The ‘optional’ scheme has appeared in pubs across the capital, including The Well & Boot in Waterloo Station and the Prince Alfred in Bayswater.
Both pubs have added 4% service charge to all orders on food and drink orders at the bar, seeing some totals add an additional 30p to orders.
Although automatically added to bills, customers can ask servers to remove the service charge.
London pubs add service charge to drinks orders
One Reddit user of the group r/London recently shared their own experience of the new service charge, saying: “Was at Prince Alfred in Bayeswater today and they charged a service charge of 4% even when ordering drinks at the bar. This is getting out of hand.”
The optional charge means a pint could top nearly £8, while the average cocktail would be £12.50.
The sign on the bar reads: “We are cashless. (Debit & Credit Only).”
Adding: “An optional 4% service charge will be automatically applied to all Food & Drinks.
“100% of all tips go to our staff.”
Reacting to the new pub trend, one Londoner compared it to the US: “You joke, but in the US you’re expected to leave a tip even when a bartender just pops the top off a bottle of beer – nothing else.
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“One of the things I’ve always loved about the UK is not having this completely insane tipping culture but looks like that’s headed the wrong way.”
Another pubgoer said: “This is getting ridiculous. We should not be paying service charges, full stop.
“I’ve asked for them to removed at times but when your server is trying their best to provide good service it just makes me feel guilty.”
