Yahoo Finance Drinkers hit with American-style tipping in pubs
Pub-goers in Britain are now being asked to pay American-style service charges for drinks ordered at the bar.
A string of bars and pubs in Scotland, owned by The Scotsman Group, have started to levy an automatic 2pc service charge on drinks.
It means a £5 pint of beer will come with an automatic 10p tip.
A pint of Camden Hells Lager at The Grosvenor Cafe is listed on the drinks menu as £5.95, however customers ordering at the bar are actually charged £6.07 for the drink.
In the Golf Tavern, a pint of Guinness costs £5.50 – according to the published menu. In reality, pub-goers are charged £5.61.
It’s not just pints which are hit with the charge. At The Social, a pornstar martini is advertised at £10.50, but customers are actually charged £10.71 when they go to pay.
The extra charges, which can be removed upon request, add just a small amount to bar bills. However, consumer experts warned drinkers may be oblivious to the extra costs and said companies should not rely on “creaming off tips” to boost staff pay.
Service charges have become common practice in the restaurant industry over the past decade with most diners now expecting to find a 12.5pc “discretionary service charge” added to their bill after a meal.
However, service charges are now appearing on everything from pints of lager to takeaway coffees, with some fearing Britain is sleepwalking into adopting America’s tipping culture, where tips average around 20pc.
Central London restaurants such as L’Escargot, in Soho and Delaunay in Covent Garden have upped their service charge to 15pc with the latter also adding a £2 cover charge per guest.
Last September, Britain’s biggest pub chain, Stonegate Group, introduced dynamic pricing at 800 sites across the country, charging drinkers more for pints during “peak trading”.
The company initially brought in additional charges during major sports tournaments but has since made the change permanent, meaning a pint of beer can be 20p more expensive at the weekend.
Diners have also complained about feeling “ambushed” with charity donations increasingly added to restaurant cheques. StreetSmart, a charity which claims to have invented the fundraising technique, says it has generated more than £12m through £1 donations on restaurant bills since 1998.
Meanwhile, missing your haircut could also cost you, with “no-show” penalties more commonly associated with restaurants now being charged at upmarket hairdressers and spas.
Huckle the Barber, a chain of men’s hairdressers in London, where a wash and a cut can cost as much as £56, “reserves the right” to charge the full amount to customers who cancel within 24 hours. Toni & Guy, who have more than 450 salons nationwide, charge £30 for a last-minute cancellation.
The Grosvenor Cafe, a modern bar in the heart of Glasgow’s West End, has added 2pc to customers ordering drinks at the bar despite not listing the charge in their drinks menu published online.
A member of staff who has worked at the venue for the past two years said very few customers had complained as many were unaware they were paying the hidden charge.
She said: “Most people don’t notice because it is added to receipts.”
While 2pc is a small enough fee that some pub-goers may not notice or query the change in price, the scheme is proving lucrative for staff.
The staff member said she had earned an additional £200 as a result of the service charge fee in her last pay slip – and that for some who had worked more hours it was as much as £500 extra.
Consumer expert Jane Hawkes said while many in the hospitality industry were “struggling to stay afloat”, it was important they remained “crystal clear about what they are charging”.
She said: “Companies should be paying their staff appropriately and not relying on creaming off tips or service charges to be able to subsidise that.”
The Golf Tavern in Edinburgh introduced a 2pc service charge in October replacing a system where pub-goers were able to optionally add a discretionary tip on the card machine at the end of their order.
The pub, which is one of the oldest in Scotland, was opened in 1456 and attracts golfing fanatics from around the world who wish to play on the nearby Bruntsfield Links.
Glasgow city centre bars The Social and Delmonicas are also operating a 2pc service charge on drinks, with staff at both venues claiming they have done so for at least the last year.
A member of staff at Delmonicas defended the practice, saying: “When you look across the board, a lot of places do it so I think it’s trying to level out with the rest of the playing field.”
The Scotsman Group is one of Scotland’s largest hospitality groups operating 153 venues.
It was founded by entertainment magnate Stefan King in 1990. The 61-year-old is one of Scotland’s wealthiest men and previously appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2009.
The Scotsman Group was approached for comment.
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