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@Scott – I’m totally lost for words that you refer to hospitality (and other lower paid) jobs as “crappy”. It feels really offensive to people working hard to earn a living. Many don’t have much choice. Hospitality is a vital sector that employs about three million people in the UK.
Tips often make up an important part of total wages for many hospitality workers and their work should be respected as much as anyone else’s.
The fact that some types of role are not traditionally tipped or permitted to be tipped isn’t really a valid excuse for not tipping those in roles or sectors where it’s the norm.
Get a grip of yourself, of course there are crap jobs out there. You think people had childhood dreams of cleaning toilets?
Re your comment about traditionally tipped jobs, the key word here is ‘traditionally’. They now are paid at least a minimum wage putting them on par with many other crappy jobs. In the past a factory worker would be on a higher hourly rate than a hotel cleaner, so tips would be a boon to the cleaner.
And to echo other comments above, I actually have no qualms about tipping for good service, but that’s not what this thread is about. We’re talking about establishments twisting your arm to pay a fixed percentage on top of the total bill. They should roll it into their nightly rates if they want to pay their staff more.
@Scott – I’m sorry that I can’t kowtow and echo your comments. People may not have dreamed of doing rather unpleasant jobs but that doesn’t mean that the person or their role should be disrespected with unpleasant terminology.
As for getting a grip, I think I was taught this at about age seven before being packed off to prep school and I greatly respect my parents for teaching me not to be snotty towards or about people in lower paid jobs. Many simply don’t have options.
I don’t see an optional service charge as being “twisting your arm” but rather a nudge.
As for it being better for hotels to add something akin to the cost of a small service charge, that seems not only to go against what you are saying, but also hopelessly unrealistic given the apparent unwillingness of so many to pay higher room rates and the horribly competitive environment in which London hotels operate.
In respect of traditionally tipped or not tipped sectors and these hotel service charges, it is extraordinarily difficult in the current environment to find any staff, let alone good hospitality staff (that’s a worldwide, not just UK issue) so hotels in London and around the country are already paying well above minimum wage even for eg chamber maids and the potential to earn tips on top of wages is a very valuable recruitment and retention tool. Any guest who appreciates good service really ought to be on board with these charges.
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