Service with a surl (Restaurants in London in general)

Member Name: mgoldman

Product:	Restaurants in London in general
Date:	02/05/02 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good service is nice, I can decline to tip if waiter are surly

Disadvantages: none if service is good

As an adopted Londoner, who has come from friendlier climes, it frequently distresses me that the level of service in restaurants in London is tolerated by the clients.
It is probably not helped by an excess of demand over supply, but the customers have now created an environment where service is an exception rather than the rule.

Being a restaurant waiter must be no joke. I would not like to do it, and I know that when my daughter did it for a while she hated it.

But the whole thing has got out of hand. The waiters are paid dross,and the only ones who are prepared to wait are those who cannot get other employ.

English is rarely a first language, and it is not because one is getting, say Italian in an Italian restaurant. Mostly it is lesser dialects of Eastern Europe and the old Soviet Union. I know my pronounced English is adequate, so if I am misunderstood, I know it is not me.

The biggest insult is the expectation of a tip when no service has been offered. It riles me to be expectected to offer a tip in a self service restaurant or buffet - who are they kidding?

On the times I have declined or erased the element of service from a bill because none was offered, or things went wrong I hope I am offering a clear message. If you want a tip, then it is not a right it is a privelege. If your employer does not pay you a working salary, then making it my problem is not the way to encourage me to solve the problem.

Quite frankly, I am happy to give the 15% they ask for in the states. The waiters there know how to treat a customer. I come away from the experience feeling better. They make me believe that I should have a nice day!!!!!!!

Summary: