A lot of it is so that you'll be more likely to be willing to separate with some of your money...Originally Posted by Crusher
Don't kid yourself, a service charge doesn't create an incentive to provide great service, because at the end of the day they're charging it regardless of the service performed.
Can customers dispute the service charge if the service sucks? If not, then it's a mandatory tax that should be factored in by everyone that decides whether to eat out or not.
At the end of the day:
The business pays the employees and charges accordingly for the food.
I see it more as a tourist tax/trap to get more money from people that want to visit a country and support the local economy. I would rather see higher prices on the menu rather than have to calculate another tax into the meal cost, but maybe I'm alone on that line of thinking.
Call it what you want, sugar coat it as much as you want, but a service tax is just another way for the business owner to not have to provide transparent pricing.
It's already bad enough in the US and we don't have service charges in ADDITION to tipping the servers.
I have no problem saying I love Jamaica, I love the people in Jamaica, and I love the food in Jamaica but also saying I hate the tipping culture both in Jamaica and in the US and I've worked in and run restaurants.
I've been around the tipping culture in the US for a long time and can't stand it anymore.
