‘Un-Australian’: Sydney restaurant slammed over bold move

A restaurant in a five-star hotel has been slammed after a charge was added to a customer’s bill.

A restaurant in a five-star Sydney hotel has been slammed for its “un-Australian” move after a waiter added a tip to a customer’s bill.

The customer said they had just finished a “great” meal at Tilda in the five-star hotel Sofitel Sydney Wentworth with their wife on Thursday night when the waiter said he had added a tip, totalling $18.50, to their bill.

“(The) waiter comes over with the bill and points out that he has added a 7 per centtip and if we don’t want to pay it then just ask for it to be removed,” the customer wrote in a post on Reddit, alongside a photo of the bill, which came to just over $160.

“I would have tipped him anyway, we had a good meal and he looked after us. We got a 50 per cent off deal so we saved some money too. However, it’s the principle of the matter that gets me.”

The customer added he takes issue with tips being “forced” on him.

“Don’t make me be the one to be an a**hole and have the tip taken off,” they wrote.

“I’ll decide if you did a good enough job to earn a tip. This awful habit of adding tips at the POS (point of sale) is getting out of control.”

A seven per cent tip was added to the customer’s meal. Picture: Reddit

Many online also criticised the restaurant’s decision to add the optional gratuity.

“They’re basically banking on people’s uneasiness to call it out and having it removed. It’s despicable,” one person wrote.

“That’s so un-Australian,” said another.

“That's bullsh*t! added without asking, just in principal, Id give nothing, even if you got 46 per cent off (sic),” another wrote.

“I would have told them I was planning to give a 20 per cent tip but now I’m not giving anything because that is really poor service and a tip is for the opposite. Disgusting behaviour,” another suggested.

The Sofitel Sydney Wentworth. Picture: Google Maps

Others slammed Australia’s adoption of American tipping culture.

“This should not be in Australia. We aren’t America,” one person wrote.

“Heaps of places do this in Sydney now, wish they’d outlaw it,” said another.

“Please do not tip. We do not want tipping culture in Australia,” another wrote.

A photo of the restaurant’s menu, shared online five months ago, notes: “a 7 per cent gratuity is added to all bills, removable upon request”.

The restaurant’s set menu and Mother’s Day menu, published on their website, also notes the same gratuity.

In a statement to news.com.au, a Tilda spokesperon said the surcharge is entirely optional and they “fully respect” that not all guests will wish to pay it.

“The optional surcharge at Tilda, communicated at multiple stages during the booking process (in the booking widget, in the confirmation email), written on the menus and again verbally when the bill is presented, is designed to reward our team for their dedication and hard work,” they said.

“It also serves to incentivise exceptional service and support increased tenure within our industry - at a time when experience is hard-to-find, and living costs are increasing.”

The spokserson added the surcharge can be removed at any point “no questions asked”.

“Gratuities are managed through a third-party program, which we believe is the fairest approach, and every dollar goes directly to the team working during that shift, including the kitchen.”

Originally published as ‘Un-Australian’: Sydney restaurant slammed over bold move