Suggested gratuity

Author
Discussion

DOCG

562 posts

56 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
quotequote all
RayDonovan said:
It's certainly getting more common in the UK. No issues when the service is good, but more than happy to get it removed when the service is toss.

Why should we reward poor service?
The issue is that it is used to cover things that should be included in the base price.

RayDonovan

4,495 posts

217 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
quotequote all
DOCG said:
RayDonovan said:
It's certainly getting more common in the UK. No issues when the service is good, but more than happy to get it removed when the service is toss.

Why should we reward poor service?
The issue is that it is used to cover things that should be included in the base price.
To be quite frank, they need to include that in the base price then.

WhiskyDisco

811 posts

76 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
quotequote all
I have spent a lot of time in Liverpool over the last 30 years and found that it was commonplace for literally everyone ordering a couple of drinks to say 'have one for yerself'. It was common for the barmaid to then thank the customer, and take 20p. As far as I could tell this would happen every single round. I joined in too, and felt good about it.

I think it should be embraced across the country. 20p to 50p on a round of drinks that is commonly over £10 a throw equates to 2% to 5% (and probably even less of a percentage if a woman is drinking with you).

In Birmingham if you were to say take one for yourself they would take the price of a pint of beer, or worse a large gin/tonic which happened to me when I was buying a large round for my team in a bar recently. Risky.

What I do nowadays (outside of Liverpool) is to pay by card but offer a £1 coin. If I don't have a £1 I'll pay cash, and then do so.

Edited by WhiskyDisco on Sunday 19th November 19:19

WhiskyDisco

811 posts

76 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
quotequote all
I worked for a company selling point of sale tills to US retailers. Self-checkout kiosks have an option to allow customers to tip - and many actually do!

brickwall

5,258 posts

212 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
quotequote all
WhiskyDisco said:
I have spent a lot of time in Liverpool over the last 30 years and found that it was commonplace for literally everyone ordering a couple of drinks to say 'have one for yerself'. It was common for the barmaid to then thank the customer, and take 20p. As far as I could tell this would happen every single round. I joined in too, and felt good about it.

I think it should be embraced across the country. 20p to 50p on a round of drinks that is commonly over £10 a throw equates to 2% to 5% (and probably even less of a percentage if a woman is drinking with you).

In Birmingham if you were to say take one for yourself they would take the price of a pint of beer, or worse a large gin/tonic which happened to me when I was buying a large round for my team in a bar recently. Risky.

What I do nowadays (outside of Liverpool) is to pay by card but offer a £1 coin. If I don't have a £1 I'll pay cash, and then do so.

Edited by WhiskyDisco on Sunday 19th November 19:19
What you’re suggesting is basically £1 per round.
Of course, in the US it used to be $1 a drink, but even that’s considered stingy now.

Vasco

16,508 posts

107 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
quotequote all
Mikebentley said:
I believe they should pay their staff a fair wage. The staff in a service role should give good service. A gratuity shouldn’t be prompted or expected it should come as a surprise.
Quite. It's just more American silliness that we can do without.

Aston Traveller

374 posts

150 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
A new one on me this week. I have just booked a hotel up north for a car event next September. Reading the confirmation email sent- yes I am that sad I read all the terms and conditions etc- I noticed that they say as from April this year they will add 5% service charge to all bill on checkout unless you request otherwise. Now the people in the group are quite generous and we normally get together and give gratuities directly to the staff where we stay as a group. I am not in favour of a % being automatically added when checking out. It means even if you go up to the bar - order and carry the drinks back yourself it still invokes the % tip.
What do others think of this. ? I suppose it is similar to some American hotels that have to add a daily tourist tax or they add housekeeping charge.

snuffy

9,947 posts

286 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
Aston Traveller said:
A new one on me this week. I have just booked a hotel up north for a car event next September. Reading the confirmation email sent- yes I am that sad I read all the terms and conditions etc- I noticed that they say as from April this year they will add 5% service charge to all bill on checkout unless you request otherwise. Now the people in the group are quite generous and we normally get together and give gratuities directly to the staff where we stay as a group. I am not in favour of a % being automatically added when checking out. It means even if you go up to the bar - order and carry the drinks back yourself it still invokes the % tip.
What do others think of this. ? I suppose it is similar to some American hotels that have to add a daily tourist tax or they add housekeeping charge.
Is that all bills, i.e. including the price of the room itself ?

Cotty

39,714 posts

286 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
snuffy said:
Is that all bills, i.e. including the price of the room itself ?
Sounds like they are adding on 5% to everything, so they are lying about the actual price of the room.

bad company

18,770 posts

268 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
Cotty said:
snuffy said:
Is that all bills, i.e. including the price of the room itself ?
Sounds like they are adding on 5% to everything, so they are lying about the actual price of the room.
Exactly. We had this at a hotel and just asked them to remove the charge. They didn’t quibble.

snuffy

9,947 posts

286 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
Cotty said:
snuffy said:
Is that all bills, i.e. including the price of the room itself ?
Sounds like they are adding on 5% to everything, so they are lying about the actual price of the room.
Yes, hence me asking.

And as someone said above, doing this is a way of increasing the price/rate and trying to, in effect, hide it.

I'd not be happy about a hotel pulling that stunt at all.

bad company

18,770 posts

268 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all

Aston Traveller

374 posts

150 months

Monday 20th November 2023
quotequote all
snuffy said:
Aston Traveller said:
A new one on me this week. I have just booked a hotel up north for a car event next September. Reading the confirmation email sent- yes I am that sad I read all the terms and conditions etc- I noticed that they say as from April this year they will add 5% service charge to all bill on checkout unless you request otherwise. Now the people in the group are quite generous and we normally get together and give gratuities directly to the staff where we stay as a group. I am not in favour of a % being automatically added when checking out. It means even if you go up to the bar - order and carry the drinks back yourself it still invokes the % tip.
What do others think of this. ? I suppose it is similar to some American hotels that have to add a daily tourist tax or they add housekeeping charge.
Is that all bills, i.e. including the price of the room itself ?
Yes