Went to a restaurant in LA today and when I got the check I noticed that it was a bit higher than it should be. Then I noticed this 18% service charge. So… We, as customers, need to help pay for their servers instead of the owners paying their servers a living wage. And on top of that they have suggested tip. I called bs on this. I will bet you that the servers do not see a dime of this 18% service charge. [deleted a word so it wasn’t a grammatical horror to read]
Oh, please help me on this.
I’m Italian and going on a trip to the western US in less than two weeks, and still haven’t understood how to behave wrt tipping/service charge.
In my previous trips to the US, before this nonsense was automatically added to the bill, I would tip between 15 and 20% depending on my level of satisfaction with the waiting staff.
What should I do now, when visiting places auto-charging a service fee?
Any advice is appreciated, thanks!
Most places still don’t do this. Just look out for it but you probably won’t run into it. I would say that these days 20% is kind of the new 15%.
As someone in the Eastern US (grain of salt there), this rarely occurs but if it does it is usually when a place serves a large group (justified as the extra difficulty for serving so many people at once). If I saw this applied in another situation I would 100% consider that a tip, give them nothing, and never eat there again. If it was applied when I went in a large group I’d say it can go both ways, but I’d definitely not go back there with lots of people again because it feels like its an attempt at fleecing the customer for more than the trouble is actually worth. Alternatively I might tip less, taking the 18% into account already as a tip. Overall, I’d say it’s bullshit and a good proportion of the people I know would agree.
Hope your trip goes well
If they’re auto-charging it, don’t tip any extra on top. Check every receipt because in many places you’ll see they automatically add gratuity. This place is definitely shady for adding it as a “service fee” and then still putting suggested tip amount afterwards. I would say do not feel guilty and do not think twice. Service fee implies that it paid for the service.
Let’s hope so, as someone who’s not used to it, I find it quite confusing and not really transparent. Plus it’s kind of a guilt trip every time. I would take a higher overall bill which covers staff salaries any day. Must also be much better for service workers as they’ll know they’ll be able to pay THEIR bills, whether the business is doing good or not.
