Latest news with #TheWellandBoot
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Drinkers' fury as pub slaps automatic 4% tip on anyone just for buying pints at the bar
The new charge applies to all food and drink ordered at the bar UN-BAR-LIEVABLE Drinkers' fury as pub slaps automatic 4% tip on anyone just for buying pints at the bar Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A PUB has slapped an automatic 4 per cent tip for anyone buying pints at the bar leaving drinkers furious. The new charge means punters at the London boozer will now be paying an extra 30p for a pint of beer or cider. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 A pub has slapped an automatic four per cent tip when ordering at the bar Credit: Getty The Well and Boot at Waterloo Station is now adding an automatic four percent "optional" charge that applies to all food and drink ordered at the bar. Eagle-eyed customers may notice a small sign on display informing them of the new charge, adding that "100 per cent of all tips go to our staff". You won't be able to pay the extra charge in pound notes though as the venue doesn't accept cash either. Cash acceptance campaigner, Martin Quinn, told The Telegraph: "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?' Mr Quinn paid a visit to The Well and Boot and purchased a half pint of cider for £3.90. He paid the additional charge which made it around 15p more expensive. A typical service charge of around 12.5 per cent is usually added to the bill when customers are seated at a table and served by a waiter in any given pub or restaurant. In the UK, an extra tip on top of the service charge is not usually expected from customers as opposed to the US and some European countries. But businesses are bucking the trend by adding the charge on drinks bought at the bar in pubs. BrewDog beers axed by almost 2,000 pubs across the UK Consumer expert, Martyn James, confirmed as much saying he had seen the practice in a number of locations around the capital. He called the practice "insidious" and added there is little that can be done to stop it. What's worse is that punters may not even notice signs on the bar and if they do, it can often be hidden in the small print, James said. He added that customers should remember that the "key thing" is that the charge is optional. But he appreciated some may feel too awkward to decline the extra tip as it goes against "our British sensibilities". Glendola Leisure, who runs the Well and Boot, was approached for comment. You can buy a pint of Camden IPA for £7.65 at the boozer while an Aspall cider or Guiness will set you back £7.45. You'll have to cough up £12.50 for a cocktail too while a regular-sized glass of sauvignon blanc comes in at £8.50. Eight pubs are closing down every week in Britain amid crippling running costs and tax hikes figure show, as the price of a pint is expected to hit £5 nationwide. The situation in London is even worse with eye-watering £7 pints becoming the norm. Prices have increased even compared to March this year when the average pint cost £4.80 nationwide and £6.75 in London. The Sun recently reported on how a pint of lager could hit £13 in under five years, according to a new study. London Waterloo station is one of the busiest in the UK and saw over 62.5 million passengers in 2023/24.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Now London pub adds 4pc 'optional charge' to drinks customers order at the bar
A London pub has now added a four per cent 'optional charge' to any drinks customers order at the bar. Punters at The Well and Boot in Waterloo station have been slapped with the automatic tariff, which applies to any food and drink, The Telegraph reports. The boozer, which is owned by hospitality firm Glendola Leisure, has a small sign on the bar informing customers of the service charge. It notes, '100 per cent of all tips go to our staff' - and, in another blow, that the venue is cashless, accepting card and contactless only. Cash acceptance campaigner Martin Quinn 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?' Mr Quinn visited the pub, buying a half pint of cider for £3.90 - around 15p more than the price listed on the menu due to the additional charge, which he paid. It could be a real money-making measure for the pub in the busy London station, which sees more than 60million people pass through its doors every year. Pubs and restaurants normally add a service charge of roughly 12.5 per cent to the bill for customers seated at a table and attended to by a waiter. It means extra tipping on top of this is not usually expected in the UK - in contrast with the US and some other European countries. But sadly, conventions are changing, consumer expert Martyn James said, as he is seeing more and more a service charge on drinks bought at the bar in pubs. He called it 'insidious', adding there are few regulations to stop it, with the only real definitive rule on tipping being that the house is not supposed to keep tips. And signs advertising a bar service charge can sometimes be hard to spot, with news of the levy often written in small print. Mr James reminded punters it is optional, recognising they might feel too awkward to say no to it as it goes against 'our British sensibilities'. At The Well and Boot, an Aspall cider or Guinness sets you back £7.45 - while customers have to cough up £7.65 for a pint of Camden IPA. A glass of sauvignon blanc costs £8.50 while cocktails come in at £12.50 apiece. Prices look only set to rise further, with ballooning overheads for licenced venues expected to see the cost of the average pint in the UK rise to £5. Things look even worse in London, where the standard price of a pint is set to bed in at £7. It is a marked increase even on March this year, when the average pint cost £4.80 across the country and £6.75 in the capital. Struggling venues have taken increasingly extreme measures to stay afloat, with one major pub chain increasing the pint of 15p after Chancellor Rachel Reeves's tax raid. Fuller's said in June the rise in national insurance contributions (NICs) from last October's Budget and the higher minimum wage from April has left the firm badly hit. The Chiswick-based company - which has 5,500 staff members - warned back in November last year the financial measures would cause the price of its pints to rise. It came after hospitality bosses warned in April the industry faces a £3.4billion hit over the next year from the measures in the autumn Budget. Rises in the national minimum wage and employer NICs, and cuts to business rate relief announced last October all kicked in during the first week of April. The triple-whammy means individual businesses face tens of thousands of pounds in extra costs – and prices have already soared in pubs, restaurants and hotels. UK Hospitality – representing 130,000 venues – has said across the sector, the minimum wage rise will add a £1.9billion burden. It added an extra £1billion will have to be paid in NICs after the tax was expanded to take in more part-time workers. Meanwhile, a further £500million of costs will come from business rate relief being lowered from 75 per cent to 40 per cent. The Institute of Directors also revealed business leaders are 'highly concerned' about the extra costs – with a monthly study of bosses' confidence showing levels as low as during the pandemic. Glendola Leisure was approached for comment.
