The irony of a restaurant automatically adding a service charge is that the service no longer needs to be good; a waiter no longer needs to try.
We, the customers, are faced with paying a surcharge for mediocre service or the embarrassment of asking for the added 12.5% to be removed.
That’s not customer service.
It doesn’t feed a culture of excellence, and it certainly doesn’t encourage those amazing waiters who have the personality and drive to make your evening extra-special.
When you call a customer helpline and get told ‘your call really matters’, you know it doesn’t; otherwise, you wouldn’t have been on hold for three minutes, let alone 10.
And even though the COVID pandemic was five years ago, it still seems to be a handy excuse for having to keep costs keen and dilute the customer experience.
Wherever any of us look within our business, there are always opportunities to cut costs or pass on charges to customers.
The thing is, people remember the experience long after they’ve paid the bill.