The Well & Boot, in London’s Waterloo station, has introduced a 4% ‘optional’ charge on all food and drink, which is automatically added to bills
Drinkers have been left fuming after a pub slapped an automatic service charge on pints ordered at the bar – adding as much as 30p to the cost of a beer. The Well & Boot, in London’s Waterloo station, has introduced a 4% “optional” charge on all food and drink.
But, it is automatically added to bills, meaning customers have to object if they want it removed. A pint of Camden IPA listed at £7.65 is hiked to £7.95 once the charge is included, while an Aspall cider or Guinness goes from £7.45 to £7.75.
A cocktail at £12.50 carries a 50p fee.
The venue, owned by Glendola Leisure, displays a sign at the bar stating “100% of all tips go to our staff”. It also refuses cash payments.
The practice has sparked a backlash from customers. Martin Quinn, a campaigner for cash acceptance, said: “You can understand it if you’re sitting down and it’s table service, but you’re ordering it from the bar.
“Where’s the service in that?” Consumer rights expert Martyn James warned the trend is spreading and other pubs and hospitality outlets are likely to follow suit.
He told the Telegraph: “Sadly, I have seen this in a number of bars in London and other places. It’s very insidious.
“You have to be looking at that small print. The key thing is it’s optional, but it forces you into an awkward situation where you have to tell the person who is pouring your drink, ‘I’m not tipping you’, and that goes against our British sensibilities.”
Research shows pubs and restaurants have increasingly been using card machines to prompt tips at the bar. Payment firm SumUp reported a 12% rise in pubs doing so in the past two years, with many customers caught out by suggested gratuities flashing up on screens.
For most Britons, tipping at the bar is virtually unheard of – in stark contrast with America, where adding 15–20% to the bill is expected.
Travel guide Lonely Planet even tells tourists that tipping in British pubs is “never done and not expected”. The move comes as licensed venues grapple with soaring costs for energy, goods and staff.
The average pint now costs £4.80 nationwide and £6.75 in London, with forecasts that the capital could soon see £7 pints become the norm.
Last year, Stonegate – the UK’s biggest pub chain – rolled out “dynamic pricing” across 600 venues, with drinks rising in price during busy hours.
Meanwhile, some high-end London restaurants have begun imposing “minimum spend” rules of up to £1,000 per table.