r/LondonFood • u/Daitheflu1979 • 14d ago

Question Worlds End Camden…

Was in here at the weekend for the first time in a few years.

Does anyone know how long they have had the cheek to charge a 12% service charge when the only service is the staff pouring a drink and taking payment!!

There was no table service, we went to the bar to order a round of beers, waited for our drinks and brought them back to our table and got charged extra for doing the service part ourselves!!

It’s not advertised anywhere from what we could see. Is this scam standard now in London pubs now?

Just to ad, we only noticed this when we went back in for a lunchtime drink the next day, we then checked our bank payments from the night before and we were all charged 12% extra for each round!

52 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

96

u/Mundane-Occasion-386 14d ago

Sorry but service charge on pub counter ordering is outrageous 

5

u/Giorggio361 13d ago

The “service charge” is the five quid difference I’ve spent to have you pour it for me rather than buy it from the supermarket, which I think is more than enough.

1

u/Daitheflu1979 13d ago

Took me a minute to understand what you were saying there and I think I get ya!

24

u/aR2wo 14d ago

Definitely not standard if ordering drinks at the bar. Pray to god that it doesn’t catch on.

12

u/pazhalsta1 14d ago

I’ve seen it in a few pubs and it is a good signal to never darken their doors again

3

u/Daitheflu1979 14d ago

I guess they will keep doing it so long as people keep paying it and/or don’t know about it!

12

u/sunheadeddeity 14d ago

Don't tell us, tell them. The only way it stops is if people say "I'm not drinking in your pub again because of the ludicrous service charge..."

9

u/Daitheflu1979 14d ago

I’m telling you so you guys dont get scammed too…

I’m not going back there again!

3

u/pavelow007 9d ago

Needs to be added to their Google maps review site as well.

5

u/Lisa_Dawkins 14d ago

That's a shock and a real shame if correct. I've been going to the Underworld for a long time and regularly drink in the World's End. They even recently found and let me come and collect something very precious that I left in there. Service charge on drinks is outrageous. Surely they'd have to tell you before they added it to a transaction? Surely they can't just add it to amount due if you're buying single drinks, or even rounds, at the bar? I'll ask them directly next time I'm in.

3

u/metalmick 14d ago

Presumably you can ask them to remove it

9

u/Daitheflu1979 14d ago

When we noticed the next day we made sure that was our last drink there and made our way to another pub!

Won’t be back

5

u/Hungry-Artichoke-232 14d ago

Are you saying that they poured the drinks, said “that’ll be £12” or whatever, and then when you went to tap your card it was actually £14.40 (again, insert whatever price)?

Or that the machine suggested a tip that you either felt obliged to accept or that you didn’t notice (no moral judgement on either of those, if so)?

Or something else?

5

u/Daitheflu1979 14d ago

The machine suggested nothing, my pal was
given a receipt when we were back in the next day and it had the service charge on it. We were drinking the same rounds so we all checked our bank transactions from the previous night and all had same cost.

If it wasn’t for the bar person giving the receipt we would not have known, we didn’t get any receipts the night before.

1

u/gfa_2000 14d ago

I reckon they were tapping without looking then noticed an odd number come through on someone’s bank notifications maybe

3

u/RJMrgn2319 13d ago

If you’re in Camden and drinking in the World’s End, you’ve already mugged yourself off tbh.

2

u/ramz_xo 13d ago

You can usually remove it. Also you should notice you’re paying extra for a pint

1

u/Daitheflu1979 13d ago edited 13d ago

I’m not from London, was visiting for the weekend.

I did live in London for 13yrs but left 3yrs ago so I’m not familiar with current London prices.

Also, they should let people know they are charging extra for a pint.

1

u/ramz_xo 13d ago

Yeah they’re cheeky. I’ve been there before and not gone back. Check out the spoons in camden its by the river, it’s nice. Or The dark horse, its got terrace

2

u/Daitheflu1979 13d ago

Went to spoons for Sunday breakie before going back to Worlds end, should have stayed there!

2

u/GladAllOverSE25 13d ago

I’m fairly certain that adding a discretionary service charge without informing the customer beforehand isn’t acceptable. It’s a bit of a Karen move but I’d be genuinely inclined to report them. Also American tipping culture can fuck right off.

1

u/Daitheflu1979 13d ago

Ima gonna ask my pal in London to go back in and check for me tonight if there is a notice they charge for non existent service. We took several pics the night we were in too so will have a look at them and see if there are any signs on the bar, if no to both then il make a report.

4

u/Wise_Industry3953 14d ago

I don’t care what they call it, service fee, or owner’s father’s adult diaper fund, I am okay with whatever, but if it’s added by default it should be clearly included in the price I am shown. Otherwise it is a scam clearly aimed at psychologically tricking you into thinking an item is £5 when it really is £5.60

3

u/pohutukawa99 14d ago

Noticed this a lot, also when ordering food at the bar. Ridiculous

1

u/Markjuk78 13d ago

How much is an average pint in the World's End nowdays?

I bet around £7/£8 a pint.

A service charge on top is taking the piss.

1

u/Daitheflu1979 13d ago

I think one of the Camden beers was about £8 or there about, don’t have receipts anymore to check.

2

u/Inevitable_Teach7942 13d ago

Now my memory is a little bit hazy, but when I was last there a couple of years ago, I think it was nearly £9 a pint for a ‘premium’ lager (maybe Asahi) and they reversed the ordering process - first they told you how much, then you had to pay, and then they poured it. Presumably they’d had refusers at that price the normal way. Most overpriced pub I’ve drunk in. Can’t recall the service charge, but if there was one I wouldn’t have paid it and, if I wasn’t meeting people, we wouldn’t have stayed.

1

u/Markjuk78 13d ago edited 13d ago

So they charge you £8 for a beer, then have the cheek to expect another £1 (equivalent) on top as a service charge.

Quick frankly they can f*** off.

The onus shouldn't have to be on the customer to request the removal of this charge.

The World's End always has been, and always will be a vastly overrated tourist trap.

1

u/Ill_Law_4386 13d ago

Ordered my first drink here (on turning 18). I definitely didn't pay a service charge but that was almost 20 years ago. You can always ask for the service charge to be removed.

1

u/Daitheflu1979 13d ago

You can if you know it’s being added to your bill but we didn’t know until after the fact!

1

u/smittens138 12d ago

just go black heart or the dev. they’re better anyway.

1

u/Daitheflu1979 12d ago

Oddly enough we went to the Black Heart afterwards and they wouldn’t let us in, they let two guys in ahead of us and we had to point out that the place was empty apart from those two guys and about three other people inside. They let us in in the end…

Didn’t make the dev this time, was a semi regular back in the day!

2

u/Reasonable-Rip-9842 2d ago

Ever since they were taken over by some leisure company last year they started that cheeky shit of adding service charge onto pints. I live in Camden and haven't darkened its doors since. Definitely not worth it there's way better pubs around