Is the "service fee" the tip? Or not.......

I hate to beat this dead horse again but is the service fee the tip or not?

We are on VG fight now. Last night at dinner, the menu read "a 15% service fee is added to the check" and then additional wording about gratuities appreciated. I wish I would have taken a picture so I could get the wording right.

We are not cheap tippers by any stretch, i was a server myself. That being said, I also am mindful of my money.

My thinking is that it is the tip and we add another 5% or so to bring the gratuity to 20+%.

Another opinion in my group is that the 15% is NOT the tip but part of the bill and we should be tipping on TOP of the food/bev and the service fee.

On a $400 dinner tab, the difference is significant. We eat out every evening so it's something we want to get right.

Thoughts on how to tip?

We have always considered the service fee as a tip. As long as the service was good, I will add a gratuity to bring the amount charged for the service fee up to 20%

If you are being charged for service, then it is out of your own generosity to add to the service charge......

Always has been our practice to make sure any additional " gratuity" was done in cash directly into the hand of the server, not by credit card, or left with the hostess or cashier on the way out.

I am no longer shy about asking in the BVI. I will asked a direct question to the server AND the manager if one is available. If I learn there is a service charge added that goes to the house instead of the server, I tip on top of the service charge and don't go back.

To me, this is a despicable practice, IF that service fee does NOT go to the employee. Regardless, if there is a service fee added to a check, if the service is good, I will leave a few dollars more in cash for the server. I usually don't bother to check to see whether the service fee goes to the server or not, as often you don't get a straight answer. If the restaurant was only fair, I generally don't go back.

We'll tip on top of the service charge in cash and give it directly to the server.

Some restaurants will try to fool you by adding a tax charge. There is no tax except at hotel restaurant's. If I see a tax charge I don't tip and I don't go back. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

For everyone's information: Acording to the BVI Labor Code of 2010 any gratuity added as a percentage of the bill has to be distributed to ALL the employees less taxes and an administration fee not to exceed 7.5%. For any restaurant with more than 5 employees, how it is distributed is set by a committtee of the employees.

My basic rule is to just pay the service fee if poor service, add 5% in cash directly to the server for good service and maybe 7 or 8% for exceptional service. For truly crappy service I scratch off the service fee and complain to the manager. Fortunately I have only resorted to that once.

Another view: the restaurant isn't guaranteed anything > people often don't tip. They place a 15% service charge on this and they trade their chance for no tip vs 15% tip vs 20% tip. I think they are making a good trade. If they are going to go the 15% route > they have judged me as a 15% tipper and usually have "made a mistake" (one way or the other).

It is interesting to note > not all of the restaurants do this. When we were in Cayman, one of the locals advised us to go to "such and such" restaurant because "they don't require a tip" and, therefore, don't usually get one from the locals (this also increased their upfront business). Either way, if they pre-charge me 15% > that's what they get. If the service is poor, I usually tip anyway because I am scared they will poke holes in the tires on my boat. But, we usually go elsewhere next time.

You can fleece a sheep many times, but you can only skin him once.

(We'll be down to BVI - Feb 20-27 on two power cat '39s if anyone is around)

Service fee..service charge or "tax" in the BVI's all mean they are adding their idea of a tip..if in doubt I always ask and then add a few cash $$ for the server knowing how some place divy up the $$$ even to the owners..if he service sucks I probably wont go back..

The waiters and waitresses give you the service that's why it called a Service Charge.
They put the service charge on your tab because for the most part the service in the BVI restaurants is probably worse then anywhere else in the world.

To Glenn's point below, I asked this question to our server a couple of weeks ago. She also explained that the added service fee was to be distributed to all of the staff (dishwashers, etc.), but it wasn't specifically her tip. She was nice about it and happy that I added about 5% extra for her. When I start to split hairs about this, I remind myself of how many times I tip someone in the US $1-5 for simply opening a couple of beers for me at the bar - and rarely with a smile.

