An Australian hospitality group has come under fire, again, for automatically adding a tip to the bill after diners finished their meals.
Sydney woman Christy Murray called out Tilda, a restaurant in the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, a five-star hotel in the CBD, after noticing a seven per cent ‘optional gratuity’ had been added to her bill without her permission.
The restaurant is owned by the House Made Hospitality group and customers at its venues need to ask to have the extra tip removed from their bill if they don’t want to pay it.
‘Can we talk about why tipping is becoming a thing in Australia?’ Ms Murray said in a video last week.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I teleported to the US after dessert.
‘I’m paying gratuity because it’s just shoved down my throat. I understand the option of having it there but putting it onto the bill automatically is so weird.’
Ms Murray claimed the current system ‘taking advantage of the fact that people aren’t going to say anything because they don’t want to complain’ and that the venue is likely banking on the fact diners don’t want to seem cheap by asking it be removed.
Tilda’s is owned by House Made Hospitality, a company which has repeatedly come under fire for its tipping system, with another customer publicly calling out the charge in April last year.
Tilda’s (pictured) automatically adds a seven per cent tip to its bills, which can be removed upon request
Hundreds of commenters backed Ms Murray and questioned why the tip was needed.
‘Our hospitality staff here aren’t on $7 per hour so there’s no need!’ one wrote.
‘They need to be honest and just increase their prices to include that seven per cent. Then people can decide whether or not they want to eat there,’ another said.
‘Our servers get minimum wage. A good minimum wage, not the American minimum wage. Where is the tip going to?’ another wrote.
Similar comments have been left under several of House Made Hospitality’s venues.
In Tilda’s Google reviews, one person wrote: ‘There was a seven per cent gratuity surcharge included in the initial bill by default, there was an option to remove. However, it should not be there in the first place.’
Another said: ‘You can’t sneakily add tips to the bill and put the onus on customers to pick this up and ask you to remove it.’
A would-be customer from Apollonia, another venue owned by the group, wrote: ‘Wanted to take my friend there but read on the website in menu that three per cent gratuity is added to all bills.
Tilda’s (left) is owned by House Made Hospitality and several of its venues include tips in the bill. A diner previously called out the venue for the automatic tip (right) months ago
‘Not a fan of imposing the American tipping culture in Australia.’
In the reviews for Lana, one wrote: ‘They add a seven per cent gratuity to every bill. Adding seven per cent by default is just pretentious.’
Automatic tipping is permitted under Australian consumer law, as long as customers are made aware beforehand.
Tilda explains its tipping policy in fine print at the bottom of the menu.
Daily Mail has contacted House Made Hospitality for comment.
