Last night I was with a party of 3 at a popular London restaurant for dinner and drinks!
Great restaurant, fab steaks, good decor and average service however, when it came time for the bill there was a 12.5% service charge, equating close to £20.00 for discretionary service that we didn’t deem worthy to pay. It wasn’t that the waitress had done anything wrong. It was just that she hadn’t done anything exemplary so in all fairness, why should I give someone £20 of my money for doing their job? I ran an amazing magic event last night before I headed out for the dinner and I didn’t get a tip from my clients?
Now, I get that in the US wait staff aren’t perhaps paid the best and thus by tipping it bumps up their wages and all but as far as I am aware, this is an American thing, not a British thing so why do we just accept it as the norm rather than only tipping for outstanding service?
At then end of our dinner we still gave a 10% tip however we were asked if there was something wrong with the service which in itself is wrong. It’s not mandatory to tip, it’s optional and I think wait staff would do well to remember this if they want repeat business. Even better than that to above and beyond for me and you will get your tip!
Event Consult 