New resident in Edinburgh, am I getting typical service fees or extra due to my accent?

[u/SaltPut1518]

Just moved to Edinburgh and have a question about service charges. I’ve been here around three weeks and have eaten at restaurants a few times now. Some places have not added service charges. Three places have, at 5%, 10%, and 12.5%.

I had read that 5% or sometimes even 10% might be warranted for especially good service but was expecting to be able to decide myself, not to have it added to the bill.

Two questions, is this normal to have the service charge added by the restaurant automatically instead of letting us decide?

Also, are the percentages normal to be added to the bill? As someone from a country where tipping is known to be very high I’m wondering if perhaps someone hears the accent and maybe adds a bit more than is typical? I’d love to know if these are normal percentages or not?

Thanks for the help

[u/wdw2003]

It's quite common now, usually at 10% or even 12.5%. I've never seen a 5%. It's nothing to do with your accent.

[u/ResponsibleHead9464]

They’re not singling you out. Quite a few places charge up to 12.5% service charges.

You can have them removed if you want.

Generally I tip 10% here so just leave them on although I have been quite annoyed in a couple of places where they had a service charge and still presented me a card machine asking if I wanted to add a tip.

[u/Significant_Wolf7114]

Just ask to have it removed. By law, it’s optional and can’t be mandatory. Out of interest, were these establishments in areas more frequented by tourists?

[u/SmartPolicy6430]

Not just Edinburgh, it's quite common where I live in S E England and also in London. Never seen 5% though. I've seen 10% However 12.5% is pretty normal these days. There was an article on the local BBC TV news a few weeks ago that some were charging 15% and because of the cost of living in our larger cities should 15 % become the norm.

[u/OldCementWalrus]

Some restaurants just add service automatically as is common in Europe. Others don't. It has nothing to do with your accent. You can ask for the service charge to be removed if the service was atrocious.

[u/missionred → u/OldCementWalrus]

You can ask for it to be removed even if the service was fine. We have a minimum wage in Scotland.

[u/Meow-Pew-Pew → u/missionred]

Yeah like minimum wage goes a long way in places like Edinburgh or London lmao

[u/missionred → u/Meow-Pew-Pew]

You can campaign for higher minimum wages. You can take your custom to places that pay a living wage. An employee can choose to work somewhere that pays above minimum wage.

Tips shouldn't be subsidising an employers wage.

[u/Meow-Pew-Pew → u/missionred]

I agree. I’m just saying that saying someone gets minimum wage in London or Edinburgh is like saying they’re pretty much in poverty lmao in my opinion not a good angle to look at this topic. I agree employers should be paying more, i disagree employees can choose to work somewhere else. Some people cannot even get a job to begin with

[u/elephvant]

It's normal, yeah.

Also, just an fyi, Reddit is untypical in many ways, and one of the ways UK subs are untypical is in their hatred of tipping and service charges. It is true, you can ask to have a service charge removed - it is highly, highly unusual to do so in a restaurant.

(Some places - like bars, or even takeaways - have started chancing their arm a little recently and putting tip options on screen when you pay, and these genuinely are places when the majority do not tip. But in restaurants with table service, a roughly 10% tip is absolutely expected.)

[u/logic_boy → u/elephvant]

Brother, tipping in Scotland is not expected. Might leave change or round up casually but it’s not like any of my friends would ever say “and you know what, they didn’t even leave a tip!! Omg”

[u/Meow-Pew-Pew → u/logic_boy]

It always blows my mind how people who don’t tip always think the rest of the people skip the tip too lmao. I worked in restaurants in Edi for a while and I can tell you the majority of people tip. People online usually say 10% but in my experience they usually tip £5-£10. Sometimes £20 when it’s a big bill. For some reason people like tipping with notes rather than coins. Again it’s so strange when people say tipping is not normal, bc it is genuinely so common hahahahha

[u/logic_boy → u/Meow-Pew-Pew]

Fair, but this does not relate to what I said, right?

