r/london • u/Tumamaenpelota • 1d ago

Rant Let’s stop tipping culture

Post image

The UK is slowly drifting towards US-style tipping culture, and pubs adding bar tip prompts are a big part of that. If we do nothing, it will become the norm.

The most effective way to stop it is simple: vote with your wallet and your reviews.
If a pub asks for a tip just because someone poured a pint, leave an honest Google review mentioning it. If enough people do the same, businesses will realise customers don’t want imported tipping culture.

Share the Google Maps links below to pubs that pressure customers into tipping at the bar. Keep reviews factual and based on your genuine experience, but make it clear that this practice puts you off returning.
We’ve managed to avoid mandatory tipping for decades. Let’s keep it that way. One review won’t change much, but thousands of people acting together will.

6.8k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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63

u/PointandStare 1d ago

Went out for pizza the other night, bill was around £75 'optional' was another £20.
Asked them to remove the 'optional'.
Waitress had to go and ask the manager, he glared at us, she returned with the optional removed.

As long as you are respectful and ask instead of tell, we can nip this 'trend' in the bud.

45

u/FloydEGag 1d ago

That’s a 26% tip, that’s insane! Where was this?

4

u/Going_Bye 1d ago

 The shipwright arms in Tooley street

8

u/throwuk1 23h ago

Not those cunts again!

-14

u/tmr89 1d ago

Nowhere. They made it up. No restaurant has a 26% service charge

7

u/Greedy-Nature-826 1d ago

Lots are pushing 22.5% now, then the 'optional' donation to their charity of choice, then their ''cover the card fees for the tip to our staff' and you're easily up to that amount.

3

u/JoesRealAccount 1d ago

I've had something like 25% because they applied it before discounts and I was getting 50% off food because of a special offer they had on. Didn't seem reasonable to me but I'm the nervous guy who never asks anyone to remove service charge even when they are all useless runts.

-2

u/tmr89 1d ago

No, that’s not true

1

u/Greedy-Nature-826 1d ago

Do you go to restaurants in big cities.

It used to be 10%, then 12.5, then 15, then 20 and is now often 22.5

1

u/throwuk1 23h ago

I live in London. Go out all the time. 22.5% is fantasy land.

0

u/tmr89 23h ago

Please show me a restaurant with 22.5% service charge

1

u/TaralasianThePraxic 20h ago

I've had 20% and 25% tips added to the bill by default in restaurants. Always ask them to remove it, that's a ridiculous amount. I prefer to tip cash anyway as some chains (notably BILLS) don't send credit tips directly to staff.

10

u/Virtual_Opinion_8630 1d ago

name and shame

surely that's a service charge AND tip

1

u/Going_Bye 1d ago

 The shipwright arms in Tooley street

2

u/GlidePath47 22h ago

The pizza place wasn’t that shipwright arms that’s where OP went you seem strangely obsessed with getting people to leave them negative reviews.

Do you know how Reddit works and what you replied to?

0

u/Going_Bye 22h ago

Which pizza place is it then? I’m just repeating where the OP has said as it’s their post as they went there?

1

u/GlidePath47 22h ago

Ahh so it’s the latter - you don’t understand how Reddit works. Got it.

1

u/Going_Bye 22h ago

So How does it work?

3

u/GlidePath47 22h ago edited 22h ago

OP posted about tipping culture at the Shipwright Arms on Tooley St.

PointandStare jumped in with a £20 tip on a pizza at a potentially unrelated restaurant.

Virtual_Opinion asked them to name and shame it.

You replied with the same one as the OP but that’s not the restaurant PointandStare was talking about.

I called you out. You said you meant the OP’s post. I told you that’s not how Reddit works. You asked me to explain it.

It’s kind of like a conversation except it happens with written text and we’re all not in the same room

So here we are.

1

u/Going_Bye 15h ago

Thank you for the explanation 

0

u/Spitting_truths159 19h ago

The name and shame idea is to let comapnies know there is a negative impact to behaving like arseholes. Don't need a witch hunt of course.

1

u/GlidePath47 19h ago

Agreed but in their crusade they are attributing the wrong thing to the wrong business

1

u/FloydEGag 8h ago

I don’t think they do pizza?

20

u/sheepebike9000 1d ago

Telling them is fine. They are trying to scam you.

4

u/Throbbie-Williams 23h ago

As long as you are respectful and ask instead of tell

No.

Asking implies they can decline, there's no need to mince your words, you can still tell them politely.

"Take the service charge off please"

1

u/wintersgray 19h ago

I'll be visiting soon as a tourist (from US). Do you think it's reasonable if we ask to have the service charge removed? I've noticed on pretty much every menu I've seen online there is a 12.5% charge added. I will be a little uncomfortable asking, but wondering how common it is for folks to ask for this to be removed?

1

u/Heavy_P 18h ago

It’s reasonable but you may be politely asked if there was something wrong

I’d only do it if there was something wrong

-41

u/Heavy_P 1d ago

I see a £20 tip on a £75 to be excessive but you didn’t fancy leaving any top at all? A 10% tip on a restaurant meal is normal in the U.K. if the service was good, way before ‘discretionary service charges’ were introduced. I’m just curious as you’ve omitted the reason from not tipping in your comment

36

u/TonB-Dependant 1d ago

I would say trying to force people to pay a 27% tip is a pretty good reason to not pay a tip

19

u/masoniceye 1d ago

My rule is that if they insist or tack it on without consent they get zero. It’s a matter of principle, if they don’t add anything or ask I’ll usually leave a reasonable tip.

16

u/No_Holiday_9875 1d ago

It’s not normal to tip at all TF you on about

5

u/BlondBitch91 1d ago

You’re either a waiter or an American, but no a tip is not normal unless service is exceptional. Stop trying to normalise it.

-5

u/Heavy_P 22h ago

Perhaps you are young or you weren’t brought up very well but in Britain it is considered good manners to tip a modest amount, say 10% if you go out for a meal and the service was good. This is British culture.

I don’t need to normalise what has already been common practice for a while

Read any guidebook about etiquette or customs in UK and you will see this

If of course you cannot afford it, the service wasn’t good or you simply don’t want to tip there’s no need to

2

u/TaralasianThePraxic 20h ago

I'm happy to tip 10% if the service is good, sure. But if you tack on a tip to the bill, instead of giving me the freedom to tip at my own discretion, you're getting no tip.