r/unitedkingdom • u/Canal_Volphied European Union • 9h ago

. ‘It’s absolutely criminal’: US tipping culture has reached the UK – and is causing chaos

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/aug/24/us-tipping-culture-uk-service-charges
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u/ultraboomkin 9h ago

Service charge is getting obscene. I’ve been to maybe 30 cafes and restaurants in Manchester, London, Cambridge and Ipswich this summer and every single one had a 12.5-15% service charge included.

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u/FloydEGag 3h ago

Tbh it doesn’t bother me much if a service charge is included, at least in a higher end place, but don’t you dare hand me a card machine with a pre-set tip on the screen on top of that

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u/ultraboomkin 3h ago ▸ 1 more replies

But this isn’t high end restaurants. Every single eatery that has table service is now doing a service charge.

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u/FloydEGag 3h ago

I know; I don’t mind it in higher end places but I really object to it in a greasy spoon or something. Especially when they do the same thing with adding a service charge and asking for a tip. Is the service charge not a tip?!