showed widespread opposition <\/a>to the trend as it emerged even more pubs are introducing the hated fee. A whopping 99% oppose having to pay an automatic service charge for when they order at the counter. Just 1% believe it should be imposed, as \u201cbar staff are still offering a service\u201d – even if you have to carry your drinks back to your table yourself.<\/p>\nIt follows reports that the Well and Boot in London\u2019s Waterloo station, run by Glendola, has been adding on a 4% charge to any drink ordered at the bar. A sign states that the charge is \u201coptional\u201d but that it will be \u201cautomatically added\u201d to every bill. Customers must object to have it removed.<\/p>\n
The move has sparked outrage since it emerged earlier this week. One drinker said: \u201cThat makes no sense. You\u2019re paying for the pint anyway. The pint\u2019s already taxed. So basically you\u2019re just being taxed twice now for a pint, which is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another raged: \u201cThe price of beer and alcohol generally has just shot through the roof over five to 10 years, and to suddenly add 4% for no good reason \u2013 particularly if you\u2019re sitting at the bar and you\u2019re virtually self-serving it \u2013 I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s favourite budget pub chain also weighed in on Wednesday to vow its watering holes would not be following suit. Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: \u201cWetherspoon does not add a service charge for drink or food – the company has no intention of doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Good Morning Britain host Adil Ray slammed the worrying new service charge trend in a telly debate. He said: \u201cThey say it\u2019s optional, but it\u2019s not. Imagine you\u2019re at the bar, there\u2019s a queue behind you.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re the one to go, \u2018sorry, I don\u2019t want to pay this\u2019. And they\u2019ve got to adjust the price. It\u2019s a bit embarrassing. You haven\u2019t got the option really.\u201d<\/p>\n
It has now been revealed that nine watering holes run by the same pub chain across the capital have introduced the same levy that\u2019s in the Well and Boot. An investigation by London Centric revealed they include The World\u2019s End in Camden, The Fox in Shoreditch, The Lansdowne in Primrose Hill and Barley Mow in Westminster. The others are Crown & Anchor in Covent Garden, Prince Alfred in Bayswater and two boozers in the West End, Waxy O\u2019Connor\u2019s and Waxy\u2019s Little Sister.<\/p>\n
The Daily Star has approached Glendola for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pubgoers have united in opposition to automatic service charges on drinks brought at the bar, after it emerged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,6364,4884,257,1232,1889,16,15,3069],"class_list":{"0":"post-362353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-good-morning-britain","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-money","14":"tag-pubs","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-westminster"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115067435708853481","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"You've](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Depressed-senior-businessman-drinking-beer-at-bar-counter.jpg\")
You’ve had your say – and you’re not happy(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n