Restaurant Service Charges

(Photo Credit - Cielokatie)

Always a bit of an issue with me when they just automatically stick it onto the bill and especially when it gets into three figures! At out staff Christmas Dinner I took issue with the level of service charge on the bill, not least because it was over £100 but also because the service was very poor. The waiters didn't know what they were doing, service was slow and I waited over 30 mins for the bill! I spoke to the Manager and he said he would take off the service charge, which he duly did. The irony is that had the service charge not been automatic I would probably have left something, but as it was automatic and over £100 I was sufficiently annoyed not to leave anything. To complete the evening when I asked for my coat I was pointed in the direction of a room downstairs and had to sift through a pile of coats just plonked on a table! This after paying out nearly £900 for a dinner! Call me old fashioned but that is not the kind of service I expect. At the time I didn't look closely at the bill, but now getting round to filling out my expenses for December I looked at the bill again to discover that although he took the service charge off he didn't credit me with the deposit that we had paid (£130). I am therefore going to have to go back to the restaurant and speak to them about the error. I am quite sure they are probably aware of the error, as in the past on the very rare occasions that I have been undercharged I have usually heard from the restaurant within 24 hours. Anyway I'll scan and e-mail over the details to the restaurant and see what response I get. Not a great experience and not a restaurant I think I will be back to anytime soon.