Tipping should be performance related

I was told by the waiter that they did not receive the service charge and that it went direct to the owner of the bar so I never pay this charge and prefer to leave a tip as and when I feel it is deserved. But I do wonder why sometimes as they will be paid at least the minimum wage which is higher than my pension, and when I worked I didnt get a tip on top of my wage for doing my job.

@Susan
The voluntary service charge belongs wholly to the restaurant, not to the staff.

Yes you are right, many people are paid poorly – it is only the restaurant industry that is proud of that fact and uses customers to be the go-betweens in this wage dispute between wait staff and employer. The customer is seen as a cash cow, ever ready to donate to the restaurant.

Ninety-five percent of employtees are paid the rate for the job. Almost alone are wait staff who are paid according to customer numbers and customer spend at each and every transcaction.

It is tempting for the restaurateur to keep the voluntary service charge and not give it to the staff.

Cash tips ensure [almost!] the cash goes to the staff. And in Europe Australia New Zealand and more,about 3 % is left as just a thank you.

In those countries the staff are paid the rate for the job.

Tips are a Totally Inadequate Pay System

I see no valid reason to tip . I enter into a contract with the restaurant or other establishment to provide me with a meal . As I would not be allowed to get it from the kitchem myself this contract should also include someone to bring it to me . I expect the meal to be cooked properly and the service to be pleasant and efficient. If these conditions are not fulfilled I feel complaints are in order. Tipping only gives the restaurant owners excuses not to pay their staff a proper wage . Waiting on and service should be seen as the honourable and worthwhile occupations they are and the staff employed should not be reliant on hand outs and charity.

It is outstandingly unfair to automatically add a charge to a customer’s bill without their authorisation. That’s what happens to the, so called, voluntary or discretionary service charge.

It’s my money but it lands on the restaurants bill – there is no item to account for this charge, nothing consumed by me.

Not only is it unfair, but it is not proportionate. An easy job for the restaurant – a short sentence at the bottom of the menu, the small print I never noticed. But I have to claw it by asking for it to be taken off my bill at the end of the meal. Only the restaurant industry tries to embarrass it’s customers. So most of us go along with it, justifying it to ourselves with a ‘they’re paid poorly’ and a ‘they work hard’.

The proprietor doesn’t seem embarrassed that his staff are paid poorly so why should I be embarrassed to get my money off the bill to donate how I wish.

I always, without fail, ask for the voluntary, optional or discretionary [or whatever fancy term is used] service charge to be taken off my bill.

It’s my right to spend how I choose. It’s easy – try it – consumer rights are mine and yours – we deserve to decide.

After all I am only doing what the restaurant invites me to do -opt in or opt out. Out thanks – then I’ll give how I want.

@Nick Cheek

I believe we should get the restaurant industry into the 21st century and pay the rate for the job. It’s very sad that we encourage ‘fair trade’ somewhere far away, but here under our noses we watch employers in the restaurant industry treat waitstaff badly.

So what is wrong with trying to emulate Japan,or France or Spain, Australia. Is it because we are still snobs and we want and like to control the under-stairs staff? I hope not, but in Australia the relationship between wait staff and customer is equal; they like equality in work – why don’t we? Why do restaurants enjoy this perpetual wage dispute?

It is the irresponsibility of the restaurant industry that angers me. It turns to cash cow customers for the unpaid wages. It looks down on it’s staff in the same way as far-away garment manufacturers do, the ‘unfair trade ones’.

Nick, when you refer to ‘performance related’ you are not referring to the employer rewarding staff through a company system. You are referring to customers deciding the wages of each employee all the time. That is pay or punish.

We don’t do that. The company knows the targets and standard that staff are trained for and the company gets the increase in turnover and profit when customers return satisfied. Customers don’t interfere in pay packets. Perhaps tempting; when we are kept hanging on the phone we can track down the culprit and reduce their pay for that day. No, it only happens to wait staff.

And it should not happen to them. That’s why the Japanese and Australian way is right, honest, fair and equal.

Nick, help publicise the stingyness of our restaurant industry so they will pay in the normal way and we can relax with our fiends doing something so simple – eating, instead of tampering with paypackets.

The Japanese do indeed regard it as an insult to tip but they do recognise that in UK, for eg, it is customary to do so. I have taken Japanese tour parties out on a couple of occasions and both times their UK-based Japanese tour leader has spent the last half hour of the run home discussing my tip. I know this from the constant repetition of ‘Chris-san’ and the word ‘tip’ in her spiel.

But imagine my astonishment when, after the clients have bowed and waved me goodbye, she has split MY tip down the middle and walked off with half!

Clearly she has learned to swallow this insult in good old British fashion.

Please don’t assume that just because one restaurant owner keeps the money it will be the same across the industry, it is not. Always ask your waiter. When you pay for a meal, you pay for good food at a nice table and someone to wash up for you. You do not pay for your coat taken, a paper bought for you, someone to notice it is your birthday (and make a fuss or know to be discreet), someone to entertain your kids, sweep up the raisins you allowed them to launch all over the floor, someone to understand your needs ie business meeting, romantic meal, anniversary, birthday, funeral, graduation etc etc and then help you to have an appropriately fantastic experience. You pay for a meal, what waiters provide is memories (or at least I try to), and a relaxing stress free experience. This is what you tip for. So please don’t generalise all waiters and make your decision on this. Yes I get paid rubbish but watching my customers have a great night and being a part of that in whatever way is fit makes it all worth it for me. We are not all the same.