At three of the last five restaurants that I’ve dined, the restaurant charged a mandatory service fee (ranging from 10-20% of total bill). In two of the three instances, the receipt indicated that the service fee would be shared among employees. The other restaurant was silent. Is a service fee merely a price adjustment in disguise or should my tip to the server take into consideration the service fee amount and therefore be reduced?
I tip based upon the price of the meal. Not on added tax, not on fees. If the fee is in lieu of a tip, does it actually say that? Or is a health benefits fee? Or a fee for using plastic to pay?
If a restaurant charges a service fee then I do not tip. I have maybe run into that once or twice since Covid…
When my bike group rides to lunch, there are usually 15 to 20 of us and they will automatically add a tip. sometimes they tell us and sometimes they don’t. I’ll usually check and if it’s there, I won’t tip. Although I will admit that if the waitress is cute, I’ll add a little more.
I haven’t seen this… Yet. I think this is a tough one. Because when they say it is shared between the staff, does that mean all staff? Servers, kitchen, host, ect.? If so, I would think that is just a price increase, they are just afraid to up their prices.
Maybe you can carry some cash to ensure it goes to the server. That is what I would do.
Service fees should be figured into the price of the menu items. If the service fee is prominently displayed when you first are presented with the menu prices, maybe. Still feel this is to catch you off guard and a junk fee.
With PC printers and menus so easy to print on them, no excuse to keep menu items current.
A service fee is a mandatory tip. No obligation to tip more. You can always tell the waitstaff when you look at the bill “I see the tip is already included.” That gives them a chance to either confirm or explain that they don’t get all or part of the fee because it’s shared among the “house”. Having some cash on you is a good idea if you want to leave something specifically for your server over and above the credit card payment.
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Cdtz, that’s a good way to handle this problem. In my area we don’t have this happening yet but I will keep your statement in my back pocket.
If they charge a service fee of 15% or more. No tip on top if that. We eat out much less anyway, mostly just when on vacation these days.