It’s not a service charge, it’s a tax dodge! It’s part of the price. They just call it a service charge. Seriously guys, you don’t believe me or something? 
Oh I know.
This Taiwanese fascination with cooking your own food at restaurants really does my head in. Back in Australia, all the Asians had this thing for Korean barbeque also. Jesus, what’s with these guys? If I go to the dentist, I don’t expect the receptionist to hand me the tools, tell me to go sterilise them myself and then give myself a root canal, and then charge me for the privilege.
Yup. I do miss the ‘boil your own kitchen scraps’ shops, though, as I think the chief called them.
I cook my own food at home (which is often better than what you get outside). Screw bullshit service charges. Pardon my Lithuanian.
You just have to get over it and just consider that they write their menu in a crappy way.
Of course its total nonsense that they write for example 230 instead of 253 (which would be +10%).
As I said its just “too look international”. You need to apply some of the math from school 
Its not theft or wrong advertisment in any way. Comparison with US tipping doesn’t apply at all here.
Its just a lame way they made the menu, nothing else.
In my humble opinion, the only fair way for everybody; customers and workers alike is to pay a reasonable living wage at, or preferably above, the market rate (in order to retain staff and and recoup training costs through productivity), don’t charge a service charge and extol the staff to provide excellent service so that the customer can leave it to his/her own discretion as to the amount of tip they wish to leave. If they don’t leave any then either the service is bad in which case the restaurant should re-train or dismiss staff, or the customer is a tight wad. Unfortunately the latter is as common in Taiwan as the former.
This subject has been done to death on this forum elsewhere.
BroonAddedValue
Who cares anyway? 10% on top of paying for food, chefs, rental, management, glass-washing, advertising, etc, is a big deal? If you can’t afford, say 50 NT on a 500NT meal, then why not just eat somewhere cheaper, or cook your own? I just don’t get what the big deal is.
I agree. Except there are legions who expect to be waited on hand and foot and then display their gratuity by not paying a wee tip and/or whinging about the bloody principle. Some people should be banned from going out. If the USA wants to screw her own workers and customers and tax them or whatever, then that is their business. I just hope that their practices, like so many others from over there are not foisted upon the rest of us who can manage to eat out quite successfully without being lectured to by Americans or have to endure their exported service industry ‘standards’. Oh, and Las Vegas is a dump. Service is shit and shallow.
BroonAgreeWithButtercupForOnce.
You miss the point. It isn’t about being able to “afford” it. The service charge, as you said elsewhere, is a dodge. It also misleads people, not only into believing that the prices are lower than they really are, but also into believing that staff are receiving this money (before I was informed of the true nature of this practice, I never tipped anyone here). It’s a dodgy practice; this is why it is disliked.
It is a misleading practice. Not every restaurant charges the service fee. As such, for those who tack it on later, they’ve already got you in the door, which makes you much less likely to leave. Of course, most people know which places charge what already, but some of us don’t (or didn’t).
Well it must be written on the menu or for sure I won’t pay it
Many of them try to get you for it when you arrive. At those hot pot places you have to pay at the start. I’m not a big fan of the hot pot places anyway (I don’t like wet food and I also don’t like the gluttony of it all), so it’s one more reason I generally avoid them (plus, I really have issues with paying over 100NT per meal per head).
You miss the point. It isn’t about being able to “afford” it. The service charge, as you said elsewhere, is a dodge. It also misleads people, not only into believing that the prices are lower than they really are, but also into believing that staff are receiving this money (before I was informed of the true nature of this practice, I never tipped anyone here). It’s a dodgy practice; this is why it is disliked.[/quote]
But why would you assume the staff got it, if it was on the bill? It’s completely normal to do this in Taiwan and around the world. It’s not misleading if you know they do it!
[quote=“BroonAle”]In my humble opinion, the only fair way for everybody; customers and workers alike is to pay a reasonable living wage at, or preferably above, the market rate (in order to retain staff and and recoup training costs through productivity), don’t charge a service charge and extol the staff to provide excellent service so that the customer can leave it to his/her own discretion as to the amount of tip they wish to leave. If they don’t leave any then either the service is bad in which case the restaurant should re-train or dismiss staff, or the customer is a tight wad. Unfortunately the latter is as common in Taiwan as the former.
This subject has been done to death on this forum elsewhere.
BroonAddedValue[/quote]
I have still to go to a restaurant in Taiwan with good service. And I am serious. All the waitresses that speak English are the worst of the lot. I don’t think any one trains staff here. There is hardly anything professional. They oscillate from unfriendly to ultra friendly but the ordering, arrival of dishes, special requests is never ever smooth.
I was at Papa Gio’s restaurant last week, and the food was really good except for the waiting staff. I prefer the beef noodle type places, atleast they are all warm and friendly and will go out of their way to give you nice food, even though you have to tell them hpw much you weigh?
[quote=“Buttercup”]
But why would you assume the staff got it, if it was on the bill? It’s completely normal to do this in Taiwan and around the world. It’s not misleading if you know they do it![/quote]
Stop being deliberately obtuse. One would assume the staff got it due the very name of the charge. It’s misleading precisely because so many do not know what exactly the charge is. If they didn’t want it to be misleading at all they would name it: “Tax dodge/ attempt to make our prices look lower charge.”
I’m not being obtuse. I understand, I just don’t understand why you are following some yellow brick road of weirdy Ameri-boy logic and tacking it onto other situations which have no parity. Lots of restaurants do it - it’s not a Taiwan thing. It’s ‘obtuse’, Mr Malaprop, to assume that firstly, paying for service simply involves giving the waitress 50NT to get herself a 7-11 sandwich on the way home, and secondly that any establishment is going to give 10% of its income to their lowest aid members of staff for no reason. Which countries do do that? An American-style gratuity for staff that is part of the bill?
Me, I simply whip out my todger at the end of the meal, get it nice and tumescent, and say: “Come on then darling. Service me.”
Don’t try this at Carnegie’s, though, or they’ll just fetch the manager to assume the duties. Or at least that’s how it USED to be. Don’t make me post the pics.
Sandefiled
Sandenjoyedit, how did you get it to glow in the dark?
Its a sanskrit thing.
Om… not sure I’m with you. Check please! 90% of the check please!