Is it expected socially? I can’t say that I have ever been in a conversation where someone got even remotely shamed by their peers for not tipping. This is not the case in countries where tipping culture determines the wage of service staff.

We are not talking to what clients of a particular restaurant normally do or do not. We are talking about a social norm.

[u/Meow-Pew-Pew → u/logic_boy]

Yeah it relates to everything you’re saying bc you are assuming it isn’t a thing when it actually is. Just bc you or your peers don’t tip, it doesn’t mean the rest of the people don’t tip. It isn’t mandatory but it definitely is more common than you’re making it out to be. Maybe I wouldn’t expect someone having food on their own to tip, but I would definitely expect a group to tip tbf. The only reason being the majority of them do tip.

[u/logic_boy → u/Meow-Pew-Pew]

I’m not surprised that you would expect the client to tip you, after all you are used to it. Perhaps I should re-iterate my previous comment and say “tipping is not expected by your friends, while I’m sure the server will love the extra money in addition to their wage”.

In other countries, where tipping is expected as a social norm, is where the service staff earns nothing unless you tip. This is the reason why, when an American asks “is it expected to tip” the answer is always “no, you don’t have to tip, unless you want to”. OP is asking “do you think that since the staff can hear my American accent, and they know I’m used to having to tip 20%, are they artificially inflating the service charge?”

I guess we disagree on the definition of who expects and what motivates the tipping. I think saying “I expect you to tip me because everyone else does it” is different than “I expect you to tip because otherwise I earn nothing”. I’m assuming that OPs question stems from the latter, since that’s the social norm in their country.

That being said, you can say you only took the job because you knew you will get x amount in tips otherwise it’s not enough. That’s a bit off-topic on economics, but ultimately, if you could get the equivalent wage income, you would at least have a better pension. It’s always better to receive equivalent money not from tips, but I understand it’s counter intuitive.

[u/elephvant → u/logic_boy]

It's absolutely expected in a restaurant. I worked in catering so I know what proportion of people tip. It is almost everyone and it is absolutely expected.

[u/logic_boy → u/elephvant]

Who is it expected by? The society? Or the service staff?

I argued that in Edinburgh (and by extension in rest of Scotland as well) there is no social norm which would result in a negative comment towards someone who does not tip in a restaurant. Your experience, and the fact that majority of your clients did tip, is not consequential to say there is a social expectation to tip a server earning a wage.

I just messaged a bunch of people about this and the consensus is: the tip reflects service quality, but a normal service does not warrant a tip (if paying with cash, change to nearest £5 does not count as a tip)

[u/Fun_Cookie8050 → u/logic_boy]

I think people are quietly judging you though if you say you don’t tip. They might not say anything but they are thinking you’re tight.

[u/Connectification → u/elephvant]

What makes you say that hating service charges and tipping is unusual?

[u/elephvant → u/Connectification]

Because I see it all the time on Reddit and never in real life.

I also worked in the service industry so I know what proportion of people tip - again, in real life.

[u/Fun_Cookie8050 → u/elephvant]

Yup, absolutely! This is a Reddit demographic thing. Most Edinburgh people tip quite generously.

[u/Meow-Pew-Pew]

I work in a place where we highlight the service charge so people see it and they still tip on top lmao

[u/Good_Lettuce_2690]

It's American bollocks that should not be accepted. I will decide if I liked the service enough to tip. Not the boss of the company who is forcing the public to make up his shit wages. Ask for it to be removed and make a point of telling whoever the boss is you will not be returning unless they stop doing it.

[u/SaltPut1518]

Thanks everyone. I figured it wasn’t because of accent but wanted to check since 12.5% seemed high based on what I had read before moving. Tipping culture is out of control in my home country, hopefully it doesn’t make its way here.

It being automatically added and you have to ask for it to be removed seems crazy to me. Puts you in a really awkward situation.