as a seattle bartender…what

I just finished reading the post here from yesterday about zig zag cafe, and I just have to ask: can we have more specific, productive conversations about the ambiguity of automatic service charges?

The general public doesn’t know what the fuck those charges mean (especially tourists!!!) and where that money goes within your businesses. At this point? Neither do I. I’ve been in food and bev across multiple states since I was a teenager, and have been bartending here in seattle for years. Every time I see ~service charges~ on receipts, even I am still slightly thrown.

Yes, the tip credit elimination and consistent rising of minimum wage here is extremely complex for small businesses, and there are wildly polarizing pros and cons to all of it. I am painfully aware. But it’s unsettling to be charged 20-25% on an already expensive bill, and not know if you’re screwing over the staff by not leaving anything additional. “100% of this service charge is retained by xyz restaurant” doesn’t sound nice, it sounds sketchy and dodgy.

if anyone that works for a bar/restaurant has a breakdown of their pooling system and how their service charges are utilized, PLEASE jump in here. It’s nothing but harmful to all of us (industry and non-industry workers alike) to have no idea where this money goes and how it is split up for operations (healthcare, business costs, utilities, rent, etc) and worker compensation.

I don’t mean to be aggressive, but every time I see this brought up in this thread, the conversations are a hamster wheel of shitting on that business and people who have never worked a service job a day in their life contributing to useless discourse and bad yelp reviews. It’s weird.