Oh boy, strap in folks, this gets bumpy.
We cruised the BVI a year ago spending 6 months onboard and have had dinners, lunches and sundowners from Jost to VG to Anegada and everywhere in between. The service charge as I understand it was a tip - plain and simple, to even out the playing field. North Americans typically leave a gratuity, some European visitors, not so much.
That said, the automatic addition of a 15% surcharge, call it what you will, has driven, the "service" provided in the vast majority of places in the BVI into the dumpster.

Exhibit A - Pirates Bight on Norman, we were asked "What d'you wanna eat?" by the person taking our order, cannot call her a server by any means. Food was mediocre at best, literally dropped on the placemats, she could not have cared less, and for just showing up, expected the 15% mordida to be paid.
I asked for it to be removed, and was prepared to politely explain to the manager on duty why it wasn't warranted. She came back, said it was off, dropped the bill on the table and walked away. No explanation asked for and therefore none offered. I'll go back to Pirates, they have pretty good WiFi, but that's it. I have beer on my boat.

Exhibit B - Village Cay Marina restaurant. The "Local Honey-Stung chicken" ($14.95 USD) is available in the same pre-pack (one skinny breast, a leg, a thigh and wing) in the frozen food bin at Riteway for $4.95 a bag, limp frozen chips not included. Really guys?

A great number of these establishments have a captive clientele - charter guests who want a cold beer, are will accept overpriced and underwhelming food with below par service - because its very likely they'll NEVER BE BACK - so as a server, I'm just mailing it in, I'm still getting my slice of the 15%.
When service warrants it, I'm a damn good tipper - 20 - 25, even 30% if my socks have been blown off. Otherwise, a big bag of nope.
Spare me the 'oh its how they make a living' discussion, it takes little if any effort to provide decent service to people and maybe, just maybe the word will get out about how great the food and service really are. If we continue to accept mediocre service, this will become the benchmark going forward.
Need an example? Go see my buddy Ratty up at the Fat Virgin Cafe in Leverick Bay. Their roti is worth the trip on its own. He GETS it, and from what I understand, makes out pretty good with the tip jar.
</rant> and thank you for your time.

" I tip someone in the US $1-5 for simply opening a couple of beers for me at the bar - and rarely with a smile."

I would find a different bar.

Bad service in the West Indies is a learned behavior not part of the local charm. When you have a captive audience you don't have to try as hard. Go to the resorts in Mexico. The locals will bend over backward for you with a smile and they mean it.

Except then you have to go to Mexico <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

IMO paying your staff is part of cost of doing business as a restaurant.

I can see the applicability of a "service charge" only in restaurants that do a lot of take out orders (and omit the charge on those).

I'm unlikely to tip additional in any restaurant that charges a "service charge".

I'm not a fan of junk fees in any business.

I find service fees particularly irksome. I'm happy to report that there was none today at the Loose Mongoose. Not only that, but the food was terrific. I had the fish wrap, which rivaled Jeremy's fish sandwich. They got 20% from us.

Curious how folks tip on alcohol when part of a meal and in the states, sales tax. I generally tip on the gross check but if we order $$ wine bottles I tip less on the alcohol.

Back to report on last evening.....discussed it in the way to dinner.

At coco maya, it was clearly shown at the bottom of the menu a service fee of 15% is added. We added additional tip to bring it to 20%. (I underestimate our projected dinner cost by $9)

Btw - we all loved our food. We probably sampled 80% of the menu.

NC sailor - we always tip on gross at home in the states but we generally don't order expensive wines by the bottle.

Etiquette, custom, accepted practice, even expectation is you tip or calculate gratuity on the bottom line. That should extend to 10 dollar served lunch or $250,000 weekly private charter(cash is expected by the way handed to the captain). All that said you are really paying for service. If you politely order a $$$ even $$$$ bottle of wine with no consultation and no support or feedback from the wait staff, followed by unexplained delay of a road dust covered bottle, no corkscrew, or even the hint of the proper clean glasses elegantly place in the correct position. I might show my disappointment in a tip below even well below 20-25% of the total check. In my experience great bottles of wine come with exquisite almost impeccably non intrusive service. Starting with the joy in the way the bottle is ordered, produced, opened, and served to each guest who shows interest. Unless something is terribly wrong we expect to pay gratuities of 20-25 percent of the bottom line. Back to the original point. I hate the automatically added or hidden service premiums. I also understand different cultures and different experience levels of guests drive the need for the action taken by the business owners. More and more when we experience better service from one person we tip in cash directly to that server with cash we pack just for that purpose. We generally have one bank envelope with only 1's and 5's for gratuities. We hand that cash over in the way we would want a friend or family member rewarded if they had done the work to serve our group.

