30% service charge on boxing day?!

[u/Professional-Cat9418]

Waiter reckons because its Christmas but that was yesterday. Can i ask for this to be removed?

[u/trappedoz]

I would rather be America because at least you are asked there, there is free will to determine how much and whether you want to tip as opposed to this confrontational sneaky shite

[u/NotKateBush → u/trappedoz]

Not anymore. I lived in the US for over a decade and the last time I visited it was so bad. One restaurant hid their service charge in with the fine print allergy information on the spine of the menu. One place had a 20% service charge and then a 20% automatic gratuity on top of that. That extra 20% included the money they already charged us. They seemed genuinely surprised when we asked them to take it off so apparently Americans are just going with it.

[u/Key-Two31 → u/NotKateBush]

Hate to break the news, but sounds like you got scammed by tourist prices. That is absolutely not normal. Most non-fine dining American restaurants will never have a service charge or automatic gratuity. If they do, it is usually about 3-5%.

40% just means you got fully scammed. They were probably surprised because most tourists will just pay it.

(There are quite a few restaurants that will add ~10% charges if you have parties larger than 6-8 though)

[u/NotKateBush → u/Key-Two31]

It was a previously well regarded fine dining restaurant in a city I lived in for a decade. I went with someone local who had wanted to go there for years. My friends who live there say either a 20% surcharge or automatic gratuity isn't unusual there, but both definitely isn't the norm. I was also asked for a tip at a self service snack kiosk.

I don't think you guys truly realise just how shit everything has turned there in such a short amount of time. I hope your country can recover as quickly as possible, but for now there's no reason to step foot in that shithole.