Facebook user Felicity Lim shared how she was charged 10% service charge as a restaurant that was purportedly “self service”.
She said that customers at the restaurant had to collect their food themselves and that only service that she saw were the staffs taking orders and clearing tables.
Here is what she said
I am not sure if it is a norm now but it seems to be getting more common more eateries and small restaurants are charging 10% service charge. Best of all, they are all self-service which you have to collect the food yourself! The only ‘service’ I see is the staffs taking order and clearing the tables.
Can dining establishments especially the smaller ones which barely offer any service suka suka charge 10% to diners’ bills? Are there any requirements like GST they need to meet before they are allowed to charge this? If it is a restaurant which they serve food on your table, keep pouring tea and replacing plates then the service charge is justifiable.
Some might feel it is not a big sum but for a family of few dining it can add up to quite a bit to the bill.
Purpose of my post is not to shame and make them close shop but for similar establishments to reflect and not to charge diners unnecessarily. That’s not the right way to pass on costs to diners. You might want to be transparent and charge 40-50c more to your food perhaps and let diners decide if they want to eat.
