The tip revolt: diners shun service charges and leave cash for waiters

Londoners are going "on strike" against hefty restaurant service charges over fears that they are not passed on to staff.

Restaurateurs say there is a growing reluctance to pay the 12.5 or 15 per cent "optional" charge automatically added to most bills.

Some have already scrapped the charge, which adds £10 to the typical £80 London dinner bill for two and leaves tips to the discretion of diners.

Elizabeth Carter, editor of the Good Food Guide, said: "It is about time this happened. Too many chains in particular are pulling a fast one. If anything goes on the credit card it just disappears into a huge void from which staff often get nothing. I am a firm believer in giving cash to the waiter."

Paul Campbell, chief executive of the Clapham House group, which runs a number of restaurant chains in London including The Real Greek and the Tootsies brands, said: "We removed the service charge at The Real Greek and we're going to tips-only at Tootsies next week. We like the idea there is no confusion. We like customers to feel that what they leave goes straight to the staff.

"It has had a positive impact already. It creates a virtuous circle because staff know they are going to be well-rewarded for outstanding service but if they give bad service then there is a good chance they will get nothing."

A waiter at The Fire Stables gastropub in Wimbledon said: "There is no longer a standard service charge. They used to have one for everyone until recently, but now they only charge 10 per cent to groups of over eight. Clients seem happier with this and tips are good. It is to do with the economic climate."

The issue was highlighted last week when the Government announced a ban on the use of service charges to augment pay below the minimum wage that comes into force in October.

However, unions only gave a partial welcome to the move because restaurants will still be entitled to keep service charges, rather than handing them to staff, so long as their base pay meets the national minimum. Karen Jones, editor of Citywealth magazine, said: "I have noticed in the past few months a major trend towards paying cash tips and it is because you never really know if it is going to staff. It is part of the whole new zeitgeist where people want to be more humane rather than behave in the old aggressive corporate way." But many restaurants said a system under which all tips are pooled and shared is fairer because all staff who contribute to the general ambience of the restaurant are rewarded rather than just those who wait on tables.

Automatic service charges largely replaced cash tips during the Eighties and were originally set at 10 per cent. However, this pushed up to 12.5 per cent in the Nineties in a move led by the Conran chain of "gastrodomes".

Some restaurants are pushing charges even higher, including Racine in Chelsea, where it is set at 14.s5 per cent.