 Customers are noticing a trend towards London eateries upping their service charges, and not all of them are happy with it. On Reddit forum r/london, a poster shared a pic of a receipt with a 15% service charge added on top that's garnered 1,400 upvotes and more than 600 comments at the time of writing. While service charges are discretionary, many of the people in the comments were expressing their displeasure, and sharing how they've started seeing similar restaurant costs rising. One person wrote: 'Ate out in London three times over the weekend, all had a 15% tip added to the bill without asking. 'One restaurant made me pay via QR code, added a service charge, then asked if I wanted to add a tip before checking out…. no.' 'I work in hospitality,' wrote another, 'but the service charge is a total scam and shouldn't exist. It would make more sense to just include it in the prices, but that would probably scare some people off.' But don't worry – if you're not happy with the idea of paying an extra 15%, we checked with an expert on all things politeness and, yes, you can ask for it to be removed without sounding like a dreadful person. Etiquette coach John-Paul Stuthridge tells us: 'The hospitality industry is often too turbulent at the best of times. It rarely has healthy cash flow or reserves other industries can depend on, not least the high turnover of staff and cost of recruitment. 'Throw in an extensive lockdown and a world cost of living crisis, restaurants have added service charges to help recoup their losses. Increasing the charge further helps them combat the crisis that is hard for some to say no to. 'You can much more easily not go to a restaurant that's upped its prices by 15%, but how many people will just accept a 15% service charge and politely say nothing? Many.' 'Whether you should ask to remove it may depend on how charitable you feel' (Picture: Getty Images) When it comes to the purpose of these ch){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Customers are noticing a trend towards London eateries upping their service charges, and not all of them are happy with it.
On Reddit forum r/london, a poster shared a pic of a receipt with a 15% service charge added on top that’s garnered 1,400 upvotes and more than 600 comments at the time of writing.
While service charges are discretionary, many of the people in the comments were expressing their displeasure, and sharing how they’ve started seeing similar restaurant costs rising.
One person wrote: ‘Ate out in London three times over the weekend, all had a 15% tip added to the bill without asking.