Tipping needs clarification says Jersey Consumer Council

Some restaurants add an additional service charge to bills

Tipping in restaurants and cafes needs "clarification", Jersey Consumer Council has said.

Some restaurants add an additional service charge to bills, and others leave it up to customers to decide.

Suzanne Soar, from restaurant Le Moulin de Lecq, said: "If the customer thinks the staff have done well then they can tip them."

But owner of The Loft in St Aubin said their evening service charge was added, but was optional.

Carl Walker from Jersey Consumer Council said there needed to be more clarification

Carl Walker, from Jersey Consumer Council, said there was "real confusion at the moment" and people were moving to "a cashless society".

He said: "Consumers are seeing food outlets, drink outlets, automatically adding so-called discretionary gratuities to the bills and it puts consumers in an awkward position.

"I think it would help if there was some clarification or guidance issued about the whole situation so everybody knows where they're up to."

He added: "I think the consumer would like some clarification over this... it really isn't clear what's acceptable and what's not."

'Can't afford to tip'

Ms Soar said: "We don't enforce a service charge on any of our bills.

"Times being so hard at the moment, quite a few people can't afford to tip so it's totally at the customer's discretion."

Meanwhile David Double, The Loft owner, said he did not add a service charge during the day as his restaurant operated as a café.

However, he did in the evenings.

David Double says there is only a service charge at his restaurant in the evenings

"In Jersey we believe tip stands for to ensure prompt service.

"It does [service charge] save the embarrassment of people asking, but we do clearly state the tip is optional but we do say you can take it off if you feel the service isn't good enough."

According to the States of Jersey, current guidance means some businesses "make a compulsory service charge on top of advertised prices".

"This may be a flat percentage of the total bill or may be conditional on the value of the bill, the method of payment, or the size of a party. These charges must be included in the value of your sales for Goods and Services Tax."