Whoever came to Ron's defense recently please read the above post.

I have no evidence on a single BVI eatery on gratuity distribution. What we have learned on our seasonal travel stops is at least some hold the pooled money to be distributed to a period where only the smaller core group is there to participate. That is what lead to our change in behavior where when we are visitors in seasonal tourist markets we tip or pay gratuities directly to the server in cash. If we are in a formal US urban resturant we will likely put the entire payment on a credit card, any place like the Greek or Carribean islands likely tip in small cash directly to the server, bar tabs anywhere we try to tip in cash. Keep in mind in the US the minimum wage for servers is $2.13 an hour. Maybe $20 a shift. The expectation is those folks waiting on us survive on our gratuities. As you travel the world you will find more and more operating on a "service compris" approach to make sure that gratuity is actually paid by visitors or infrequent customers who in many cases do not fully understand what they are expected to pay when. These debates are a good example on the confusion of what, when, where, and how when it comes to compensating service staff as a percentage of the total bill. Food and Drink is always a percentage of the total bill. Gratuities for hotel housekeeping is a per room/person custom. A porter or doorman who helps with bags is calculated by the piece. Again most of those staff members are only there to serve us an are paid directly by the customer. Truly inappropriate service try to politely decline to pay for it with a specific explanation to the manager. Then vote with your pocket book and do not go back. When we cruise a new place to us we usually have one part of the group head ashore early and explore a few places for dinner. In just a few minutes chatting with a bartender even manager you can get a good vibe for how the night might work out for your group. If we meet.... "What you gonna eat". Along the way we might pass on the venue. Starting with your first good afternoon or good evening you may get a feel on whether the place is all about them or all about servicing the customer and his guests on holiday.

I'm surprised on your Exhibit A
That the Willie T didn't have a Maitre D in Tuxs to seat you <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Lots of hussle and unique joy at Willy T. I would be very surprised if we ever left Willy T's without tipping 25 percent of our total food and drink experience. I can think of times where the crew was having a great time and some stayed for many hours. In other days the crowd and vibe was not for us resulting in much shorter stays and total spend. I have no issues with Willy T's or anyone who we have ever met working there. Willy T's is an honest genuine place that does not pretend to be anything it is not. I have never witnessed any staff member on that boat that was not in full hussle to make the guests happy. That includes the guy cleaning the fresh fish mid afternoon entertaining the kids at the other end of the boat.

More tip talk - last night at Hog Heaven, the server clearly stated that they do not include that service fee and that the bill did not include gratuity. I
appreciated that information.

Last year, there were times we got very vague answers when we asked for clarification and at one spot, i think we were intentionally mislead. We aren't going back to that particular establishment this year.

On a different, positive note - we had so much fun at the Jumby show last night! Lots of kids and my normally reserved son jumped right into the party. Had a discussion with other STJ veteran visitors and said this type of fun, evening entertainment is a big plus for VG.

Actually the amount a server is paid varies state to state. Only about 16 states abide by the Federal minimums. The remaining states have higher standards. In Minnesota, for example, servers receive the state minimum wage ($7.25-$9.00/hr) in addition to tips.

I've never had a problem at the Willy T it's always been fun and the staff has always been good and they know how to properly pour the drinks. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Another quirk of Hog Heaven - we were told you can't put a tip on your credit card. So we always make sure to have some cash when we go.

extremely weird, wonder why?

and hopefully to put this to rest in the simplest of terms, a tip or gratuity is for your server. A service charge can be divided by the staff and the owner. Any owner who takes cash out of employees pockets, I won't eat there.

Legally in the BVI the management can't take more than 7.5% as an administrative fee. Even that however seems a bit on the high side especially when the minimum wage is $4/hr (soon to be $6/hr).