Fleecing your tourists is not the way ahead
Friday 27th August 2010, 3:00PM BST.
From Paul Brown.
I ATTENDED a family wedding on your wonderful Island during Battle of Flowers week. I have been coming to Jersey for more than 30 years to visit family and friends.
One of the great things about Jersey is the quality of the food in your restaurants. Unfortunately, the practise of service charges on drinks has left a nasty taste in my mouth and this appears to be predominantly in St Helier.
I have been informed by friends that this charge is illegal in Jersey. If so, why have the States or Jersey Police not stopped this fleecing of tourists.
I own a hotel and restaurant in the UK and, in common with hotels in my area, we do not levy a service charge of any kind as we prefer to let the customers decide if they have received good service and food.
It is common practise in places that levy a service charge to use this as part of the staff wage structure, so denying already poorly paid workers their fair share of the gratuities.
I have noticed that Jersey has been advertising itself heavily this season. The states should bear in mind that we live in an instant information age and articles that are published on holiday sites like Trip Adviser and on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are available at the click of a mouse.
I talked to a restaurant owner about this unfair charge and was told tht if I complained it would be refunded. That is not the point and it should not be there in the first place. If a large party are dining, the extra ten per cent on their drinks can add to the bill considerably.
We all want to earn a living, but fleecing already hard pressed tourists is certainly not the way forward.
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A good point. There is one thing I have never been able to work is this 10% levy for 10 people or more.
Surely, one would think, it should be a 10% discount for bringing in punters that will undoubtably be spending a considerable sum of their hard earned in his restaurant.
I agree that a tip should be at the discretion of the individual and not used to prop up wages.
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Perhaps I’m lucky – I’ve never had it done to me in Jersey, and to be honest I find what I get for my money here is very good value indeed. I’d be intrigued to know where it is that is playing this game, so I can avoid it like the plague!
The only place I’ve been really stung was London, in a hotel where everything – food, drinks, room, you name it – attracted a 12% “voluntary” service charge. That I was already being asked to shell out £6.50 for one glass of sherry meant that it was adding insult to injury
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This occured to us in a St Helier cafe, although the service charge was on everything. We would have left a tip as well had another customer not let us know. I don’t object to service charges but I prefer tipping once I’ve checked the staff get the money, not the manager.
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I queried a “compulsory” service charge on the drinks section of a bill I received at a local “top” restaurant and asked if it was legal. They took it off the bill, then told me I was no longer welcome to eat there in future.
Jersey customer service, eh?
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I totally agree with Paul Brown’s comments.On a different tack, Sky tv have been charging me VAT for years on my subscription, although this UK tax is obviously not a legal charge for non UK Channel Island subscribers.Apparently they continue to levy this illegal charge unless subscribers go through the rigmorale of contacting their billing department.Once done, they will not refund the vat that they have charged, which in many cases amounts to hundreds of pounds over years.
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I totally agree with this letter and with the point mistershifter (comment 1) makes about the 10% levy for parties of 10 or more.To me it gives the impression that the restaurant does NOT want parties of 10 or more as they cannot cope??To add 10% to drinks is disgraceful and I don’t even like a service charge in general as I too would much rather voluntarily leave a good tip depending on service(and in my book I can overlook perhaps slow service but a friendly and smiling server always gets my vote!)
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May I quote the comments on this site from 10.July 2010 ” Arrivals Down by Thousands”
This was posted in this site.
I quote;
baz
Posted July 10, 2010 at 9:29 am
@52
I can assure you i did think before i posted…. I thought, how can i get rid of the “Bucket & Spaders” AKA the grey hair brigade.
And I certainly do hope this is the type of attitude that is keeping the riff raff away from my island, otherwise i am wasting my time! I have begun a Worldwide advertising campaign with that sole intention. To support the cause please visit http://WWW.jerseydoesntneedlosertourists.com.
Love & Hugs XXX.
Question , Do I need to say more.?
Ex visitor.
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Good question, is it legal?
anybody know?
I will try to find out.
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Dear Ex Visitor,
I know you will find this hard to believe, but I DO find the practise of charging 10% on the price of drinks in a restaurant abhorent……. For Jersey residents!
