Tips at Restaurants

[sidvee]

We select a restuarant based on the overall experience and the total cost - I am sure we do not go based on the price printed on the menu.

Not sure about that Jagdish, I usually go to a restaurant based on the quality of their food, after that I will look at price. If food is bad then no issues, I will never go back, but on the other hand if food is good and I am being forced to pay 10% to enjoy it, then I usually tip very little, Rs50-100 at most. Some of my favorite places in Hyderabad know me by now, and regardless of the tips I leave, I get excellent service so I guess I am doing something right. However if service is bad, then regardless of food quality or price, I will never go back. Of-course one can always go to a club - where food is bad, service is bad, ambience is bad but price very good and no 10% BShyeah:, like Jubilee Hills Club or HGC.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[hemchandran]

Once i visited Barbequeue Nation in CHennai T.Nagar with my friends, we were very happy with the service and wanted to tip the waiters good. But they refused to take the tip telling us that service charge has already added to the bill. Nice people i guess

 

[jagdish_p]

Not sure about that Jagdish, I usually go to a restaurant based on the quality of their food, after that I will look at price. If food is bad then no issues, I will never go back, but on the other hand if food is good and I am being forced to pay 10% to enjoy it, then I usually tip very little, Rs50-100 at most. Some of my favorite places in Hyderabad know me by now, and regardless of the tips I leave, I get excellent service so I guess I am doing something right. However if service is bad, then regardless of food quality or price, I will never go back. Of-course one can always go to a club - where food is bad, service is bad, ambience is bad but price very good and no 10% BShyeah:, like Jubilee Hills Club or HGC.
Cheers,
Sid

Exactly the first criteria is the quality of Food, the ambience and the service. So if all three are good and if the management decides to add the 10% service charge also in to the cost of the Item I will not mind it. After all restaurant food prices are not fixed with an MRP to do a comparison. Its only when the 10% is charged separately in an arbitrary manner that we feel we are being cheated!

BTW : Despite the bad food - and so so service I still like JHIC for the open air lawn ambience.Of course the price is an added incentive

 

[captrajesh]

Thank you guys for educating me. I was not even aware about this service charge thingy and was happily paying up all these days. However would like to add something.

many restaurants, do not declare this service charge during tax time and it is money forcibly charged from the patrons. Wonder why the Govt. does not crack down on this, especially when it is not getting a lot of the money (surely 10% of all the bills from restaurants which extort this amount, will add up to a huge sum), well unless, better to leave it unsaid

We select a restuarant based on the overall experience and the total cost - I am sure we do not go based on the price printed on the menu.

I am sure that the service Charge levied goes into the management's pocket and is not in lieu of the tip.

A tip is given voluntarily in appreciation of service rendered and also to meet the waiters expectation. So I leave a tip even when service charge is levied

the first criteria is the quality of Food, the ambience and the service. So if all three are good and if the management decides to add the 10% service charge also in to the cost of the Item I will not mind it. After all restaurant food prices are not fixed with an MRP to do a comparison. Its only when the 10% is charged separately in an arbitrary manner that we feel we are being cheated!

Fully agree with Jagdish here. Businesses all over, including Restaurants in India are used to a certain revenue model. As long as they are not cheating the Government, I doubt any Indian Babu (they are actually running the government) would go the extra mile to go around and take action on the erring Industry as a whole. Even if they do, since the Industry is used to a certain revenue model, would compensate itself by increasing the prices to that extent.

BTW, don't even compare Restaurants of a third world country with that of a developed nation, rated No. 1 at that. There are many hidden costs here which are not applicable there. Ex: taking care of:

Police, Labour Dept, Commercial Taxes Dept, Dept. of Weights and measures, Health (supposed to check quality, hygiene and sanitation) and Sewage (to overlook the strain these restaurants put on the public sewage system) Depts of Municipality concerned and what have you.

 

[Shailesh Dhodia]

Most places when service charge is added to bill, its always the owner and manager who pocket the money. What I usually do, if I see "Service Charge 10%", when I pay the bill, I ask the waiter to ask the owner or Manager if they will give the service charge to the waiter. The reason i do this is:

1. It makes the waiter realise that the owner is charging extra for his service and hence his tip is not there, so he or see makes an informed choice of working there.
2. It also helps the waiter understand why i have not tipped him/her
3. It also makes the management understand customers are not blind and hopefully with waiters also asking, they will slowly change the practice.

Also, when i am not happy with service, I deny paying service charage and make sure its removed from my bill. It usually takes 10 mins of arguing etc but I do bcos a small change can help, seeing me some of my friends have started asking WHY service charge.

Makes a lot of sense Madhu

 

[asliarun]

You might find this interesting:

Tipping and Tooting - A comic about people who wait tables - The Oatmeal

 

[Record Player]

You might find this interesting:

Tipping and Tooting - A comic about people who wait tables - The Oatmeal

Haa haa haa :lol:. Had a good laugh. A good read!

 

[sidvee]

Here an article in yahoo on this. I guess if the menu indicates that there will be a service charge then we are bound to pay it (at-least that is what the articles states).


Charges and taxes in restaurants! - Yahoo! India Finance

Cheers,
Sid

 

[keith_correa]

Here an article in yahoo on this. I guess if the menu indicates that there will be a service charge then we are bound to pay it (at-least that is what the articles states).


Charges and taxes in restaurants! - Yahoo! India Finance

Cheers,
Sid

Yes, I agree. If they state this upfront, we are bound to pay. Of course, if we find the service not up to par, there are other ways by which we can convey our displeasure.