[m8002?]

Originally Posted by kushagra452

IMO a regular cappuccino for Rs.220 is damn expensive. I am surprised to see these coffee chains charging the customers in India almost the same price that it costs in London, UK (IIRC a regular cappuccino was GBP 2.50). I find the Chaayos menu to be overpriced as well. Gulping down Rs.60 cup of tea is certainly not my thing.

Shouldnt we leave the pricing to the company and the markets? We get tea/coffee at all price ranges from Rs.10 to Rs. 1000. I guess people are smart enough to figure out the value of the product and visit the place of their choice.

What I want is that the price they show in menu card is the final price I pay.
What I don't want is a government order telling max coffee price is Rs.50 at any coffee shop in India.

[mjumrani]

Noticed this at Social, Indiranagar Bangalore. I hate this practice of guilt tripping customers and making themselves seem like holy angles doing charity. Service charge is not international, it was copied from US restaurants.

[kushagra452]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Shouldnt we leave the pricing to the company and the markets? We get tea/coffee at all price ranges from Rs.10 to Rs. 1000.

Of course. I am all for a free market economy. Let the demand/supply dynamics decide the price. I was merely stating my personal preferences. As a customer I am also free to choose where I am comfortable executing a transaction (in this case buying a cup of tea/coffee).

[Malyaj]

Originally Posted by mjumrani

Noticed this at Social, Indiranagar Bangalore. I hate this practice of guilt tripping customers and making themselves seem like holy angles doing charity. Service charge is not international, it was copied from US restaurants.

Trust NRAI to come up with the above banner.

• Can they prove with data that restaurants have reduced price for take away when logically they should? No they haven't. They have just added service charge for dine in. Heads I win, tails you lose. And now they want to tell us that all these years they were providing table service for free. This is my ROFL moment for the day.
  
• It is an internationally accepted poor practice that we have readily adopted. While we are conveniently clueless about internationally accepted hygiene and cleanliness practices.
  
• I would like employers also to take some responsibility for the education of their employees' kids. Paying them decent fixed wages is a good place to start.
  
• I am glad they have accepted that it is not a tip. Time to also accept that it is a tax dodging tactic
  
• Of course it is not illegal. But legality and ethicality are 2 different things
  
• No one was under any impression that it is voluntary. But then when the industry is so consumed by indignation and outrage, missing the point is completely understandable.
  
• I don't have kids otherwise I am tempted to add 'Kids education cess' to my services.

I am quoting here verbatim a message I received on Facebook from a restaurant employee:

"....totally agreed, and also 50% of the service charges is Swallowed by the restaurant owners itself and remaining will be shared. I work in same industry and it is a dirty practice of owners to negotiate salary keeping the service charges included in it. Owners stop justifying yourself , you all are same"

So much for kids education.

[tazmaan]

I always Tip well if I get good service. The amount is never in percentage but in value. For example in a 5 star if my bill is 8000 I am not comfortable tipping 800 which is 10% especially if most of that bill would be high value liquid beverage. However if I am in Goa siting on a beach side restaurant for hours, I usually tip a lot more than 10% sometimes as high as 30%. In an Udipi if my bill is just 100 I don't mind tipping 50 for good service.

I frequently (at least 8 times a year) visit a particular Shack at Morjim Goa ,which is a chain of restaurants. The waiters now know me, they even know my order and poison. The waiters have informed me that only a small percentage of the service charge gets distributed rest is going to HO/Owners. Even the manager has become friendly and promptly removes service charge without me asking. They know I tip well but not everyone is courteous enough to tip well for service. I also make it a point to tip the cleaners if the space has been kept clean which we know is so difficult in India especially the washrooms. This not just at restaurants but even at other public places like airports.

However I am against adding a blanket percentage as service charge especially at expensive restaurants where the bill amount does not really reflect the work put in for service. But as a large majority we are not courteous and feel entitled. If the restaurants were not iron fisted and guilt tripping customers in paying service charge, the government would not have needed to step-in.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by Superleggera

Walked into one of the breweries yesterday (LaCasa, Kasavanahalli, Hosa Road,Bangalore) and they had a big board right next to the entrance saying 'We will be charging 10% service Charge on your Bill".

Originally Posted by mjumrani

Noticed this at Social, Indiranagar Bangalore.

At this rate, soon, the government will step in adding a HSN code to restaurant service charge and slap 18% GST on it to plug revenue leakage. Only customers will be the losers in the end.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by mjumrani

Noticed this at Social, Indiranagar Bangalore. I hate this practice of guilt tripping customers and making themselves seem like holy angles doing charity. Service charge is not international, it was copied from US restaurants.

When was this image taken. This is a generic one I’ve seen in all Socials and other Impressario chain restaurants in Mumbai.

Was this image before the new rule came into place or after.

[mjumrani]

Originally Posted by AZT

When was this image taken. This is a generic one I’ve seen in all Socials and other Impressario chain restaurants in Mumbai.

Was this image before the new rule came into place or after.

After the new notification came out. The owner of Socials used to be the head of NRAI, and is very vocal on service charges to be added for restaurants.

[car-dent]

I am totally against this service charge concept by retsuarants. They should pay their staff well and price their menu as per the Expenses they have to incur just like the staff in a garment store or a electronics store.

Would people be comfortable paying 10% service charge for the sales staff for a mobile phone they just bought?

[ValarMorghulis]

Well nothing has changed so far. Had lunch at Toscano yesterday and they had a 10% service charge included by default.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by mjumrani

Noticed this at Social, Indiranagar Bangalore. I hate this practice of guilt tripping customers and making themselves seem like holy angles doing charity. Service charge is not international, it was copied from US restaurants.

Denial and arrogance at its best. They should understand that part of the reason why they need to levy service charge is because they underpay their staff.
Tipping should be optional. If Indians are bad tippers, by Gods sake increase the cost of the food and ensure a fair portion of the earnings goes to the staff as incentives. Using these guilt tripping methods to show them selves in good light will take them nowhere.
I would love to see many patrons who eat out regularly going to the hotel/ pub, asking if they levy service charge, if they say yes and its compulsory, they should inform they are not happy with this and should leave.
I personally try eating home as much as possible. If I do go out, I prefer Udupi hotels where food is reasonably priced and I can tip at my will. These eateries deserve all the tips we pay IMHO since the service is really quick and good.

[ninjatalli]

Has anyone done a before / after visit at any of the restaurants they frequent to see if the ruling/guidelines has been implemented? Or rather if it hasn't been, are they ignoring the guidelines or are they giving any other reasoning/argument when asked?

[Sidban85]

I visited Lord of the Drinks in Whitefield on Saturday. They are still charging 10% service charge.

Since they had helped with taking group photographs and also given us a table promptly, I did not argue.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Visited Burma Burma yesterday. The bill came with a 10% service charge. Initially, we didn’t notice and simply paid the full amount by card. Later, when we checked the bill and noticed it, they removed it on request and refunded the service charge amount in cash. No fuss.

[goandude]

In Bob's Bar 100 ft Rd Indiranagar, the waiter informs you verbally about the service charge. It is also written on the menu.
Meaning that, "I have told you about the charge, still you sat and ordered, so you have implicitly agreed to pay"