It is also illegal.
That is why I am now campaigning to have the charge incresed to 50% for any tourists that still insist on coming to Jersey, as well as making it legal so they cannot refuse to pay it.
You may wonder “But how will the restaurants know whether the individual in question is local or a tourist”?!?!
Simple, upon arriving at Jersey Airport/Harbour all tourists will have a large red T tattooed upon their forehead, marking them as such (much like our Hire cars have a large red H on the plate).
This procedure will not only make alcohol cheaper for locals and help us avoid tourists, but will also create additional revenue for restaurants and tattoo artists.
i think you will all agree, its a win win situation!
Don’t forget to visit the Website (Ex Visitor has advertised) for updates.
With your help we can stop this menace to Jersey society.
Love & Hugs. XXX
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Were all being Fleeced not just the tourists!
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Here is a person who can be bothered to let us know…I have seen many letters in the J.E.P over the years extolling the powers that be to get it right……my bet is the man won’t get a response or that the right changes will be made…we have become so complacent and stupid system dependent that we are now utterly unable to respond …as we drift toward failure in a trance….”Oh well can’t do much about that”….the saying.”You never miss the water ’till the well runs dry” was made for this place…I can not believe we allow such crass stupidity to rule.
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5- Realist. Its not too difficult to get Sky to take VAT off your bill, and when I did it a few years ago they did refund all the VAT I had paid. You are fully entitled to this back, so just remind them that they have enforced an illegal tax on you and you want it back. It helps if you have your bills (or at least the charge period) so you can tell them the exact amount owed.
On the service charge, this does happen regularly in St Helier. I do not normally mind it if the service is good (as I would usually tip 10%) but have had to ask for it to be removed on a number of occasions due to poor service. Lets call the last place, “Tamefire” in town. They also have the 10% extra for parties of 10 or more, suffice to say we will not be eating there again!
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you should buy a drink at the L’Horizon.. £8.75 for a glass of wine, £2.50 for a lemonade from an R White Bottle and £6.00 for a magners..
but no service charge, so thats fine then!!
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Have just been for a very good al fresco fish lunch, shall we say near the cows in town?
There were only two of us but the whole bill including drinks had 10% added.
I didn’t want to pay it but my boyfriend wouldn’t make a fuss by asking for the charge to be removed so it was paid.
Won’t be going back there though, nice food but the service wasn’t great.
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#12 Sensible
Thanks for your very helpful advice with regard to the illegal VAT levied on sky subscribers in the Channel Islands.
On the service charge question, Switzerland abolished the added service charge on the bill by law, quite a few years ago, leaving it entirely at the discretion of customers.It has worked well and no one has to leave a fixed percentage, and it is appreciated much more. It makes the service better as well.Food for thought as they say.
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Can you name and shame the restauarnts adding this illegal charge on here?
If so, please name and shame here.
If enough, I will be happy to visit these places to check they are doing this and then will be happy to create a site/facebook page to promote these places to avoid.
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Euan Mee, No. 4, Can you remember the name of the restaurant, so we can all avoid it?
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I agree naming and shaming will hit the fleecers where it hurts and they’ll have to change. Get the consumer section of the JEP to investigate!
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It’s worth knowing that from a legal perspetive you can pay whatever you want for a meal. If you don’t like a dish, or don’t want to pay a charge, you can just say so. The police won’t get involved as it is a civil matter between you and the restaurant. You’re within your rights to say, quite loudly “I’m not paying a service charge because the service was appalling” or “the steak just wasn’t worth £25, it was cheap meat badly cooked”. Just don’t do a runner.
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I think restaurants that automatically include a service charge are disgraceful, regardless of whether or not it is illegal.
Personally, if the service is good I will often tip more than 10% but if it has already been added I don’t add any more. If the service is bad, just don’t pay it, no one can force you too.
In fact, I remember in one Italian restaurant when I went to pay with a card the waiter gave me a questioning look of “did I want to add a tip”, when I replied with “you’ve already added a 10% service charge on the bill haven’t you?” he looked rather sheepish! I wonder how many people would have payed a tip without realising?
I won’t name the restaurant as I’m not sure the JEP would really want their website linked with naming and shaming.
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