Letter: Food for thought on restaurant charges
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Your leading article 'Charges that leave a bad taste in the mouth' (19 January) includes a number of quite distinct aspects.
The decision by a restaurant to itemise charges for mineral water, vegetables or bread, as I have seen recently, on the menu allows the customer to make an informed choice - we do not all wish to partake of all these things, after all. In my experience, the majority of the public seem quite capable of comparing like with like, and the little amount of mental arithmetic involved is surely no more than they expect if they are going to buy on price alone.
The matter of applying a 'service charge' (mandatory or optional) and then soliciting additional gratuities is reprehensible, but hardly more so than many other current ways of separating the customer from his cash.
Tips are usually earned by cooking and waiting staff and should be encouraged as a form of performance-related pay.
Yours faithfully,
ERIC G. PIXTON
Bildeston, Suffolk
19 January
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments