The Vulcan thread brought up the subject of greed. If we're going to talk about that, how do we all feel about Michel Roux Jr. ?
I've never been happy with the whole business of a unilaterally applied "service charge". A tip should be an expression of a customer's satisfaction with the service provided. When the gratuity is just taken without the client's say-so, regardless of how good or bad their dining experience has been, it's already a bit tasty IMHO. To then fail to pass the charge on to the staff I consider to be borderline fraud; the customer is being charged for something that has not been delivered. It's made even worse when many of those employees are (illegally) not even being paid the basic wage (as is the case at le Gavroche).
I think it's time for a campaign against these service charges. I never, ever, add a tip to a credit card payment as I'm pretty sure that the staff will never see it; I always pay tips in cash, preferably directly to the waiter.
