As in screenshot, 5% service charge is being added on top of room rates at the Four Seasons hotel at Tower Bridge "to cover a portion of costs associated with our employees". Also noted as "discretionary" but it cannot be removed at checkout.
Service charge madness is only getting worse.
by english_roos
25 comments
shouldn’t it be included in the faking price,, we’re not yanks
“costs associated with our employees”.
Wages. They’re talking about wages.
That can fuck right off. Wondering what trading standards would have to say?
Ludicrous that a hotel that charges £700+ per night for a ‘standard’ room can’t afford to pay its staff a decent wage.
Mandatory fee that’s discretionary?
Disgusting
Love me a mandatory discretionary fee
If it is discretionary they won’t be paying vat on it. If it’s mandatory they have to.
So if the feeling cannot be removed at checkout, HMRC will be very interested to know that.
I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure they can’t make this mandatory. In the UK you need to be upfront with the cost of goods and services and the price you advertise it at and the one that was agreed upon, is the final price.
I wonder if they’re trying to go the US way, where there are several charges added to the cost of a room, sales tax, city tax, resort fees, etc, but because they’re not shown at the beginning I guess it looks less expensive. There are laws in the UK that prevent this.
I remember when they called this late stage capitalism and everyone was preparing for the end of the profit off everything age.
Heady days.
Up next: surprise “resort fees” at check in, that weren’t listed on your Internet reservation, Las Vegas style.
“Company pays employees”
Profitering plain and simple just say no
Hyatt also adding a 5% service charge. Ridiculous
Please sign this [petition to ban businesses from adding service charges to bills without prior customer consent](https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/711294).
Mandatory fee or discretionary charge?
How can it be both mandatory and discretionary?
I will vote for almost any party who’s manifesto commitment is a ban on these costs being asked for, or included by default.
We’ve already managed to strike down credit card fees, and a lot of Ticketmaster’s shenanigans.
It says mandatory but it’s also discretionary. They should make their minds up.
Did you leave a 2 star review? Stuff like this might not happen if their Google and Tripadvisor rating dropped a bit because everyone started reviewing it low because of it. The greatest trend ever would be if everyone started leaving negative reviews to places adding fees like this, even if they are removable, and added a free star/point to anywhere with no added fees.
Just dropping ratings by 0.7 stars would probably make places remove the fees because many people instantly skip places with a rating of 3.9 or lower.
Ridiculous. Pay your staff. This is not the US
Discretionary and Mandatory? Which is it? IF it’s mandatory it must be included when you book.
If it’s discretionary you can tell them to take a hike.
This is a disgrace. How the hell is anyone putting up with bullshit like this. I saw this at a hotel once and I couldn’t close the website quickly enough!!
Bitch no! Absolute disgrace! Flipping sick of businesses in London charging people for anything and everything, enough.
It is a scam anytime the price is not accurately displayed while the service is being advertised. Fuck these people and their “gotchas!”. Its not mandatory when I dispute the charge and leave a shitty review
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