Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

My Fathers Place on Coldharbour Lane to become a cocktail bar

editor said:
Yeah! That's the real issue here.
Why?
You want to hit a woman because she happens to use hashtags to express her opinion? Jeez.
Click to expand...
The #optionalservicecharge was the cocktail guys response to the woman's query no? Dismissing a customers valid query with just a hashtag is pretty arrogent and pushed my wind up buttons.

And I say slap in a jokey mockney way rather then as a direct threat to go down and slap them over it. No actual violence offered FFS!
 
salem said:
The #optionalservicecharge was the cocktail guys response to the woman's query no? Dismissing a customers valid query with just a hashtag is pretty arrogent and pushed my wind up buttons.

And I say slap in a jokey mockney way rather then as a direct threat to go down and slap them over it. No actual violence offered FFS!
Click to expand...

Yes. It was dismissive

His reply should have been: I am sorry you were unhappy about the service charge. We'll happily refund it.

Often amazed at the incompetence of business types.
 
leanderman said:
That really is trying it on. You should not leave customers in the position where they have to ask for the 'service' charge to be taken off.
Click to expand...

I'm not convinced a majority of the bar/restaurant using public under 40 actually understand what a service charge is, and what to look for to see whether it's optional or not, and that some establishments play on that pretty hard (usually the ones who don't pass any of it on to the staff). I prefer to tip the staff who serve me, rather than donating to the business-owner's pension fund.
 
salem said:
Presumably it's an 'optional' service charge like you'd get in a restaurant - kind of like a tip you have to opt out of. Except in a huge number of cases the service charge just goes to the companies bottom line.

Very few people are going to make a scene and ask for it to be removed.
Click to expand...

I've done so in restaurants before, but usually after asking the waiting staff whether it gets split between them, or goes in the boss's pocket. If the boss was pocketing it, I tipped the waiting staff and got the service charge struck off.
Mind you, it's not unknown for bosses to take control of the communal tips jar, and allot themselves a percentage out of that, too. :mad:
 
T & P said:
It has got to be said that hidden/unfair charges have sweet fuck all to do with gentrification. Her hashtag on the matter was as gratitious as completely unrelated to the complain at hand.
Click to expand...

I'd say that rather than sweet fuck all, it has a little to do with gentrification, due to the fact that when an area has new eateries springing up, customers are sometimes less likely to scrutinise the menu, especially if they've lubricated themselves. Restauranteurs know this, and some of them may take advantage of that fact.
 
One of the follow up tweets says that someone was charged £10 for a pint of beer. That *surely* can't be possible, can it?
 
Why not?

Buy a pint of some high ABV Belgian beer thing brewed by tonsured monks who only speak on the third Sunday of every month on the anniversary of the death of Clovis the First, that's actually meant to be served in a specific half pint glass and not a pint and you're close to that.

If it's cooking lager, then it's probably two individual bottles of beer as a way of discouraging people to drink beer in a cocktail bar.
 
ViolentPanda said:
I've done so in restaurants before, but usually after asking the waiting staff whether it gets split between them, or goes in the boss's pocket. If the boss was pocketing it, I tipped the waiting staff and got the service charge struck off.
Mind you, it's not unknown for bosses to take control of the communal tips jar, and allot themselves a percentage out of that, too. :mad:
Click to expand...
Yes but I get the impression from your posts here that you're not the type who is afraid to kick up a fuss : D

I agree though, I try to do the swapping service charge for cash tip too.

Saying that my mate who has served a lifetime in hospitality has so many tales to tell. He lost his job in one place because he told a customer about the places new policy of taking the service charge. They then expected him to hand in cash tips too. Another place he worked (a big place in central London) spent the whole Christmas period dangling the service charge carrot in front of the staff as they were solidly booked. In January when it was time to divvy up the service charge some convoluted system was introduced which basically left everyone getting a fraction of what they were expecting. This was a huge place that wasn't cheap and did food too so we're talking thousands - probably tens of thousands of pounds.

They lost some staff over it which was quite convenient as it was the quiet January period so they needed less people anyway.

Perhaps an idea for a future feature editor ? The 'service charge' position on Brixton bars and restaurants.
 
editor said:
Yeah! That's the real issue here.
Click to expand...

Well, it seemed quicker and more on theme than saying 'I think that's really disrespectful of them, not only to fail to apologise but to dismiss the complaint in such a flippant way, implying it's not even worthy of a full sentence.' But now I've had to type that all out anyway.
 
I f'ing hate the *optional* service charge of what seems to be a standard 12.5% being slapped on my bill. Winds me up being told what to tip, more often than not there is no prior warning that this is the case.

Why or how did this become the norm?
 
Distinctly unimpressed by cocktails when I went there a couple of weeks ago - and would have been more so if I was paying for them! (Invited by a friend)
 
Anyone fancy drinking a cocktail through a pair of glasses? Get to the shrub!



Wacky!





Looks like that service charge sting hasn't gone away either:

They're now describing themselves as a "Neighbourhood cocktail & snack bar in Brixton." Not sure what that means, really.
 
Nothing at all going on there tonight - or at Craft Beer. Maybe my application to the Lords Day Observance Society may be premature.
 
They're now suddenly started offering 10% discount to locals with proof of a SW9 address.

Make it 30% and I may be able to afford a (brief) night there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

editor
Gunshots fired in Coldharbour Lane, Weds 7th Aug 2024
Replies
21
Views
1K
editor
editor
Lee Japser
Lambeth Police watched and mocked Rastaman and elder Ian Tayor as he lay dying on Coldharbour Lane.
Replies
0
Views
521
Lee Japser
Lee Japser
Rushy
Petition to make busy Effra Road / Brixton Water Lane junction safer for pedestrians
Replies
18
Views
1K
Zapp Brannigan
Zapp Brannigan
editor
'This Town Is Becoming Like A Ghost Town' poster in Brixton
Replies
15
Views
1K
friendofdorothy
friendofdorothy
K
Pick a bar/cafe/restaurant for the kabbess
Replies
5
Views
532
RubyToogood
RubyToogood
Back
Top Bottom