Ping Pong replacing waiters' tips with a 'brand charge' must be questioned
Restaurants and tips have long had a murky, muddled relationship. The theory is simple: the bill is for the food, the tip is for the staff who’ve served it.
More or less, it worked out like that when tips were entirely discretionary — when people left cash, or scribbled a few quid on the tab. But it hasn’t played out that way for a long time, since bills started to arrive with the optional-but-not-really 12.5 per cent ready and waiting. Card payments could be kept by businesses, which some did as a way to add a little shine to their profit lines. In 2009 and then again in 2016, how restaurants divvied up these charges suddenly came under scrutiny, with , Bill’s and the Côte chain all coming under fire for allegedly dipping their hands into the waiters’ pot. Running costs were usually offered
