any luck, this becomes widespread and ends tipping culture.
Let’s hope so, as someone who’s not used to it, I find it quite confusing and not really transparent. Plus it’s kind of a guilt trip every time. I would take a higher overall bill which covers staff salaries any day. Must also be much better for service workers as they’ll know they’ll be able to pay THEIR bills, whether the business is doing good or not.
As someone in the Eastern US (grain of salt there), this rarely occurs but if it does it is usually when a place serves a large group (justified as the extra difficulty for serving so many people at once). If I saw this applied in another situation I would 100% consider that a tip, give them nothing, and never eat there again. If it was applied when I went in a large group I’d say it can go both ways, but I’d definitely not go back there with lots of people again because it feels like its an attempt at fleecing the customer for more than the trouble is actually worth. Alternatively I might tip less, taking the 18% into account already as a tip. Overall, I’d say it’s bullshit and a good proportion of the people I know would agree.
Hope your trip goes well
Thanks! Seems a reasonable approach
How about businesses pay their fucking employees? What a concept
And just how are they going to be able to pay thier employees Mr smartguy? From the crazy over priced dishes they serve? Huh? What, from the $650 pizza making course they offer? You think they could have four sister restaurants and have any profits? Please, inform us where they could possibly get enough money to pay thier employees real life adult wages.
Not my problem close the restaurant if you can’t function without bait and switch tactics with your menu. The answer to your problem isn’t shady business tactics. Maybe due to the mismanageement of the economy and inflation restaurants aren’t viable business ideas anymore. As the country country increasingly turns to authoritarianism as an answer to it’s failing economic system you are going to see more similar things that once was viable is no longer.
Glad you didn’t bother to read past the first couple of words.
Is it even legal to force you to pay more than the menu reads? I know tipping 18% is a social norm now in the states, but you can technically say no to that. Can you say no to this service tax?
Tipping isn’t really a social norm as much as it is a social imperative-- the food is considerably cheaper than it should be because you’re expected to make up the cost difference in tips.
It is a social norm. Prices at restaurants are not cheap even without including tips, the amount tipped is decided by social norms, and if i get a shitty service i sure as hell dont tip.
A list of L.A. restaurants doing this shit from a Reddit sub:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EEPzeytrva770H2xPFFPDUUNdpnL_VQL4vbzFph-jus/edit#gid=0
The alternative is that they just jack up the menu prices to accomplish the same thing. This is just the equivalent of pricing things at $19.99 because people don’t understand that really means $20 which sounds like a lot more money.
This is just the equivalent of pricing things at $19.99 because people don’t understand that really means $20 which sounds like a lot more money.
So let’s say you checkout at the grocery store tomorrow and your $100 of groceries has a $20 “employee wellness” fee tacked on. You see that and pricing an item 1 penny below a round number as the same thing. Really?
No, you’d leave the store having paid $120 for groceries with no wellness fee tacked on.
Did that make sense in your head?
Yes, and in reality. When you charge more per item for goods and services so that healthcare is included, they cost more.
Yes, and in reality. When you charge more per item for goods and services so that healthcare is included, they cost more.
A red-herring response if I’ve ever seen one.
This has literally nothing to do with the tactic of hiding additional fees so customers don’t see them instead of just increasing prices, or the difference between pricing something a cent below a round number and adding a wellness fee at checkout.
I try to avoid playing pigeon chess, but it seems that’s what I’ve been doing.
